Authors: Robyn Young
In reality, when it was discovered, in either late 1311 or early 1312, that Piers Gaveston had returned in secrecy from exile, into which he had been forced by the ordinances of the reformist Lords Ordainers, he and Edward fled to York. One chronicle states that Thomas of Lancaster, Aymer de Valence, Humphrey de Bohun, Guy de Beauchamp and the Earl of Arundel now formulated a secret plan to capture Gaveston. Lancaster was said to have openly demanded the Gascon be sent back into exile. The barons then moved north against the king and his favourite and besieged Scarborough Castle, which Piers was in command of. Piers eventually surrendered to Aymer de Valence, on the basis he would not be harmed. Valence took him to Oxfordshire, but it seems he was duped by his fellow conspirators, among them Lancaster, Warwick and Hereford, for Gaveston was wrested from him and taken to Blacklow Hill in Warwickshire, where he was executed.
The finger of blame for this act – which was actually performed by two Welsh foot soldiers – has been pointed variously at Thomas of Lancaster, Guy de Beauchamp and Aymer de Valence. After Piers’s death, England came close to civil war. It took a year before a tentative peace was made between the king and the barons involved, although, as portrayed in the novel, many of them refused to fight for him at Bannockburn, which proved Edward’s undoing. Piers Gaveston was laid to rest in King’s Langley in 1315.
Bannockburn
As mentioned, I’ve gone with the Dryfield site for the main battle. Another point worth noting is that some historians now think the schiltrom under the command of James Douglas and Walter Stewart was invented by John Barbour in order to bolster Douglas’s reputation. Also, some believe the so-called ‘challenge of Stirling’ Edward Bruce offered to Philip Moubray was made only a matter of months before the battle itself, not a full year. Moubray was apparently offered safe passage to ride out to Edward II and inform him of the situation in Stirling and the position of the Scots in the New Park.
After the battle, Humphrey de Bohun wasn’t taken from the field, but from Bothwell Castle, where he fled with Ingram de Umfraville.
Robert’s death
After securing Scotland’s independence from England in 1328, Robert died in Cardross the following year, aged fifty-five. He was believed to have been suffering with a disease for several years prior to his death, which some chroniclers said was leprosy, although this has never been proven.
He asked for his heart to be taken to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, a crusade undertaken by James Douglas, who carried it as far as Spain, where he died in battle against the Moors. James’s body was brought back to Scotland and Robert’s heart was buried at Melrose Abbey. It is believed it lies there still.
Robyn Young
Brighton
March 2014
CHARACTER LIST
(* Indicates fictitious characters, relationships or groups)
*ADAM: Gascon commander in a crossbow regiment of Edward I
*AFFRAIG: wise woman from Turnberry
*AGNES: laundress to Marjorie, Countess of Carrick
*ALAN: squire of Gilbert de la Hay
*ALAN: scout in Robert’s army
ALEXANDER III: King of Scotland (1249–86), brother-in-law of Edward I by his first marriage, died in 1286
ALEXANDER BRUCE: brother of Robert and Dean of Glasgow
ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL: father of John MacDougall, Lord of Argyll and Lorn
ALEXANDER SETON: lord from East Lothian and *cousin of Christopher Seton
ANGUS OG MACDONALD: Lord of Islay
ANTHONY BEK: Bishop of Durham
AYMER DE VALENCE: Earl of Pembroke, cousin of Edward I and brother-in-law of John Comyn III
BLACK COMYN (THE): Earl of Buchan and head of the Black Comyns
*BRICE: one of Neil Campbell’s men
*BRIGID: niece of Affraig
CHARLES DE VALOIS: French noble, uncle of Isabella
CHRISTIAN BRUCE: sister of Robert
CHRISTIANA MACRUARIE: Lady of Garmoran
CHRISTOPHER SETON: son of an English knight from Yorkshire and *cousin of Alexander Seton, married to Christian Bruce
CLEMENT V: pope
*COL: serving boy at Aberdeen Castle
*CONSTANCE: maid to Elizabeth at Pleshey Castle
*CORMAC: son of Lord Donough and foster-brother of Robert
DAVID OF ATHOLL: son of John of Atholl
DONALD OF MAR: son of Christian Bruce and Gartnait of Mar, Robert’s nephew
*DONOUGH: Robert’s foster-father and lord of the Bruce estates in Antrim
DUNGAL MACDOUALL: former captain of the army of Galloway
EDMUND: son of Edward I and Marguerite of France
EDWARD I: King of England (1272–1307)
EDWARD BRUCE: brother of Robert
EDWARD OF CAERNARFON: son and heir of Edward I, King of England (1307–1327)
*EDWIN: steward of Robert’s father in Writtle
ELEANOR OF CASTILE: first wife of Edward I, mother of Edward II
*ELENA: daughter of Brigid
ELIZABETH (BESS): daughter of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile, wife of Humphrey de Bohun
ELIZABETH BRUCE: daughter of the Earl of Ulster, Robert’s second wife and Queen of Scotland
*EWEN: knight of Alexander Seton
*FERGUS: soldier in Robert’s army
GARTNAIT OF MAR: Earl of Mar, first husband of Christian Bruce, father of Donald
*GEOFFREY: royal knight
*GIL: prisoner at Berwick Castle
GILBERT DE CLARE: Earl of Gloucester
GILBERT DE LA HAY: Lord of Erroll
GILES D’ARGENTAN: English knight
*GILLEPATRICK: one of Angus MacDonald’s men on Islay
GUY DE BEAUCHAMP: Earl of Warwick
HENRY III: King of England (1216–72), Edward I’s father
HENRY BEAUMONT: knight in the court of Edward II
HENRY DE BOHUN: Humphrey’s nephew
HENRY PERCY: Lord of Alnwick
*HUGH: squire of Humphrey de Bohun
HUMPHREY DE BOHUN: Earl of Hereford and Essex, and Constable of England
INGRAM DE UMFRAVILLE: former guardian of Scotland
ISABEL OF ATHOLL: daughter of John of Atholl and his wife, the countess
ISABEL BRUCE: sister of Robert, marries Eric II and becomes Queen of Norway
ISABEL COMYN: Countess of Buchan, wife of the Black Comyn
ISABELLA OF FRANCE: daughter of King Philippe IV, wife of Edward II and Queen of England
ISOBEL OF MAR: a daughter of the Earl of Mar, Robert’s first wife and mother of Marjorie Bruce
JAMES DOUGLAS: son and heir of William Douglas, nephew and godson of James Stewart
JAMES STEWART: High Steward of Scotland
JOAN OF ACRE: daughter of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile, wife of Ralph de Monthermer
JOAN DE VALENCE: sister of Aymer de Valence and wife of John Comyn III
JOHN OF ATHOLL: Earl of Atholl and Sheriff of Aberdeen, married to a daughter of the Earl of Mar, making him Robert’s brother-in-law
JOHN BALLIOL II: Lord of Galloway and King of Scotland (1292–96), deposed by Edward I in 1296
JOHN COMYN III: Lord of Badenoch, head of the Red Comyns, married to Joan de Valence, killed by Robert in 1306
JOHN COMYN IV: son of the man killed by Robert
JOHN MACDOUGALL: Lord of Argyll and Lorn, cousin of John Comyn
JOHN OF MENTEITH: son of the Earl of Menteith
*JUDITH: maid to Marjorie Bruce
*KERALD: one of Christiana’s men on Barra
LACHLAN MACRUARIE: captain of the galloglass, half-brother of Christiana
LLYWELYN AP GRUFFUDD: Prince of Wales, killed during the 1282–84 conquest
*LORA: maid to Elizabeth Bruce
LOUIS D’EVREUX: French noble, uncle of Isabella
*LUCY: maid to Elizabeth in Burstwick Manor
*LUKE: infantryman in the army of Edward II
MALACHY (ST): Archbishop of Armagh (1132–37), canonised in 1199
MALCOLM: Earl of Lennox
MALCOLM III (CANMORE): King of Scotland (1058–93)
MARGARET: half-sister of Robert from his mother’s first marriage, mother of Thomas Randolph
MARGARET (THE MAID OF NORWAY): granddaughter and heir of Alexander III, named Queen of Scotland after his death, but died on the voyage from Norway
MARGARET DE CLARE: sister of Gilbert, niece of Edward II, wife of Piers Gaveston
MARGUERITE OF FRANCE: sister of Philippe IV, second wife of Edward I and Queen of England
MARJORIE BRUCE: daughter of Robert and Isobel of Mar
MARJORIE OF CARRICK: Countess of Carrick, Robert’s mother, died in 1292
MARMADUKE TWENG: English knight
MARY BRUCE: sister of Robert
MATILDA BRUCE: sister of Robert
*MATTHEW: knight of Aymer de Valence
*MAUD: maid to Elizabeth in Burstwick Manor
MAURICE: Abbot of Inchaffray
NEIL CAMPBELL: a knight from Argyll
*NES: former squire to Robert, made a knight
NIALL BRUCE: brother of Robert
NICHOLAS TINGEWICK: royal physician to Edward I
*NICOLAS: guard at Pleshey Castle
*NIGEL: infantryman in the army of Edward II
*OSBERT: guard at Roxburgh Castle
OSBOURNE: blacksmith at Kildrummy Castle
*PATRICK: one of Angus MacDonald’s men
*PATRICK: Robert’s servant
PHILIP MOUBRAY: commander of Stirling Castle
PHILIPPE IV: King of France (1286–1314), father of Isabella, cousin of Edward I
PIERS GAVESTON: a Gascon knight in Prince Edward’s household, made Earl of Cornwall
RALPH DE MONTHERMER: royal knight in the court of Edward I, married to the king’s daughter Joan, stepfather of Gilbert de Clare
*RANULF: steward of Humphrey de Bohun at Pleshey Castle
RICHARD DE BURGH: Earl of Ulster and Lord of Connacht, father of Elizabeth
ROBERT BRUCE V: grandfather of Robert, competed for the throne of Scotland, died in 1295
ROBERT BRUCE VI: father of Robert, former Earl of Carrick
ROBERT BRUCE VII: Earl of Carrick, Lord of Annandale on his father’s death and King of Scotland (1306–29)
ROBERT CLIFFORD: royal knight
ROBERT KEITH: royal marshal in Robert’s court
ROBERT WINCHELSEA: Archbishop of Canterbury
ROBERT WISHART: Bishop of Glasgow
*ROLAND: soldier at Kildrummy Castle
RUARIE MACRUARIE: half-brother of Christiana
*SIM: guard at Roxburgh Castle
*SIMON: doorward of Edward I
SIMON FRASER: Scottish nobleman and rebel
SIMON DE MONTFORT: Earl of Leicester, led a rebellion against Henry III, died in battle with Edward, his godson, in 1265
THOMAS OF BROTHERTON: son of Edward I and Marguerite of France
THOMAS BRUCE: brother of Robert
THOMAS OF LANCASTER: Earl of Lancaster and nephew of Edward I, cousin of Edward II
THOMAS RANDOLPH: son of Margaret Bruce, Robert’s half-nephew
*TOM: squire of Alexander Seton
WALTER STEWART: son of James Stewart
*WILL: knight of Alexander Seton
WILLIAM LAMBERTON: Bishop of St Andrews
WILLIAM OF ROSS: Earl of Ross
WILLIAM WALLACE: leader of the Scottish rebellion against Edward I in 1297, executed in 1305
YOLANDE OF DREUX: second wife of Alexander III and Queen of Scotland
GLOSSARY
BASINET
: a close-fitting helmet, sometimes worn with a visor.
BRAIES
: undergarments worn by men.
COAT-OF-PLATES
: a cloth or leather garment with metal plates riveted to it, worn under the surcoat.
COIF
: a tight-fitting cloth cap worn by men and women, it could also be made of mail and worn by soldiers under or instead of a helm.
CROWN OF ARTHUR
: a coronet worn by the princes of Gwynedd, most notably Llywelyn ap Gruffudd who styled himself Prince of Wales. Edward I seized the crown along with other important Welsh relics during the 1282–84 invasion and sent it to Westminster Abbey.
CURTANA
: also known as the Sword of Mercy because of its symbolically broken tip, it was thought to have belonged to St Edward the Confessor and became part of the English regalia used in coronations.
DESTRIER
: a warhorse.