Balvenie Castle is thought to have been built by the Black Comyns (Earls of Buchan) in the late 13th century. King Robert Bruce seized the castle early in the 14th century, and it subsequently passed to the Black Douglases. King James II defeated the Black Douglases in 1455 and bestowed the lordship of Balvenie on John Stewart, who was to become the Earl of Atholl. The Atholl Lodging was added to the castle in the mid 16th century.