BRUCE and the SCOTTISH WARS of INDEPENDENCE (Part 1)

BRUCE AND THE SCOTTISH WARS OF INDEPENDENCE (Part 1)

2001

Did the turnaround in the military fortunes of Robert I between 1306-1314 owe more to his opponents’ failings than to his own abilities?

2003

What does a study of Robert I’s campaigns between Methven (1306) and Bannockburn (1314) tell us about the development of his abilities as a military leader?

2004

Do you agree that a settlement was made possible in 1328 because by that time both sides had become desperate for peace?

2005

How far do agree that the career of Robert Bruce, between 1297 and 1328, was motivated more by self-interest that patriotism?

To what extent did King Robert owe his military successes to good fortune?

2006

Why did it take so long for England and Scotland to make peace after the Battle of Bannockburn?

2007

What factors best explain King Robert I’s defeat of his Scottish enemies by 1309?

2008

How far do the actions of Robert Bruce before 1306 undermine his reputation as a great patriot?

To what extent were King Robert’s skills in diplomacy and propaganda as important as his military achievements in winning independence for Scotland?

2009

“Caution in strategy, boldness in tactics.” How far is this an accurate assessment of King Robert’s military campaigns against the English between 1309 and 1314?

TIMELINE

King Robert Bruce; murder, rebellion and civil war 1306-1313

Key dates/documents

• Feb 1302- Robert Bruce submits to Edward I to protect his Carrick lands and the elusive ‘right’.

• 11 June 1304-The Cumbuskenneth Bond of Robert Bruce and Bishop Lamberton of St. Andrews.

• 1305-Bruce in Parliament to decide Ordinance of Scotland but excluded thereafter.

• 10 Feb 1306-kills John Comyn of Badenoch in church of Blackfriars Dumfries.

• 25/27 March 1306-coronation at Scone.

• 19 June 1306- Defeat, Methven, Dalry and then disappears into western Isles and the Irish Sea world.

• Feb 1307-Lands in Carrick with Irish/Isleman support.

• April 1307-Glen Trool and in May Loudon Hill victories.

• 7 July 1307-Edward I dies at Burgh on Sands.

• 1307-08-Defeat of Ross, Comyn’s, Macdougalls, Macdowalls in turn, capture of Aberdeen.

• March 1309-Parliament at St.Andrews in response to French King’s letter and General Council of Church refusal to recognize Bruce as King. Declaration of Clergy and Nobility.

• 1308-14-Attacks on the English in southern Scotland.

• 1311-First raids into northern England.

• 29 October 1312-Inverness Treaty with Norwegians renewing 1266 Treaty.(Western Isles)

• Nov 1313-One year deadline declared by King Robert for his Scottish opponents to enter into his peace.

HISTORIOGRAPHY – BRUCES MILITARY TACTICS

Evidence which supports the view that King Robert’s campaign showed ‘caution in strategy’

between 1309 and 1314

• King Robert never engaged the English in pitched battle before Bannockburn.

• Robert aimed to consolidate his position north of the Forth before attacking positions of greaterEnglish strength.

• Robert’s strategy was not to achieve decisive military victory but to erode the will of the Englishto continue their occupation of Scotland.

Evidence which does not support the view that Bruce’s campaign showed ‘caution in strategy’

between 1309 and 1314

• King Robert’s strategy was to take the war into England as soon as possible; dramatic raids were

made on the north of England after 1311.

• King Robert appears to have changed his strategy in 1314 in order to force the issue by pitched

Battle at Bannockburn.

• The strategic decision not to challenge English dominance on the vital South East in this period

can be regarded as courageous.

Evidence which supports the view that King Robert’s campaign showed ‘boldness in tactics’

between 1309 and 1314

• Daring tactics used to take and then destroy castles.

• Use of unconventional guerrilla tactic (‘secret’ war) can be seen as bold for one of King Robert’s

social background.

• Increasingly daring raids into England.

Evidence which does not support the view that King Robert’s campaign showed ‘boldness in

tactics’ between 1309 and 1314

• His use of guerrilla tactics can be seen as cautious, and as being born of necessity rather than a

preconceived tactical plan.

• The tactics of destroying castles may not reflect boldness so much as a recognition of the underlyingweakness of his military position; he could not garrison captured castles.

Geoffrey Barrow

• emphasises how unusual King Robert’s strategy and tactics were for someone from such a

conservative feudal background.

Colm MacNamee

• has made a detailed study of King Robert’s strategy and tactics. He reveals the effectiveness ofBruce’s raids on England.

Michael Penman

• regards luck as being one of the major characteristics of Bruce’s campaigns.

Aryeh Nusbacher

• argues that Robert only made the decision to fight at Bannockburn at the last possible moment.

Caroline Bingham

• praises Robert’s military strategy and tactics

HISTORIOGRAPHY – REPUTATION AS A PATRIOT (PROBLEMS WITH HIS ACTIONS BEFORE 1306)

Evidence which supports the view that Bruce’s actions before 1306 undermine his reputation as a great patriot

• Bruce’s family had a long tradition of supporting King Edward I of England.

• The Bruce family never supported or fought for King John.

• Bruce’s defection to the Scottish side in 1297 may simply have been to pursue his family’s dynastic ambitions rather than to preserve Scottish independence.

• Bruce’s support for the Scottish side was never very vigorous – he was present at the surrender at Irvine in 1297.

• Bruce’s joint guardianship with John Comyn (and later Lamberton) was short-lived and dominated by factional infighting.

• Bruce’s resignation from the Guardianship.

• Bruce’s defection to the English in 1302; his concern at the prospect of a Balliol restoration.

• Bruce’s willingness to serve under Edward I according to the terms of the Ordinance for Scotland 1305.

Evidence which contradicts the view that Bruce’s actions before 1306 undermine his reputation as a great patriot

• Bruce’s support for the Scottish cause from 1297.

• He may have been present on the Scottish side at the Battle of Falkirk.

• Bruce joined the guardianship in 1298, putting aside differences with Comyn.

• Bruce’s defection to the English in 1302 may not have been genuine; concerned at the threat to his own lands in Carrick.

• The ‘Secret Band’.

Geoffrey Barrow

• argues that Bruce’s actions demonstrate an underlying consistency in his support of the national cause; his defection in 1302 to the English was not genuine.

Alan Young

• stresses the element of personal or dynastic ambition which drove Bruce and that his support of the ‘national’ cause was only when it suited his own interests.

Ranald Nicholson

• argues that “Bruce’s cause was Bruce”.

HISTORIOGRAPHY – DIPLOMACY AND PROPAGANDA

Geoffrey Barrow

• has emphasised the importance of Bruce’s diplomatic activity

• suggests that Bruce knew that victory was unlikely to come through military victory alone

• praises Robert I for his willingness to pay a high price for peace in 1328.

Michael Penman

• has argued that the Wars of Independence can be viewed largely as a Scottish civil war, and that this was an important factor in the peace settlement. Diplomacy was therefore vital in winning foreign recognition of his kingship.

HISTORIOGRAPHY – DEFEAT OF HIS ENEMIES WITHIN SCOTLAND

Geoffrey Barrow: emphasises Bruce’s military skill in winning the campaign. He argues that his early victories laid the foundation for the development of a Bruce ‘myth’. He praises Bruce’s strategy of clemency and leniency towards his former enemies, and argues that earlier military failures and death of the Red Comyn fatally compromised Comyn political leadership. Barrow’s view is widely shared amongst historians, however, recently:

• Michael Penman: has argued that Bruce was fortunate that the death of Edward I removed an implacable foe.

• Colm MacNamee: argues that the English were weakened by ‘economic catastrophe’ and factional disputes of ‘peculiar bitterness’ which allowed Bruce to move against his Scottish enemies.

BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW

When John Balliol was chosen by Edward I to be King of Scotland his rival, Robert Bruce did not give up his claim to the throne, instead he passed his claim down to his son who was also named Robert. When the Scots rebelled in 1295, the Bruce family remained loyal to Edward and expected to be rewarded with the Scottish crown. However, when the rebellion was crushed Edward refused to grant Bruce’s request. After the defeat of Wallace at Falkirk Robert Bruce and John Comyn were elected as the Guardians of Scotland in 1298. The two men were bitter enemies and in May 1300 Bruce resigned. In 1302 Bruce once again switched sides and became a supporter of King Edward. By 1304 Edward was once again in control of Scotland and in the same year Robert Bruce died leaving his claim to the Scottish throne to his son Robert, Earl of Carrick. Like his father and grandfather he was convinced of his right to the throne of Scotland and began to plan a rebellion against King Edward I who was now old and unlikely to live much longer. In February 1306 Bruce met with John Comyn at GreyfriarsChurch in Dumfries. Bruce accused Comyn of treachery and struck him with his sword. Bruce’s followers then stabbed Comyn to death. The Church condemned Comyn’s murder and Bruce was excommunicated. Edward I ordered that Bruce was to be captured and executed and the powerful relatives and supporters of Comyn were determined to get revenge. Bruce realised that the only hope for him and his family was to seize the throne and drive the English out of Scotland.

• In March 1306 the Countess of Buchan crowned Bruce king. He had the support of the Scottish Bishops who pardoned him for the murder of Comyn. He also had the backing of the Earls of Atholl, Lennox and Menteith and some lesser nobleman such as Sir James Douglas.
• Bruce’s campaign did not begin well. In June 1306 he was defeated by the English at Methven and by Comyn’s relatives, the MacDougalls at Dalry. His wife and children were taken prisoner and three of his brothers were beheaded for treason. In the winter of 1306 Bruce went into hiding in an unknown location in the highlands and islands.
• In February 1307 Bruce landed at Carrick in Ayrshire where he was attacked by a large English force. His brothers Thomas and Nigel were captured and executed. Bruce decided to avoid open battle with the English. Instead he fought a guerrilla war using ambush, surprise attacks and forced the English to fight on ground that was unsuitable for heavy cavalry.
• At Glen Trool in April 1307, Bruce ambushed and defeated a large company of English soldiers. At Loudon Hill in May 1307 Bruce forced the English to fight in a narrow area where their cavalry could not move. In July 1307 Edward I died and his son Edward II took over the campaign. He was not a good general or a strong leader and had too many problems in England to pay much attention to Scotland.
• The English were driven out of Perth, Linlithgow, Edinburgh and RoxburghCastles – using night attacks and surprise. Bruce destroyed castles because he did not have enough men to occupy them and did not want them to fall back into the hands of the English.
• In 1308 Bruce attacked Comyn Lands - the Herschip of Galloway and the Herschip of Buchan. The Comyns were finally defeated at Inverurie and their lands and property destroyed. Most Scottish nobles now accepted Bruce as king. In 1310 the Scottish parliament met and declared Robert Bruce to be the lawful king of Scotland.

PACT BETWEEN ROBERT THE BRUCE AND LAMBERTON (the Bishop of St Andrews)

Agreement between Bruce and Bishop Lamberton (1304):

Memorandum that in 1304, on St Barnabas day (11 June), the reverend father in Christ the lord William de Lamberton, by God’s grace bishop of St Andrews, and the nobleman the lord Robert de Brus, earl of Carrick and lord of Annandale, meeting at Cambuskenneth, conferring on future mutual dangers and wishing to avoid them as far as possible and to resist prudently the strivings of rivals, entered a treaty of friendship in the following form: namely, that they will faithfully consult mutually in whatsoever their business and dealings at whatever times and against whatever persons and will bring aid or help by themselves and their mend with all their strength for ever and without dissembling; that neither of them will try any difficult business without consulting the other and that each of them will forewarn, or cause to be forewarned, the other of imminent dangers as soon as he can consider them and will cause them to be impeded with all his strength. And faithfully to hold, fulfil and observe all these things fully and without any dissembling they have bound themselves with mutual faith and an oath taken in their persons, upon pain of £10,000 to be applied to the Holy Land…

Bruce was clearly plotting his future with Lamberton who had a reputation for being a patriotic bishop. This pact became crucial after the events of 1306 with the murder of John Comyn and Lamberton carrying out the coronation of Bruce.

MURDER OF COMYN

One of the best contemporary sources of information about the murder in John Comyn by Bruce on 10 February 1306 is from the English Chronicle of Guisborough. John Comyn was accompanied by his uncle Sir Robert Comyn. Robert Bruce was accompanied by Christopher Seton (his brother-in-law) and possibly Seton’s two brothers. Guisborough states that they greeted one another with a “kiss of peace.” It is probable that Bruce would have asked Comyn to support Bruces claim to the throne. Comyn would never support such a proposal. The following quote is the Chronicle of Guisborough.

“They were speaking together with words which seemed peaceful; suddenly, in a reversal, and with different words, (Bruce) began to accuse him of betrayal, in that he had accused him to the king of England, and worsened his position to his harm. When (Comyn) spoke peaceably and excused himself, (Bruce) did not wish to hear his speech, but as he had conspired, he struck with foot and sword and went away out. But (Bruces) men followed Comyn and cast him down on the paving before the alter, leaving him for dead…Robert Comyn his uncle ran to bring him help, but Christopher Seton, who had married Robert’s sister met him, struck his head with a sword and he died…Comyn still lived for the friars had carried him down to the alter vestry to treat him and for him to confess his sins. When he confessed he was repentant, by the tyrant’s (that is Bruce’s) order he was dragged out of the vestry and killed on the steps of the high alter.”

• John Comyn had not died outright when Bruce left the church. Bruce ordered him to be finished off. Perhaps Bruce had already declared to Comyn that he intended to seize the throne. Nevertheless, after the murder had taken place, Bruce perhaps felt that he had no other option but to seize the throne. The Historian Colm McNamee states that “it is impossible to believe that murder was intended in a sacrosanct church of all places; Bruce would not have handed such a weapon to his enemies.” It is therefore possible that Bruce murdered Comyn in a moment of rage.
• This action was a defining episode in Scottish history. Robert Bruce had been one of the first to come into the peace of Edward I before the Ordinance of Scotland in 1305. After the events in February 1306, Bruce’s actions showed that he was determined to become King of Scotland and that he was firmly against Edward I’s control of the Kingdom.

Possible motivating factors to stake his claim for the throne in 1306

• Little chance of Balliol restoration – the French had been defeated by a Flemish Army and the English had made peace with the French King. This meant that Bruce’s claim to the Scottish throne was the only plausible option for the return of a monarchy in Scotland.
• Bruce’s father died on 21 April 1304. This meant that Bruce acquired an increase in prestige as he became Lord of Annandale, head of the family and without doubt the most senior Bruce, making him the strongest claimant to become King of Scots.
• Bruce was also aware that Edward was 68 in 1306 which made him very old by medieval standards. Perhaps Bruce was waiting for the death of Edward before acting on his ambition to become the King of Scots. However, his actions in February 1306 meant that this process had to be accelerated.
• The relationship with Bishop Lamberton clearly encouraged Bruce to act. The pact of 1304 showed the support that Bruce had from such an important Church leader. Bishop Lamberton was appointed as one of four Guardians in October 1305 to hold office until the Englishman, John of Brittany could take up his role as lord lieutenant.
• Professor Barrow (the leading authority on Bruce) takes the view that Bruce had everything to lose. He was married to the most powerful magnate in Ireland, he held Ayr and Kildrummy castles, and with three royal forests “Bruce had never been richer or more favoured.” Barrow implies that patriotism motivated him to act contrary to his own interests. Barrow uses the phrase “it was a moment of action”. Bruce had been preparing his castles if the need arose to use them.
• Prestwich argues that “with more careful handling by Edward, it is likely that Bruce would have remained a valuable ally of English.” He argues that Bruce still harboured fond expectations of being asked by Edward to take on the role of vassal-king of Scotland, and was disappointed at Edward’s continued refusal to use him in this role.
• It is possible to argue that Bruce was motivated by the power that Edward had exercised over Scotland. He may have been angry about the foreign occupation, the looting of precious relics and perhaps even by the execution of Wallace who was humiliated, tortured and killed by Edward I.
• Bruce suffered a downturn in fortunes. In March 1305, he played a prominent role at the Westminster Parliament and he was consulted about the Ordinance of Scotland. Yet Bruce was relegated to a minor role in the government of Scotland and lands in Carrick were given to Umfraville. In addition, Edward attempted to collect debts from Bruce which were allegedly owed to the English king by Bruce’s father. By February 1306, Bruce had suffered a great loss in power at the hands of Edward I and was therefore prompted to take drastic actions in 1306.
• Bruce may have been plotting to seize the throne of Scotland and Comyn was trying to stop him. Bruce had the support of Bishop Lamberton and possibly Bishop Wishart of Glasgow. Barbour’s Bruce (partriotic poem supporting Bruce) claims that Comyn had made Edward I clear of Bruce’s intentions.

AFTER THE MURDER OF COMYN