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Robert the Bruce: life of the week
00:54:10
Fiona Watson explores the shadowy rise to power of a national hero
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- [00:01]
Narrator
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- [02:02]
Emily Briffitt
Welcome to Life of the Week from History Extra, where leading historians delve into the lives of history's most intriguing and significant figures. Robert the Bruce may be lauded as a Scottish national hero, a noble warrior who fended off the English and claimed a spectacular victory at the Battle of Bannockburn. But how true to life is this glowing image as 2024 marks the 750th anniversary of Robert's birth. I spoke to historian Fiona Watson to reveal a path to the throne that was more ruthless and murky than it may initially seem.
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Historian Fiona Watson
Today, we are going to be delving into the life of Robert the Bruce. Now, to start us off, could you provide us with a short biography to him and his life?
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eBay Announcer
Right, okay. Robert Bruce, originally a Norman family who've made their way up into Scotland. But his family, in the early 1290s, felt they'd been robbed of the Scottish throne, which was vacant. And really Robert the Bruce, the last one, they're all called Robert Bruce, which is not very convenient. So he's number seven. He spent his 20s and early 30s trying to make good that claim to the throne. And in 1306 he managed to do that, but at the cost of murdering his rival for the throne, John Comyn. So it wasn't a great start. Of course, he was fighting the Commons, who were a very, very important family in Scotland, and Edward I, the King of England, who had taken over Scotland. So it's an inauspicious start to Bruce's reign and he's rubbish to start with, and he ends up in exile. But when he comes back to Scotland, having survived goodness knows how, he's a changed man. And he is an incredible military leader, using anything and everything to breed success for himself and his and his followers. And in the next year or so, he manages to start reconquering his own kingdom. It helps, of course, that Edward I dies in 1307 and England is in a bit of difficulty, financial difficulty. So he then concentrates on the civil war in Scotland. And he then, in 1313, is bold enough, brave enough, whatever you want to call it, to say to those Scots holding land in Scotland who do not support him, you've got a year or else he'll be forfeited. And that leads to the Battle of Bannockburn, which of course, Scots win. And that means that all those Scots who look to Edward II for support, they turn to Bruce. But it doesn't win the war. It slowly grinds to a halt. In the early 1320s, there's a long truce, a 13 year truce. England descends into civil war. Edward II is deposed, and Bruce takes advantage of this, despite the truce, to raid England and force a final peace treaty acknowledging him as king. And Scotland in 13 from the Regency government for Edward III. And he dies. He gets a year off and he dies in 1329.
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Historian Fiona Watson
That was one hell of a whistle stop tour. To his life. We're certainly going to come back to talk about all of these things as we chat. But first, something you mentioned there is that he's not the only Robert the Bruce. So our Roberts as the number seven, when and where was he born?
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eBay Announcer
Well, we know when he was born, 1274. The where is more problematic. People presume it was at Turnberry. His father had inherited the Earldom of Carrick through his wife, who was the heiress. But what evidence there is suggests he was actually born, wait for it in Essex. So, yeah, I'm afraid he's an Essex boy.
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Historian Fiona Watson
And what do we know about his childhood and youth?
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eBay Announcer
Next to nothing. But obviously he was brought up as a nobleman, you know, so he would learn all the things that a nobleman would do, how to use weapons, how to ride a horse, how to be administratively useful. The only different thing about our Robert Bruce is that we do know that all the sons of Robert Bruce number six, his father, the Earl of Carrick. Carrick, like Galloway, is a Gaelic speaking part of Scotland. In Gaelic culture, boys are fostered into another family. And so we know that Robert Bruce was sent away probably around the age of eight. We don't know with whom. Certainly our Robert Bruce was very, very fond of the Gaelic world, really understood it up to a point, and almost certainly could speak Gaelic.
- [06:39]
Historian Fiona Watson
Now I think one of the major first moments that we should talk about is the death of Alexander III and the succession crisis that follows that. I think that's a huge piece of context for us. Can you explain what happened and what was the result for our Robert?
- [06:56]
eBay Announcer
Yes. In 1286, Alexander III, the king of Scots, died. He had through his first wife, who was sister of Edward I of England, he had had three children, including two sons. So you good. But all of these children had pre deceased him. The only heir he had was his granddaughter Margaret, the Maid of Norway. But she died. And so now we have a succession crisis into which steps Edward I, as Alexander's brother in law, he'd already been involved. Our Robert Bruce's grandfather, Robert Bruce V, believed he should be king and he had fomented civil war in Scotland, which is the thing you really, really don't want. So Edward I had been asked by the Scots to just keep an eye on things and it sud occurs to him that the English kings have claimed overlordship of Scotland. There were grounds for the English kings to claim that, but equally Scotland had functioned as a fully independent kingdom and the kings of Scots had certainly denied that. The English kings held that position for Scotland itself. The problem was that the Scottish kings had lands in England and they did have to swear homage and fealty for those. Anyway, the point is that Edward I tried at this point to get the Scots to acknowledge it. The Scots wouldn't do that. So what he did was plan B, and that was that all the competitors for the throne who now came out the woodwork, most of them, it must be said, encouraged by Edward, they had to swear homage and fealty to him to get in the competition. The man who was last to do so was John Balliol, who believed he had the best claim to the throne. It's through his grandmother and Robert Bruce, the competitor number five, he it's his mother, so they both in law have a case. Anyway, the one who was first to swear Homerton fealty to Edward I was Robert Bruce. Despite what the chronicles said later, he was very, very keen to be king. But in the end, to cut a very long story short, it's John Balliol who's judged by Edward I to be the rightful King of Scots. So very quickly it becomes clear to the Scots that Edward I is really going to make his overlordship count and make the Scots do things that they didn't want to do, particularly in fore foreign policy and in relation to Edward's impending war with France, including potentially having Scots go and fight there. The war with France also gives Scotland an opportunity. They are attractive to the French as allies against Edward I in this upcoming war. Secretly, the Scots negotiate a treaty of mutual aid with France and Edward starts to become suspicious, so he launches an invasion.
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Historian Fiona Watson
So, of course, the Bruces turn to Edward. How does John Balliol's reign, how does it work out for them?
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eBay Announcer
Well, John Balliol himself was very firm with the Bruces. There was also shenanigans that the Bruces, as usual, were trying to perpetrate to make sure that the middle Bruce, because there's three of them alive at this point in time, all called Robert the Grandfather, who's the Lord of Annandale. The original Bruce holdings, he keeps them. He passes his claim to the throne to the middle Bruce, number six, who passes his earldom of Carrick on to the youngest Bruce, our man. And that means that the middle one is free to pursue the claim to the throne because the Bruces haven't given up. But they end up, I think, by the end of John Balliol's reign, or just before the invasion, with no Scottish lands, they've lost everything. So they naturally, of course, come with the army that Edward I brings into Scotland, hoping, expecting that when John Balliol's been dealt with as he was and stripped of his kingship, that they'll be next. But Edward I has had enough of kings of Scots and he says, I'm just going to run it myself, so no, I've got better things to do than win kingdoms for you. Shock horror.
- [11:00]
Historian Fiona Watson
How did Robert vii, or Robert as we're calling him throughout this episode, it seems, how did he try and take advantage of this political vacuum?
- [11:10]
eBay Announcer
Initially, the, the Bruces just knuckle down. They are part of Edward I's administration, although they don't actually even get very much out of that, having been loyal supporters. But very quickly in 12, by 1297 the following year, given that King John is in prison in England, a lot of those supporters, those who'd fought for him, including the all important common family, that's C O M Y N. They are the politically the most powerful family in Scotland, very wealthy. They related to Balliol and they had backed him. They're all the way in England, they're out of the country. So there is a political vacuum that young Robert Bruce, our man, takes advantage of. And it's very clear. I don't think there's any evidence because sometimes it's said that, you know, families operate on both sides just to make sure that they still come out winners. I don't think there's any evidence of that. Young Robert Bruce feels is as passionate about the claim to the throne as his grandfather was and he's like his grandfather in terms of the energy he brings to it. Now what he does is he does gather an army together and there are a number of his supporters, James Stuart and Robert Wishart, the Bishop of Glasgow, who's been very instrumental in the first phase supporting Scottish independence. But they don't really rebel. They say they don't rebel against Edward I because there's a few rebellions broken out by a guy called William Wallace that you may have heard of, but there is another one led by this aristocratic trio. But what they say when they are brought to submit is that they are actually acting on behalf middling sort, the middle classes of Scotland, who are really worried that they're going to be asked to go and fight in Edward's war in France. So it's not, sir, that we object to your rule, it's just that we think you're being a bit heavy handed and you need to remedy this. That's their line of argument at this point. And what Bruce is doing really is using that he's very young still, and so he's just putting his credentials as a leader of the Scottish political community. Given that his family have not been prominent in Scotland for the last five or six years, he is putting himself forward as a leader. And that's pretty bold and quite effective because, of course, in 1297, we have the Battle of Stirling Bridge, which William Wallace and Andrew Murray win against the Earl of Surrey and his English army. Murray dies after the battle. Wallace becomes the Guardian of Scotland in the name of the absent king, John Balliol. But Wallace then is defeated by Edward I himself in the intervening period. We don't really know when, but at some point in that year, 1298, Robert Bruce, who's now the Earl of Carrick, number seven, our man, he becomes Guardian of Scotland, but in conjunction with John Commyn the younger of Badenoch. So these two young men, similar age, competing ambitions. Definitely competing ambitions. They become guardians together, but it is not an easy relationship.
- [14:11]
Historian Fiona Watson
Can you tell us about this relationship? Presumably it was quite a fraught one then.
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eBay Announcer
Oh, absolutely. In the first, I mean, John Commyn, his family runs Scotland to a large extent on behalf of the Kings of Scots. They're very powerful, very wealthy, and John Commyn, he's nephew of King John. If there's things to be run, he'll be running it. There is no love lost at all between him and Robert Bruce. We know this because in 1299, an English spy reports on a meeting of the council meeting, if you like, of the Scots, where William Wallace still wants to fight for Scottish independence and he is about to go to the continent. His brother, Sir Malcolm, his elder brother, is in the retinue of Robert Bruce. And one of John Comyn's men goes up to Malcolm Wallace and accuses his brother of treason. And Lacey Majesty, perhaps suspecting Sir William of going to Europe to lobby for the Bruces, there's a big hoo ha and John Comyn comes out and he seizes Bruce by the throat. That's how bad the relationship is. But they kind of patch things up a bit. Well, they all go their separate ways. The other thing that John Comyn makes Robert Bruce do, what you can see is when Robert Bruce's guardian issues any charters, he doesn't mention King John. Funnily enough, he's guardian technically in the name of King John, but I think Robert Bruce sees himself as guardian of the Kingdom of Scotland until the rightful king is finally acknowledged. So what John Common does is he makes Robert Bruce say he's guardian in the name of King John, so that anytime there's a joint kind of issuing of a document by the Guardians, that rubric is in there. The Bishop of St Andrews, William Lamberton, is put in to keep the peace. He'll be the senior guardian, you know, because otherwise these two men are just going to be at each other's throats. But, you know, a year later, 1300, Bruce's effectively been pushed out of the Guardianship because John Comyn is too powerful for him. And another common adherent is put in as the third Guardian. So Bruce is effectively neutral at this point. He doesn't join Edward I, but he doesn't, except when his own lands are threatened by the English. He doesn't bring his own armies out for the Guardians either. So this is kind of another wilderness period in Robert Bruce's life. He has a few of these where we don't really know what he's doing. And then the situation changes again. John Balliol is released from the town of London to papal custody. Papal custody situated in France. And at some point, 1301, it's the king of France who then gets his hands on Balliol. And both Edward I and Robert Bruiserl of Carrick think, oh, my goodness, John Balliol's going to be coming back to Scotland at the head of a French army. And for Robert Bruce, that is the final straw. And then there is this curious, curious element of the submission agreement between Edward I and Robert Bruce, which mentions le droit, the right. So that, to my mind, is referring sort of to the Bruce claim to the throne that Edward I is prepared vaguely to countenance should Balliol come back, because that would split the Scots, he thinks, unfortunately for the Bruces, but not for Edward I. The French are then defeated in probably the biggest battle you'll never have heard of, the Battle of Courtrai against the Flemings. And Philip has, you know, he's the Flemings to deal with now, so he wants to be friends with Edward I. So he comes to a final peace treaty with Edward I, which excludes the Scots. So the Scots are isolated diplomatically. So if Bruce had just waited, there would be. There's no chance now of Balliol coming back. And in fact, John Balliol signs over his rights to the throne of Scotland to the King of France. So Balliol's bowing out. So that is the situation, 1302. Going into 1303, Edward has been fairly successful in reconquering Scotland. It's been a slow process. The Scots have put up excellent resistance. By the beginning of 13 oh, 3. Edward controls Southern Scotland from east to west. It's the great barrier of the River Forth that he needs to cross into what you might call Free Scotland. The bit that the Guardians have had control of. That's what Edward does in 1303. Now, John Colman is the only guardian at this point. Very sensibly, they try to divide the English, but that doesn't happen. And indeed, by the end of 1303, John Commons sues for peace and is given actually fairly generous terms. Certainly to begin with, nobody's going to lose any lives or limbs or anything like that. They'll get their lands back. Although Edward kind of rolls back over that a little bit. And as far as everyone's concerned, that's it. Except that there's an interesting moment, which was actually used in the film Outlaw King, when Edward I is putting the finishing touches on his conquest of Scotland, portraying it as a law and order issue rather than a reconquest, because the Scots are all in his army camped outside Stirling Castle, which is the last post of resistance. And at this point, Robert Bruce hears of the death of his father, which of course means that the claim to the throne is now his. And at the same time, and surely not coincidentally, we know that he makes an agreement with William Lamerton, the Bishop of St. Andrews, who's Scotland's senior churchman, that they will defend each other in some unspecified endeavor. Can't think what that would have been for a penalty, a huge penalty, you know, millions of pounds worth by our money. And most importantly, they do not in this document, save their allegiance to King Edward, which both of them have sworn homage and fealty to Edward. But this document does not say, as it should, that they will do something saving our allegiance to King Edward. You know, I. We wouldn't go against that, would we? So that's the situation even as Edward I, who's. He's in his 60s now and everyone can see in Scotland that Edward is not well, that it's only a matter of time until he's out the picture. I think Bruce is plotting. And in February 1306, it all comes to a head.
- [20:53]
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- [21:38]
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Historian Fiona Watson
This brings us to quite a pivotal moment in our Robert, Robert the Bruce's lifetime. And that is the killing or murder of John Comyn. Now, was this a premeditated murder or a crime of passion?
- [22:21]
eBay Announcer
Well, it depends which historian you ask. But since you're asking me for me, I am absolutely convinced it was premeditated. Now, the problem that we have is that both sides, both the common Edward I side and the Robert Bruce side, immediately had to put out some heavy duty propaganda to back up their version of events. But if you actually go minutely over the sort of timeline, in 1305, Robert Bruce had been submitted to Edward for a good few years. At that point, he was very active in the reconquest of Scotland and trusted by King Edward. And he is one of those chosen to go back to Scotland to oversee a council meeting, a kind of small parliament thing that would choose representatives to go down to England to see about the future governance of Scotland. And that, I think, is when Robert Bruce realizes that the clock is ticking. The commons know just as well as he is that Edward is on his last legs. And very quickly it becomes clear that Robert Bruce, who's not really been part of Scottish politics for the last few years, he's yesterday's man. They don't need him. And more importantly, the common claim to the throne that is being published in chronicles, we can see it. The credentials are being put out there for people to see. We have to remember that John Comyn was King John Balliol's nephew. So he's the nearest living relative to the previous king in Scotland. So for all of this, you can see that John Colman of Badenoch has very, very strong credentials, that when Edward dies under oaths of loyalty, die with him. The Scots will pick John Colman, not Robert Bruce. You know, who the heck is he? So that is why, to my mind, Robert Bruce had to move and move quickly before Edward was dead. So that's why he asks John Carmen to come to a meeting in the Church of the Greyfriars in Dumfries in South West Scotland, because obviously there is no love lost between them. And so John Comyn will agree to a meeting in a church because surely nothing bad could happen there. Yeah. So from what we can tell, because as I say, the record is extremely murky, there was a brief conversation and then John Comyn was stabbed and his uncle Robert Bruce and his men seem to have been wearing armour. John Colman didn't, because why would he? He had no reason to fear anybody in a church or next to a church in a monastery. So there we are, he's done it. We also know that Robert Bruce had put supplies in various couple of west coast castles. That's not the action of someone who just suddenly lost his temper when he met John Colman, to my mind, he absolutely planned it. They then rode to a meeting in the castle in Dumfries where the Sheriff was holding court. They captured him and off they went. I mean, Robert Bruce wasn't stupid. He knew that he now had the most powerful family in Scotland after him. He wasn't going to survive very long if he couldn't do something about that. So what he seems to have done is approach Edward I, who is the stronger man, because it would be still a step up to be king under Edward I, as John Balliol had been. But Edward I was not interested. And when he gets no answer, the Bishop of Glasgow, Robert Wishart, says, well, you're a dead man if you don't go and make yourself king, because only as king can you call out armies. So that's exactly what happens. On 25th March, 1306, Robert Bruce goes to school where a few men and the Bishop of St Andrews made him king. But you know, it's going to be a long, long haul.
- [26:07]
Historian Fiona Watson
At this time, his early reign, was he a competent king?
- [26:13]
eBay Announcer
He was rubbish. I mean, he, I mean, it was almost like, do all the things that you shouldn't do if you want to survive. He approaches Perth, which is a walled town at this point, Aymer de Valence, the Earl of Pembroke, is in charge of the English forces at this point, he's in Perth and Robert Bruce goes up to him and says, do you fancy a battle? And Emma de Valence says, oh no, it's a feast day, you know, we really shouldn't fight today. And Bruce goes, okay, tomorrow, that's fine. And off he goes and they start Foraging. They move a bit west of Perth and they're all off their horses, they're all foraging. Silly, silly, no sentries posted. And of course, he might have right behind him and sweeps through the camp. Bruce, I mean, I think his cloak has ceased, but he manages to escape. So, you know, it's just sheer good luck. That sums it up. You know, it's one disaster to another. He sends his women folk north. Probably they're heading for Norway where Bruce's sister is Queen Mother. But they're captured. You know, he doesn't have an heir. It's catastrophe after catastrophe. And in the end, this is Bruce entering his spider phase. The original story about the spider, I hate to say this was actually written about James Douglas, one of Bruce's stalwart commanders, but hey, it really sums up this period where, you know, you could imagine him sitting in this cave with no friends. He's been eating grass and herbs and what have you on the hillside. It's just miserable. And the spider inspires him to come back. I mean, I don't know why Hollywood doesn't do the real story, because you've got this man of utter, utter ruthless ambition. Yeah, but not the wherewithal to back it up, not the military expertise. So he has proved sadly lacking. But over that winter, 1378, I don't know what he does. He almost certainly was in the Hebrides and he probably learned about guerrilla fighting, which is the Gaelic way of fighting. So he learned how to fight, how to fight to win. So not to fight the way he's been brought up as a chivalric knight, but as effectively a guerrilla fighter who will look at the terrain, who will look at the weather, who will look at what he's up against and use anything and everything to bring about victory.
- [28:28]
Historian Fiona Watson
He eventually returns to the fray as this almost warrior king figure. How does he prove his mettle?
- [28:37]
eBay Announcer
Yes, well, he managed to take castles by any stratagem. And when you've got the castle, including his own castle of Turnberry, he puts his money where his mouth is, he pulls it down or he makes it uninhabitable because he views them castles as of more use to the enemy than to him. He uses ambushes, narrow places and hit and run, and anything you're going to do, anything hard and difficult, we're going to do it even more hard and difficult. But though there are ambushes like Inglentrue, which is in the border between his own earldom of Carrick and Galloway, he does fight a set piece battle against Aymer de Valence. So he gets his revenge after Perth. At Loudon Hill, which straddles the road between Ayr and Glasgow, he digs ditches so that the cavalry, the English cavalry, cannot spread out and come round him. This is the first time that the English are confronted by a form of fighting, a bit of nous in terms of thinking about terrain and using touraine to the advantage of. But most of the time, Bruce does not fight that kind of battle because he doesn't want to show his hand very often. So mostly it is just guerrilla tactics, hit and run. And then, of course, in 1307, Edward I dies within sight of Scotland. He's terribly ill, but he makes his son promise to carry on the war, which Prince Edward, now King Edward ii, does for a couple of months. And then he goes, oh, do you know what? I've got a coronation to organize. And because Edward I has basically emptied the English treasury with all these wars, and Edward II is not the people manager that you really needed in that situation. And English army does not come to Scotland for three years. And that gives Bruce the opportunity to go against his enemies in Scotland, particularly the Commons. And that's exactly what he does.
- [30:26]
Historian Fiona Watson
Obviously, the Commons are very powerful at this time. How does Robert the Bruce manage to stamp this threat out? How did he put them down, as it were?
- [30:34]
eBay Announcer
Yeah, no, that's a very, very good question. I think it's in part because John Comyn of Badenoch was actually a very innovative military leader. He hasn't got much credit for that. He doesn't get much credit for anything, really. His cousin, John Common, Earl of Buchan, wasn't quite so successful as a military leader, and it's him who now leads the Commons. So that's the first thing. The second thing is that Bruce's reputation now is on the up, that people are starting to believe in him in a way that they couldn't in 1306. But as he's preparing to meet the Comyns in battle, up in the northeast of Scotland, which is where John Common Buchan is based, he's struck down by illness. And the rumours are flying that Bruce is dead, but he's not, he's very ill, we don't know what with, but he insists that he's propped up and brought onto the battlefield on a litter. And the sight of him, just the word of his approach going through the Commons army is enough to have people go, oh, oh, no, we're not going to face them. Basically, by the end of that year, all those who backed the Commons, have fled Scotland. And so Bruce has been allowed really to deal with that threat. And in 1309 he feels confident enough to hold his first parliament at St Andrews. And his chancery have clearly been writing to the papacy, despite that small detail of the murder of John Colman when he had been excommunicated, but Robert Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow, had undone that. So Scotland is now diplomatically engaged with Europe on behalf of Robert Bruce. And also Bruce is showing himself as a peacetime ruler as well as a military leader, because he's got to do both. And he's even big enough, magnanimous enough. William L of Ross, who was responsible for the capture of his, his wife, his daughter and the execution of one of his brothers, to not only pardon the Earl of Ross, but to give him lands, because he thinks it's more important to his cause to have him on side than not. So that shows you again that Bruce will do what needs to be done, no matter what it is, in order to forward his career and his kingship. So there, that's kind of, that's kind of where we are. Edward II comes back to Scotland in 1310 because basically the heat's too much in London. His nobility, led by his cousin Thomas of Lancaster, want to constrain him, want to stop his spending, and most particularly his spending on his favourites, the most important of whom is Piers Gaveston. So he comes with Piers to Scotland with an army to deal with Scotland, but really to get out of the way of those who would constrain him. And they're there for about a year or so. And that, that puts Hart into the anti Bruce forces in Scotland and there's a bit of containment and the strengthening of the English garrisons there. And Bruce basically just moves out of the way for as long as they're there, because why would you take on an English army? But of course, Edward does eventually have to go back south and that allows Bruce to again target English garrisons. And over the course of 1312, 1313, he's very successful, or he and his generals are very successful. By the autumn of 1313, Bruce has most of Scotland under his control. What he doesn't have is the most important ones. He doesn't have Stirling right in the centre, right in the heart of Scotland, controlling particularly the North South Passage and Berwick, which although now in England, was very, very important to the Scots and also had been very important to Edward I, because it's a really, really important trading port in the medieval staple of wool. And in October 1313. He feels that he's ready to say, right, make or break time. If anyone owns the lands in Scotland, they have to accept me as king or lose them. And you've got one year to do that. Now, that is tantamount to saying to Edward ii, well, you either bring an army up or you just let all these people come to me. So he knows that Edward II is going to bring an army north. Bruce is also very keen, of course, to decide where the battle should be. So in the spring of 1314, the siege of Stirling begins and an arrangement is made with the garrison commander, Mobley, who's Scot on Edward II's side, that if that castle is not relieved by midsummer 1314, it will be handed over to the Scots. Robert Bruce wants Edward II to come there. It's very marshy, boggy, not good for cavalry. It's good for Robert Bruce. And indeed, the minute that Edward ii, who's on his way north, hears about this arrangement, he actually orders more foot soldiers because he knows the cavalry are going to be no use to him. So this is the context to one of the most famous events in Scottish history, the Battle of Bannockburn.
- [35:33]
Historian Fiona Watson
Of all the famous battles of medieval history, Bannockburn is certainly up there. So we definitely need to talk about it. Can you give us a very quick run through of what happened and why is it so significant?
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eBay Announcer
Well, it's so significant because the Scots won and it's unusual and it's gone down, you know, as this, you know, David and Goliath encounter. It's a two day event. That's the first thing to say on the first day. The Scots are guarding the Rome, the old Roman road that comes from Falkirk to Stirling, which of course is what the English are going to have to take. The Scots are in what's called the new park. It's not densely forested, but there will be trees. So Scots are there again. They've dug ditches to ensure that the English wouldn't again come round and try and cut them off. At this point, the garrison commander, Sir Mubry, is allowed to come out from the castle to go and speak with Edward ii. And what Mubry says is basically to Edward, he says, look, you've come within the stipulated three miles, you've relieved the castle, you could just go home if you wanted. And Edward goes, I didn't come all this way to go home without basically defeating the Scots in battle. That's what I'm here for and that's what I'm going to do. And then There's a series of encounters, the exact sequence of which is not, again, not very clear. What seems to have happened is that the English vanguard charges at the Scots, so the leading brigade of the English charges. And that's when you get the famous Sir Henry de Boon incident, where a young knight sees glory in the form of King Robert. So he goes thundering towards King Robert, who, as cool as a cucumber, waits, waits, waits, waits, and then just wheels his horse round so that the knight goes past him, rises up in his stirrups and brings his great warhammer down and cleaves Sir Henry's head. The rest of the English vanguard then continue their charge and the Scots repel them. So that's two nil to Scotland, the third event of the day. Older, wiser heads. This is Sir Robert Clifford, who's a veteran of the Scottish wars, and Sir Henry, Henry Beaumont. These two start using their heads instead of just throwing the usual cavalry charge at the Scots, and they contour round to try to get to Stirling Castle. They're probably trying to get behind Robert Bruce and cut off his retreat should he choose to decide to retreat. And again they are repelled. So that's three nil. And Edward II decides the cavalry need to get watered and possibly just think again. So they go down onto what's called the Carse of Stirling, that's the boggy floodplain of the River Forth, and there's a council of war in which the Earl of Gloucester, who's actually related to Robert Bruce, says, maybe we should think twice about what we're doing. Maybe we should wait a bit because the foot soldiers are frankly exhausted and people like Henry Beaumont, these kind of people, accuse him of cowardice. And that explains what happens next. But listening to this is a Scot adhering Tedward II called Sir Alexander Seton, and he looks at the English and sees the disarray, and he slips away out of the English camp and goes to Robert Bruce at this crucial moment and says, stay. They're divided. They've not got a plan. You can win. And Bruce then turns to his nobility and says, look, it's up to you guys. And they go fight, fight, fight. And this is Bruce thinking outside the box doing what needs to be done. He says, okay, if you want to fight, we'll fight, but there's two things you're not allowed to do. One, you're not allowed to take any booty, and two, you're not allowed to take prisoners for ransom until we've won. It's going to be Discipline. He decides to fight. The next morning, there's an archer skirmish first off, so the English archers have clearly been sent ahead. They meet Scottish archers, and it must be said, as you'd expect, the English archers do better. And then they're all arrayed, the Scots come down from where their position and then they kneel and they hear mass. And Edward repeatedly says to another Scot in his army, he said, look, they're kneeling in front of me. They've seen sense. And he goes, I don't think so, sir. They're kneeling. Before God, they're gonna fight. And that's exactly what happens. And there is of course this cavalry charge led by Gloucester. But remember what Bruce had said, you're not taking even an earl prisoner. And Gloucester is killed in that first wave, among many others, including Sir Robert Clifford, who as I say, had been a stalwart of the young Scottish wars. So this is disaster. And then it kind of just all unravels. The foot soldiers who would have been of use in this terrain, they're at the back, they're not deployed, and eventually it breaks and everybody scatters. Edward II himself is personally brave. He's in there, but eventually his nobility think, all right, we need to get him out of here, otherwise he's going to be captured or dead. And so they initially go to Stirling Castle. So Philip Mowbray shuts the gates against Edward ii, either because he was so disgusted by the fact the English have just lost the battle, or he realized, realized if Edward II was admitted to Stirling he would be captured. And then Edward II just hears it south to Dunbar, where the Earl of Dunbar, who is a consistent English supporter, puts him on a boat, sends him off and then, and then submits to King Robert because that's it. All those people who were looking for Edward II's support, well, they've got it. But it's, it's, it's a complete fiasco. There were many knights captured, of course, including in Bothwell Castle, a stonking castle on the river Clyde. Again, who's commander admits the English who are fleeing, including the Earl of Hereford, who's Edward II's brother in law, admits them and then promptly hands them over to King Robert because he's not daft. And that the Earl of Hereford in particular, his ransom brought the only real tangible result of the battle of Bannockburn for Robert Bruce, which was the return of his wife and his daughter. It was really hard to know what Bannockburn achieved, because if you read Scottish history books, even very Good ones. It's as if, you know, we get the battle of Bannockburn, and then we get the peace treaty, but there's 14 years in between. So clearly it's not cause and effect. Both kings are equally stubborn. So again, you. You get this war of attrition. As far as most Scots are concerned, the war is over because the English generally don't come up to Scotland. Scotland is all Robert Bruce's. But for Bruce, it's not enough. It's not enough. He wants the piece of paper. He wants acknowledgement of his own kingship and Scotland's independence. So he goes, okay, what can we do? Now? He's already been raiding the north of England, but he elevates this to an art form of blackmail. And it's horrific for northern England. After initially doing the whole burning out and taking the cattle, he just goes, well, if you don't want me to do that again, just pay me some money. So he earns a huge amount of money, which is good, because Scots are not up for taxation. So that means Robert Bruce doesn't lose popularity because he's making the English pay for the war against them. He then also tries to open another front, sends his brother Edward to Ireland to open another front. There they seem to collude as well with the Welsh, so that the English are encircled, which was what the English were afraid of. Berwick is now the last English garrison on Scottish soil. But Bruce gets that in 1318. But it's not all plain sailing for Robert Bruce, because in 1316, after a hiatus of two years, we get a new Pope. There hasn't been a Pope for two years. And this Pope is very vigorous, very energetic. He was a lawyer, and he wants a crusade. But to get his crusade, he needs all the warring parties of medieval Western Europe to stop fighting each other, and that includes the English and the Scots. And in the meantime, there should be a truce. Now, as far as Robert Bruce is concerned, he hasn't achieved what he needs to achieve. He wants, still wants, believes that he can force Edward II to the negotiating table. So he. It's. It's hilarious and convoluted, but basically, he pretends he's never got the Pope's letters. And that works for a while, but, I mean, the Pope's getting more and more apoplectic. And eventually, he reiterates the sentence of excommunication on Robert Bruce for the murder of John Commynes, but also for ignoring the Pope. But he also now threatens it over Scotland, Scotland as a whole. And that is the prelude to another famous moment in Scottish history, which is the Declaration of Art Broth, or the Letter of the Barons, as it actually was known until the 20th century, really, I think after the defeat and death of Edward Bruce in 1318 in Ireland, which leaves Robert Bruce without an heir, at least without an adult heir, he. He realizes that he's going to have to engage in diplomacy. And so finally, he starts to talk to the Pope. There's actually three letters sent. Because the Pope has asked. Well, no, he's demanded that King Robert and his Church, who are not supporting the papal line, turn up in Avignon, which is where the papacy is. They turn up and they explain themselves. He's clearly received two letters, one from the Scottish Church and one from King Robert. And it's about a month later that he receives the Declaration, the famous one. And the Pope is, because he's pragmatic, he goes, right, well, you've behaved really badly, really badly. I'm very upset, but if you work towards peace, I'll forgive you. But the excommunication isn't lifted. When the letter from the barons arrives, he writes back and says, that's lovely. Yeah, absolutely. And if you're all committed to peace and you work make sure that your king works for peace, then I will look favorably on you. Now, at the same time, we shouldn't Forget that it 1320 is the year when there is supposedly an assassination attempt against King Robert. There's a man called William Soules who had a claim to the throne and was supposedly to be the beneficiary of this plot. He ends up in prison. Others are executed. Others are executed for knowing about the plot, not being part of it, but knowing about it and not saying anything. So it's all very murky. It shows Bruce's ruthless side that he absolutely deals with this. But what it also shows is that we're entering a period of stalemate again. A lot of those Scots who had come to Bruce after Bannockburn, but who really can't stomach it anymore, they flee as a result of this supposed plot. And so this gives Bruce the opportunity to start granting out lands. Now he can start to reshape Scotland in terms of its landowning, with himself at the heart of it and his men. Scotland is beginning to change. But what is happening is that the military option has not worked. And though there is more raiding and occasionally the English come back up to try to take back Berwick, which the Scots now have, and again are defeated, it's kind of grounding to a halt. The war and in 1323, this 13 year truce disagreed between them. Most importantly, binding should either king die now, given that Robert Bruce is good, 10 years older than Edward II, has not always been in the best of health, has had a very vigorous life, he would be expecting to die first. That truce will secure Scotland into the next generation. So it's the best that I think Bruce could hope for. And at this point, Thomas Randolph, his nephew, is writing to the Pope who's very pleased with the 13 year truce, but it's not a final piece, so you're still not forgiven. And that's how it should have ended. Except it doesn't, because in 1327, I think it is Edward II, who's now really unpopular, thinking of divorcing his wife, Isabella of France, a sister of the French King. He allows her and their son, 12 year old Prince Edward, to go to the continent. And what they do when they get there is they meet with all these disaffected English nobles and they plot to come back and depose Edward ii. With Edward III being very young, he's crowned, but he's not in charge, it's his mother, Isabella and her lover, Roger Mortimer, who was one of the disaffected nobles who've come back. But Bruce, despite the truce, sees an opportunity and he raids into northern England, smashes into northern England and Isabella and Mortimer think, oh, gee, do you know what? I think we'll just deal with the Scots, we'll make a peace treaty with the Scots and then we don't have to think about them and we'll deal with the problems in England. So that's exactly what happens in 1328. A final peace treaty acknowledging Scottish independence and Robert Bruce's king is sealed. It's the Treaty of Edinburgh, Northampton. And as part of that, David Bruce, the young David Bruce, is to be married to Edward III's sister, Joan. You know, as far as Robert Bruce is concerned, he's done it, he has done the absolutely incredible and unimaginable. You know, he's, he's, he's rid Scotland of the English, which he certainly didn't look like doing in 1306. And he's got his piece of paper and he retires. He has a manor house at a place called Kirdross near Dumbarton on the River Clyde, so that Bruce can get his galleys out down the Clyde and up to the west coast, which is where he feels at home. And then in July 1329, the great Robert Bruce dies and is buried in Dunfermline. Abbey. Of course, it's not the end. The war breaks out only a few years later. But Scotland has survived. And Robert Bruce, you know, he has gone down in the annals of greatness. I, I think, you know, a. We don't believe the propaganda of Robert Bruce. You know, he murdered a man in cold blood in my, in my book. That's terrible. But at the same time, I actually think that Robert Bruce doesn't get the credit he deserves for being an outstanding military leader among. You know, it could hold his head up against many great military leaders.
- [49:35]
Historian Fiona Watson
So, obviously, Robert the Bruce has this somewhat sparkling, courageous legacy and reputation, especially today he's seen as a national hero. And you've sort of hinted how you think we should maybe nuance that picture slightly. So, with that in mind, as a final question to you, how do you think we should really be thinking about him today?
- [49:56]
eBay Announcer
I think first and foremost, it's a great military leader. But he was a military leader who should have died an ignominious murderer's death. The fact that he didn't is part of his greatness. You don't want a nice guy leading Scotland in this period, do you? You want a guy who's ruthless and wants to win. And Bruce was that par excellence. He was also lucky. I think that's really important. There were many points at which he just shouldn't have survived. And also he clearly was charismatic. So, you know, I think that we've got a man who was utterly ruthless, could have Destroyed Scotland in 1306, he split Scotland in two. And how Scotland came out of that again is a testament to Britain genius and his luck. But it was touch and gold.
- [50:43]
Emily Briffitt
That was historian Fiona Watson speaking to me. Emily Briffitt. Fiona is author of numerous books on Scottish history, including Traitor, Outlaw, King, about Robert the Bruce. A feature Fiona wrote on Bruce appeared recently in BBC History Magazine, available now on the History Extra website.
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eBay Announcer
She.
- [51:03]
Emily Briffitt
She's also the author of new fictional novel Lies of the Flesh, set immediately in the aftermath of the Battle of Bannockburn and published by Polygon. For more on Bannockburn, listen in to our episode with Helen Carr, where she tells the story of the battle. You can find a link to that in the description of this episode.
- [51:24]
Historian Fiona Watson
Thanks for listening to today's Life of the Week. Be sure to join us again next.
- [51:28]
Emily Briffitt
Time to learn about another fascinating figure from the past.