King of Scots from 1329, although he spent 18 years in exile or in prison. His reign was marked by costly intermittent warfare with England (a stage in the Scottish Wars of Independence), a decline in the prestige of the monarchy, and an increase in the power of the barons.
On July 17, 1328, in accordance with the Anglo-Scottish peace treaty of Northampton, the four-year-old David was married to Joanna, sister of King Edward III of England. The boy succeeded his father, Robert I the Bruce, as king of Scots on June 7, 1329. A rival claimant to the Scottish throne, Edward de Balliol, a vassal of Edward III, became de facto king after Edward's victory over Sir Archibald Douglas, regent since 1332, at Halidon Hill, Northumberland (July 19, 1333). In 1334 David went into exile in France, where he was maintained generously by King Philip VI. In 1339 and 1340 he fought in Philip's fruitless campaigns against Edward III. By 1341 he was able to return to Scotland, but he did little as king except to make futile raids into England. During the French siege of English-held Calais he attempted a diversion on behalf of Philip VI but was defeated, wounded, and captured at Neville's Cross, County Durham (Oct. 17, 1346).
Held prisoner by the English, David was released in 1357 in return for
a promised ransom that proved to be more than the Scottish government
could pay. In 1363 David, now on cordial terms with Edward III, proposed
that a son of the English king should succeed to the throne of Scotland in
return for the cancellation of the ransom. The arrangement, which made an
enemy of his nephew and lawful successor, the future Robert II, was
repudiated by the Scottish Parliament. In his last years David inspired
further opposition by his financial extravagance.
Also called (until 1371) ROBERT THE STEWARD, or (1357-71) ROBERT STEWART, EARL OF STRATHEARN
King of Scots from 1371, first of the Stewart (Stuart) sovereigns in Scotland. Heir presumptive for more than 50 years, he had little effect on Scottish political and military affairs when he finally acceded to the throne.
On the death (1326) of his father, Walter the Steward, in 1326, Robert became seventh hereditary steward of Scotland at age 10. From 1318 he was heir presumptive to his maternal grandfather, King Robert I the Bruce (died 1329). He lost this position in 1324 when the Bruce's son, afterward King David II, was born; but two years later the Scottish Parliament confirmed Robert the Steward as heir apparent to David.
During David's periods of exile and of imprisonment by the English, Robert the Steward was joint regent (1334-35; with John Randolph, 3rd earl of Moray) and sole regent (1338-41, 1346-57). After David had been ransomed from the English, Robert led an unsuccessful rebellion (1362-63). He succeeded in defending his own right as heir apparent against David's abortive proposal to commute his remaining ransom payments to the English by making a son of King Edward III of England heir to the Scottish throne.
On the death of David (Feb. 22, 1371), Robert succeeded to the throne, his reign proving largely an anticlimax to his career. He took no active part in the renewed war with England (from 1378 to 1388). From 1384 the kingdom was administered by Robert's eldest son, John, earl of Carrick (afterward King Robert III), and from 1388, by his next surviving son, Robert, earl of Fife (afterward 1st duke of Albany).
Robert's marriage (c. 1348) to Elizabeth Mure followed the birth of their four sons and five daughters, whose legitimation by the subsequent marriage did not give any of them an undisputed right of succession to the crown. A superior claim was asserted on behalf of Robert's two sons and two daughters by his second wife, Euphemia Ross, whom he married in 1355. Partly because of this dispute, Walter, earl of Atholl, one of Robert's sons by Euphemia, instigated the murder (1437) of James I, king of Scots, grandson of Robert and Elizabeth Mure. Robert also had at least eight illegitimate sons.
Also called (until 1390) JOHN STEWART, EARL OF CARRICK.
King of Scots from 1390, after having ruled Scotland in the name of his father, Robert II, from 1384 to 1388. Physically disabled by a kick from a horse, he was never the real ruler of Scotland during the years of his kingship.
The eldest son of Robert the Steward (the future Robert II) and Elizabeth Mure, he was legitimated by their marriage several years after his birth. In 1362-63 he joined his father in a futile revolt against King David II, who both imprisoned him and created him earl of Carrick in 1368. (He had been created earl of Atholl in 1367.) Robert II became king in 1371; in 1384, because of his advanced age, he turned over the government to Carrick. After his injury in 1388, however, Carrick was supplanted by his brother Robert, earl of Fife.
On his accession, probably on April 19, 1390, he changed his name to Robert (III) from John, to avoid reminding others of John de Balliol, king of Scotland from 1292 to 1296, who was not favourably remembered. Fife, created duke of Albany in 1398, continued to govern throughout this reign, except for three years (1399-1402) when Robert III's eldest son, David, duke of Rothesay, took his place. The dissolute Rothesay died in March 1402 while imprisoned in Albany's castle of Falkland, Fife. Perhaps in an attempt to save his remaining son, James (afterward James I, king of Scots), from death at Albany's hands, Robert III sent the boy to France, but James was captured by English sailors, a shock to the aging king.
King of Scots from 1406 to 1437. During the 13 years (1424-37) in which he had control of the government, he established the first strong monarchy the Scots had known in nearly a century.
James was the son and heir of King Robert III (reigned 1390-1406). In 1406 Robert decided to send him to France, presumably to keep him out of the reach of the powerful and treacherous Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany. On the way, James was captured by English sailors and taken as a prisoner to the royal court in London. Robert died shortly thereafter, and Albany, who became regent, had no desire to ransom young King James. Upon Albany's death in 1420, his son Murdac held the regency until James was released in 1424.
James immediately took harsh measures to break the power of the
Scottish nobility. In 1425 he arrested many of the leading lords; a
few--including Murdac and other members of his family--were executed. The
king even attempted, with limited success, to assert his authority over
the fiercely independent Highland lords. He acquired the resources that he
needed to run his government by confiscating the estates of his enemies,
by eliminating graft in the collection of customs, and by bringing the
chief financial officers of the realm under his personal supervision. His
attempts to prevent church revenues from being sent to Rome involved him
in a long series of disputes with the papacy. The popularity that James
enjoyed rested to a large extent on his improvements in the administration
of justice for common people. Nevertheless, he was assassinated by a group
of conspirators led by Walter, Earl of Atholl, who aspired to win the
crown for himself. No general uprising followed the murder, and the king's
widow quickly had the conspirators captured and executed. James was a
highly cultured man, he is usually accepted as the author of the long
vernacular poem
The Kingis Quair ("The King's Book").
