Lady Agnes Black

In 1334, a Scottish noblewoman, Lady Agnes Black Agnes Randolph, had to defend the estates of her husband, the earl of Dunbar, against attack by Englands earl of Salisbury. For five months, he laid siege to Castle Dunbar. When bombardments failed, Salisbury had his men build a testudo, or tortoise, a wheeled shed that covered men working battering rams.


Agnes ordered that a long rock be swung out over the battlements on a crane and dropped onto the machine, then finished it off by setting it ablaze. Next, Salisbury tried to gain entry to the castle by bribing a guard to allow a raiding party into the castle, but the guard proved loyal and Salisbury was almost captured by Agness troops.


Finally, he brought Agness brother, the Earl of Moray, from prison and threatened to kill him if she did not hand over the castle. Because the estates belonged to her husband and not to her, she responded, she could not surrender it. Furthermore, since Moray did not have any children, his death would simply assure that she would inherit his estates and therefore, even greater power. Salisbury returned Moray to prison and on June 10, 1338, he withdrew from Castle Dunbar.

Skuld