Back in the Day: How the House of Stewart came to rule Scotland

As far as I know, even though our current Queen is descended from him via James VI and I, there are no plans to celebrate the anniversary of the inception of the Stewart monarchy which began with King Robert II of Scotland succeeding to the throne upon the death of King David II, second and last king of the House of Bruce.

The Stewarts would go on to reign over Scotland for 343 years, and for 111 of those years they were also kings and queens of England – the two queens Mary II of Scotland, I of England, and Anne who was the last Stuart monarch.

First of all, a small explanation – many people have asked me over the years about the issue with the spelling of the Stewart/Stuart name, and how it changed down the centuries. My understanding has always been that when Mary, Queen of Scots, came back to her native land to take up her reign in 1561, she had already adopted the French spelling of Stuart and her successors maintained that style. Every king before Mary is termed Stewart and every monarch of the House from her onwards is a Stuart, so in today’s column we are dealing with Robert Stewart, founder of that royal line.

Robert II started life in 1316 as the son and only child of Walter Stewart, the High Steward of Scotland, and Marjorie Bruce, daughter of King Robert the Bruce and his first wife Isabella of Mar. There are differing accounts of his birth – the traditional story is that Marjorie fell from her horse somewhere in or near Paisley while heavily pregnant and died after giving birth to Robert, but she may have been alive in 1317 and while she definitely fell from a horse and died, it may have been during a second pregnancy. She was just 20, and Robert the Bruce was devastated by grief. But at least the victor of Bannockburn had a grandson who was almost immediately made heir presumptive by the Scottish Parliament. He retained that title until Bruce married Elizabeth de Burgh and they had a son, the future David II, in 1324.

In 1326, the Scottish Parliament made Robert the heir presumptive should David II die childless. Robert’s father Walter died in 1327, rendering the boy an orphan at the age of 11 – he was raised by his uncle, Sir James Stewart of Durisdeer.

Robert grew into a tall and handsome youth and in 1329, when Robert the Bruce died, he appears to have joined the new king’s court as 7th High Steward of Scotland, the title being hereditary. It must have been an interesting experience because Robert was then about eight or nine years older than his uncle David II who was just five. Thomas Randolph of Moray was made Guardian of Scotland but he died in 1332 just as Edward Balliol, son of the former king John “Toom Tabard” Balliol, was starting his war to regain the throne, assisted by English King Edward III.

At first Edward Balliol was successful and was even crowned king at Scone, but those loyal to David chased him out of Scotland.

Edward III came back the next year with a bigger army and defeated David’s army, led by the Earl of Douglas, at Halidon Hill on July 19, 1333. The Scottish casualties were many and included the Earl of Douglas and five other earls.

Robert managed to escape north, which was just as well as Edward III executed a hundred or so of the Scots who had been captured. He fled to Dumbarton Castle with King David and his English wife Joan, who were sent into exile in France for their safety the following year. Meanwhile Edward Balliol seized Robert’s estates in the west of Scotland and gave them to Lord Strathbogie.

ALTHOUGH only 18, Robert was made joint Guardian of Scotland along with John Randolph, 3rd Earl of Moray, but after Randolph was killed in battle with the English, Strathbogie appears to have persuaded Robert to go over to the Balliol side. If he did, and the evidence is scanty, he was soon back as a supporter of David. When Sir Andrew Murray – whose victory at the Battle of Culblean in 1335 turned the tide in favour of David II – died in 1338, Robert was again appointed Guardian and began a campaign of expelling the English occupants of castles. Most notably winning back Perth in 1339.

David II’s return in 1341 was to a land full of factions, and at first he distrusted his nephew Robert. But relations between them improved and Robert was by the king’s side when David II invaded England in 1346. That campaign ended in disaster at the Battle of Neville’s Cross in which Robert played an undistinguished part – his wing was the first to flee, exposing the main Scottish army to attack to the flanks.

David II was wounded and captured and almost all of Scotland’s military leadership perished. As heir presumptive Robert was again confirmed as Guardian and in 1347, realising that he might soon be king as the Black Death swept the land, he took the highly unusual step of asking Pope Clement VI to confirm his “marriage” to Elizabeth Mure, the mother of his four sons and six daughters. Robert had earlier had children by his mistress Isabel Boucellier – or Boutellier – but he and Elizabeth had lived together for many years, though Elizabeth was a distant cousin of his and the church did not recognise the marriage.

The petition, along with many other important records of Scotland’s history, is in the Vatican Archives. Since it achieved its aim and made all Robert’s children legitimate – including his heir who could have ascended the throne as an illegitimate son – it is one of the most important documents in Scottish history, yet hardly anyone knows anything about it. Robert enlisted the help of King Philip VI of France and since the Pope was Philip’s “guest” at Avignon that may have convinced Clement.

It reads: “The kings of France and Scotland, bishops William of St Andrews, William of Glasgow, William of Aberdeen, Richard of Dunkeld, Martin of Argyle, Adam of Brechin, and Maurice of Dunblane. Signification that although Elizabeth Mor and Isabella Boutellier, noble damsels of the diocese of Glasgow, are related in the third and fourth degrees of kindred, Robert Steward of Scotland, lord of Stragrifis, in the diocese of Glasgow, the king’s nephew, carnally knew first Isabella, and afterwards, in ignorance of their kindred, Elizabeth, who was herself related to Robert in the fourth degree of kindred, living with her for some time and having many children of both sexes by her; the above king and bishops therefore pray the pope that for the sake of the said offspring, who are fair to behold (aspectibus gratiose), to grant a dispensation to Robert and Elizabeth to intermarry, and to declare their offspring legitimate.”

THUS Robert had a legitimate heir and three spares – they were John, Earl of Carrick, the future King Robert III; Walter, Lord of Fife; Robert, later Duke of Albany; and Alexander who would become infamous as the Wolf of Badenoch – I will write about him and his brothers next week. Robert also had numerous other children including many daughters – he would marry them off into noble families to gain lands and influence across Scotland. After Elizabeth died he remarried, this time to Euphemia de Ross, and had further children.

Robert was briefly ousted as Guardian, largely because David II still had influence in the Scottish Parliament, and blamed Robert for the Neville’s Cross debacle.

By 1352 Robert was back as Guardian and King David II was allowed to attend a session of the Scottish Parliament to plead his case for the country to pay the ransom demanded by the English king. It was not money he wanted but for Edward III’s son, Prince John of Gaunt, to be named heir presumptive to the Scottish throne. Not surprisingly, Robert Stewart was having none of that and David was sent back to captivity.

In 1355, Robert took up the banner of the Auld Alliance and, with a small army of French soldiers, he invaded England and captured Berwick-upon-Tweed. That provoked Edward III to retaliate and he burned Edinburgh and Haddington in what became known as the Burnt Candlemas.

Robert then decided that it would be better to have David back as king and negotiations began with Edward III, who was very short of money after his war with France, ending with the Treaty of Berwick in 1357. In it the Scots agreed to pay 100,000 merks in instalments over 10 years. David was promptly released but Scotland was so poor that only two instalments were ever paid.

As part of the treaty, David II agreed that Edward III should succeed him, which drove Robert Stewart and the Earls of Douglas and March into a brief rebellion against the king. It shows how weak David was that even though he was not popular, the Scottish Parliament rejected the king’s move in favour of retaining Robert as heir presumptive.

It was on February 22, 1371, that the Stewarts gained the Scottish throne. King David II died at Edinburgh Castle aged 46. He had been through two childless marriages and was planning to marry Agnes Dunbar, who had children by her first marriage and was therefore deemed fertile, when he died suddenly. The cause of death is not certain, but may have been due to his earlier wounds. He was not much mourned, at least in comparison to his father Robert the Bruce.

Now, at the age of 55, the Steward was the king and he set about running Scotland his way, though first he had to tangle with the Douglases who rose up against him and delayed his coronation at Scone for a month – Robert dealt with that problem by giving his daughter Isabella’s hand in marriage to the Earl of Douglas’s son James.

As King, Robert at first appeared strong and consolidated the Stewart family’s grip on lands and fortifications across Scotland. He also took care to visit the Highlands and make the clan chiefs his supporters. Robert was also brilliant at propaganda – he commissioned John Barbour to write his epic poem The Brus, which demonstrated the Stewart link to the hero king who was, after all, his grandfather.

There were still ongoing issues with England, even after the death of Edward III in 1377. Generally, the 1370s and early 1380s were a time of relative peace and prosperity under a law-abiding king.

Robert was weakening physically and mentally, though he never became as senile as English chroniclers made him out to be. In November, 1384, King Robert II was effectively sidelined by his own son and heir, John, Earl of Carrick, in what was nothing other than a family squabble turned coup d’etat. Carrick notably won the Battle of Otterburn in 1388 against the northern English army of Henry Percy, with forces led by his ally and friend, James, Earl of Douglas, who was killed in the battle. After Carrick was badly injured by a kicking horse, it was Robert’s other son Robert, Earl of Fife who took power.

Robert II returned west to Dundonald Castle where he died on April 19, 1390. He was buried at Scone a few days later.

Historians still argue about his kingship, and his legacy, but no-one can dispute the fact that by outliving his uncle, he was the first Stewart king.