King Robert the Bruce of Scots

Robert was born on 11 July 1274 into an aristocratic Scottish family. Through his father he was distantly related to the Scottish royal family. His mother had Gaelic antecedents. Bruce's grandfather was one of the claimants to the Scottish throne during a succession dispute in 1290 - 1292. Bruce then supported William Wallace's uprising against the English. After Wallace was defeated, Bruce's lands were not confiscated and in 1298, Bruce became a guardian of Scotland, with John Comyn, Balliol's nephew and Bruce's greatest rival for the Scottish throne In 1306, Bruce quarrelled with Comyn and stabbed him in a church in Dumfries. He was outlawed by Edward and excommunicated by the pope.

Bruce now proclaimed his right to the throne and on 27 March was crowned king at Scone. Returning to Scotland, Robert waged a highly successful guerrilla war against the English. At the Battle of Bannockburn at Stirling in June 1314, he defeated a much larger English army under Edward II, confirming the re-establishment of an independent Scottish monarchy.. Even after Bannockburn and the Scottish capture of Berwick in 1318, Edward II refused to give up his claim to the overlordship of Scotland. In 1320, the Scottish earls, barons and the 'community of the realm' sent a letter to Pope John XXII declaring that Robert was their rightful monarch. This was the 'Declaration of Arbroath' and it asserted the antiquity of the Scottish people and their monarchy.

Four years later, Robert received papal recognition as king of an independent Scotland. This included a total renunciation of all English claims to superiority over Scotland. Robert died on 7 June 1329 at the Parish of Cardross (modern day Renton). He was buried at Dunfermline. He requested that his heart be taken to the Holy Land by his loyal friend Sir James Douglas, but it only got as far as Spain. It was returned to Scotland and buried in Melrose Abbey. He is without doubt the greatest King Scotland has ever had on the throne.