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High Steward of Scotland, House of Bruce, House of Stewart, King David II of Scotland, King Robert I of Scotland, King Robert II of Scotland, Margaret Drummond, Marjorie de Bruce, Princess Joan of England, Treaty of Berwick, Walter Stewart
Robert Stewart, born in 1316, was the only child of King Robert I of Scotland’s daughter Marjorie de Bruce, who died either in childbirth or shortly afterwards, and her husband Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland.
Robert had the upbringing of a Gaelic noble on the Stewart lands in Bute, Clydeside, and in Renfrew. In 1315, the Scottish Parliament revoked Marjorie de Bruce’s right as heir to her father in favour of her uncle, Edward Bruce.
Edward was killed at the Battle of Faughart, near Dundalk on October 14, 1318, resulting in a hastily arranged Parliament in December to enact a new tailzie naming Marjorie’s son, Robert Stewart, as heir should the king die without a successor.
The birth of a son, afterwards King David II, to King Robert on March 5, 1324 cancelled Robert Stewart’s position as heir presumptive, but a Parliament at Cambuskenneth in July 1326 restored him in the line of succession should David die without an heir.
This reinstatement of his status was accompanied by the gift of lands in Argyll, Roxburghshire, and the Lothians.
Prince David married Princess Joan of England, the youngest daughter of King Edward II of England and Princess Isabella of France, Joan was born in the Tower of London on 5 July 1321.
In accordance with the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton, Joan was married on July 17, 1328 to Prince David de Bruce. She was seven years old and he was four at the time of their marriage. Their marriage lasted 34 years, but it was childless and apparently loveless.
Upon the death of his father, King Robert the Bruce, David succeeded to the throne at the age of five, and was crowned at Scone in November 1331 becoming King David II of Scotland.
King David II, became the first Scottish monarch to be anointed at their coronation. During his childhood David was governed by a series of guardians, and Edward III of England sought to take advantage of David’s minority by supporting an invasion of Scotland by Edward Balliol, beginning the Second War of Scottish Independence.
Following the English victory at the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333, King David II, Queen Joan and the rump of his government were evacuated to France, where he remained in exile until it was safe for him to return to Scotland in 1341.
In 1346, David invaded England in support of France during the Hundred Years’ War. His army was defeated at the Battle of Neville’s Cross and he was captured and held as a prisoner in England for eleven years, while his nephew Robert Stewart governed Scotland.
In 1357 the Treaty of Berwick brought the Second War of Independence to an end, the Scots agreed to pay a ransom of 100,000 merks, and King David II was allowed to return home.
Heavy taxation was needed to pay for the ransom, which was to be paid in instalments, and King David II alienated his subjects by using the money for his own purposes.
By 1363 it was found impossible to raise the remaining ransom, and King David II sought its cancellation by offering to bequeath the succession to the Scottish throne to King Edward III or one of his sons.
In 1364, the Parliament of Scotland rejected David’s proposal to make Prince Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the next king. He was a son of King Edward III of England.
Despising his nephew, Robert Stewart, King David II sought to prevent him succeeding to his throne by marrying his mistress Margaret Drummond and producing an alternative heir.
King David II’s second wife was to Margaret Drummond (c. 1340 – 1375), known also by her first married name as Margaret Logie, and a daughter of Sir Malcolm de Drummond, 10th Thane of Lennox by his wife Margaret Graham, Countess of Menteith.
By 1361/62 Margaret was a mistress to King David who was widowed from his first wife, Joan of The Tower, on August 14, 1362.
David’s favour to the Drummonds must have fuelled the tension between them and the Stewarts and Campbells: this erupted into a full-blown murderous feud by the 1350s.
Margaret then married David II of Scotland at Inchmurdach in Fife, on February 20, 1364. Her niece Annabella was subsequently married to John Stewart, later king of Scotland as Robert III and Margaret’s grand-nephew by marriage.
King David II and Margaret had no children and the King divorced her on March 20 1369 on grounds of infertility.
Although David spent long periods in exile or captivity, he managed to ensure the survival of his kingdom, reformed the machinery of government, and left the Scottish monarchy in a strong position.
The last male of the House of Bruce, he died childless on February 22, 1371 after a reign of 41 years, and was succeeded by his nephew as King Robert II of Scotland and the first of the House of Stewart to sit upon the Scottish throne.