Robert the
Bruce of Scotland
Assembled by D. A. Sharpe
Robert I (11 July 1274 Ð 7 June 1329),
popularly known as Robert the Bruce
(Medieval Gaelic: Roibert a Briuis; modern Scottish Gaelic: Raibeart Bruis; Norman French: Robert de Brus or Robert
de Bruys; Early Scots: Robert Brus; Latin: Robertus Brussius), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert was one of
the most famous warriors of his generation, and eventually led Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against England. He fought successfully during his reign to regain
Scotland's place as an independent country and is today revered in Scotland as
a national hero.
"The Bruce" Robert is the
husband of sister-in-law of 6th great grandson of maternal grandfather of "Count Poitou"
William the 14th great grand uncle of Sir Edward Southworth, the first husband
of Alice Carptener, my 7th great grandmother. I am descended from Alice through her
second husband, Plymouth
Colony Governor William Bradford.
Descended from the Anglo-Norman and Gaelic nobilities, his paternal fourth-great grandfather was King David I. Robert's grandfather, Robert de Brus,
5th Lord of Annandale, was one of the claimants to the Scottish throne during the "Great Cause". As Earl of Carrick, Robert the Bruce supported his family's claim to the
Scottish throne and took part in William Wallace's revolt against Edward I of England. Appointed in 1298 as a Guardian of Scotland alongside his chief rival for the throne, John Comyn,
Lord of Badenoch,
and William Lamberton, Bishop of St Andrews, Robert later resigned in 1300 due to his quarrels
with Comyn and the apparently imminent restoration of
King John Balliol. After submitting to Edward I in 1302
and returning to "the king's peace", Robert inherited his family's
claim to the Scottish throne upon his father's death.
In February 1306,
Robert the Bruce killed Comyn following an argument,
and was excommunicated by the Pope (although he received absolution from Robert Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow). Bruce moved quickly to seize the throne and was
crowned king of Scots on 25 March 1306. Edward I's forces defeated Robert in
battle, forcing him to flee into hiding in the Hebrides and Ireland before returning in 1307 to defeat an English army at
Loudoun Hill and wage a highly successful guerrilla war against the English. Bruce defeated his other Scots
enemies, destroying their strongholds and devastating their lands, and in 1309
held his first parliament. A series of military victories between 1310 and 1314
won him control of much of Scotland, and at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, Robert defeated a much larger English army
under Edward II of England, confirming the re-establishment of an
independent Scottish kingdom. The battle marked a significant turning point,
with Robert's armies now free to launch devastating raids throughout northern England, while also extending his war against the English to Ireland by sending an army to invade there and by appealing
to the Irish to rise against Edward II's rule.
Despite Bannockburn
and the capture of the final English stronghold at Berwick in 1318, Edward II refused to renounce
his claim to the overlordship of Scotland. In 1320,
the Scottish nobility submitted the Declaration of Arbroath to Pope John XXII, declaring Robert as their rightful
monarch and asserting Scotland's status as an independent kingdom. In 1324, the
Pope recognised Robert I as king of an independent
Scotland, and in 1326, the Franco-Scottish alliance was renewed in the Treaty of Corbeil. In 1327, the English deposed Edward
II in favour of his son, Edward III, and peace was concluded between
Scotland and England with the Treaty of
Edinburgh-Northampton, by which Edward III renounced all claims to sovereignty over
Scotland.
Robert I died in June 1329. His body is
buried in Dunfermline Abbey, while his heart was interred in Melrose Abbey.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_the_Bruce
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