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Robert the Bruce – born 1274, died 1329.

Robert I, also known as Robert the Bruce, was the legendary King of Scots who fought for and won Scotland’s independence from England.

Robert’s date of birth is known for certain however his place of birth has been a matter for debate. It is known he was born on 11 July 1274 and it is believed this was at Turnberry Castle in Ayrshire. He was born into aristocracy and through his father he had a direct, if not distant link to the Scottish throne. Both he and his father refused to back John Balliol as a candidate for kingship and instead backed Edward I in his invasion of Scotland in 1296, allowing Edward to rule it as a province of England.

Robert then helped William Wallace's campaign against English occupation and even after Wallace was defeated, Bruce was allowed to retain his land and in 1298 he was made a guardian of Scotland in conjunction with John Comyn, his greatest rival and a nephew of the injured Balliol. In 1306, Bruce argued with Comyn and assassinated him in a church in Dumfries. This made him an enemy of the state. He was made an outlaw by Edward and the Pope excommunicated him from the church. In retaliation Robert made a bid for the Scottish throne claiming it his right through hereditary descent. He was crowned king at Scone on the 27th of March. However the following year he was defeated by Edwards army and forced to leave the country while his wife and daughters were held prisoner.

After spending the winter in Ireland he returned to Scotland and conducted a well fought guerrilla war against England. At the famous Battle of Bannockburn in June 1314, he defeated a massive English force under Edward’s successor, Edward the Second and thus establishing an independent Scottish crown. In 1320 all the noblemen of Scotland sent a letter to the pope naming Bruce as their rightful king in a document known as the ‘Declaration of Arbroath’. Four years later he received a papal decree giving him official recognition as the Kind of an independent Scotland. In 1327 Edward II died and his son was appointed King, making peace with Scotland and renouncing all claims to primacy over it. Robert the Bruce died in 1329 a successful and loved leader and was buried at Dunfermline. Unusually he requested that his heart be taken to the Holy Land but it only reached so far as Spain before being brought back to Scotland and being buried at Melrose Abbey.