PREFACE

Robert Bruce has remained a potent symbol of Scottish nationalism since he won that status, heroically, at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. That achievement lives on with the adoption of ‘Flower of Scotland’ as an unofficial national anthem. Yet recent research shows that the long-established tradition of Robert Bruce as ‘saviour and champion’ of Scotland forms only one element of his story. Behind the legend is a more complex and, in many ways, more fascinating picture of a man who overcame great odds to fulfil his family’s long-held desire for political, indeed dynastic, power. The means of achieving this end involved Bruce in the murky world of power politics, which was rife with ambition, intrigue, opportunism and even murder. This perspective does not sit easily alongside the more romantic and heroic image of Bruce so vigorously asserted by Scottish patriotic writings of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It is, nevertheless, part of the real world of Robert Bruce.

This book will examine both sides of Bruce’s life and career. It will explore both the harsh reality of political life at the end of the thirteenth and the beginning of the fourteenth centuries and the popular legend of Bruce, the patriot hero. In order to understand these components, Robert Bruce will first be placed in the context of his family and its developing aspirations during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The difficulties faced by Robert Bruce in fulfilling the family’s ultimate ambition — dynastic power in Sco tland — will be traced by detailing the nature of late thirteenth-century Scottish politics and Anglo-Scottish relations. Until Robert Bruce’s coup of 1306, the Bruces, though powerful and competitive, were in practice excluded from power in Scodand by an even more mighty and well-established governing clique. In this context, a Scottish civil war raged alongside an Anglo-Scottish war between 1306 and 1314. The Battle of Bannockburn was probably just as significant in the context of the civil war as it was for the Anglo-Scottish war. Victory here fomaed an important part of Robert Bruce’s transformation from Scottish rebel to patriot hero and accepted leader of the new Scottish political establishment.

The narrative of Bruce’s acquisition of the leadership of the Scottish political community is accompanied by illuminating contemporary commentaries. This book also aims to illustrate the varied settings and sites

That recur in the Bruce story'. Unlike other heroes of British history such as King Arthur and Robin Hood, the itinerary' of Robert Bruce can, to a large extent, still be traced today. Not all sites isited by Bruce still exist — his military tactics ensured that many enemy castles were systematically destroyed after capture — but the landscape in which Bruce operated still conjures up powerful images of his presence. These places range from those associated with the Bruce family’s early roots in north Yorkshire, south Durham and Cumberland to, particularly, the family’s early bases in southwest Scodand, where Robert Bruce himself was bom. Also featured are those areas controlled by the Bruces’ enemies in northern Scodand - the Highlands, the Great Glen, Argyll and north-eastern Scotland. The images of these landscapes underline the dominarion of key land and water routes in northern Scodand by families such as the Comyns, Macdougalls and Morays — they also emphasise the task Bruce faced if he was to consolidate his coup of 1306. Following Bannockburn, Robert Bruce was free to extend his sphere of influence beyond Scodand in order to force recognition of his status as Scottish king as well as the independence of the Scottish kingdom. Sweeping raids affected most areas in northern England, both in the west and east, and key northern cities such as Carlisle, Durham and even York were under constant threat as Bruce’s forces reached deep into Yorkshire. The opening of a new war front in Ireland also put extra pressure on the English monarchy. All of the images in this book chart Robert Bmce’s career in Scodand, Ireland and across northern England too, areas that keenly felt his influence.