Robert II (2 March 1316 – 19 April 1390) was King of Scots from 1371 to his death in 1390. The son of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, and Marjorie, daughter of King Robert the Bruce, he was named Robert Stewart. Upon the death of his uncle David II, Robert succeeded to the throne as the first monarch of the House of Stuart.
Edward Bruce had been the heir presumptive for his older brother, King Robert the Bruce, but Edward had no children when he was killed in the Battle of Faughart on 14 October 1318. Marjorie Bruce died, likely in 1317, following a riding accident. After her death, Parliament named her infant son, Robert Stewart, as heir presumptive. However, this lapsed on 5 March 1324 with the birth of a son, David, to King Robert and his second wife, Elizabeth de Burgh. Robert Stewart became High Steward of Scotland on his father's death on 9 April 1327, and in the same year, Parliament confirmed the young Steward as heir should David die childless. In 1329, King Robert I died, and his five-year-old son succeeded to the throne as David II under the guardianship of Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray.
Edward Balliol, son of King John Balliol—assisted by the English and those Scottish nobles whom Robert I had disinherited—invaded Scotland, inflicting heavy defeats on the Bruce party on 11 August 1332 at Dupplin Moor. In the early morning hours of 16 December 1332, then sixteen-year-old Robert and Sir Archibald Douglas defeated Balliol at the Battle of Annan and drove him from Scotland. Balliol returned the following year with King Edward III and an English army. They defeated Archibald Douglas at the Battle of Halidon Hill on 19 July 1333. Robert, who had fought at Halidon, joined his uncle David in refuge in Dumbarton Castle. David escaped to France in 1334, and Parliament, still functioning, appointed Robert and John Randolph, 3rd Earl of Moray as joint guardians of the kingdom. The English captured Randolph in July 1335, while, in the same year, Robert submitted to Balliol, bringing about the removal of his guardianship. His former position was reinstated in 1338 and remained in effect until David returned from France in June 1341. Hostilities continued, and Robert was with David at the Neville's Cross on 17 October 1346, and either escaped or fled the field. David, however, was captured and remained a prisoner until he was ransomed in October 1357.
Robert married Elizabeth Mure around 1348, thus legitimising their four sons and five daughters. His subsequent marriage to Euphemia de Ross in 1355 produced two sons and two surviving daughters. Though Robert rebelled against King David in 1363, he submitted after a threat was made to his right of succession. Upon David’s death in 1371, Robert succeeded him at the age of fifty-five. The border magnates continued to attack English-held zones in southern Scotland, and by 1384, the Scots had re-taken most of the occupied lands. Robert ensured that Scotland was included in the Anglo-French truce of 1384, a factor in the coup in November when he lost control of the country, firstly to his eldest son John, and then from 1388 to John's younger brother, Robert. King Robert II died in Dundonald Castle in 1390 and was buried at Scone Abbey.
Heir presumptive Robert Stewart, born in 1316, was the only child of King Robert I's daughter Marjorie Bruce, who died either in childbirth or shortly afterwards, and Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland.Oram, et al., Kings & Queens, p. 123 Robert had the upbringing of a Gaelic noble on the Stewart lands in Bute, Clydeside, and in Renfrew. In 1315, parliament revoked Marjorie Bruce's right as heir to her father in favour of her uncle, Edward Bruce.Boardman, Early Stewart Kings, p. 3 Edward was killed at the Battle of Faughart, near Dundalk on 14 October 1318,Bradbury, Companion to Medieval Warfare, p. 222 resulting in a hastily arranged Parliament in December to enact a new tailzie naming Marjorie's son, Robert, as heir should the king die without a successor.Brown & Tanner, History of Scottish Parliament, pp. 70-71 The birth of a son, afterwards David II, to King Robert on 5 March 1324 cancelled Robert Stewart's position as heir presumptive, but a Parliament at Cambuskenneth in July 1326 restored him in the line of succession should David die without an heir. This reinstatement of his status was accompanied by the gift of lands in Argyll, Roxburghshire, and the Lothians.Oram, et al., Kings and Queens of Scotland, p. 124
High Steward of Scotland Renewed war for independence
The first war of independence began in the reign of King John Balliol.Watson, Power of the Past, p. 29 His short reign was bedevilled by Edward I's insistence on his overlordship of Scotland. The Scottish leadership, concluding that only war could end the English king’s systematic erosion of Balliol's sovereignty, finalised a treaty of reciprocal assistance with France in October 1295.Watson, Independence, Wars of The Scots forayed into England in March 1296 — this incursion together with the French treaty angered the English king and provoked an invasion of Scotland taking Berwick on 30 March before defeating the Scots army at Dunbar on 27 April.Oram, et al., Kings & Queens, p. 99 John Balliol submitted to Edward and resigned the throne to him before being sent to London as a prisoner. Despite this, resistance to the English led by William Wallace and Andrew Moray had emerged in the name of King John Balliol. On their deaths, Robert the Bruce continued to resist the English and eventually succeeded in defeating the forces of Edward II of England and gained the Scottish throne for himself.
David Bruce, aged five, became king on 7 June 1329 after his father's death. Walter the Steward had died earlier on 9 April 1327,Weir, Alison, Britain's Royal Families, p. 214 and the orphaned eleven-year-old Robert was placed under the guardianship of his uncle, Sir James Stewart of Durrisdeer, who along with Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, and William Lindsey, Archdeacon of St Andrews were appointed as joint guardians of the kingdom.Boardman, Robert II, ODNB David's accession kindled the second independence war, which threatened Robert's position as heir.Boardman, Early Stewart Kings, p. 4 In 1332 Edward Balliol, son of the deposed John Balliol, spearheaded an attack on the Bruce sovereignty with the tacit support of King Edward III of England and the explicit endorsement of "the disinherited"."The disinherited" — those nobles or their descendants who had fought for the English but had not entered into Robert I's peace and had their property confiscated and distributed to the Bruce supporters. Edward 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 participated. Robert's estates were overrun by Balliol, who granted them to David Strathbogie, titular earl of Atholl. Robert evaded capture and gained protection at Dumbarton Castle, where King David was also taking refuge. Very few other strongholds remained in Scottish hands in the winter of 1333 — only the castles of Kildrummy (held by Christina Bruce, elder sister of Robert I and wife of Andrew Murray of Bothwell), Loch Leven, Loch Doon, and Urquhart held out against Balliol forces.Grant & Stringer, Medieval Scotland, p. 227
In May 1334, the situation looked dire for the house of Bruce, and David II fled to safety in France. Robert set about winning back his lands in western Scotland. Strathbogie came over to the Bruce interest after disagreements with his fellow "disinherited", but his fierce opposition to Randolph came to a head at a Parliament held at Dairsie Castle in early 1335, when Strathbogie received Robert's support.Grant & Stringer, Medieval Scotland pp. 225–226 Strathbogie once again changed sides, submitting to the English king in August and was made Warden of Scotland. Robert likely submitted to Edward in September 1335, relinquishing the guardianship by early December.Boardman, Early Stewart Kings, p. 6
The Bruce resistance to Balliol may have been verging on collapse in 1335, but a turn-around in its fortunes began with the appearance of Sir Andrew Moray of Bothwell as a potent war leader at the Battle of Culblean.Grant & Stringer, Medieval Scotland p. 231 Moray 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, with the castle falling on 23 December 1334.Duncan, Andrew Murray, ODNB Moray was appointed guardian at Dunfermline during the winter of 1335–1336 while besieging Cupar Castle in Fife. He died at his castle in Avoch in 1338, and Robert resumed the guardianship.Grant & Stringer, Medieval Scotland p. 233 Murray's campaign ended any chance of Edward III having full lasting control over the south of Scotland and Edward's failure in the six-month siege of Dunbar Castle confirmed this.Brown, The Wars of Scotland, 1214–1371, pp. 241-242 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 combined armies of Sir William Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale, Robert Stewart and Maurice Murray of Drumsargard in June 1339. Edinburgh was taken by stratagem by William Douglas of Liddesdale in April 1341.Grant & Stringer, Medieval Scotland p. 234
John Randolph was released from English custody in a prisoner exchange in 1341 and visited David II in Normandy before returning to Scotland. Just as Randolph was a favourite of the king, David II mistrusted Robert Stewart with his powerful positions of heir presumptive and guardian of Scotland.Brown, The Wars of Scotland, 1214–1371, p. 244 At the beginning of June 1341, the kingdom appeared sufficiently stable to allow the king to return to a land where his nobles, while fighting for the Bruce cause, had considerably increased their own power bases.Brown, The Wars of Scotland, 1214–1371, pp. 241-243 On 17 October 1346, Robert accompanied David into battle at Neville's Cross, where many Scottish nobles including Randolph, died — David II was wounded and captured while Robert and Patrick, earl of March had apparently fled the field.
King David's captivity
With the king now imprisoned in England and Randolph dead, the guardianship once again fell to Robert.Sadler, Border Fury, p. 228 In 1347 he took the important step of ensuring the legitimation of his four sons, John, Earl of Carrick (the future King Robert III), Walter, Lord of Fife (d. 1362), Robert (the future Duke of Albany) and Alexander, Lord of Badenoch (and future Earl of Buchan), and six daughters by petitioning Pope Clement VI to allow a canon law marriage to Elizabeth Mure.Brown & Tanner, History of Scottish Parliament, footnote 34, p. 85
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 Robert was once again appointed guardian by the Parliament of February 1352.Brown & Tanner, History of Scottish Parliament, pp. 85–86 The paroled David attended this Parliament to present to Robert and the members of the Three Estates the conditions 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 opposing a proposal that threatened his right of succession.Boardman, Early Stewart Kings, pp. 9–10 The king had no option but to return to captivity — the English chronicler Henry Knighton wrote of the event:Brown & Tanner, History of Scottish Parliament, pp. 86–87