robert the bruce

ii) Elizabeth de Burgh Offspring Marjorie Bruce with Isabella, David, John, Matilda and Margaret with Elizabeth and several illegitimate children Royal House Bruce Father Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale Mother Marjorie of Carrick

Robert I, King of the Scots (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329) usually known in modern English as Robert the Bruce (Medieval Gaelic: Roibert a Briuis; modern Scottish Gaelic: Raibeart Bruis; Norman French: Robert de Brus or Robert de Bruys) was King of the Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329.

His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage (originating in Brieux, Normandy)[3], and his maternal of Gaels[4]. He became one of Scotland's greatest kings, as well as one of the most famous warriors of his generation, eventually leading Scotland during the Wars of Scottish Independence against the Kingdom of England. He claimed the Scottish throne as a fourth great-grandson of David I of Scotland.

His body is buried in Dunfermline Abbey, while his heart is buried in Melrose Abbey. His embalmed heart was to be taken on crusade by his lieutenant and friend Sir James Douglas to the Holy Land, but only reached Moorish Granada, where it acted as a talisman for the Scottish contingent at the Battle of Teba. Contents [hide] 1 Background and early life 2 Beginning of the Wars of Independence 3 Coronation as King of Scots 4 From Scone to Bannockburn 5 Bruce and Ireland 6 Diplomacy 7 Death 8 Family and descendants 9 Legends 10 The Bruce in fiction 11 Monuments and commemoration 11.1 Statues 11.2 Banknotes 11.3 Airplane 12 Ancestry 13 Notes 14 References //

Background and early life

Robert was the first son of Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale (d. 1304) and Marjorie, Countess of Carrick, (d. 1292) [5] daughter of Niall, Earl of Carrick. His mother was by all accounts a formidable woman who, legend would have it, kept Robert Bruce's father captive until he agreed to marry her. From his mother, he inherited the Gaelic Earldom of Carrick, and through his father a royal lineage that would give him a claim to the Scottish throne. Although his date of birth is known,[6] his place of birth is less certain, but it was probably Turnberry Castle in Ayrshire.[1]

Very little is known of his youth. He could have been sent to be fostered with a local family, as was the custom. It can be presumed that Bruce was raised speaking all the languages of his lineage and nation[4] and was almost certainly fluent in Gaelic, Scots and Norman French, with literacy