Robert III, King of Scots

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Robert III "The Lame King" of the House of Stewart, King of Scots was born c. 1337 in Dundonald Castle, Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland. He died 4 April 1406 at Rothesay Castle, Isle of Bute, Scotland. He was buried in Paisely Abbey, not Scone as was traditional for Kings of Scots. He was christened as John Stewart and also known by his Gaelic name and title of Roibert III Stiùbhairt, An Righ Bhacaigh and his Latin name and Title, Robertus Rex.

• Ruled: 1390-1406
• Preceded by: Robert II, 1371-1390
• Succeeded by:James l, 1406-1437

Family

Parents: son of Robert II early 1316 – 19 April 1390 and Elizabeth Mure died before May 1355

Married:

1. Anabella Drummond c. 1350–1401

Children:

1. Elizabeth
2. Mary, Countess of Angus
3. Egidia
4. Margaret, Countess of Douglas
5. Robert
6. David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay 24 October 1378 – 26 March 1402
7. James I of Scotland July 25 1394 to February 21 1437

Biography

John, then styled Lord of Kyle, first appeared in the 1350s as the commander of a campaign in the lordship of Annandale to re-establish Scottish control over English occupied territory.[1] In 1363, John joined his father Robert the Steward along with the earls of Douglas and March in a failed insurrection against King David II. The reasons for the rebellion were varied. In 1362, David II supported several of his royal favourites in their titles to lands in the Stewart earldom of Monteith and thwarted Stewart claims to the earldom of Fife. The king's involvement with Margaret Logie (née Drummond) and soon to be his queen may also have represented a threat in the Steward's own earldom of Strathearn where the Drummonds also had interests, while Douglas and March mistrusted David's intentions towards them.[2]

These nobles were also unhappy at the king's squandering of funds provided to him for his ransom[3] and with the prospect that they could be sent to England as guarantors for the ransom payments. The dissension between the king and the Stewarts looked to have been settled before the end of spring 1367. On 31 May the Steward gave the earldom of Atholl to John, who by this time was already married to Annabella Drummond, the daughter of the queen's deceased brother, Sir John Drummond and (probably) Mary, heir of William Montefichet, lord of Auchterarder.[4] David II reinforced the position of John and Annabella by providing them with the earldom of Carrick on 22 June 1368 and the tacit approval of John as the king's probable heir.[5] A Stewart succession was suddenly endangered when David II had his marriage to Margaret annulled in March 1369 leaving the king free to re-marry and with the prospect of a Bruce heir.[6]

On 22 February 1371 David II (who was preparing to marry the earl of March's sister, Agnes Dunbar) unexpectedly died, presumably to the relief of both John and his father.[7] Robert was crowned at Scone Abbey on 27 March 1371 and before this date had given John—now styled Steward of Scotland—the ancestral lands surrounding the Firth of Clyde.[8] The manner in which the succession was to take place was first entailed by Robert I when female heirs were excluded and David II attempted unsuccessfully on several occasions to have the council change the succession procedure.[8] Robert II quickly moved to ensure the succession of John when the general council attending his coronation officially named Carrick as heir—in 1373 the Stewart succession was further strengthened when parliament passed entails defining the manner in which each of the king's sons could inherit the crown.[9] After the coronation John Dunbar who had received the lordship of Fife from David II now resigned the title so that the king's second son, Robert, earl of Monteith could receive the earldom of Fife—Dunbar was compensated with the provision of the earldom of Moray.[10]

A son, David, the future Duke of Rothesay, was born to Carrick and Annabella on 24 October 1378. In 1381, Carrick was calling himself 'lieutenant for the marches' sustained by his connections to border magnates such as his brother-in-law, James Douglas son of William, Earl of Douglas who he succeeded in 1384.[8]

Lieutenant of the kingdom

Robert II's policy of building up Stewart domination in Scotland through the advancement of his sons saw Carrick as the pre-eminent Stewart magnate south of the Forth-Clyde line just as his younger brother Alexander, earl of Buchan, lord of Badenoch and Ross was in the north.[11] Buchan's use of cateran supporters drew criticism from Northern nobles and prelates and demonstrated Robert II's inability or reluctance to control his son and resulted in him losing council support.[12] The king's failure to take a leading role in prosecuting the war with England and Buchan's abuse of royal power in the north was the backdrop to the general council meeting at Holyrood Abbey in November 1384 where the decision was taken to sideline the king and provide the ruling powers to Carrick.[13][14] In July 1385, under Carrick's lieutenancy, a Scottish army that included a French force commanded by Admiral Jean de Vienne penetrated into the north of England without any serious gains but provoked a damaging retaliatory attack by Richard II.[8] In 1385, the general council sharply condemned Buchan's behaviour[15] and sat with the intention of maneuvering Carrick into firmly intervening in the north.[16] Despite this, Carrick did not bring Buchan under control and many of the lieutenant's supporters although pleased at the resumption of hostilities with England were unhappy at the continued northern lawlessness.[17] Carrick had been made the king's lieutenant partly on the need to curb Buchan's excesses yet despite this by February 1387 Buchan had become even more powerful and influential when he was appointed Justiciar north of the Forth.[16]

... considering that there are, and have been now for a considerable time, great and numerous defects in the governing of the kingdom by reason of the king's disposition, both by reason of age and for other reasons, and the infirmity of the lord his firstborn son ... have amicably chosen Sir [Robert Stewart], earl of Fife, second-born son of the king, and brother german of the same lord the firstborn son, [as] guardian of the kingdom under the king, ... for putting into effect justice and keeping the law internally, and for the defence of the kingdom with the king's force, as set out before, against those attempting to rise up as enemies.

—Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, 1 December 1388, Edinburgh. http://www.rps.ac.uk/

A series of truces halted any further significant fighting but on 19 April 1388, English envoys sent to Scotland to again extend the ceasefire returned to Richard's court empty-handed—by 29 April Robert II was conducting a council in Edinburgh to authorise renewed conflict with England.[18] Although the Scots army defeated the English at the Battle of Otterburn in Northumberland in August 1388, its leader James, earl of Douglas was killed. Douglas died childless triggering a series of claims on his estate—Carrick backed his brother-in-law Malcolm Drummond, the husband of Douglas's sister while Carrick's brother Fife took the side of Sir Archibald Douglas, lord of Galloway who held an entail on his kinsman's estates and who ultimately succeeded to the earldom.[19] Fife, with his powerful Douglas ally together with those loyal to the king ensured at the December 1388 council meeting that the lieutenancy of Scotland would pass from Carrick (who had recently been badly injured from a horse-kick) to Fife.[17][20]

There was general approval of Fife's intention to properly resolve the situation of lawlessness in the north and in particular the activities of Buchan his younger brother.[17] Buchan was stripped of his position of justiciar which would soon be given to Fife's son, Murdoch Stewart. In January 1390 Robert II was in the north-east perhaps to strengthen the now changed political outlook in the north of the kingdom.[21] He returned to Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire in March where he died on 19 April and was buried at Scone on 25 April.[22]

Kingship

In diebus illis non erat lex in Scocia fed quilibet potencior minorem oppressit et totum regnum fuit unum latrocinium. Homicidia depredaciones et incendia et cetera maleficia remanserunt inpunita et justicia utlegata extra regni terminos exulavit.

In those days there was no law in Scotland, but the strong oppressed the weak, and the whole kingdom was one den of thieves. Homicides, robberies, fire-raisings, and other misdeeds remained unpunished, and justice seemed banished beyond the kingdom's bounds.

—The Chartularium Episcopatus Moraviensis written at Elgin Cathedral for the year 1398[23][24]

In May 1390 parliament granted John permission to change his regnal name to Robert, probably in part to maintain the link back to Robert I but also to disassociate himself from King John Balliol.[25] The four month delay in the crowning of Robert III can be seen as a period when Fife and his affinity sought to ensure their future positions and which also saw Buchan's opportunistic attack on Elgin Cathedral, settling an old score with the bishop of Moray and possibly also a protest at Fife's reappointment as the king's lieutenant.[26]
In 1392, Robert III strengthened the position of his son David, now earl of Carrick, when he endowed him with a large annuity that allowed the young prince to build up his household and affinity and then in 1393 regained his right to direct rule when the general council decided that Fife's lieutenancy should end and that Carrick now of age should assist his father.[27] This independence of action was demonstrated in 1395–6 when he responded to Carrick's unauthorised marriage to Elizabeth Dunbar, daughter of George earl of March by ensuring its annulment.[8] The king appears to have also taken over the conduct of foreign affairs, preserving the peace with Richard II and managing to increase the power of the Red Douglas Earl of Angus in the southeast of the country as a counter-balance to Fife's Black Douglas ally. He further showed his authority when in an attempt to reduce inter-clan feuding and lawlessness, he arranged and oversaw a gladiatorial limited combat between the clans of Kay and Quhele (Clan Chattan) in Perth on 28 April 1396.[28] David of Carrick progressively acted independently of his father taking control of the Stewart lands in the south-west while maintaining his links with the Drummonds of his mother and all at a time when Fife's influence in central Scotland remained strong.[29]

The king was increasingly blamed for the failure to pacify the Gaelic areas in west and north. The general council held in Perth in April 1398 criticised the king's governance and empowered his brother Robert and his son David—now respectively the Dukes of Albany and Rothesay—to lead an army against Donald, Lord of the Isles and his brothers.[8] In November 1398, an influential group of magnates and prelates met at Falkland Castle that included Albany, Rothesay, Archibald, earl of Douglas, Albany's son Murdoch, justiciar North of the Forth along with the bishops Walter of St Andrews and Gilbert of Aberdeen—the outcome of this meeting manifested itself at the council meeting held in January 1399 when the king was forced to surrender power to Rothesay for a period of three years.[30]

The kin of the border earls took advantage of the confusion in England after the deposition of Richard II by Henry duke of Lancaster and harried and forayed into England causing much damage and taking Wark Castle around 13 October 1399.[31] A far reaching dispute between Rothesay and George Dunbar, earl of March occurred when Rothesay, rather than remarrying Elizabeth Dunbar as previously agreed, decided to marry Mary Douglas, daughter of the earl of Douglas—March, enraged by this wrote to Henry IV on 18 February 1400 and by July had entered Henry's service.[32] In 1401, Rothesay took on a more assertive and autonomous attitude, circumventing proper procedures, unjustifiably appropriating sums from the customs of the burghs on the east coast before provoking further animosity when he confiscated the revenues of the temporalities of the vacant bishopric of St Andrews.[33] Rothesay had also in conjunction with his uncle, Alexander Stewart, earl of Buchan, confronted Albany's influence in central Scotland—as soon his lieutenancy expired in 1402 Rothesay was arrested and imprisoned in Albany's Falkland Castle where he died in March 1402.[34] Rothesay's death probably lay with Albany and Douglas who would have looked upon the possibility of the young prince acceding to the throne with great apprehension—they certainly fell under suspicion but were cleared of all blame by a general council, 'where, by divine providence and not otherwise, it is discerned that he departed from this life.' [35][36]

His body wes had than to Paslay, And wes entyrit in that Abbay, The quhilk his elderis devotely, Fondyt, and dowyt rechely.

His body was taken to Paisley, And was interred in that Abbey, The which his forefathers devoutly, Founded, and endowed richly.

—Andrew of Wyntoun, prior of Loch Leven[37] Following Rothesay's death—with the restoration of the lieutenancy to Albany and the Scottish defeat at the battle of Humbleton—Robert III experienced almost total exclusion from political authority and was limited to his lands in the west.[38] By late 1404 Robert, with the aid of his close councillors Henry Sinclair, earl of Orkney, Sir David Fleming and Henry Wardlaw, had succeeded in re-establishing himself and intervened in favour of Alexander Stewart, the earl of Buchan's illegitimate son, who was in dispute with Albany over the earldom of Mar.[39] Robert III again exhibited his new resolve when in December 1404 he created a new regality in the Stewartry[40] for his sole remaining son and heir James now earl of Carrick—an act designed to prevent these lands falling into Albany's hands.[41] By 28 October 1405 Robert III had returned to Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire. With the king's health failing, it was decided in the winter of 1405–6 to send the young prince to France out of the reach of Albany.[42] Despite this, the manner of James's flight from Scotland was unplanned. In February 1406, the 12 year-old James together with Orkney and Fleming at the head of a large group of followers left the safety of Bishop Wardlaw's protection in St Andrews and journeyed through the hostile Douglas territories of east Lothian—an act probably designed to demonstrate James's royal endorsement of his custodians but also a move by his custodians to further their own interests in the traditional Douglas heartlands.[43] Events went seriously wrong for James and he had to escape to the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth along with the earl of Orkney after his escorts were attacked by James Douglas of Balvenie and which resulted in Sir David Fleming's death.[44] Their confinement on the rock was to last for over a month before a ship from Danzig, en route for France picked them up.[45] On 22 March 1406 the ship was taken by English pirates off Flamborough Head who delivered James to King Henry IV of England. Robert III had moved to Rothesay castle where, after hearing of his son's captivity, died 4 April 1406 and was buried in the Stewart foundation abbey of Paisley.[46]

Historiography

Abbot Walter Bower reported that Robert III described himself as "the worst of kings and the most miserable of men". Gordon Donaldson in his general history Scottish Kings (1967) agrees and writes of the first two Stewart kings "that a famous dynasty, which was to produce so many men of remarkable ability ... made a somewhat pedestrian beginning". He immediately qualifies this statement with "it is true that the sources, both record and narrative, are scanty". He goes further and explains "admittedly, no attempt has yet been made to bring the resources of modern historical research to bear on Robert II and Robert III ... but it is beyond the bounds of probability that even if this is done either of them will emerge as a man who did much positively to shape Scottish history."[47] When Robert III re-established his personal rule in 1393 Donaldson characterises it as a period of anarchy and of a king who couldn’t control his brothers Albany and Buchan nor his son Rothesay.[48] Ranald Nicholson agrees with Donaldson in his Scotland: The Later Middle Ages (1974) and describes Robert III as a failure, like his father, because he wasn’t dominant. Nicholson’s opinion was that in his period as lieutenant in the 1380s, Robert (John, earl of Carrick) was incapable of dealing with the breakdown of law and order citing the number of legal cases. The lameness of Carrick after being kicked by a horse was explained by Nicholson as the excuse needed to have him replaced by his brother Robert, earl of Fife as the king’s lieutenant. Nicholson writes "nothing much was to be hoped for in the heir apparent" and goes on to blame Robert III for the destruction of Forres and Elgin despite the lieutenancy of Fife at the time. Andrew Barrell in his book Medieval Scotland (2000) puts forward that the first two Stewart kings "had difficulty in asserting themselves, partly because their dynasty was new to kingship and needed to establish itself".[49] Robert III’s period of personal rule from 1393 was "disastrous" according to Barrell, and was exemplified by the king’s failure to re-take the royal fortress of Dumbarton.[50] Barrell’s final assessment of Robert III was of a man crippled in body and incapable or averse to personally confronting Albany but sought to do so through promoting the status of his sons, and even then he failed.[51] Alexander Grant in Independence and Nationhood (1984) found Robert III to be "probably Scotland's least impressive king". Grant puts this into perspective and writes that it is notable that Robert III's reign could have been worse compared to the turmoil and violence experienced in England and France when ruled by weak kings—even on Robert’s death, Scotland didn’t descend into open civil war but was restricted to positioning among the royal family and its magnate groupings.[52] Grant, in The New Cambridge Medieval History, explains that the 13th century Scottish kings ruled with the endorsement of practically all of the political classes but that none of the 14th century kings, from Robert I to Robert III, did so and retained loyalty by the use of patronage. The benefits of this were outweighed by the disadvantages—alienated lands reduced crown income, endowments had the same effect, the estates granted to nobles and church often in regality led to a loss of royal attendance within these territories and contributed to a diminishment of authority.[53] Michael Lynch suggests that the earlier 20th century historians made hasty evaluations of both Robert II and Robert III, when they characterised them as "pathetically weak personalities" and their reigns as "nineteen years of senility and sixteen of infirmity". Lynch also makes the point that the complaints made in the later chronicles of lawlessness and disturbance in the country was mainly confined to the north with the king’s brother Alexander, lord of Badenoch and earl of Buchan at its root. The death of John, lord of the Isles heralded a state of dissension between the lordship and the crown that was to last for two generations and which even Robert III’s successor James I was unable to deal with properly.[54] Lynch states that much of the troubles during Robert III’s reign derived from the sharp deterioration of the royal revenues. The unruliness of northern Scotland was the result of competing factions within the royal family—Lynch suggests that the weakness in kingship before 1406 "can be exaggerated" citing Buchan’s enforced appearance at Robert III’s council to answer for his incendiary attack on Elgin and its cathedral and Albany’s obtainment of a submission from the lord of the Isles.[55] In Stephen Boardman’s The Early Stewart Kings, the younger Robert, then John, earl of Carrick, is shown to be an energetic ambitious man and fully engaged in the running of the country, at the centre of Anglo-Scottish diplomacy, and who became the pre-eminent magnate in Scotland and whose political importance south of the Forth would eclipse that of his father’s.[56] Boardman describes how in 1384 he callously engineered the council to remove his father from power and to place it in his hands.[57] Many of the problems of Robert III’s rule, Boardman argues, stemmed from the death of his brother-in-law and close ally James, earl of Douglas at Otterburnn in 1388 when his deliberately constructed and powerful affinity south of the Forth crumbled. That same year Carrick lost the lieutenancy to his brother Robert earl of Fife that was, Boardman suggests, a blow to the future king’s standing and one from which he would not fully recover.[58] According to Boardman, when Robert became king in 1390 he was the victim of his father’s style of government characterised by Robert II’s creation of his sons, sons-in-law, and other major territorial nobles as powerful magnates to whom he delegated extensive authority—as a result Robert III’s brothers refused to act simply as liegemen to the king. Robert III, already weakened by council when he ascended the throne was in the end completely subordinated to the magnatial power of Albany and Douglas.[59]

Links

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Scottish_monarchs#House_of_Ste...
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_III_of_Scotland
• http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p107.htm#i...
• http://thepeerage.com/p10210.htm#i102099
• http://www.rampantscotland.com/famous/blfamrobert3.htm
• http://genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00006038&tree=LEO

Sources

1. Barrell, Andrew D. M. (2000), Medieval Scotland, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 052158602X
2. Boardman, S. I. (September 2004), Annabella, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.), Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8063, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23713, retrieved 20 February 2009
3. Boardman, Stephen (2007), The Early Stewart Kings: Robert II and Robert III, 1371–1406, The Stewart Dynasty in Scotland Series, Edinburgh: John Donald, an imprint of Birlinn Ltd, ISBN 1-904607-68-3
4. Boardman, S. I. (May 2006), Robert II, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.), Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23713, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23713, retrieved 19 October 2009
5. Boardman, S. I., Robert III, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) (online ed.), Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23714, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23714, retrieved 9 January 2009
6. Boardman, Stephen (2007), "The Gaelic World and the Early Stewart Court", in Broun, Dauvit; MacGregor, Martin, Mìorun Mòr nan Gall, ‘The Great Ill-Will of the Lowlander’? Lowland Perceptions of the Highlands, Medieval and Modern (1st ed.), the Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies, University of Glasgow, ISBN 0-85261-820-X
7. Brown, Keith M.; Tanner, Roland (2008), The History of the Scottish Parliament: Parliament and Politics In Scotland 1235–1560, Vol. 1, Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0748614850
8. Brown, Michael (2004), The Wars of Scotland, 1214-1371, Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0748612386
9. Brown, M. H. (2004), James I, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.), Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14587, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/14587, retrieved 16 May 2010
10. Burns, Charles, ed. (1976), Calendar of Papal Letters to Scotland of Clement VII of Avignon, 1378–1394, Scottish History Society, ISBN 9780950026084
11. Dunbar, Archibald H. (1899), Scottish Kings: A Revised Chronology of Scottish History, Edinburgh: David Douglas
12. Duncan, A. A. M. (2004), Murray , Sir Andrew, of Bothwell (1298–1338), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.), Oxford University Press, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/19590, retrieved 23 October 2008
13. Grant, Alexander (1992), "The Otterburn War from the Scottish Point of View", in Goodman, Anthony; Tuck, Anthony, War and Border Societies in the Middle Ages, Routledge, ISBN 0415080215
14. Grant, Alexander (1984), Independence and Nationhood, Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd, ISBN 0-7131-6309-7
15. Grant, Alexander, "Forteenth-century Scotland", in Jones, Michael; et al.,, The New Cambridge Medieval History: C. 1300-C1415, Woodbridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, ISBN 0521362903
16. Innes, Cosmo (1837), Registrum Episcapus Moraviensis, Edinburgh: Ballantyne Club
17. Paul, James Balfour, ed. (1904), The Scots Peerage, I, Edinburgh: David Douglas
18. Grant, Alexander, "Franchises North of the Border", in Prestwich, Michael, Liberties and Identities in the Medieval British Isles, Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-84383-374-1
19. Penman, Michael (2001), "The House Divided: Bruce vs Balliol, 1290–1371", in Oram, Richard, The Kings & Queens of Scotland, Stroud, Gloustershire: Tempus Publishing Ltd, ISBN 0 7524 1991 9
20. Rogers, Clifford J. (1999), The Wars of Edward III: Sources and Interpretations, Boydell & Brewer, ISBN 0851156460
21. Sadler, John (2006), Border Fury: England and Scotland at War 1296-1568, Longman, ISBN 1405840226
22. University of St Andrews, Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, http://www.rps.ac.uk/, retrieved 25 February 2009
23. Webster, Bruce, David II, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.), Oxford University Press, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/3726, retrieved 22 October 2008
24. Webster, Bruce, Balliol, Edward (b. in or after 1281, d. 1364), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.), Oxford University Press, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1206, retrieved 22 October 2008
25. Webster, Bruce (1998), "Scotland without a King, 1329–1341", in Grant, Alexander; Stringer, Keith, Medieval Scotland: Crown, Lordship and Community, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 074861110x
26. Weir, Alison (1989), Britain's Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy, London: The Bodley Head, ISBN 0370313100

Citations

1. Penman, Kings and Queens of Scotland, p. 128
2. Boardman, Early Stewart Kings, pp. 16–18
3. Penman, Kings and Queens of Scotland, p. 120
4. Boardman, Annabella, ODNB
5. Boardman, Early Stewart Kings, p. 22
6. Boardman, Early Stewart Kings, pp. 23–4
7. Penman, Kings and Queens of Scotland, p. 130
8. Boardman, Robert III, ODNB
9. Barrell, Medieval Scotland, pp. 141–2
10. Grant in Jones et al., The New Cambridge Medieval History, p. 360
11. Barrell, Medieval Scotland, p. 140–2
12. For an account of the background to Buchan's activities in the north of Scotland and the context in which he operated see Boardman, Early Stewart Kings, pages 83–9
13. Grant in Jones et al., New Cambridge History, pp. 360–1
14. Oram, et al., Kings & Queens, p. 126
15. Lynch, Scotland: A New History, p. 139
16. Boardman, Early Stewart Kings,p. 13
17. Grant in Jones, et al., New Cambridge History p. 361
18. Boardman, Early Stewart Kings, pp. 139 & 142
19. Grant in Tuck & Goodman, War and Border Societies, p. 51
20. Grant in Tuck & Goodman, War and Border Societies, p. 51
21. Boardman, Early Stewart Kings, p. 171
22. The date of Robert II's death and the disputed date for Robert II's burial and the reasons for the delay in Robert III's coronation are explained by Dauvit Broun in Brown & Tanner, History of Scottish Parliament pp. 112–6
23. Dunbar, A Revised Chronology of Scottish History, p. 174\
24. Innes, C. Registum Moravienses, p. 382
25. Barrell, Medieval Scotland, p. 146
26. Boardman, Early Stewart Kings, pp. 173–5
27. Boardman,Early Stewart Kings, pp. 195–6
28. Penman, Kings & Queens of Scotland, p. 131
29. Grant in Jones et al., New Cambridge Medieval History, p. 361
30. Boardman,Early Stewart Kings, pp. 173–5
31. Boardman,Early Stewart Kings, p. 226
32. Sadler, Border Fury, p. 296
33. Boardman, David Stewart, duke of Rothesay, ODNB
34. Grant in Jones et al., The New Cambridge Medieval History, p. 362
35. Barrell, Medieval Scotland. p. 149
36. Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, 14 may, 1402, Edinburgh. http://www.rps.ac.uk/
37. Boardman,Early Stewart Kings,p. 297
38. Boardman,Early Stewart Kings, p. 255
39. Boardman,Early Stewart Kings, p. 281
40. For an understanding of the designation of baronies and earldoms into regalities and their powers during the reign of Robert III, see Alexander Grant, Franchises North of the Border, pp.193–199 in Michael Prestick (Ed), Liberties and Identities in the Medieval British Isles
41. Boardman,Early Stewart Kings, pp. 281–2
42. Boardman,Early Stewart Kings, p. 291
43. Boardman,Early Stewart Kings, pp. 293–4
44. Brown, James I, ODNB
45. Boardman,Early Stewart Kings, p. 293
46. Penman, Kings and Queens of Scotland, p. 134
47. Donaldson, Scottish Kings, p. 38
48. Donaldson, Scottish Kings, p. 41
49. Barrell, Medieval Scotland, p. 137
50. Barrell, Medieval Scotland, p. 147
51. Barrell, Medieval Scotland, pp. 150–1
52. Grant, Independence and Nationhood, p. 184
53. Grant, New Cambridge Medieval History, p. 367
54. Lynch, Medieval Scotland, p. 140
55. Lynch, Medieval Scotland, p. 142
56. Boardman, Early Stewart Kings, p. 55
57. Boardman, Early Stewart Kings, p. 304
58. Boardman, Early Stewart Kings, p. 305
59. Boardman, Early Stewart Kings, p. 308

AKO

John, Lord of Kyle

John, Earl of Atholl

Roibert III Stiùbhairt, An Righ Bhacaigh

Robertus Rex

• ____________________________

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From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_III_of_Scotland

Robert III (14 August 1337 – April 1406) was King of Scots from 1390 to his death. His given name was John Stewart, and he was known primarily as the Earl of Carrick before ascending the throne at age 53. He was the eldest son of Robert II and Elizabeth Mure and was legitimated with the marriage of his parents in 1347.

John joined his father and other magnates in a rebellion against his grand-uncle, David II early in 1363 but submitted to him soon afterwards. He married Anabella Drummond, daughter of Sir John Drummond of Stobhall before 31 May 1367 when the Steward ceded to him the earldom of Atholl. In 1368 David created him Earl of Carrick. His father became king in 1371 after the unexpected death of the childless King David. In the succeeding years Carrick was influential in the government of the kingdom but became progressively more impatient at his father's longevity. In 1384 Carrick was appointed the king's lieutenant after having influenced the general council to remove Robert II from direct rule. Carrick's administration saw a renewal of the conflict with England. In 1388 the Scots defeated the English at the Battle of Otterburn where the Scots' commander, James, Earl of Douglas, was killed. By this time Carrick had been badly injured by a horse-kick but the loss of his powerful ally, Douglas, saw a turnaround in magnate support in favour of his younger brother Robert, Earl of Fife and in December 1388 the council transferred the lieutenancy to Fife.

In 1390, Robert II died and Carrick ascended the throne as Robert III but without authority to rule directly. Fife continued as lieutenant until February 1393 when power was returned to the king in conjunction with his son David. At a council in 1399 owing to the king's 'sickness of his person', David, now Duke of Rothesay, became lieutenant of the kingdom in his own right but supervised by a special parliamentary group dominated by Fife, now styled Duke of Albany. After this, Robert III withdrew to his lands in the west and for a time played little or no part in affairs of state. He was powerless to interfere when a dispute between Albany and Rothesay arose in 1401 which led to Rothesay's arrest and imprisonment at Albany's Falkland Castle where Rothesay died in March 1402. The general council absolved Albany from blame and reappointed him as lieutenant. The only impediment now remaining to an Albany Stewart monarchy was the king's only surviving son, James, Earl of Carrick. In February 1406 the 11 year-old James and a powerful group of followers clashed with Albany's Douglas allies resulting in the death of the king's counsellor Sir David Fleming of Cumbernauld. James escaped to the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth accompanied by Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney and remained there for a month before boarding a ship bound for France. The vessel was intercepted near Flamborough Head and James became the prisoner of Henry IV of England and would remain captive for the next 18 years. Robert III died in Rothesay Castle on 4 April 1406 shortly after learning of his son's imprisonment and was buried at Paisley Abbey.

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Robert III (14 August 1337 – April 1406), born John Stewart, was King of Scots from 1390 to his death. He was known primarily as the Earl of Carrick before ascending the throne at age 53. He was the eldest son of Robert II and Elizabeth Mure and was legitimated with the marriage of his parents in 1347.

John joined his father and other magnates in a rebellion against his grand-uncle, David II early in 1363 but submitted to him soon afterwards. He married Anabella Drummond, daughter of Sir John Drummond of Stobhall before 31 May 1367 when the Steward ceded to him the earldom of Atholl. In 1368 David created him Earl of Carrick. His father became king in 1371 after the unexpected death of the childless King David. In the succeeding years Carrick was influential in the government of the kingdom but became progressively more impatient at his father's longevity. In 1384 Carrick was appointed the king's lieutenant after having influenced the general council to remove Robert II from direct rule. Carrick's administration saw a renewal of the conflict with England. In 1388 the Scots defeated the English at the Battle of Otterburn where the Scots' commander, James, Earl of Douglas, was killed. By this time Carrick had been badly injured by a horse-kick but the loss of his powerful ally, Douglas, saw a turnaround in magnate support in favour of his younger brother Robert, Earl of Fife and in December 1388 the council transferred the lieutenancy to Fife.

In 1390, Robert II died and Carrick ascended the throne as Robert III but without authority to rule directly. Fife continued as lieutenant until February 1393 when power was returned to the king in conjunction with his son David. At a council in 1399 owing to the king's 'sickness of his person', David, now Duke of Rothesay, became lieutenant of the kingdom in his own right but supervised by a special parliamentary group dominated by Fife, now styled Duke of Albany. After this, Robert III withdrew to his lands in the west and for a time played little or no part in affairs of state. He was powerless to interfere when a dispute between Albany and Rothesay arose in 1401 which led to Rothesay's arrest and imprisonment at Albany's Falkland Castle where Rothesay died in March 1402. The general council absolved Albany from blame and reappointed him as lieutenant. The only impediment now remaining to an Albany Stewart monarchy was the king's only surviving son, James, Earl of Carrick. In February 1406 the 11 year-old James and a powerful group of followers clashed with Albany's Douglas allies resulting in the death of the king's counsellor Sir David Fleming of Cumbernauld. James escaped to the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth accompanied by Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney and remained there for a month before boarding a ship bound for France. The vessel was intercepted near Flamborough Head and James became the prisoner of Henry IV of England and would remain captive for the next 18 years. Robert III died in Rothesay Castle on 4 April 1406 shortly after learning of his son's imprisonment and was buried at Paisley Abbey.

Heir apparent[edit] John, then styled Lord of Kyle, first appeared in the 1350s as the commander of a campaign in the lordship of Annandale to re-establish Scottish control over English occupied territory.[1] In 1363, John joined his father Robert the Steward along with the earls of Douglas and March in a failed insurrection against King David II. The reasons for the rebellion were varied. In 1362, David II supported several of his royal favourites in their titles to lands in the Stewart earldom of Monteith and thwarted Stewart claims to the earldom of Fife. The king's involvement with Margaret Logie (née Drummond) and soon to be his queen may also have represented a threat in the Steward's own earldom of Strathearn where the Drummonds also had interests, while Douglas and March mistrusted David's intentions towards them.[2]

Blason of John, Earl of Carrick These nobles were also unhappy at the king's squandering of funds provided to him for his ransom[3] and with the prospect that they could be sent to England as guarantors for the ransom payments. The dissension between the king and the Stewarts looked to have been settled before the end of spring 1367. On 31 May the Steward gave the earldom of Atholl to John, who by this time was already married to Annabella Drummond, the daughter of the queen's deceased brother, Sir John Drummond and (probably) Mary, heir of William Montefichet, lord of Auchterarder.[4] David II reinforced the position of John and Annabella by providing them with the earldom of Carrick on 22 June 1368 and the tacit approval of John as the king's probable heir.[5] A Stewart succession was suddenly endangered when David II had his marriage to Margaret annulled in March 1369 leaving the king free to re-marry and with the prospect of a Bruce heir.[6]

On 22 February 1371 David II (who was preparing to marry the earl of March's sister, Agnes Dunbar) unexpectedly died, presumably to the relief of both John and his father.[7] Robert was crowned at Scone Abbey on 27 March 1371 and before this date had given John—now styled Steward of Scotland—the ancestral lands surrounding the Firth of Clyde.[8] The manner in which the succession was to take place was first entailed by Robert I when female heirs were excluded and David II attempted unsuccessfully on several occasions to have the council change the succession procedure.[8] Robert II quickly moved to ensure the succession of John when the general council attending his coronation officially named Carrick as heir—in 1373 the Stewart succession was further strengthened when parliament passed entails defining the manner in which each of the king's sons could inherit the crown.[9] After the coronation John Dunbar who had received the lordship of Fife from David II now resigned the title so that the king's second son, Robert, earl of Monteith could receive the earldom of Fife—Dunbar was compensated with the provision of the earldom of Moray.[10]

A son, David, the future Duke of Rothesay, was born to Carrick and Annabella on 24 October 1378. In 1381, Carrick was calling himself 'lieutenant for the marches' sustained by his connections to border magnates such as his brother-in-law, James Douglas son of William, Earl of Douglas who he succeeded in 1384.[8]

Lieutenant of the kingdom[edit]

Battle of Otterburn Robert II's policy of building up Stewart domination in Scotland through the advancement of his sons saw Carrick as the pre-eminent Stewart magnate south of the Forth-Clyde line just as his younger brother Alexander, earl of Buchan, lord of Badenoch and Ross was in the north.[11] Buchan's use of cateran supporters drew criticism from Northern nobles and prelates and demonstrated Robert II's inability or reluctance to control his son and resulted in him losing council support.[12] The king's failure to take a leading role in prosecuting the war with England and Buchan's abuse of royal power in the north was the backdrop to the general council meeting at Holyrood Abbey in November 1384 where the decision was taken to sideline the king and provide the ruling powers to Carrick.[13][14] In July 1385, under Carrick's lieutenancy, a Scottish army that included a French force commanded by Admiral Jean de Vienne penetrated into the north of England without any serious gains but provoked a damaging retaliatory attack by Richard II.[8] In 1385, the general council sharply condemned Buchan's behaviour[15] and sat with the intention of maneuvering Carrick into firmly intervening in the north.[16]

... considering that there are, and have been now for a considerable time, great and numerous defects in the governing of the kingdom by reason of the king's disposition, both by reason of age and for other reasons, and the infirmity of the lord his firstborn son ... have amicably chosen Sir [Robert Stewart], earl of Fife, second-born son of the king, and brother german of the same lord the firstborn son, [as] guardian of the kingdom under the king, ... for putting into effect justice and keeping the law internally, and for the defence of the kingdom with the king's force, as set out before, against those attempting to rise up as enemies.

—Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, 1 December 1388, Edinburgh. http://www.rps.ac.uk/ Despite this, Carrick did not bring Buchan under control and many of the lieutenant's supporters although pleased at the resumption of hostilities with England were unhappy at the continued northern lawlessness.[17] Carrick had been made the king's lieutenant partly on the need to curb Buchan's excesses yet despite this by February 1387 Buchan had become even more powerful and influential when he was appointed Justiciar north of the Forth.[16]

A series of truces halted any further significant fighting but on 19 April 1388, English envoys sent to Scotland to again extend the ceasefire returned to Richard's court empty-handed—by 29 April Robert II was conducting a council in Edinburgh to authorise renewed conflict with England.[18] Although the Scots army defeated the English at the Battle of Otterburn in Northumberland in August 1388, its leader James, earl of Douglas was killed. Douglas died childless triggering a series of claims on his estate—Carrick backed his brother-in-law Malcolm Drummond, the husband of Douglas's sister while Carrick's brother Fife took the side of Sir Archibald Douglas, lord of Galloway who held an entail on his kinsman's estates and who ultimately succeeded to the earldom.[19] Fife, with his powerful Douglas ally together with those loyal to the king ensured at the December 1388 council meeting that the lieutenancy of Scotland would pass from Carrick (who had recently been badly injured from a horse-kick) to Fife.[17][19]

There was general approval of Fife's intention to properly resolve the situation of lawlessness in the north and in particular the activities of Buchan his younger brother.[17] Buchan was stripped of his position of justiciar which would soon be given to Fife's son, Murdoch Stewart. In January 1390 Robert II was in the north-east perhaps to strengthen the now changed political outlook in the north of the kingdom.[20] He returned to Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire in March where he died on 19 April and was buried at Scone on 25 April.[21]

Kingship[edit] In diebus illis non erat lex in Scocia fed quilibet potencior minorem oppressit et totum regnum fuit unum latrocinium. Homicidia depredaciones et incendia et cetera maleficia remanserunt inpunita et justicia utlegata extra regni terminos exulavit.

In those days there was no law in Scotland, but the strong oppressed the weak, and the whole kingdom was one den of thieves. Homicides, robberies, fire-raisings, and other misdeeds remained unpunished, and justice seemed banished beyond the kingdom's bounds.

—The Chartularium Episcopatus Moraviensis written at Elgin Cathedral for the year 1398[22][23] In May 1390 parliament granted John permission to change his regnal name to Robert, probably in part to maintain the link back to Robert I but also to disassociate himself from King John Balliol.[24] The four-month delay in the crowning of Robert III can be seen as a period when Fife and his affinity sought to ensure their future positions and which also saw Buchan's opportunistic attack on Elgin Cathedral, settling an old score with the Bishop of Moray and possibly also a protest at Fife's reappointment as the king's lieutenant.[25]

In 1392, Robert III strengthened the position of his son David, now earl of Carrick, when he endowed him with a large annuity that allowed the young prince to build up his household and affinity and then in 1393 regained his right to direct rule when the general council decided that Fife's lieutenancy should end and that Carrick now of age should assist his father.[26] This independence of action was demonstrated in 1395–6 when he responded to Carrick's unauthorised marriage to Elizabeth Dunbar, daughter of George, Earl of March by ensuring its annulment.[8] The king appears to have also taken over the conduct of foreign affairs, preserving the peace with Richard II and managing to increase the power of the Red Douglas Earl of Angus in the southeast of the country as a counterbalance to Fife's Black Douglas ally. He further showed his authority when in an attempt to reduce inter-clan feuding and lawlessness, he arranged and oversaw a gladiatorial limited combat between the clans of Kay and Quhele (Clan Chattan) in Perth on 28 April 1396.[27] David of Carrick progressively acted independently of his father taking control of the Stewart lands in the south-west while maintaining his links with the Drummonds of his mother and all at a time when Fife's influence in central Scotland remained strong.[28]

Falkland Palace built close to the site of Falkland Castle The king was increasingly blamed for the failure to pacify the Gaelic areas in west and north. The general council held in Perth in April 1398 criticised the king's governance and empowered his brother Robert and his son David—now respectively the Dukes of Albany and Rothesay—to lead an army against Donald, Lord of the Isles and his brothers.[8] In November 1398, an influential group of magnates and prelates met at Falkland Castle that included Albany, Rothesay, Archibald, earl of Douglas, Albany's son Murdoch, justiciar North of the Forth along with the bishops Walter of St Andrews and Gilbert of Aberdeen—the outcome of this meeting manifested itself at the council meeting held in January 1399 when the king was forced to surrender power to Rothesay for a period of three years.[25]

The kin of the border earls took advantage of the confusion in England after the deposition of Richard II by Henry, Duke of Lancaster and harried and forayed into England causing much damage and taking Wark Castle around 13 October 1399.[29] A far reaching dispute between Rothesay and George Dunbar, earl of March occurred when Rothesay, rather than remarrying Elizabeth Dunbar as previously agreed, decided to marry Mary Douglas, daughter of the earl of Douglas—March, enraged by this wrote to Henry IV on 18 February 1400 and by July had entered Henry's service.[30] In 1401, Rothesay took on a more assertive and autonomous attitude, circumventing proper procedures, unjustifiably appropriating sums from the customs of the burghs on the east coast before provoking further animosity when he confiscated the revenues of the temporalities of the vacant bishopric of St Andrews.[31] Rothesay had also in conjunction with his uncle, Alexander Stewart, earl of Buchan, confronted Albany's influence in central Scotland—as soon his lieutenancy expired in 1402 Rothesay was arrested and imprisoned in Albany's Falkland Castle where he died in March 1402.[32] Rothesay's death probably lay with Albany and Douglas who would have looked upon the possibility of the young prince acceding to the throne with great apprehension—they certainly fell under suspicion but were cleared of all blame by a general council, 'where, by divine providence and not otherwise, it is discerned that he departed from this life.' [33][34]

His body wes had than to Paslay, And wes entyrit in that Abbay, The quhilk his elderis devotely, Fondyt, and dowyt rechely.

His body was taken to Paisley, And was interred in that Abbey, The which his forefathers devoutly, Founded, and endowed richly.

—Andrew of Wyntoun, prior of Loch Leven[35] Following Rothesay's death—with the restoration of the lieutenancy to Albany and the Scottish defeat at the battle of Humbleton—Robert III experienced almost total exclusion from political authority and was limited to his lands in the west.[36] By late 1404 Robert, with the aid of his close councillors Henry Sinclair, earl of Orkney, Sir David Fleming and Henry Wardlaw, had succeeded in re-establishing himself and intervened in favour of Alexander Stewart, the earl of Buchan's illegitimate son, who was in dispute with Albany over the earldom of Mar.[37] Robert III again exhibited his new resolve when in December 1404 he created a new regality in the Stewartry[38] for his sole remaining son and heir James now earl of Carrick—an act designed to prevent these lands falling into Albany's hands.[39] By 28 October 1405 Robert III had returned to Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire. With the king's health failing, it was decided in the winter of 1405–6 to send the young prince to France out of the reach of Albany.[40] Despite this, the manner of James's flight from Scotland was unplanned. In February 1406, the 12 year-old James together with Orkney and Fleming at the head of a large group of followers left the safety of Bishop Wardlaw's protection in St Andrews and journeyed through the hostile Douglas territories of east Lothian—an act probably designed to demonstrate James's royal endorsement of his custodians but also a move by his custodians to further their own interests in the traditional Douglas heartlands.[41] Events went seriously wrong for James and he had to escape to the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth along with the earl of Orkney after his escorts were attacked by James Douglas of Balvenie and which resulted in Sir David Fleming's death.[42] Their confinement on the rock was to last for over a month before a ship from Danzig, en route for France picked them up.[43] On 22 March 1406 the ship was taken by English pirates off Flamborough Head who delivered James to King Henry IV of England. Robert III had moved to Rothesay castle where, after hearing of his son's captivity, died 4 April 1406 and was buried in the Stewart foundation abbey of Paisley.[44]

Bute: The oldest charter extant granting lands (with feu-duties) in Bute is that given by King Robert III., on 11th November1400, to Sheriff John Stewart, establishing him in the landsof Ardumlese (Armoleish) [Ardmaleish today] and Grenane in "our isle of Bute," and Coregelle in "our isle of Arane" for the rendering of military service only—" servitia debita et consueta."

From this centre the Bute family have radiated into territorial power, having been barons for well nigh 500 years.

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Scottish monarch. Son of Robert II and Elizabeth Mure, he was crowned on August 14, 1390 at Scone. His given name was John, but that was considered an unlucky name for a king, so he adopted the name of his father and grandfather. He is described as feeble, timid, and unfit to rule, but he had a reputation for kindliness and justice despite having organized the Battle of the Clans between clans Chattay and Kay. His personal qualities and failing physical and mental health undermined his authority, and much of his power was transferred to his brother, the Duke of Albany. Robert married Annabella Drummond in 1367, by whom he had 7 children. He died at Rothesay Castle at the age of 69, after having described himself as "the worst of kings and the most wretched of men". Queen Victoria later paid for the construction of a new tomb after a visit to the abbey. 

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ROBERT III. JOHN, eldest son of Robert 11. and Elizabeth More, must have been horn about 1337. In or very shortly before 1367 he married Annabella, daughter of John Drummoud of Stobhall. On 3d May of that year he had, under the designation of John Stewart of Kyle, a charter from David 11., on his father’s resignation, of the earldom of Athole, to himself and his wife Annabella and the heirs male of their body, whom failing to his issue male, whom failing to his father and his heirs.l He had, also from David 11., a charter of the earldom of Garrick to himself, his wife, and their heirs, on 22d June 1368,2 and another charter of the same eerldom from his father on 1st June 1374:.8 He succeeded to the throne on 19th April 1390, when he took the name of Robert His Queen died in 1401, and himself on 4th April 1406. They had issue three sons and four daughters :—

• 1. DAVID, Steward of Scotland; born 1378, and made Earl of Garrick on his father’s accession to the throne. He had an annuity of £640 from the customs, appor tioned between nine burghs. He was created Duke of Rothesay on 28th April 1398; got the earldom of Athole by charter from his father on 6th September of same year ,1 and married at Bothwell, in 1400, Mary, daughter of Archibald third Earl of Douglas.2 On the forfeiture of George Earl of March that earldom was conferred on him ,8 and he died without issue in Falkland Castle on 26th March 1402. His widow, in 1403, married Walter of Haliburton.‘ The Duke of Rothesay’s annuity was claimed as due to the Duchess during her widowth and second marriage, and received from time to time by Haliburton ;5 but her right to it seems to have been con sidered doubtful; and on various occasions sums were taken by violence from the custumars on the pretext of being in payment of it“ She died c. 1420.7
• 2. Bonner—It appears from the accounts of 1392, that the annuity from the customs granted to the Earl of Carrick (Duke of Rotbesay) had a remainder to his brother Robert.1 The annuity of 200 marks from the customs granted by Robert 111. to his brother the Earl of Fife, on 8th February 1392—3, bears to be for retinue to David Earl of Garrick, whom failing “ Roberto Senescalli, militi, filio nostro dilecto.”2
• 3. JAMES L, born 1394, captured by the English about the end of February 1405—6; returned to Scotland 9th April 1424 ; married, February 1423—4, Joan, daughter of John Earl of Somerset ; murdered 20th February 1436—7. His widow in 1439 remarried Sir James Stewart, son of Sir James Stewart of Innermeath and Lorn, and died 15th July 1449. The issue of James and his Queen were Margaret, who married, 6th July 1436, Louis Dauphin of France, afterwards Louis XL, and died in August 1445; Elizabeth, otherwise called Isabel, who married, 30th October 1442, Francis Count of Montfort, afterwards Duke of Bretagne, and surviving her husband forty-four years, died in 1494; Alexander and James, twins, born 16th October 1430, of whom the former died in infancy, the latter succeeded his father as James IL; Joan or Janet, who married James Douglas of Dalkeith, created Earl of Morton 14th March 1457—8; Eleanor, who in 1449 mar ried the Archduke Sigismund of Austria, and died 1480; Mary, married to Wolfart van Borselen, Count of Grand~ pré and Lord of Campvere in Zealand, and in his Wife’s right Earl of Buchan in Scotland; and Annabella, married to George Earl of Huntly.