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Rh by the parliament of Arbroath in April 1320 in a letter which compared Bruce to a Joshua or Judas Maccabaeus, who had wrought the salvation of his people, and declared they fought “ not for glory, truth or honour, but for that liberty which no virtuous man will survive.” Moved by this language and conscious of the weakness of Edward, the pope exhorted him to make peace with Scotland, and three years later Randolph, now earl of Moray, procured the recognition of Bruce as king from the papal see by promising aid for a crusade. In 1326 the French king, Charles IV., made a similar acknowledgment by the treaty of Corbeil. Meantime hostilities more or less constant continued with England, but, though in 1322 Edward made an incursion as far as Edinburgh, the internal weakness of his government prevented his gaining any real success, while in October of this year Bruce again ravaged Yorkshire, defeated the English near Byland, and almost captured their king. Some of his chief nobles-Thomas, earl of Lancaster, in 1321, and Sir Andrew Harclay, earl of Carlisle, in 1322-entered into correspondence with the Scots, and, though Harclay's treason was detected and punished by his death, Edward was forced to make a truce of thirteen years at Newcastle on the 3oth of May 1323, which Bruce ratified at Berwick. In 1327 Edward III. became king of England, and one of the first acts of the new reign, after a narrow escape of the young king from capture by Moray, was the treaty of York, ratified at Northampton in April 1328, by which it was agreed that “ Scotland, according to its ancient bounds in the days of Alexander III., should remain to Robert, king of Scots, and his heirs free and divided from England, without any subjection, servitude, claim or demand whatsoever.” Joanna, Edward's sister, was to be given in marriage to David, the infant son of Bruce, born subsequent to the settlement of 1318 and now recognized as heir to the crown, and the ceremony was celebrated at Berwick on the 12th of July 1328.

The chief author of Scottish independence barely survived his work. He appears to have conducted an expedition to Ireland in 1327, and on his return led a foray into England. His last years were chiefly spent at the castle of Cardross on the Clyde, which he acquired in 1326, and the conduct of war, as well as the negotiations for peace, had been left to the young leaders, Moray and Sir James Douglas, whose training was one of Bruce's services to his country. Ever active, he employed himself in the narrower sphere of repairing the castle and improving its domains and gardens, in shipbuilding on the Clyde, and in the exercise of the virtues of hospitality and charity. The religious feeling, which had not been absent even during the struggles of manhood, deepened in old age, and took the form the piety of the times prescribed. He made careful provision for his funeral, his tomb, and masses for his soul. He procured from the pope a bull authorizing his confessor to absolve him even at the moment of death. He died at Cardross from leprosy, contracted in the hardships of earlier life, on the 7th of June 1329, and was buried at Dunfermline beside his second wife, Elizabeth (d. 1327), daughter of Richard de Burgh, earl of Ulster, whom he had married about 1304, and who bore him late his only son, David, who succeeded him. Of two surviving daughters, Matilda married Thomas Ysaak, a simple esquire, and Margaret became the wife of William, earl of Sutherland. Marjorie, an only child by his first wife, Isabella, daughter of Donald, earl of Mar, had predeceased him. Several children not born in wedlock have been traced in the records, but none of them became in any way famous.

In fulfilment of a vow to visit the Holy Sepulchre, which he could not accomplish in person, Bruce requested Douglas to carry his heart there, 'but his faithful follower perished on the way, fighting in Spain against the Moors, and the heart of Bruce, recovered by Sir William Keith, found its resting-place at Melrose. When his corpse was disinterred in 1821 the breast-bone was found severed to admit of the removal of the heart, thus confirming the story preserved in the verses of Barbour. That national poet collected in the earliest Scottish poem, written in the reign of Bruce's grandson, the copious traditions which clustered round his memory. It is a panegyric; but history has not refused to accept it as a genuine representation of the character of the great king, in spirit, not in every detail. Its dominant note is freedom-the liberty of the nation from foreign bondage, and of the individual from oppression. It is the same note which Tacitus embodied in the speech of Galgacus at the dawn of Scottish history. Often as it has been heard before and since in the course of history, seldom has it had a more illustrious champion than Robert the Bruce.

.—The chief contemporary authorities for the life of Bruce are coloured to some extent by the nationality of the writers. On the Scottish side The Brus, a poem by John Barbour, edited by W. W. Skeat (Edinburgh, 1894), and the Chronica gentts Scotorum of John of Fordun, edited by W. F. Skene (Edinburgh, 1871-72), are perhaps the most valuable. The Chronicon de Lanercost, edited b J. Stevenson (Edinburgh, 1839), is also very important. The English chronicles which may be consulted with advantage are those of Walter of Hemingford, edited by H. C. Hamilton (London, 1848-49); and of Peter Langtoft, edited by T. Wright § London, 1866-68), and the Scalacrontca of Thomas Gray, edite by J. Stevenson (Edinburgh, 1836). For the documents of the time reference should be made to the Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, edited by J. Bain (Edinburgh, 1881-88), Documents and Records illustrating the History of Scotland, vol. i., edited by F. Palgrave (London, 1837); the Rotuli Scotiae (London, 1814-I9), and the Foedera of T. Rymer, vol. i. (London, 1704). The chief general histories are: Sir D. Dalrymple, Lord Hailes, Annals of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1819); P. F. Tytler, History of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1841-43); J. H. Burton, History of Scotland, vol. ii. (Edinburgh, 1905); A. Lang, History of Scotland, vol. i. (Edinburgh, 1904); R. Pauli, Geschichte von England (Hamburg, 1834-58). See also Sir H. Maxwell, Robert the Bruce (London, 1897).

ROBERT II. (1316-1390), called “the Steward,” king of Scotland, was a son of Walter, the steward of Scotland (d. 1326), and Marjorie (d. 1316), daughter of King Robert the Bruce, and was born on the 2nd of March 1316. In 1318 the Scottish parliament decreed that if King Robert died without sons the crown should pass to his grandson; but the birth of a son, afterwards King David II., to Bruce in 1324 postponed the accession of Robert for nearly forty-two years. Soon after the infant David became king in 1329, the Steward began to take a prominent part in the affairs of Scotland. He was one of the leaders of the Scottish army at the battle of Halidon Hill in July 1333; and after gaining some successes over the adherents of Edward Baliol in the west of Scotland, he and John Randolph, 3rd earl of Moray (d. 1346), were chosen as regents of the kingdom, while David sought safety in France. The colleagues soon quarrelled; then Randolph fell into the hands of the English and Robert became sole regent, meeting with such success in his efforts to restore the royal authority that the king was able to return to Scotland in 1341. Having handed over the duties of government to David, the Steward escaped from the battle of Neville's Cross in 1346, and was again chosen regent while the king was a captive in England. Soon after this event some friction arose between Robert and his royal uncle. Accused, probably without truth, of desertion at Neville's Cross, the Steward as heir-apparent was greatly chagrined by the king's proposal to make Edward III. of England, or one of his sons, the heir to the Scottish throne, and by David's marriage with Margaret Logie. In 1363 he rose in rebellion, and after having made his submission was seized and imprisoned together with four of his sons, being only released a short time before David's death in February 1371. By the terms of the decree of 1318 Robert now succeeded to the throne, and was crowned at Scone in March 137I. His reign in unimportant. Some steps were taken by the nobles to control the royal authority. In 1378 a war broke out with England; but the king took no part in the fighting, which included the burning of Edinburgh and the Scottish victory at Otterbourne in 1388. As age and inhrmity were telling upon him, the estates in 1389 appointed his second surviving son Robert, earl of Fife, afterwards duke of Albany, guardian of the kingdom. The king died at Dundonald on the 13th of May 1390, and was buried at Scone. His first wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Robert Mure of Rowallan, a lady who had formerly been his mistress. By her he had at least four sons, the eldest of whom was his successor, King Robert III., and six daughters. By his second wife, Euphemia, daughter of Hugh, earl of Ross, and widow of Moray, formerly his