Robert II (1371 - 1390)

Young Robert was well thought of with one chronicler describing him to be 'for the innate sweetness of his disposition generally beloved by true-hearted Scotsmen'. Although he was a powerful figure in Scotland Robert did not attain the throne until he was 54 years old but he was the first of the Stewart dynasty which has fascinated every generation down to the present day. The Stewarts were just one of many strong baronial families and had originally come from a Breton family called Flaald before finding favour in early medieval England. They then moved to Scotland to become hereditary Royal Stewards. Robert's father, Walter FitzAlan, was the sixth Steward, and it is from this title that the family took their name. Robert's first marriage was to Elizabeth Mure, a marriage that had to be cleared by papal dispensation in 1347 for it contravened the complex, and largely illogical, 'forbidden degrees of kinship'. After Elizabeth died he married Euphemia of Ross, and this time there were no complications. He had shared in command at Halidon Hill in 1333 and also shared the regency from 1338 to 1341 until David II returned from France. It has been suggested that at the Battle of Neville's Cross Robert could have done more to try to save David from capture. Following the capture of the king Robert became Guardian of the kingdom until 1357 when David was released. He was probably resentful at having to return power to David and he was involved in an unsuccessful rebellion with the Earls of Douglas and March.

Robert II and his wife Elizabeth Mure

Robert eventually succeeded to the throne on 22nd February 1371 on David's death. He was already old when he came to power and in the following nineteen years he suffered increasing health problems. It seems that the machinery of government was allowed to stagnate with Robert using honours as a way of controlling the more powerful barons. The rule of law was also weakened and crimes went unpunished. Direct taxation lapsed and barons and officials siphoned off money from customs duties.

After 13 years in power Robert realised that he was ineffective and handed the crown over to his son, John, Earl of Carrick (who assumed the name Robert on his becoming king). Only four years later John was kicked in the head by a horse and this reduced him to the state of an invalid. Robert II died at Dundonald on the 19th April 1390 and was buried at Scone.

History Books on Robert II:

Author	Title	Published	Price	Order Now From:
Boardman, S.	The Stewart Dynasty in Scotland - Robert II & III, 1371-1406	1996	£14.99	Amazon.co.uk
The Stewart Dynasty in Scotland series aims to brings the rich political heritage of late medieval and early modern Scotland before as wide a reading public as possible, with specialist authors writing for the feneral reader as well as the student or academic. This volume is number one in the series and is also the first scholarly biography of the two kings who established medieval Scotland's most famous and durable royal dynasty. Robert II, long regarded as a weak and ineffective king, pursued a determined political and propaganda campaign which largely overcame initial political opposition. Robert III was forced to engage in a long-term struggle with his brother Albany for control of the kingdom. Firmly based on contemporary documentary sources, Stephen Boardman's study examines the ways in which both kings' unjustly poor reputations grew from later embellishments to contemporary political propaganda.

History Books on this time period:

Author	Title	Published	Price	Order Now From:
Grant, A.	Independence & Nationhood: Scotland 1306-1469	1991	£9.95 or $20.00	Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Under Robert Bruce and his successors, Scotland's independence from England was maintained and its sense of nationhood developed. Alexander Grant shows how this had a profound effect upon domestic as well as foreign affairs, and how it led to the evolution of a distinctive Scottish government, nobility, Church and economy. At the same time he puts Scottish history into the international context of the 100 Years War, the economic and demographic upheaval caused by the bubonic plague, and the Christianity of the pre-reformation era. Challenging traditional assumptions of general late-medieval decline, Independence and Nationhood demonstrates how the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were a crucially important period of change and growth for Scotland.
Nicholson, R.	Scotland: The Later Middle Ages	1974	£15.99	Amazon.co.uk
The four-volume Edinburgh History of Scotland is the most important project in Scottish historical writing for more than half a century; each volume is written by an expert on the period who brings to his work the direct acquaintance with original sources on which authoritative historical writing can alone be based. This, the second volume, covers the period from the close of the 13th century to the Battle of Flodden. It presents a sophisticated analysis of the facts and a comprehensive description of all the varied and intricate aspects of Scottish Medieval life. Although the book is detailed enough to serve as a work of reference, the historical development of the emergence of, possibly, the first self-conscious nation of Europe into what was perhaps the first 'new monarchy' of Europe may here be read as a continuous narrative of events. Professor Nicholson presents a precise picture of the economy, society and politics of medieval Scotland.