Sir William the Hardy is the first of the Douglas Lords on record to take a major part in domestic and international affairs. He partook in Wallace's uprising against English rule in Scotland and died captive in the Tower of London. His son Sir James Douglas, his estates forfeit to the English crown, swore allegiance to Robert the Bruce in 1306 prior to the latter's coronation, and was to share the deprivations and small victories of Bruce during the years leading up to Bannockburn. Afterwards he was appointed Warden of the Western March on the Scottish Border. Following Bruce's death, Sir James Douglas, now known as either "the Black Douglas" to the English, or the "Good Sir James" to the Scots, took the King's heart on crusade, and died fighting the Moors in Spain.