Robert de Brus, Earl of Carrick
| Sir Robert de Brus | |
|---|---|
| 6th Lord of Annandale jure uxoris Earl of Carrick Constable of Carlisle Castle
| |
| Reign | 1295-1304 |
| Predecessor | Robert V de Brus |
| Successor | Robert VII de Bruce |
| Spouse | Marjorie of Carrick Eleanor |
| Issue | |
| Isabel, Queen of Norway Christina, Countess of Mar Robert I of Scotland Neil de Brus Edward Bruce, King of Ireland Mary, Lady Campbell, Lady Fraser Margaret, Lady Carlyle Sir Thomas de Brus Alexander de Brus Elizabeth, Lady Dishington Matilda, Countess of Ross | |
| House | House of Bruce |
| Father | Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale |
| Mother | Isobel of Gloucester and Hertford |
| Burial | Holm Cultram Abbey, Cumberland |
Robert de Brus (July 1253 - March 1304), was Earl of Carrick (in right of his wife) in the Peerage of Scotland, Lord de Brus in the Peerage of England,[1] and the 5th de Brus feudal Lord of Annandale in Dumfriesshire, Scotland.
He was the father of Robert 'The Bruce'.
Contents
Family
As his father was deeply involved in English politics and it therefore seems likely that Robert was born in England, the eldest son and heir (of five children) to Robert de Brus (1210 - 1295) Lord of Annandale in Scotland (although "thickly settled by men of English stock"[2]), and of Hartlepool, county Durham, and of the manors of Writtle and Hatfield Broadoak, Essex, and the half hundred pertaining to Hatfield, England, Chief Justice of the King's Bench in England, and Governor of Carlisle Castle, who was a 'Competitor' by distant inheritance rights to the Crown of Scotland in 1292; by his first wife, Isabel (1226 - 1264), daughter of Sir Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Gloucester, &c., by his spouse Isabel, daughter of William Marshal, 4th Earl of Pembroke.
Robert married (as her second husband) May 3, 1273, at Turnberry Castle (his wife's family seat)[3] Marjorie (d. bef. Oct 23, 1292), daughter of Neil 2nd Earl of Carrick (c1200 - 1256)(in Galloway) by his spouse Margaret, daughter of Walter FitzAlan, 3rd High Steward of Scotland. Upon her father's death Marjorie became Countess of Carrick in her own right. They had eight known children (not in order):
- Robert 'The Bruce', Earl of Carrick and future King of Scots.
- Nigel, executed September 1306 at Berwick-upon-Tweed.[4]
- Alexander, graduate of Cambridge University and (from 1305) Dean of Glasgow, executed February 17, 1307 at Carlise.[5]
- Sir Thomas, Knt., executed February 17, 1307 at Carlisle.[6]
- Edward, King of Ireland, killed in battle at Tagher, near Dundalk, Ireland, October 14, 1318. (s.p. legit.)[7]
- Christian (d.1357) married (1) about 1292 Gratney 7th Earl of Mar (died before Sept 1305); (2) Christopher de Seton,[8] Knt., (executed February 1306 at Dumfries)[9] and (3) about October 1325,Sir Andrew Moray[10] of Bothwell, Knt., (1298-1338) Hereditary Chief Butler and afterwards Regent of Scotland.[11]
- Isabel (d.1358) married before September 25, 1293, Erik III Magnusson, King of Norway (1268-1299).[12]
- Maud (or Matilda)(d. after September 1323) married Hugh 6th Earl of Ross, a Godson of King Alexander III, who was killed in the Battle of Halidon Hill, outside Berwick-upon-Tweed, July 19, 1333.[13]
Life
In 1278 he swore fealty, as proxy for King Alexander III, for the Kingdom of Scotland, to King Edward 1st of England, to whom, on June 13, 1291 he also swore fealty. He did homage again to King Edward and had from him livery of his father's lands on July 4, 1295.
He was summoned by the (English) Crown "cum equis et armis" from April 6, 1282 to August 17, 1294, and also to attend King Edward at Shrewsbury for the trial of the Welsh leader David ap Griffith on June 28, 1283, by Writs directed to "Roberto de Brus, Comiti de Carrik", his name appearing as 11th and last of the Earls then summoned. He resigned the Earldom of Carrick to his son and heir, another Robert, by a charter dated at Berwick-upon-Tweed, November 7, 1292.[14] In 1293, he travelled to Norway, by leave of King Edward, to give his daughter Isabel as the second wife of Erik III Magnusson, King of Norway (whose first wife was Princess Margaret, daughter of Alexander III King of Scots). By marrying Isabel King Eric renewed his Scottish interests.
About April 1295 de Brus was appointed Governor of Carlisle Castle in Cumberland[15]; and on June 24, 1295 he was summoned to the English parliament by Writ directed to "Roberto de Brus" whereby he is held to have become the hereditary Lord Bruce.[16] To Edward he swore fealty on 25th March and 28th August 1296 at Berwick-upon-Tweed, accompanying that King into Scotland and fighting for him at the Battle of Dunbar on the latter date.[17] He was summoned to attend King Edward at Salisbury on January 26, 1297.
Some references give him as a Crusader.
Death
He later resided in England where he died in March 1304. He was buried in the Abbey of Holm Cultram, Cumberland, according to his expressed wish. His son and heir, Robert, the future King of Scots, hurried south to settle his affairs and make sure of his succession to his father's large estates, mostly in the Honour of Huntingdon but including Writtle and Hatfield Broadoak in Essex, a house in London and the manor of Tottenham north of London. He did homage to Edward 1st for his English lands about June 14th.[18]
Ancestry
Robert de Brus, Earl of Carrick Born: July 1243 Died: soon bef. 4 March 1304
| ||
| Preceded by Robert V de Brus |
Lord of Annandale 1295–1304 |
Succeeded by Robert VII de Brus |
References
- ↑ Cockayne, G.E., edited by the Hon. Vicary Gibbs, The Complete Peerage, vol.ii, London, 1912, p.360.
- ↑ Barrow, Professor G.W.S., Robert Bruce, London, 1965, p.36.
- ↑ Bingham, Caroline, Robert The Bruce, London,1998. p.28.
- ↑ Dunbar, 1899, pps:67 & 126-144.
- ↑ Dunbar, Sir Archibald, Bt., Scottish Kings - a Revised Chronology of Scottish History, 1005-1625, Edinburgh, 1899, pps:67 & 126-144.
- ↑ Dunbar, 1899, pps:67 & 131.
- ↑ Balfour Paul, Sir James, Lord Lyon King of Arms, The Scots Peerage , Edinburgh, 1905, p.137.
- ↑ Barrow, 1965, p.208, who states that he is a Yorkshireman.
- ↑ Foundations - Journal of the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, vol.2, no.1, January 2006, p.63-5.
- ↑ Barrow, 1965, p.396.
- ↑ Cockayne, G.E., revised by the Hon. Vicary Gibbs, and edited by H. Arthur Doubleday & Lord Howard de Walden, The Complete Peerage, vol. viii, London, 1932, pps:403-4 & 668.
- ↑ Dunbar, 1899, p.108.
- ↑ Cockayne, G.E., edited by Geoffrey H.White, FSA., The Complete Peerage, vol.xi, London, 1949, p.144-2 and notes.
- ↑ Stones, Professor E.L.G., editor & translator, Anglo-Scottish Relations 1174-1328, selected documents, Oxford, 1965 &1970, p.117.
- ↑ Barrow, 1965, p.99.
- ↑ Cockayne, 1912, p.360.
- ↑ Stones, 1965, p.137-9.
- ↑ Barrow, 1965, p.201-2.
