Robert II of Scotland

Robert II (2 March 1316 – 19 April 1390) became King of Scots in 1371 as the first monarch of the House of Stewart. He was the son of Walter Stewart, hereditary High Steward of Scotland and of Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert I and of his first wife Isabella of Mar. (The marriage of princess Marjorie took place in 1315, making Robert's probable birth date early in 1316.)

Robert I had made his brother Edward his heir ahead of Marjorie, but following Edward's death without issue on 3 December 1318 at the Battle of Dundalk in Ireland, Robert Stewart became heir presumptive to his grandfather. His mother Marjorie died in 1317 following a fall from a horse. Robert Stewart's rights as heir to the throne lapsed on the birth of a son, afterwards David II, to Robert I and his second wife Elizabeth de Burgh on 5 March 1324.

Robert Stewart became High Steward following his father's death on 9 April 1326, and the parliament held in July 1326 confirmed him as heir presumptive should Prince David die without issue. In 1329 Robert I died and the six year-old David succeeded him on the throne. Sir Thomas Randolph, earl of Moray became the designated Guardian of Scotland, and the young Steward passed into the care of his uncle Sir James Stewart of Durrisdeer.

Edward Balliol, son of King John Balliol, assisted by English and Scottish nobles disinherited by Robert I, invaded Scotland and he and his supporters inflicted heavy defeats on the Bruce party at Dupplin Moor on 11 August 1332 and at Halidon Hill on 10 July 1333. The Steward fought at Halidon, where his uncle, Sir James Stewart, was killed. Following this battle, Balliol provided his supporter David Strathbogie, the titular earl of Atholl, with the Steward's lands and estates in the west, forcing Robert to escape to the fortress of Dumbarton Castle on the Clyde estuary, which also sheltered David II. In May 1334 David II escaped to France - leaving the Steward and John Randolph, earl of Moray as joint guardians of the kingdom. The Steward succeeded in regaining his lands, but his relationship with Randolph disintegrated. Randolph was taken prisoner by the English in July 1335 and in September the Steward's possessions were once again targeted by Edward III's forces. This may have caused the Steward to submit to Edward Balliol and the English king—he certainly was no longer guardian of the kingdom by September 1335. Robert who had lost his position to Sir Andrew Murray of Bothwell, was once again guardian following Murray's death in 1338 and retained the office until David II returned from France in June 1341. The Steward accompanied David II into battle at Neville's Cross on 17 October 1346 but he and Patrick Dunbar, earl of March escaped or fled the field while David was taken prisoner.

The Steward married Elizabeth Mure c.1348, legitimising his four sons and five daughters. His subsequent marriage to Euphemia de Ross in 1355 produced two sons and two surviving daughters and became the basis of a dispute as to the line of succession.

Robert joined a rebellion against David in 1363, but submitted to him under threat that any further defiance would mean the end of his rights in the line of succession. In 1364 the Scots Parliament dismissed David's proposal to write off the remaining amounts due to England under the terms of his ransom in return for naming a Plantagenet as his heir should he remain childless. On David's unexpected death in 1371, Robert succeeded to the throne at the age of 55. The English still controlled large sectors in the Lothians and in the border country. Robert II allowed his southern earls to engage in conflicts in the English zones to regain their territories, halted trade with England and renewed treaties with France. By 1384 the Scots had re-taken most of the foreign-occupied lands, but following an Anglo-French truce, Robert proved reluctant to commit Scotland to all-out war and obtained inclusion in the peace talks being conducted by England and France. Following a palace coup in 1384 he lost control of the country, first to his eldest son, John, Earl of Carrick, afterwards King Robert III, and then from 1388 to John's younger brother, Robert, Earl of Fife, afterwards 1st Duke of Albany. Robert II died in Dundonald Castle in 1390 and lies buried at Scone Abbey.

Heir presumptive

Robert Stewart, born in 1316, was the only child of Walter Stewart, High Steward of Scotland and King Robert I's daughter Marjorie Bruce, who died (probably in 1317) following a riding accident.^[1] He had the upbringing of a west-coast noble on the Stewart lands in Bute, Clydeside, and in Renfrew.^[1] In 1315 a parliament passed an entail which removed Marjorie's right as heir in favour of that of her uncle Edward Bruce.^[2] Edward died at the Battle of Faughart, near Dundalk on 14 October 1318^[3] resulting in a hastily arranged parliament in December to enact a new entail endowing the right of succession to Marjorie's son should the king die without issue.^[4] The birth of a son, afterwards David II, to Robert I on 5 March 1324 negated Robert Stewart's position as heir presumptive, but a parliament at Cambuskenneth in July 1326 restored him in the line of succession.^[2] This reinstatement of his status as heir was also accompanied by the gift of lands in Argyll, Roxburghshire and the Lothians.^[5]

High Steward of Scotland

Renewed war

Walter Stewart died on 9 April 1327^[6] and the care for the orphaned 11-year-old Steward passed to his uncle, Sir James Stewart of Durrisdeer.^[2] David II, aged 5, came to the throne on 7 June 1329 on the death of his father with Thomas Randolph, earl of Moray, Sir James Stewart of Durrisdeer and William Lindsey, Archdeacon of St Andrews appointed as joint Guardians of the kingdom.^[7] David's accession to the crown kindled the second stage of the fight for independence and threatened the Steward's position as heir should a Balliol kingship emerge.^[8] King Edward III of England together with "the disinherited",^[9] supported Edward Balliol's claim to the Scottish throne.^[10] Balliol's forces delivered heavy defeats on the Bruce supporters at Dupplin Moor on 11 August 1332 and again at Halidon Hill on 19 July 1333, at which the 17-year-old Robert the Steward participated.^[7] The Steward's estates were overrun by Balliol, who granted them to David Strathbogie, titular earl of Atholl but Robert evaded capture and sought protection at Dumbarton Castle where King David was also taking refuge.^[8] Very few other strongholds remained in Scottish hands in the winter of 1333—only the castles of Kildrummy held by Andrew Murray's wife Christian Bruce, Loch Leven, Loch Doon, and Urquhart held out against the Balliol party.^[11]

In May 1334, Scotland's situation looked dire, and David II went into safety in France.^[8] Robert the Steward who had been made joint Guardian along with John Randolph, earl of Moray, set about winning his lands back in the west of Scotland.^[7] Strathbogie came over to the Bruce interest after coming under pressure from 'the disinherited' but was fervently opposed to Randolph. This antagonism came to a head at a parliament held at Dairsie Castle in early 1335, at which Strathbogie managed to get the Steward to side with him against Randolph.^[12] Strathbogie submitted to the English king in August and was made Warden of Scotland. It seems that Strathbogie may have persuaded Robert the Steward to consider submitting to Edward and Balliol—Sir Thomas Gray, in his Scalacronica claimed that he had actually done so—but Robert did relinquish his position as Guardian around this time.^[13] The Bruce resistance to Balliol may have been verging on collapse in 1335 but a turn-round in the Scots' fortunes began with the appearance of Andrew Murray of Bothwell as a potent war leader at the Battle of Culblean.^[14] Murray had been captured in 1332, ransomed himself in 1334 and immediately sped north to lay siege to Dundarg Castle in Buchan held by Sir Henry de Beaumont—the castle fell to Murray on 23 December 1334.^[15] Murray was appointed Guardian at Dunfermline during the winter of 1335–6 while he was besieging Cupar Castle in Fife. He died at his castle in Avoch in 1338 and Robert the Steward resumed the Guardianship.^[16] Murray's campaign put an end to any chance of Edward III having full lasting control over the south of Scotland and the failure of the six month siege of Dunbar Castle confirmed this.^[17] Balliol lost many of his major supporters to the Bruce side and the main English garrisons began to fall to the Scots—Cupar in the spring or summer of 1339, Perth taken by the Steward also in 1339 and Edinburgh by William Douglas in April 1341^[18]

John Randolph, released from English custody in a prisoner-exchange in 1341, visited David II in Normandy before returning to Scotland. Just as Randolph was a favourite of the king, David II mistrusted the Steward with his positions of heir presumptive and Guardian of Scotland.^[19] At the beginning of June 1341 the kingdom appeared sufficiently stable to allow the king to return to the country. His return was to a land where his nobles, while fighting for the Bruce cause, had considerably increased their own power bases.^[20] On the 17 October 1346, the Steward accompanied David into battle at Neville's Cross, where many Scottish nobles including Randolph, died—David II was wounded and captured while the Steward and Patrick, earl of March had apparently fled the field.^[7]

King David's captivity

With the king now detained in England and Randolph dead, the Guardianship once again fell to the Steward.^[22] In 1347 he took the important step of ensuring the legitimation of his children by petitioning Pope Clement VI to allow a canon-law marriage to Elizabeth Mure which was granted on 22 November.^[23] Even though an English prisoner, David retained influence in Scotland and Robert had his Guardianship removed by parliament and given jointly to the earls of Mar and Ross and the lord of Douglas—this did not last and the Steward once was again Guardian before the parliament of February 1352.^[24] The paroled David II attended this parliament to present to the Steward and the members of the Three Estates the terms for his release. These contained no ransom demand, but required the Scots to name the English prince John of Gaunt as heir presumptive. The Council rejected these terms, with Robert the Steward as a main opponent of the proposal threatening as it did his right of succession.^[25] The king had no option but to return to captivity in England. The English chronicler Henry Knighton recorded:^[26]

... the Scots refused to have their King unless he entirely renounced the influence of the English, and similarly refused to submit themselves to them. And they warned him that they would neither ransom him nor allow him to be ransomed unless he pardoned them for all their acts and injuries that they had done, and all the offences that they had committed during the time of captivity, and he should give them security for that, or otherwise they threatened to choose another king to rule them.

By 1354 ongoing negotiations on the king's release reached the stage where a proposal of a straight ransom payment of 90,000 merks to be repaid over nine years, guaranteed by the provision of 20 high-ranking hostages, was agreed—this understanding was destroyed by the Steward when he bound the Scots to a French action against the English in 1355.^[27] The capture of Berwick together with the presence of the French on English soil jolted Edward III into moving against the Scots—in January 1356 Edward led his forces into the south-east of Scotland and burned Edinburgh and Haddington and much of the Lothians in a campaign that became known as the 'Burnt Candlemas'.^[28] After Edward's victory over France in September, the Scots resumed negotiations for David's release ending in October 1357 with the Treaty of Berwick. Its terms were that in turn for David's freedom, a ransom of 100,000 merks would be paid in annual installments over ten years—only the first two payments were completed initially and nothing further until 1366.^[29] This failure to honour the terms of the Berwick treaty allowed Edward to continue to press for a Plantagenet successor to David—terms that were totally rejected by the Scottish council and probably by the Steward himself.^[30] This may have been the cause of a brief rebellion in 1363 by the Steward and the earls of Douglas and March.^[31] Later French inducements couldn't bring David to their aid and the country remained at peace with England until he unexpectedly died on 21 February 1371.^[32]

King of Scots

Consolidation of Stewart power

David was buried at Holyrood almost immediately but an armed protest by William, Earl of Douglas prevented Robert II's coronation until 26 March 1371.^[33] The reasons for the incident remain unclear but may have involved a dispute regarding Robert's right of succession^[34] or may have been directed against the southern Justiciar, Robert Erskine and the Dunbar earls.^[35] It was resolved by Robert giving his daughter Isabella in marriage to Douglas's son, James and with William replacing Erskine as Justicier south of the Forth.^[36] After Robert's accession, there was no mass cull of David II's favourites and appointees but there were casualties—the brothers, Sir Robert and Sir Thomas Erskine and John Dunbar were to lose their Bruce preferments and lesser personages fled into England.^[37]

The Stewart lands in the west and in Atholl grew in size: the earldoms of Fife and Menteith went to Robert II's second surviving son Robert, the earldoms of Buchan and Ross (along with the lordship of Badenoch) to his fourth son Alexander and the earldoms of Strathearn and Caithness to the eldest son of his second marriage, David.^[38] Importantly, King Robert's sons-in-law were John MacDonald, Lord of the Isles, John Dunbar, earl of Moray and James who would become the 2nd Earl of Douglas.^[38] Robert's own sons, John, earl of Carrick, the king's heir, and Robert, earl of Fife, served as the keepers of the castles of Edinburgh and Stirling respectively, while Alexander, Lord of Badenoch and Ross and afterwards Earl of Buchan, became the king's Justiciar and lieutenant in the north of the Kingdom.^[7] This build-up of the Stewart family power did not appear to cause resentment among the senior magnates—the king generally did not threaten their territories or local rule and where titles were transferred to his sons the individuals affected were usually very well rewarded.^[7] This style of kingship was very different from his predecessor's—David tried to dominate his nobles whereas Robert's strategy was to delegate authority to his powerful sons and earls and this, on the whole, worked for the first decade of his reign.^[38] Robert II was to have influence over eight of the 15 earldoms either through his sons directly or by strategic marriages of his daughters to powerful lords.^[38]

Rule from 1371–1384

Robert became King of Scots in 1371, and in 1373 he ensured the future security of his Stewart dynasty by having parliament pass succession entailments which defined the manner by which each of his sons could inherit the crown.^[39] By 1375, the king had commissioned John Barbour to write the poem, The Brus, a history intended to bolster the public image of the Stewarts as the genuine heirs of Robert I. It described the patriotic acts of both Sir James, the Black Douglas and Walter the Steward, the king's father, in their support of Bruce.^[38] Robert II's rule during the 1370s saw the country's finances stabilised and greatly improved thanks in part to the flourishing wool trade, reduced calls on the public purse and then by the halting of his predecessor's ransom money on the death of Edward III of England.^[7] Robert II—unlike David II whose kingship was predominantly Lothian and therefore lowland based—was to be found following the hunt in many places in the north and west of the kingdom among his Gaelic patricians.^[40]

Robert II ruled over a country that continued to have English enclaves within its borders and Scots who gave their allegiance to the king of England—the important castles of Berwick, Jedburgh, Lochmaben and Roxburgh had English garrisons and controlled southern Berwickshire, Teviotdale and large areas in Annandale and Tweeddale.^[41] In June 1371 Robert agreed to a defensive treaty with the French, and although there were no outright hostilities during 1372, the English garrisons were reinforced and placed under an increased state of vigilance.^[42] Attacks on the English held zones, with the near certain backing of Robert, began in 1373 and accelerated in the years 1375–7 in the period leading up to Edward III's death indicating that a central decision had probably been taken for the escalation of conflict rather than the freebooting actions of the border barons.^[43] In 1376 the Earl of March successfully recovered Annandale but then found himself constrained by the Bruges Anglo-French truce.^[44]

In his dealings with Edward III, Robert blamed his out-of-control border magnates for the attacks on the English zones but regardless of this the Scots retained the recaptured lands, which were often portioned out among minor lords, so securing their interest in preventing English re-possession.^[45] Despite Robert's further condemnations of his border lords, all the signs were that Robert backed the growing successful Scottish militancy following Edward III's death in 1377.^[7] In a charter dated 25 July 1378 the king decreed that Coldingham Priory would no longer be a daughter house of the English Durham Priory but was to be attached to Dunfermline Abbey.^[46] Seemingly, the Scots were unaware of an Anglo-French truce agreed on 26 January 1384 and conducted an all-out attack on the English zones early in February winning back Lochmaben Castle and Teviotdale.^[47] John of Gaunt led a reciprocal English attack that took him as far as Edinburgh where he was bought off by the burgesses but destroyed Haddington.^[48] Carrick and James, earl of Douglas—his father had died in April—^[49] wanted a retaliatory strike for the Gaunt raid. Robert II may have concluded that as the French had reneged on a previous agreement to send assistance in 1383 and then having entered into a truce with England, that any military action would have been met with retaliation and exclusion from the forth-coming Boulogne peace talks.^[49][50] On 2 June 1384, Robert resolved to send Walter Wardlaw, Bishop of Glasgow to the Anglo-French peace talks yet Carrick ignored this and allowed raids into the north of England to take place.^[50] Despite this by 26 July the Scots were part of the truce that would expire in October. Robert called a council in September probably for working out how to proceed when the truce concluded and to decide how the war was to proceed thereafter.^[51]

Loss of authority and death

John, earl of Carrick, had become the foremost Stewart magnate south of the Forth just as Alexander, earl of Buchan was in the north.^[52] Alexander's activities and methods of royal administration, enforced by Gaelic mercenaries, drew criticism from northern earls and bishops and from his half-brother David, earl of Strathearn. These complaints aired in the general council together with Robert II's seeming inability to curb his son damaged his standing within the council.^[53] Robert II's differences with the Carrick affinity regarding the conduct of the war and his inability or unwillingness to deal with Buchan in the north led to the political convulsion of November 1384 when a council removed the king's authority to govern and appointed Carrick as lieutenant of the kingdom—a coup d’état had taken place.^[38][54] With Robert II sidelined, there was now no impediment in the way of war and by June 1385, a force of 1200 French soldiers had joined the Scots in a campaign involving Carrick, Douglas and Robert, earl of Fife.^[55] The foray saw small gains but a quarrel between the French and Scottish commanders saw the abandonment of an attack on the important castle of Roxburgh.^[56]

The victory of the Scots over the English at the Battle of Otterburn in Northumberland in August 1388 set in motion Carrick's fall from power. One of the Scottish casualties was Carrick's close ally James, earl of Douglas. Douglas died without an heir, which led to various claims upon the title and estate—Carrick backed Malcolm Drummond, the husband of Douglas's sister, while Fife sided with the successful appellant, Sir Archibald Douglas, lord of Galloway who possessed an entail on the Douglas estates.^[57] Fife, now with his powerful Douglas ally, and those who supported the king ensured a counter-coup at the December council meeting when the guardianship of Scotland passed from Carrick to Fife.^[57][58] Many had also approved of Fife's intention to properly resolve the situation of lawlessness in the north and in particular the activities of his younger brother, Buchan.^[58] Fife relieved Buchan of his offices of lieutenant of the north and justiciar north of the Forth—the latter role was given to Fife's son, Murdoch Stewart. Robert II toured the north-east of the kingdom in late January 1390 perhaps to reinforce the changed political scene in the north following Buchan's removal from authority.^[59] In March, Robert returned to Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire where he died on 19 April and was buried at Scone on 25 April.^[60]

The direct Stewart line ruled Scotland through to Mary, Queen of Scots. Her son James VI of Scotland was descended in the male line from John Stewart of Bonkyll, second son of Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland, thus uniting the lineages descended from two of Alexander's sons.

Two of Robert II's sons fathered lineages which continue today. Through his son Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, Robert II is the direct ancestor of the Earl Castle Stewart and Stewart of Balquhidder lineages. Through another son, Sir John Stewart of Bute, he is also the direct ancestor of the Marquess of Bute line.

Historiography

The reign of Robert II has undergone a re-appraisal since the works of historians Gordon Donaldson and Ranald Nicholson. Donaldson admits to a paucity of knowledge (at the time that he was writing) regarding Robert's reign and accepts that the early chroniclers writing near to his reign found little to criticise.^[61] Robert's career before and after he succeeded to the throne is described by Donaldson as "to say the least, undistinguished, and his reign did nothing to add lustre to it." ^[62] Donaldson goes further and debates the legality of the canon law marriage of Robert and Elizabeth Mure following the papal dispensation but acknowledges that the acts of succession in 1371 and 1372 although sealing the matter in the eyes of parliament did not end the generational feud of the descendants of Elizabeth Mure and of those of Euphemia Ross.^[63] Robert's earlier participation in combat at the battles of Halidon and Neville's Cross, according to Donaldson, had made him wary of sanctioning military expeditions against the English and that any such actions by his barons were concealed from him.^[64] Similarly, Nicholson described Robert's reign as deficient and that his lack of the skills of governance led to internal strife. Nicholson asserts that the earl of Douglas was bought off following his armed demonstration just before Robert's coronation and associates this with the doubt surrounding the legitimacy of Robert's sons with Elizabeth Mure.^[65]

In contrast, the historians Stephen Boardman, Alexander Grant and Michael Lynch give a more even-handed appraisal of Robert II's life.^[65] Grant describes Robert II's reign in terms of foreign and domestic policy as being "not so unsuccessful".^[66] As far as the Douglas incident is concerned, Grant does not hold to the view that Douglas was in some way demonstrating against Robert's legitimate right to the throne but more an assertion that royal patronage should not continue as in the time of David II—Grant also advocates that the demonstration was aimed at father and son Robert and Thomas Erskine who held the castles of Edinburgh, Stirling and Dumbarton from Robert's predecessor.^[66]

Modern historians show a kingdom that had become wealthier and more stable particularly during the first decade of his rule.^[7] Boardman explains that Robert II was subjected to negative propaganda while he was High Steward—David II's followers denigrated his conduct during his lieutenancies and described them as "tyranny"—and again later as king when the supporters of his son John, earl of Carrick said that Robert was a king lacking drive and accomplishments, weighed down by age and unfit to govern.^[67][68] Robert II's association with Gaelic Scotland also drew criticism. He grew up in his ancestral lands in the west and was completely at ease with the Gaelic language and culture and possessed a potent relationship with the Gaelic lords in the Hebrides, upper Perthshire and Argyll. Throughout his reign, Robert spent long periods in his Gaelic heartlands and complaints at the time in Lowland Scotland seem to have been influenced by the view that the king was too much involved in Gaelic concerns.^[69] Boardman also asserts that much of the negative views held of Robert II find their origins in the writings of the French chronicler Jean Froissart who recorded that '[the king] had red bleared eyes, of the colour of sandalwood, which clearly showed that he was no valiant man, but one who would remain at home than march to the field' .^[70] Contrary to Froissart's view, Scottish chroniclers—Andrew of Wyntoun and Walter Bower (who both utilised a source that was nearly contemporaneous with Robert II) and later 15th and 16th century Scottish chroniclers and poets—showed "Robert II as a Scottish patriotic hero, a defender of the integrity of the Scottish kingdom, and as the direct heir to Robert I".^[71]

Grant seriously called into question the dependability of Froissart's writings as an effective source for Robert II's reign.^[72] Influential magnate coalitions headed by Carrick, having undermined the king's position, manipulated the council of November 1384 to effectively oust Robert II from any real power.^[73] Grant gives little weight to the asserted senility of Robert and suggests that the deposition of Carrick in 1388 and then the resolution to join the Anglo-French truce of 1389 were both at the instigation of Robert II.^[74] Yet power was not handed back to Robert II but to Carrick's younger brother, Robert, earl of Fife which once again saw the king at the disposition of one of his sons.^[75] Despite this, the now unknown source whom both Wyntoun and Bower relied on made the point that Fife deferred to his father on affairs of state emphasising the difference in styles in the guardianships of his two sons.^[76]

Michael Lynch points out that Robert II's reign from 1371 until the lieutenancy of Carrick in 1384 had been one exemplified by continued prosperity and stability and which Abbot Bower described as a period of "tranquility, prosperity and peace".^[77] Lynch suggests that the troubles of the 1450s between James II and the Douglases which have been interpreted by some historians as the legacy of Robert II's policy of encouraging powerful lordships was in fact a continuation of David II's build up of local lords in the marches and Galloway and who was satisfied to leave alone the Douglases and the Stewarts in their fiefdoms.^[78] The weakening of government if anything, Lynch suggests, came not before the 1384 coup but after it despite the fact that the coup had at its root Robert II's favouring of his third son, Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan (known as the Wolf of Badenoch).^[79]

Fictional portrayals

Robert II has been depicted in historical novels. They include:

• The Three Perils of Man; or, War, women, and witchcraft (1822) by James Hogg. The tale takes place in the reign of Robert II whose "country enjoyed happiness and peace, all save a part adjoining to the borders of England." Part of the action takes place at Linlithgow Palace, where Robert promises to marry his daughter Margaret Stewart "to the knight who shall take that castle of Roxburgh out of the hands of the English". With Margaret adding her own terms, that "in case of his attempting and failing in the undertaking, he shall forfeit all his lands, castles, towns, and towers to me." In the absence of volunteers, Margaret vows to take the Castle herself, defeating Lord Musgrave and his mistress Jane Howard.^[80]
• The Lords of Misrule (1976) by Nigel Tranter. Covers events from c. 1388 to 1390. Depicting the last years of Robert II and the rise of Robert III of Scotland to the throne. As the elderly king has grown "feeble, weary and half-blind", his sons, daughters and other nobles campaign for power. An ungoverned Scotland is ravaged by their conflicts. Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany and Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan are prominently featured.^[81]
• Courting Favour (2000) by Nigel Tranter. Follows the career of John Dunbar, Earl of Moray in the courts of David II of Scotland and Robert II. John is a son-in-law to the latter and serves him as a diplomat.^[82]

Ancestry

Issue

Notes

References