Bruce: From Murderer To Mythic Monarch

Robert the Bruce was a flawed king in turbulent times

WHEN researchers unveiled a digitallyreconstructed image of Robert the Bruce back in 2016, it was arguably the first opportunity any of us had to look into the face of one of the most important figures in Scotland’s history.

With no contemporary portraits surviving, the two-year research project by historians at the University of Glasgow and Liverpool John Moores University’s Face Lab, was based on casts of a skull unearthed during the rebuilding of Robert I’s burial place at Dunfermline Abbey.

Best remembered for his 1314 victory at the Battle of Bannockburn, where his relatively small army “gubbed” the numerically superior forces of the English monarch Edward II, “The Bruce” is often seen as the man who ensured Scottish independence, finishing the campaign begun by William Wallace.

However, Robert’s route to victory was at times murderous and by no means obviously patriotic. It’s often overlooked, for example, that – following the logic that “my enemy’s enemy is my friend” – there was a time when the young Bruce marched into battle not against the English but as part of their army,

Scotland in the late 13th and early 14th centuries was a politically dangerous place on the edge of civil war. Alexander III died in 1285 with no legitimate heir. Six guardians were elected to oversee the day-to-day business of running Scotland. However, these did not include one powerful noble – the Lord of Annandale.

This Robert Bruce, grandfather of Robert I, later joined more than a dozen others in claiming the Scottish throne during what became known as The Great Cause – a succession of lengthy legal proceedings in which Edward I of England was invited to act as “independent” arbiter.

The legal decision went in favour of a member of the Bruce family’s ancient rivals, John Balliol. The reign of John I “began poorly” in 1292 and “went downhill from there,” according to historian Angus Konstam.

The main problem was Edward I’s determination to be recognised as the new King’s feudal superior. Not only did this undermine Balliol’s position at home, but his eventual refusal to play ball triggered one of the most brutal English invasions of Scotland ever seen.

Numerous Scottish nobles – including the future Robert I and his father – swore allegiance to Edward, who, following Balliol’s forced abdication, essentially ruled Scotland as a province of England.

Although Robert initially supported William Wallace’s uprising, in the end he held on to his own lands. In 1298, he was rewarded with the joint guardianship of Scotland with John Comyn – Balliol’s nephew and, by then, Robert’s greatest rival for the