Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, died in 1329. He was fifty-four and had been king for twenty-three years before his passing.
When Robert the Bruce was born on 11th July 1274, possibly in Turnberry Castle in Ayrshire, there was no expectation that he would become King of Scots. He was the third child and eldest son of Robert the Bruce (de Brus), 6th Lord of Annandale and Marjorie, Countess of Carrick. On the paternal side, the Bruces descended from David I, King of Scots as well as from Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke - “Strongbow” - and Aoife, whose father was Diarmaid Mac Murchadha King of Leinster; Robert’s mother Marjorie was Countess of Carrick in her own right and was a descendant of Fergus, Lord (or king) of Galloway.
The Brus family is believed to originate from Bruis or Brus, modern Brix in the Manche department of Normandy.
In the unsettled era and disputed succession following the death of Malcolm III King of Scots in 1093, the future King David I, with two of his brothers fled to England where he became a member of the household of the future Henry I, then Count of the Cotentin in western Normandy.
He may have been granted a small estate in western Normandy by Henry where local knights such as Robert de Brus, about whose origins almost nothing appears to be known with any certainty, could have entered into his service or at least made his acquaintance.
In any event, Robert de Brus seems to have supported Henry in his struggles against his elder brother Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy. Following the Battle of Tinchebrai in September 1106 in which Robert Curthose was decisively defeated, it is known that Robert de Brus received several manors in Yorkshire from Henry I, presumably as a reward.
In November 1100 Henry, three months after becoming king, married Matilda (originally Edith), sister of the future King David. In 1124, David by that time King of Scots, made a grant of the castle of Annandale to Robert de Brus, who became the First Lord of Annandale).
As is usual for the medieval period little is known of the childhood and upbringing of Robert the Bruce; however he likely received the customary upbringing for a youth of his status and class, that is instruction and training in the military arts and courtly etiquette.
So far as is known, Robert spoke Norman French, Scots and Gaelic and is also likely to have been taught Latin. One of the earliest appearances of Robert in the records is as a witness to the grant in favour of Paisley Abbey in 1286 when he would have been twelve.
The death of King Alexander III in 1286 whose only heir was his granddaughter, Margaret, then three and who died in 1290 aged seven, led to a time of great instability in Scotland as it led to a contested succession dispute.
Bruce’s grandfather, another Robert, Fifth Lord of Annandale, had a claim to the throne. Edward I, king of England, was asked to arbitrate between the claimants and he chose John Balliol, who also had claims to the throne.
The Bruces refused to accept Balliol and supported Edward I’s invasion of Scotland in 1296, forcing Balliol to abdicate.
In between 1296 and 1304 Scotland was governed by the Guardians, a group of seven Scottish magnates including Sir William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, the future king and John Comyn, nephew of John Balliol and Bruce’s rival for the kingship.
On 10th February 1306, Bruce and Comyn had a quarrel in a church in Dumfries during which Comyn was stabbed to death, either by Bruce himself or by one of his followers.
The murder of Comyn was particularly shocking as it took place in a consecrated building and led to Bruce being outlawed by Edward I and to excommunication by the Pope. Following these events Bruce claimed the throne and went to Scone where in March 1306, Robert Wishart, Archbishop of Glasgow, and one of his staunchest supporters, carried out the first of two coronation ceremonies.
The second took place two days later when he was crowned by Isabella MacDuff, Countess of Buchan, whose family the MacDufffs of Fife had the traditional right to crown the Kings of Scots.
As Isabella’s brother Donnchadh IV, Earl of Fife, was not available (he may have been in captivity in England) she officiated in his stead but missed the first coronation.
The crowning of Robert enraged Edward I, who regarded him as a traitor. Edward sent an army under Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke to Scotland and in June 1306 Robert was twice defeated, at Methven, near Perth, on 19th June and at Dalry, near Tyndrum, Perthshire, on 11th August. His wife, daughters, sisters and many of his supporters, including Isabella MacDuff, Countess of Buchan, and Archbishop Wishart were captured.
Robert’s brother Neil and his supporter the Earl of Atholl were also captured and subsequently executed. Robert’s brothers, Thomas and Alexander were executed in 1307 when they were captured by forces loyal to the Comyns.
Bruce became a fugitive and was forced to flee, possibly to the island of Rathlin off the Antrim coast.
Archbishop Wishart was imprisoned in England, along with the bishop of St. Andrews and the Abbot of Scone, who had also been present at the coronation.
The women were also dealt with harshly.
Bruce’s wife Elizabeth was placed under house arrest in Yorkshire, his sister Christian (or Christina) was sent to a convent and her husband, Christopher Seton, was executed. Another sister, Mary, then aged twenty-four and Isabella MacDuff, the Countess of Buchan, who had officiated at the second coronation, were imprisoned in wooden cages, Mary's cage at Roxburgh Castle and Isabella's at Berwick Castle, “enclosed and on a strict regimen” according to the chronicler Walter of Guiseborough.
A cage was also built for Bruce’s daughter, Marjorie, then aged about ten at the Tower of London, but Edward I was persuaded to reconsider and instead sent her to a convent in Yorkshire.
King Robert himself waged a series of guerrilla wars against the English and gradually consolidated his power and control in Scotland until, by 1314, Stirling was the only castle in English hands.
With the famous victory at the Battle of Bannockburn in June 1314, Robert the Bruce’s rule in Scotland was secured.
One of the outcomes of the Battle of Bannockburn was the exchange of prisoners with the release of Queen Elizabeth, Marjorie, Mary and Christian as well as other supporters such as Archbishop Wishart.
Isabella MacDuff does not appear in the list of those released; she was last mentioned in 1313 when she was transferred from the convent at Berwick where she had been since 1310. Isabella may have died between the move in 1313 and the battle of Bannockburn in 1314; however, her actual fate is unknown.
This victory allowed Robert breathing space in which to consolidate his rule and to gain international recognition for it as well as to get his ex-communication, due in part to the murder of John Comyn, lifted.
However, his main consideration was stabilising relations with England and receiving recognition from the English crown that he was the lawful king of Scotland.
Such strategic concerns are likely to have been behind Robert’s support of his sole surviving brother, Edward’s expedition to Ireland in 1315 to overthrow English rule there and become king. The thinking may have been to divide the effort of the English so that they had to fight on two fronts which would have had the result of lessening the military pressure on Scotland. Robert took an expeditionary force to Ireland in January 1317 but the objective of capturing Dublin was not achieved and he returned to Scotland later that year. Edward died in battle in 1318 in Ireland.
Papal recognition for an independent Scotland was eventually achieved in 1324. The famous document known as the Declaration of Arbroath had been sent to Pope John XXII in 1320; in this Scottish earls, barons and the “community of the realm” asserted that Robert was their rightful ruler and that Scotland was an ancient realm as was their monarchy “..... we gather from the deeds and books of the ancients, that among other distinguished nations our nation, namely of Scots, has been marked by many distinctions .....”. In 1326 the Treaty of Corbeil was signed between Scotland and France, providing for mutual assistance in the event of an attack by England on either kingdom.
Despite Bannockburn and the capture of Berwick in 1318 Edward II did not give up his claims to be overlord of Scotland and the policy of cross-border raids and counter-raids continued.
Peace was only obtained after the deposition of Edward II with the Treaty of Edinburgh of March 1328, ratified in May 1328 in Northampton, which provided that each kingdom, England and Scotland, should have a king “of its nation”. (The complexity and fluctuations of Anglo-Scots relations and policies in this period are outside the scope of this post).
The Treaty of Northampton had as one of its provisions a marriage between Robert’s heir, David then four and Joan of the Tower, seven, daughter of Edward II and Queen Isabella; this took place at Berwick-upon-Tweed in July 1328. Although the Treaty of Northampton was seen as humiliating by many in England, where it was never fully accepted, including by the young Edward III, it nonetheless represented a significant diplomatic triumph for Robert.
Scotland’s borders were restored to what they had been at the death of Alexander III in 1286 and Scotland was recognised as a free realm with Robert and his heirs being recognised as having the right to be king.
Robert married twice, his first marriage was to Isabella of Mar (ca 1277 – 1296), daughter of the Earl of Mar and Helen (or Elen) of Wales (1246–1295), probably a grand-daughter of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great) Prince of Wales. Isabella died in childbirth at the age of nineteen giving birth to their daughter Marjorie.
In 1302 Robert married for the second time, his new bride was Elizabeth de Burgh (ca 1284 - 1327), daughter of Richard Óg de Burgh, Second Earl of Ulster and Marguerite de Burgh; Elizabeth’s father was a close friend and supporter of Edward I. Robert and Elizabeth’s four children were all born after the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Their two daughters, Margaret and Matilda, survived into adulthood, married and had children of their own; they also had twin sons, the future David II, and John who died in early childhood. Robert’s daughter from his first marriage, Marjorie, married Walter Stewart, High Steward of Scotland, by whom she had one child, Robert, who would be the childless David II’s eventual heir and founder of the Stewart dynasty as Robert II. In addition, Robert the Bruce had many mistresses and several illegitimate children.
Elizabeth died in October 1327 and was buried in Dunfermline Abbey.
Like many medieval people, Robert was quite pious and supported and gave grants to several religious establishments.
He had a particular devotion to St. Finnan, (a 6th-century Irish monk who became the Bishop of Lindisfarne), St. Andrew and St. Cuthbert among others. In early 1329 Robert went on what must have been an arduous pilgrimage to the shine of St. Ninian in Whithorn, Galloway.
His health had been failing for at least two years before his death and it was widely believed that he suffered from leprosy. Whether that was true or not, he does seem to have suffered from a severe illness so the journey to Whithorn must have been very taxing.
King Robert spent much of his later years in his Manor of Cardross, near Renton, in modern West Dunbartonshire, where he died on 7th June 1329. His five-year-old son David II succeeded Robert, with his nephew Sir Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, Guardian of Scotland, ruling on behalf of the child king.
Robert’s body was buried in Dunfermline Abbey though his heart was removed, and having been taken to Spain by Sir James Douglas, it was brought back to Scotland and buried in Melrose Abbey.
In 1818 a vault was found in Dunfermline Abbey containing a tomb which was identified as being that of Robert the Bruce.
The skeleton when measured was found to be five foot eleven inches; as a young man, Robert may have been taller. The remains were re-interred at a ceremony in November 1819. In 1996 a lead casket was found at Melrose Abbey which contained an embalmed heart, believed to be the heart of Robert the Bruce; this was re-interred at Melrose Abbey in June 1999.
The disappointments and failures of David’s reign would have been unknown to Robert the Bruce who died having achieved many of his lifetime’s objectives. Shortly after his death and in response to an earlier request by him, the Pope granted permission for kings of Scots to be anointed at their coronation (Scottish kings had previously been crowned without anointing in a ceremony at Scone), indicating that the Pope acknowledged Scotland's independence.
Other successes of his reign were the 1326 Treaty of Corbeil with France and the Treaty of Northampton with England which recognised Scotland as an independent realm.
Robert the Bruce was one of the greatest warriors of his generation and his victory at Bannockburn in 1314 had brought him immense prestige and had made him a Scottish hero. His reputation and heroic status have been maintained through the centuries and continue into the modern era.
Recent work on reconstructing the head of Robert the Bruce at Glasgow University, led by Dr Martin MacGregor and Professor Caroline Wilkinson, Director of Liverpool John Moores University's Face Lab, using a skull excavated in 1818-19 from a grave in Dunfermline Abbey, indicates some continuing uncertainty as to whether or not Robert had leprosy. However, Prof. Andrew Nelson of Western University, Ontario, Canada and the forensic artist Christian Corbett, who also did a reconstruction, this time based on the cast of a head in the possession of the Bruce family, state they found no evidence of leprosy.
Robert VIII Bruce King 1274-1329
20th great-granduncle
Robert 6th Lord of Annandale DeBruce 1243-1304 Father of Robert VIII Bruce King
MARY CLARISSA De Bruce 1260-1283 Daughter of Robert 6th Lord of Annandale DeBruce
Alice de Toeni 1283-1324 Daughter of MARY CLARISSA De Bruce
Thomas 11th Earl of Warwick De Beauchamp Sir 1313-1369 Son of Alice de Toeni
William 1st Baron Bergavenny Beauchamp Sir 1343-1411 Son of Thomas 11th Earl of Warwick De Beauchamp Sir
Joan Elizabeth Countess of Ormond Beauchamp 1396-1430 Daughter of William 1st Baron Bergavenny Beauchamp Sir
Elizabeth Butler 1420-1473 Daughter of Joan Elizabeth Countess of Ormond Beauchamp
Anne Talbot 1445-1494 Daughter of Elizabeth Butler
Elizabeth Vernon 1477-1563 Daughter of Anne Talbot
Reginald Corbet Sir 1506-1566 Son of Elizabeth Vernon
Anne Corbet 1550-1600 Daughter of Reginald Corbet Sir
RICHARD MYTTON 1578-1640 Son of Anne Corbet
SARAH MYTTON 1604-1677 Daughter of RICHARD MYTTON
WALTER 2nd Bt ACTON Sir 1620-1665 Son of SARAH MYTTON
ROBERT ACTON Snr 1655-1695 Son of WALTER 2nd Bt ACTON Sir
ROBERT ACTON jnr 1686-1721 Son of ROBERT ACTON Snr
CHARLES ACTON 1717-1761 Son of ROBERT ACTON jnr
JOHN ACTON 1744-1823 Son of CHARLES ACTON
SARAH ACTON 1766-1841 Daughter of JOHN ACTON
WILLIAM ROBERT BOND 1801-1876 Son of SARAH ACTON
JAMES ROBERT BOND 1831-1884 Son of WILLIAM ROBERT BOND
HARRY BOND 1864-1950 Son of JAMES ROBERT BOND
Cyril Leonard Bond 1904-1983 Son of HARRY BOND
Copyright © Noel Bond. Researched and written by Noel Bond, No written part of this Blog may be reproduced in any form, by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author.
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