Robert
the Bruce’s family name is known to have descended from the name of Brix in Normandy.
His family was living in England before William the Conqueror arrived. They
were granted land in Galloway, in southern Scotland near the border with England, by King David I.
Robert
the Bruce’s grandfather, also named Robert Bruce, claimed that he should be the King of Scotland upon the death of Queen
Margaret, Maid of Norway. He did not become king, but his grandson eventually
would.
No one is
sure where Robert the Bruce was born, but the most widely-accepted belief is that he was born in Turnberry Castle in Ayrshire
on July 11, 1274. However, some believe that he was born in Lochmaben Castle, Dumfriesshire,
the seat of the Bruce family. He had both Norman and Celtic ancestors.
About
two years before his birth, the existing king of England had died, and the new king was Edward Plantagenet, who became Edward
I. The boy who was not even born yet would later become one of Scotland’s
greatest heroes.
When Alexander
III died in 1286, he left his granddaughter, the young daughter of the King of Norway, as the heir to the throne. Edward I made a deal with leaders of Scotland that,
if Margaret marry his son, Scotland would be free from England. However, as Margaret was on her way to Scotland to marry Edward’s son and claim
the Scottish throne, she suddenly died. Now, the throne was being claimed by
many different people, with the only real contenders being John Balliol and Robert Bruce, Robert the Bruce’s grandfather. Edward considered John Balliol to be weaker and more loyal to England, since he was
an English baron. In November 1292, a council headed by Edward himself chose
Balliol to be the true king of Scotland. In exchange, Balliol agreed to let Edward
have absolute authority over him in any disputes.
Edward traveled
North to Scotland to receive homage. Every Scottish
noble except for young Robert the Bruce complied, and, as punishment, John Balliol took all of Bruce’s land away from
him in Scotland. Balliol soon broke into conflict with Edward, though, and was
quickly defeated in April of 1296. Not much later, Balliol surrendered, and Edward
I of England took control of all of Scotland.
Edward
had insulted he Scottish people by occupying Scotland with English forces. A
Scottish night named William Wallace, after killing several important English officials, became a major leader of the rebellious
Scots. At the Battle of Stirling Bridge, even though he was heavily outnumbered,
Wallace and his forces, including Robert the Bruce as his closest advisor, the Scots completely destroyed the better equipped
English troops. This was mainly because the English could not maneuver very well
in the marshes of Northern England. However, Edward I organized a huge army and
crushed the rebellion at Falkirk in 1298. Wallace was executed several years
later, leaving Robert the Bruce as the major guardian of Scotland.
In
1302, Edward offered a truce, and Robert joined the council that was set up in charge of Scotland. Robert the Bruce’s father, the Earl of Carrick, died in 1304.
Upon his death, Robert became the Earl of Carrick and is thought to have been the richest man in the British Isles
at the time. Bruce murdered John Comyn, the only real competitor for King of
Scotland, in early 1306. He then declared himself King of Scotland on March 27,
1306. Edward quickly sent his armies north, defeated and executed many of Bruce’s
supporters. For several years, Robert was forced to hide in the forests of Scotland,
spending many of his nights with his friends and neighbors, the Irvines, in Bonshaw in Dumfriesshire.
On
Palm Sunday in 1307, Robert the Bruce came out of hiding and decided to fight. He
sent out a call for supporters to join him and crush the English, and most of the clans from every corner of Scotland answered
his call, fighting the English occupiers. Edward I was growing old by now, and
left the military affairs of England in control of his son, Edward II.
However,
Bruce was very successful in his campaigns against England and its allies in Scotland.
By 1309, he was in control of almost all of Scotland. By 1311, Robert
the Bruce had driven every English military unit out of Scotland except for Stirling.
Robert decided to invade northern England for the first time since William Wallace’s campaigns the decade before. Edward II abandoned everything he was doing in London and led a huge army north to
counter the attacking Scots.
On
June 24, 1314, the most decisive battle in Scottish history was fought in Northern England.
It was the Battle of Bannockburn. Robert the Bruce knew that he was heavily
outnumbered by far more heavily-armored English troops, but he decided to stay and make a stand. The Scots were able to prevent Edward II’s troops from employing the tactics that made them powerful,
and the Scottish forces quickly destroyed the large army, leaving them free to roam Northern England and attack at will.
He
then moved west and invaded Ireland, where his brother, Edward the Bruce, was eventually King of Ireland. Edward II tried one final time to invade Scotland, but the powerful Scots with their guerilla tactics quickly
destroyed the offensive. The King of England was forced to recognize Scotland
as an independent nation that he had no control over. A peace treaty was signed
in May of 1328.
The successful Robert the Bruce was growing old, and was able to die a happy man a year later on
July 7, 1329. He had wanted his heart to be removed and embalmed. James Douglas took it with him on his campaigns through France. Upon
Douglas’ death in battle, Bruce’s heart was returned to Scotland. His
heart was buried in Melrose Abbey. Not very long ago, a new burial container
was created for his heart, and it was placed inside. Inscribed on the new container
in Scottish, it says, “A noble heart may have no ease if freedom fail.”
Sources:
http://www.rampantscotland.com/famous/blfamthebruce.htm
http://www.britannia.com/bios/robertbruce.html
