In 1286 when Alexander III
died, there was no one to take his place as the King of Scotland.
The nobles who were left asked for advice from England
and the ruling monarch Edward I.
The reply came back
that John Balliol or the 1st earl of Carrick should take the reigns.
It was Balliol at the end that won the right,
although his tenure was purely in name
only, as he followed orders from Edward I.
Within four years of Balliol taking the throne,
he was just as swiftly removed, arrested and then sent to France never to return!
Edward saw his opportunity and invaded Scotland.
It was now that the 2nd earl of Carrick had seen enough.
The English had to be removed so Scotland could once again enjoy its independence.
Both Carrick and his closest friend John Comyn decided on a plan.
One would attempt to become the King, while the other would regain
all the lands held by their respective families.
They made their choice, and the 2nd earl of Carrick, better known
as Robert the Bruce, if victorious, would become King.
It would be Comyn
that went on to betray Robert.
He had passed all his information about the secret agreement to Edward.
At which point Edward then invited Robert to court.
There he was accused of being disloyal; although Robert claimed it all
to be complete nonsense, Edward remained suspicious and told Robert
he should stay at court until he fully knew all the facts.
Comyn would once again write a further letter to Edward, insisting that
Robert knew precisely what the plan was how it was to be brought to fruition.
By now Edward had heard enough and decided Robert
was guilty, and for that reason alone, he must die!
Luckily for Robert, he received a warning about his upcoming execution.
It was all he needed to know, and he managed to escape
and headed north for Scotland.
Upon arrival at the border, he accidentally bumped into one of Comyn's
servants, carrying letters addressed to Edward.
When Robert read these, he knew then that Comyn had betrayed
him; now, only one course of action was left open to him.
Robert continued his journey north and arrived at Greyfriars church in Dumfries.
Comyn was inside, and the two men began to fight.
Robert came out on top and stabbed Comyn to death.
This single action changed everything; Robert knew he had to claim
the Scottish crown and fight for his beloved nation's freedom.
On 25 March 1306, Robert Bruce was crowned King.
The bishop of Glasgow carried out the ceremony, usually done
by the earl of Fife.
Yet on this occasion, the earl was loyal to Edward.
Robert's sister arrived later; she had missed the crowning and insisted
she must place the crown upon his head again.
Edward was furious at this; he felt he had been tricked
and now looked at retribution.
He sent one of his best knights, a man called Sir Aymer de Valance.
With one goal: to kill Robert, or as we should call him now,
the King of Scotland.
Robert and his men were outnumbered and had no choice but to run.
They fled to Rathlin island just off the Irish coast.
From there, they travelled around the western isles
all the time, gaining support for the fight ahead.
It was in 1307 Robert was now ready to return to the mainland.
Robert led a surprise attack on Turnberry castle, which held some English garrison.
He realised this was the only way to beat the English.
Completely outnumbered, his surprise raids would be the way ahead,
and he was finally ready to begin his campaign.
Robert and his men were always careful about where
they travelled, remaining mainly in the hills.
Although his band of men was growing in numbers,
he still didn't have enough to go all out.
But Robert was cunning
and would pick off the enemy with well-planned ambush tactics.
The English were not happy, and Edward once again had heard enough.
In 1307 he gathered a large army and set off north.
Unfortunately, he fell ill on his way and died.
Edwards son, again called Edward was the new King, yet instead of continuing,
he turned around the army and marched them back into England.
Fighting continued north of the border for the next couple of years.
Edward II remained in England as for Robert;
he was hell-bent on taking complete control of Scotland.
By 1311 Robert was
well on his way to recapturing lost castles in Scotland.
But he also managed and mounted operations into northern settlements
within England, destroying everything in his way and possibly full of revenge
for the despicable ways the scots had been treated.
The following year Roberts
men attacked Edinburgh castle, but this would be no quick siege.
The castle was a fortress set on the hillside in the city.
Lord Randolph was the man behind this sorte,
and he reverted to Robert's old tricks of surprise attacks.
On 7 June 1313, 30 men scaled the walls under darkness,
took the soldiers on watch and captured the castle for Robert.
Also, in 1313 Robert's brother Edward began to lay siege at Stirling castle;
the plan was to do little other than hold their ground and starve out the enemy.
Mowbray, who was in charge at stirling, struggled;
they had little to no supplies and suggested a pact to end the siege.
That was unless Edward II came to their aid, but
it never happened, and Mowbray eventually handed over the castle to the scots.
But Robert was not happy about the pact.
The last thing he needed was Edward II turning up with a considerable force,
not just national but international soldiers allied to his cause.
It was now
or never for Robert, and his day had arrived.
The battle plans were laid out, and preparations went well.
It was as though Robert controlled this event
before anyone had drawn even a single weapon.
It was time, for his biggest test yet, the Battle of Bannockburn.
Twenty thousand English set out for the field; Robert was outnumbered
four to one.
His troops were split into four groups.
As the men massed, it would be the English that began by using their cavalry,
but Robert had been clever in placing spikes in the ground not only wounding
but killing many of the men and animals, the English retreated.
Still, the following day, the battle would begin in earnest.
When dawn broke the following morning, the scots took their positions
on high ground, as planned, standing in a formation of four groups,
three moved to the front, leaving Robert able to see clearly out
and plan his movements.
Edward II had an almighty army that overnight had moved
across the Bannock burn.
They now faced the scots head-on looking out across the marshy ground.
Edward II didn't realise he was stuck in a bottleneck;
Robert's plan was working, the trap was set.
Both armies
would fight long and hard, although the English were so bunched up
they could hardly move and soon became easy targets for Roberts men.
Panic started to set in for some of the English,
and they began to flee back across the burn.
Robert began to move his division closer, slowly, and more English started to run.
Even Edward II left the field,
especially after a large company of Scottish soldiers appeared from Argyle.
led by a band of extremely fierce knights.
Edward had no answers; the remaining English fled,
and Robert although completely outnumbered had won the battle.
Edward and around 500 men rode to Stirling castle,
but Mowbray, who had made the pact with the scots, refused them
entry, knowing the scots would soon take the castle back as their own.
He offered Edward an escape route and told him to head for Berwick,
which he did.
When things settled, Robert was now in control of Scotland, but Edward
resisted the temptation to admit that Scotland was now an independent country.
As for the scots, they remained on high alert; they controlled the border
and would ensure it wouldn't fall back into the hand of the English.
But battles continued; it was never what you could call a peaceful sight,
further raids in the border counties ensued, and Edward once again
attempted to take Berwick castle, but he failed and returned to England.
In 1319 a truce was agreed between England and Scotland set to last two years.
Scotland wanted independence but would have to wait on the pope in Rome.
He had to recognise Robert as the new King,
but he refused after Robert had killed Comyn at Greyfriars.
The following year, nobles gathered and wrote a declaration stating
the people wanted Robert Bruce as their King.
Edward II was the enemy of Scotland,
and he was one man they would never allow to rule.
When the truce ended in 1322, things once again returned to fighting.
Edward made another attack on Scotland, this time
destroying Holyrood abbey in the process.
Still, when he then tried to gather food for his troops,
he discovered Robert had taken it all away from the area.
By the end of 1327, Edward II was finished and replaced by Edward III.
Never to rest on his laurels, Robert continued his battering
of the English with frequent skirmishes along the border.
For the English, it eventually sank in that they would never defeat these men,
and it was simply a battle that they could not win.
A further peace treaty was drawn up called the treaty of Northampton,
it was a long time coming, but the English were forced
to admit that Robert and his descendants were the kings of Scotland.
A marriage was agreed between the two leaders, with Robert's son
David being married to princess Joanna Plantagenet, the sister of Edward III.
For Edward, he now attempted to get the pope to forgive Roberts
killing of Comyn and allow the process to continue unhampered.
Peace was at last won, carnage and blood loss
would cease, the countries of England and Scotland fell into a new calming era.
Roberts's lifelong struggle
would end in 1329, and it's thought he contracted dermatitis.
Although this would not have killed him,
other suggestions say he may have had dropsy a swelling
caused due to excess fluid accumulation in the body tissues.
Robert said that he wanted his heart
to be taken to Jerusalem, the holy land, upon his death.
Along with all his sins forgiven, including the death of Comyn.
A man called James Douglas set out with the heart
in a casket, but Saracens killed him during a battle.
Robert's heart returned to Scotland and was eventually buried at Melrose
Abbey, his son David would be the next King of Scotland.
Robert the Bruce's legacy is still heralded to this day.
His courage and daring will never be forgotten, nor should they be.
He was, without doubt, a fearless, strong and brave king, one of legend
that any country would be proud to have had in those times as their leader.