Page "Battle of Methven" Paragraph 1

In February 1306, Robert Bruce and a small party of his followers killed John Comyn, also known as the Red Comyn, before the high altar of the Greyfriars Church in Dumfries.

Both Comyn and Bruce had been forced to give fealty to King Edward I of England on pain of execution, and every appearance is that both intended to pursue the Scottish crown.

According to John Barbour's The Brus, written with access to people who were at the event, Comyn and Bruce had previously signed an agreement to that effect which Comyn betrayed to King Edward I.

However, the bad blood between the two men went far back, and they had found it impossible to work together as Guardians of the Realm.

For Bruce, after Comyn's murder, the only way was forward for he would never be received back into the peace of Edward I.

His only defense lay in the seizure of the political high ground: a few weeks after Comyn's death Bruce was crowned King of Scots at Scone.