Royal Profile: Robert I (the Bruce) of Scotland

Robert the Bruce, King of Scots

     Robert the Bruce was born on July 11, 1274 at Turnberry Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland as the first son of Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale and Margaret, Countess of Carrick.

     Descending from a noble family of Scoto-Norman and Gaelic stock, he was a fourth great-grandson of David I of Scotland through his father, who held lands in Dumfries and Galloway along the English border - which had been granted to his family by King David. On his mother's side, Robert inherited a Gaelic ancestry through the Earldom of Carrick, and in this mix of Anglo-Norman and Gaelic culture's (typical of southern Scotland and northern England), Robert probably spoke up to three languages: Anglo-Norman French, Gaelic, and early Scots.

     In 1286, Alexander III of Scotland died and the Crown was passed to his granddaughter and Norwegian princess, Margaret. Four years later, the seven year old queen died on the way to Scotland, which initiated a succession crisis during which several competitors lined up to lay their claims to the Scottish throne before Edward I of England, who arbitrated these claims on behalf of the Guardians of Scotland.

     Out of fourteen candidates, only four presented a serious claim to the throne, and one of them was Robert's grandfather - Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale. In the end, Edward judged in November 1292 that grandfather Robert's first cousin once removed, John Balliol, had a better claim and awarded him the Crown of Scotland.

     Within years, relations between Edward I and John Balliol broke down has Edward continued to assert his overlordship of Scotland. He agreed to hear appeals of cases from Scottish courts and demanded that Balliol appear before him to answer for charges in one particular case. However, the final straw came when Edward made further demands that Scottish nobles provide military service in England's war against France, which provoked the Scots into forming an alliance with the French (the Auld Alliance).

     In this early struggle, the Bruce's supported Edward, in part because they viewed Balliol as a usurper, and took refuge in Carlisle, England with the backing of King Edward. It was also around this time that younger Bruce (and future king) married his first wife, Isabella of Marr, with whom he had one child, a daughter named Marjorie.

A depiction of Robert Bruce with his first wife, Isabella of Marr.

     It was in Carlisle that the Bruce's were attacked in March 1296 by the Balliol-backed Comyn faction of Scottish nobles in what was one of the first blows in the Wars of Scottish Independence. Edward responded to this and the Auld Alliance by invading Scotland, crushing the resistance, and deposing John Balliol as King of Scots, who was taken as a prisoner to the Tower of London.

     Following this, Robert Bruce, 6th Lord of Annandale and Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick (the future king) were among 1,500 Scots who swore fealty to King Edward, who set up an English administration in Scotland. Within a year however, a revolt broke out and the younger Bruce, aged 22 and possibly under the influence of the Stewart and Wishart families, joined in the patriotic cause against the English.

     Over the next decade, Bruce would change his allegiance several times as the political and military circumstances changed. During this period, he was appointed as a co-Guardian of Scotland, but left the post due to personal differences with a fellow Guardian and political rival, John Comyn. He supported Sir William Wallace's revolt against Edward I, but Edward's invasion of Scotland in 1303 resulted in the country being under his submission again, and all of the nobility - save for Wallace - swore fealty to him. Wallace himself was eventually captured in Glasgow and brought to London, where he was tried and executed. Meanwhile, another English-backed administration was set up, and nobles such as Bruce participated in it. However, King Edward distrusted him, which was reflected in the withholding of lands once promised to Bruce.

     Among the Scottish nobility as well, there were misgivings over Bruce due to his support for both sides in the conflicts. Chief amongst them was his longtime rival, John Comyn, who was more resolute in his opposition to the English, and like Bruce, held a claim to the still-vacant Scottish throne. In the late summer of 1305, Bruce and Comyn swore a secret deal in which Comyn agreed to forfeit his claim to the throne in favor of Robert Bruce upon receipt of the Bruce lands in Scotland should an uprising occur led by Bruce.

The killing Comyn by Bruce
(Engraving by Henri Félix Emmanuel Philippoteaux)

     At some point, it is believed that Comyn divulged the details of this deal to King Edward, who then moved to arrest Bruce whilst he was at the English court. Bruce received a tip-off about his impending arrest, and fled back to Scotland, where he confronted Comyn in a fateful meeting at the Chapel of Greyfriar's Monastery in Dumfries on February 10, 1306. There, Bruce accused Comyn of treachery and killed him before the High Altar.

     Having crossed this Rubicon, Bruce pressed his claim to the Scottish throne, and six weeks later, he was crowned King of Scots at Scone by Bishop William de Lamberton on March 25, 1306. Traditionally, a member of Clan MacDuff performed the crowning of the monarch, but the closest member of the clan in support of Bruce, Isabella MacDuff, Countess of Buchan arrived too late for the ceremony. A second coronation ceremony was held he next day, in which MacDuff crowned the new King, so as to head off charges of ceremonial irregularity, which could have placed his throne at risk.

A tableau depicting King Robert being crowned at his second coronation by Isabella MacDuff.

     The actions of King Robert resulted in his excommunication by Pope Clement V, and Edward I marched north yet again to bring Robert to account and establish overlordship of Scotland. He defeated Robert at the Battle of Methven in June 1306, seized Robert's lands and gave them to his adherents. Robert and group of nobles fled to the Hebrides, but as fate would have it, Edward I of England - the Hammer of the Scots - died aged 68 on July 7, 1307, and was succeeded by his son, Edward II.

     King Robert and his forces returned to mainland Scotland a few months before Edward's death, and began conducting a fierce guerrilla campaign against the English armies, resulting in significant victories at Glen Trool and Loundon Hill. From there, Robert led another campaign across the west and north of Scotland - defeating his Comyn enemies and their allies, laying waste to their lands, and destroying their significant power base, which was always an obstacle to the King's ambitions.

     In March 1309, King Robert held his first Parliament at St. Andrews and had achieved control over Scotland north of the River Tay by August. His position was further strengthened when the Scottish clergy - in spite of the excommunication by Clement V - acknowledged Robert as the rightful King of Scots.

     Over the next five years, Robert and his nobles not only recaptured English-occupied territories and defeated English forces and their Scottish sympathizers, but they also began making raids into northern England and other places of strategic importance. In the spring and summer of 1314, they gained control of both Sterling and Edinburgh castles.

Statue of King Robert on his horse at Bannockburn.

     Under Edward II, the English attempted to recover their position at Bannockburn. The odds were in their favor as the English army was twice the size of King Robert's forces, but they found themselves decisively routed by the Scots and retreated after two days. This significant battle all but secured Scotland's independence, and to this day, remains a pivotal moment in the history of Scotland in particular and Britain in general.

     From here, Robert initiated more raids in northern England - particularity wreaking havoc in Lancashire and Yorkshire. He also attempted to open a second front in Ireland, where he hoped to forge a pan-Gaelic alliance against English rule. Robert certainly had Gaelic Irish lineage on his mother side, and his second wife (Elizabeth de Burgh, whom he had married in 1302 following the death of Isabella of Marr) came from a noble family that held the Earldom of Ulster in present-day Northern Ireland. However, many chiefs in the southern parts of Ireland did not distinguish between English occupation and Scottish occupation, and were only too glad when Edward Bruce - King Robert's brother - was defeated and killed at the Battle of Faughart 1318, which largely ended the Irish part of these Anglo-Scottish conflicts.

     Two years later, the Declaration of Arbroath was submitted to Pope John XXII. It was a statement of Scotland's independence, and sought the pontiff's recognition of that independence, as well as the lifting of his predecessors excommunication of King Robert for his murder of John Comyn. The Pope initially heeded the document, but was later persuaded to take the English side under Edward II. Robert continued his raids into northern England, partly in response to Edward allowing privateers to attack and seize vessels trading with Scotland.

     Following their defeat at Weardale, the English - having deposed Edward II and now under the governance of his wife Isabella and her lover, Roger Mortimer in the name of Isabella and Edward's son, Edward III - sent envoys to Scotland to open peace negotiations. This resulted in the Treaty of Northampton-Edinburgh of 1328, which recognized Scotland as an independent kingdom with King Robert and his heirs and successors as rightful rulers, and established the Anglo-Scottish border as it had been under Alexander III. The Treaty was signed by Robert in Edinburgh on March 17th, and ratified by the English Parliament on May 3rd. With Scotland's independence came the lifting of the papal excommunication of Robert I in October of that same year.

     However, the recognized King of Scots would not live long in his moment of triumph. For at least the past year, he has suffered from a medical condition which may have been tuberculosis, syphilis, or strokes. In the spring of 1329, he held his final council at his bedside, during which he made gifts to religious houses and orders, and repented for not going on a crusade in the Holy Land.

     On June 7, 1329, King Robert died aged 54 at the Manor of Cardross near Dumbarton, having achieved the recognition of the Bruce claim to the Scottish throne.

The eastern tower of Dunfermline Abbey, where King Robert is buried.
Atop the tower are the carved letters: KING ROBERT THE BRUCE

     In accordance to his wishes, his heart was removed so that it could be taken on a crusade, but this never materialized, and the heart was brought back to Scotland, where it was buried at Melrose Abbey in Roxburghshire, also in pursuant to the King's instructions. His body was embalmed and buried at Dunfermline Abbey beneath the High Altar beside his queen, Elizabeth de Burgh.

     Robert I was succeed by his and Elizabeth's only surviving child as David II of Scotland at the age of five. He died without an heir, and was succeeded by his nephew, Robert Stewart - son of Marjorie Bruce (Robert I's daughter via his first wife, Isabella) and Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland - as Robert II, inaugurating the Royal House of Stewart/Stuart.

     King Robert's descendant's include all subsequent monarch's of Scotland, and after the accession of James VI to the English throne in 1603, all monarch's of England, Great Britain, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, including the reigning queen, Elizabeth II, who is his 19th great-granddaughter.


Photo Credit: Kim Traynor via Wikimedia Commons cc, Joe Thomissen via Flickr cc, Dave Conner via Flickr cc