Douglas, James, Baron Douglas

James Douglas was the son of Sir William Douglas , 4th Lord Douglas, a landowner in southwestern Scotland, and Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of Alexander Stuart , 4th Lord Steward of Scotland. James Douglas became one of the first and most loyal supporters of Robert Bruce in his struggle for the liberation of Scotland from English power. Already in 1306, Douglas recognized Robert Bruce as king of Scotland and in 1308 expelled the British from the southwestern part of the country. The following year, Douglas troops subdued Argyll . The unusual military talent of James Douglas appeared in 1314, when he, with a small group of Scots, dressed in black to be mistaken for a herd of cows, entered . On the battlefield of Bannockburn , in which Douglas played an important role, King Robert I raised James to knighthood. Douglas later became the inspirer and leader of the Scots military campaigns in northern England (1314, 1319, 1322, 1327), defeating the troops of William Melton , Archbishop of York , at the and eventually forcing the English King Edward II Plantagenet to negotiate peace. In 1328, the Northampton Treaty of England recognized the independence of Scotland.

For active participation in the war with England, James Douglas received from King Robert I significant land grants in southern Scotland, which served as the core of the future possessions of the Douglas family and the source of their influence in the country. James himself became the founder of one of the branches of the family - the Black Douglas.

Before his death, Robert Bruce in 1329 bequeathed to his friend and associate Sir James his heart . With the heart of the deceased king, Douglas went to the Holy Land at the beginning of 1330 to bury his heart, but, finding himself near the Spanish fortress of Thebes , he and other Scottish knights joined the crusader detachment of Alphonse XI of Castile and clashed with the Moors, where Douglas died heroically in defense with a small detachment from the Muslim army.

Lord James himself placed himself and his squad on one of the flanks, so that he would get the best job, and he could do his job better. When he saw that the military ranks of each side were completely lined up, and that the king of Spain had set in motion, he imagined that they would immediately launch an attack. And since, in such cases, he always wanted to be among the former rather than among the latter, he and his entire squad spurred their horses and galloped until they faced the army of the King of Granada and violently attacked the Saracen. He thought that the Spaniards should support him, but that was a mistake, since no one had followed suit on that day. The glorious knight and his entire squad was surrounded by the enemy. They showed miracles of valor, but to no avail, since they were all killed ^[1] .

Pursuing an army of infidels, James Douglas threw a box with a heart in the midst of enemies with the words "Go ahead, brave heart, as you always wanted! Douglas will follow you or die! ”A detachment of Douglas beat off the king’s heart, breaking through the opponents. However, the runners returned, surrounded the detachment and crushed him by numerical superiority. James died when he tried to save William Sinclair (Saint-Clair) from Rosslyn, who also fell in that battle. Knights Robert and Walter of the Logan clan were killed along with Douglas.

The death of James during the fighting for You did not allow the Scots to continue the campaign. The remains of James Douglas and the heart of Robert I were transported to Scotland.

• Site dedicated to James the “Black” Douglas (inaccessible link - history , copy ) (eng.)
• James Black Douglas // The Peerage.com