Robert I | |
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Victorian depiction of Bruce
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King of Scots | |
Reign | 25 March 1306 – 7 June 1329 |
Coronation | 25 March 1306 |
Predecessor | John |
Successor | David II |
Born |
Turnberry Castle, Ayrshire |
11 July 1274
Died | 7 June 1329 Manor of Cardross, Argyll |
(aged 54)
Burial | Dunfermline Abbey (Body) – Melrose Abbey (Heart) |
Spouse | |
Issue more... |
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House | Bruce |
Father | Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale |
Mother | Marjorie, Countess of Carrick |
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Medieval Gaelic: Roibert a Briuis; modern Scottish Gaelic: Raibeart Bruis; Norman French: Robert de Brus or Robert de Bruys; Early Scots: Robert Brus; Latin: Robertus Brussius), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert was one of the most famous warriors of his generation, and eventually led Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against England. He fought successfully during his reign to regain Scotland's place as an independent country and is today revered in Scotland as a national hero.
Descended from the Anglo-Norman and Gaelic nobilities, his paternal fourth-great grandfather was King David I. Robert's grandfather, Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale, was one of the claimants to the Scottish throne during the "Great Cause". As Earl of Carrick, Robert the Bruce supported his family's claim to the Scottish throne and took part in William Wallace's revolt against Edward I of England. Appointed in 1298 as a Guardian of Scotland alongside his chief rival for the throne, John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, and William Lamberton, Bishop of St Andrews, Robert later resigned in 1300 due to his quarrels with Comyn and the apparently imminent restoration of King John Balliol. After submitting to Edward I in 1302 and returning to "the king's peace", Robert inherited his family's claim to the Scottish throne upon his father's death.