Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale

Life

The son and heir of Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale and Lady Isabella de Clare, daughter of the Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, his birth date is generally accepted, but his place of birth is less certain. It has been speculated that he, rather than his first son, was born on the family estate at Writtle, Essex.

Legend tells that the 27-year-old Robert de Brus was a handsome young man participating in the Ninth Crusade. When Adam de Kilconquhar, one of his companions-in-arms, fell in 1270, at Acre, Robert was obliged to travel to tell the sad news to Adam's widow Marjorie of Carrick. The story continues that Marjorie was so taken with the messenger that she had him held captive until he agreed to marry her, which he did in 1271. However, since the crusade landed in Acre on 9 May 1271, and only started to engage the Muslims in late June, the story and / or his participation in the Ninth Crusade are generally discounted.

What is recorded, is that:

In 1264 his father, the 5th Lord of Annandale, was captured, along with Henry III, Richard of Cornwall, and Edward I at the Battle of Lewes, Sussex. Bruce negotiated with his uncle Bernard Brus, and cousin Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, both supporters of Simon de Montfort, over the terms of the ransom. Following the Battle of Evesham, in August 1265, both Bruce and his father profited from the seizure of the rebellious Barons' possessions, including those of Bernard. The younger Robert acquired lands in Yorkshire, Northumberland, and Bedfordshire.

Robert and his younger brother Richard are known to have received letters of protection, in July 1270, to sail with Edward for crusade that August, and are presumed to have taken the cross, with Edward, at Northampton in 1268. They were joined by their Father, who'd sought pardon from Alexander III, but their date of return from Acre is less certain, it may have been as early as October 1271, when the younger Robert is recorded as receiving a quitclaim in Writtle, Essex, and his mother a gift of deer, from the King, also in Essex.

In 1272 he married, without Scottish Royal consent, Marjory, countess of Carrick. As a result, she temporarily lost her castle and estates, that Oram described as poor, but regained them on payment of a fine.

Around this time his mother died, the date is unknown but on the 3 May 1273 his father married Christina de Ireby, the Widow of Adam Jesmond, the Sheriff of Northumberland, at Hoddam. The marriage added estates in Cumberland and dower land from her previous husband, to the Brus holdings. The younger Robert and his step-mother do not appear to have got on, with Robert recorded as trying to withhold dower lands, after his father's death in 1295. This may be one of the reasons why the Father appears to have independently managed the possessions in the North, as well as intermittently holding the position of Constable of Carlisle, while Robert appears to have confined himself largely to the management of the southern and midland possessions, with his brother Richard who independently held Tottenham and Kempston, as well as commanding a Knight banneret for Edward. Richard is recorded as receiving a number of wards and gifts of deer and to have sought permission to empark the forest at Writtle at this time. Robert, while not part of Edward's household, became an envoy and mouthpiece for Alexander III at court, swearing fealty on Alexander's behalf, to Edward at Westminster, in 1277, as well as following Edward to Gascony Robert is also recorded as following Alexander to Tewkesbury, in the autumn of 1278.

In February 1284, Bruce attended to convention at Scone, where the right of succession of Alexander III's granddaughter, Margaret, Maid of Norway was recognized. On 1 June 1285 the Earl & Countess, at Turnberry, grant the men of Melrose abbey certain freedoms, according to English law.

In May 1295 his father, the 5th Lord of Annandale, died, and on 6 October, Bruce swore fealty to Edward and was made Constable and Keeper of Carlisle Castle, a position his father previously held.

Shortly after the Battle of Stirling Bridge (1297), Annandale was laid waste as retaliation to younger Bruce's actions.

Yet, when Edward returned to England after his victory at the Battle of Falkirk, which one source accords to Robert turning the Scottish flank:

Fordun, John "Chronica Gentis Scotorum (Chronicle of the Scottish nation)", 1363, Translated from the Latin text by Felix J. H. Skene. Ed. by William F. Skene. 1872:

CI - Battle of Falkirk. :— In the year 1298, the aforesaid king of England, taking it ill that he and his should be put to so much loss and driven to such straits by William Wallace, gathered together a large army, and, having with him, in his company, some of the nobles of Scotland to help him, invaded Scotland. He was met by the aforesaid William, with the rest of the magnates of that kingdom; and a desperate battle was fought near Falkirk, on the 22d of July. William was put to flight, not without serious loss both to the lords and to the common people of the Scottish nation. For, on account of the ill-will, begotten of the spring of envy, which the Comyns had conceived towards the said William, they, with their accomplices, forsook the field, and escaped unhurt. On learning their spiteful deed, the aforesaid William, wishing to save himself and his, hastened to flee by another road. But alas! through the pride and burning envy of both, the noble Estates (communitas) of Scotland lay wretchedly overthrown throughout hill and dale, mountain and plain. Among these, of the nobles, John Stewart, with his Brendans; Macduff, of Fife; and the inhabitants thereof, were utterly cut off. But it is commonly said that Robert of Bruce — who was afterwards king of Scotland, but then fought on the side of the king of England — was the means of bringing about this victory. For, while the Scots stood invincible in their ranks, and could not be broken by either force or stratagem, this Robert of Bruce went with one line, under Anthony of Bek, by a long road round a hill, and attacked the Scots in the rear; and thus these, who had stood invincible and impenetrable in front, were craftily overcome in the rear. And it is remarkable that we seldom, if ever, read of the Scots being overcome by the English, unless through the envy of lords, or the treachery and deceit of the natives, taking them over to the other side.

This is contested as no Bruce appears on the Falkirk roll, of nobles present in the English army, and ignoring Blind Harry's 15th claim that Wallace burned Ayre Castle in 1297, two 19th Century antiquarians: Alexander Murison and George Chalmers have stated Bruce did not participate in the battle and in the following month decided to burn Ayr Castle, to prevent it being garrisoned by the English. Annandale and Carrick were excepted from the lordships and lands which Edward assigned to his followers, the father having not opposed Edward and the son being treated as a waverer whose allegiance might still be retained.

Robert at that time was old and ill, and there are reports that he wished his son to seek peace with Edward. If not his son's actions could jeopardise his own income, which was primarily derived from his holdings south of the border (est. £340 vs £150). The elder Bruce would have seen that, if the rebellion failed and his son was against Edward, the son would lose everything, titles, lands, and probably his life.

It was not until 1302 that Robert's son submitted to Edward I. The younger Robert had sided with the Scots since the capture and exile of Balliol. There are many reasons which may have prompted his return to Edward, not the least of which was that the Bruce family may have found it loathsome to continue sacrificing his followers, family and inheritance for King John. There were rumours that John would return with a French army and regain the Scottish throne. Soulis supported his return as did many other nobles, but this would lead to the Bruces losing any chance of gaining the throne themselves. He died in Palestine and was buried at Holm Cultram Abbey.

Family

His first wife was Margery of Carrick, 3rd Countess of Carrick (11 Apr 1254 – November 1292), the daughter and heiress of Niall, 2nd Earl of Carrick. Carrick was a Gaelic Earldom in Southern Scotland. Its territories contained much of today's Ayrshire and Dumfriesshire. The couple married at Turnberry Castle in 1271 and held the principal seats of Turnberry Castle and Lochmaben.

Their children were:

He had no children from his second wife, Eleanor N (died between 13 April and 8 September 1331).

Bruce in fiction

He was portrayed (as a leper) by Ian Bannen in the 1995 film Braveheart. Braveheart inaccurately portrays Robert de Brus as being involved in the capture of William Wallace in Edinburgh; as noted above Robert de Brus died in 1304 and William Wallace was captured on 3 August 1305 by Sir John de Menteith in Glasgow. Menteith was a son-in-law to Gartnait, Earl of Mar and Christina Bruce.