Editing Robert II of Scotland (section)

=== Consolidation of Stewart power and personal rule ===
David died childless on 22 February 1371 and was succeeded by Robert II.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Morley |first1=Henry |title=English Writers: An Attempt Towards a History of English Literature |year=1890 |publisher=Cassell, limited |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-rk6AAAAMAAJ&q=David+II+22nd+February+1371&pg=PA6 |access-date=20 February 2021 |language=en}}</ref> David was buried at [[Holyrood Abbey]] almost immediately but an armed protest by William, [[Earl of Douglas]] delayed Robert II's coronation until 26 March 1371.<ref>Boardman, ''Early Stewart Kings'', p. 40</ref> The reasons for the incident remain unclear but may have involved a dispute regarding Robert's right of succession,<ref>Brown & Tanner, ''History of Scottish Parliament'' pp. 102–105</ref> or may have been directed against [[George Dunbar, 10th Earl of March|George Dunbar, Earl of March]] (also known as Earl of Dunbar) and the southern [[Justiciar#Scotland|justiciar]], Robert Erskine.<ref>Grant in Jones, et al., ''New Cambridge History'', p. 360</ref> It was resolved by Robert giving his daughter Isabella in marriage to Douglas's son, James and with Douglas replacing Erskine as justiciar south of the Forth.<ref>Boardman, ''Early Stewart Kings'', p. 45</ref> Robert's accession did affect some others who held offices from David II. In particular, George Dunbar's brother John Dunbar, the Lord of Fife who lost his claim on Fife and Sir Robert Erskine's son, Sir Thomas Erskine who lost control of [[Edinburgh Castle]].<ref>Boardman, ''Early Stewart Kings'', pp. 39, 53</ref>

The Stewarts greatly increased their holdings in the west, in Atholl, and in the far north: the earldoms of [[Earl of Fife|Fife]] and [[Earl of Menteith|Menteith]] went to Robert's second surviving son, Robert; the earldoms of [[Earl of Buchan|Buchan]] and [[Earl of Ross|Ross]] (along with the lordship of Badenoch) to his fourth son, Alexander; and the earldoms of [[Earl of Strathearn|Strathearn]] and [[Earl of Caithness|Caithness]] to the eldest son of his second marriage, David.<ref name="Oram, p126">Oram, et al., ''Kings & Queens'', p. 126</ref> King Robert's sons-in-law were [[John of Islay, Lord of the Isles|John MacDonald, Lord of the Isles]], John Dunbar, Earl of Moray and [[James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas|James]] who would become the 2nd Earl of Douglas.<ref name="Oram, p126"/> Robert's sons John, Earl of Carrick, the king's heir, and Robert, Earl of Fife, were made keepers of the castles of Edinburgh and [[Stirling Castle|Stirling]] respectively, while [[Alexander Stewart, 1st Earl of Buchan|Alexander]], Lord of Badenoch and Ross, and afterwards Earl of Buchan, became the king's justiciar and lieutenant in the north of the kingdom.<ref name="Boardman ODNB"/> This build-up of the Stewart family power did not appear to cause resentment among the senior magnates — the king generally did not threaten their territories or local rule and where titles were transferred to his sons the individuals affected were usually very well rewarded.<ref name="Boardman ODNB"/> This style of kingship was very different from his predecessor's — David tried to dominate his nobles whereas Robert's strategy was to delegate authority to his powerful sons and earls and this generally worked for the first decade of his reign.<ref name="Oram, p126"/> Robert was to have influence over eight of the fifteen earldoms either through his sons directly or by strategic marriages of his daughters to powerful lords.<ref name="Oram, p126"/>

[[File:Robert II (Alba) ii.JPG|thumb|200px|Robert the warrior and knight: the reverse side of Robert II's Great Seal, enhanced as a 19th-century steel engraving]]

In 1373, Robert ensured the future security of the Stewart dynasty by having Parliament pass entailments regarding the succession. At this time, none of his sons had heirs so it became necessary for a system to be devised to define precisely the circumstances in which each of his sons could inherit the crown—none of this would take precedence over normal succession by [[primogeniture]].<ref>Barrell, ''Medieval Scotland'', pp. 141-142</ref><ref>The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, K. M. Brown, et al., eds (St Andrews, 2007–2012), 1373/3. [http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1373/3] Date accessed: 21 May 2012</ref> By 1375, the king had commissioned [[John Barbour (poet)|John Barbour]] to write the poem, ''[[The Brus]]'', a history intended to bolster the public image of the Stewarts as the genuine heirs of Robert I. It described the patriotic acts of both [[James Douglas, Lord of Douglas|Sir James, the Black Douglas]] and Walter the Steward, the king's father, in their support of Bruce.<ref name="Oram, p126"/> Robert's rule during the 1370s saw the country's finances stabilised and greatly improved due in part to the flourishing wool trade, reduced calls on the public purse and the halting of his predecessor's ransom money on the death of Edward III of England.<ref name="Boardman ODNB"/> Robert — unlike David II whose kingship was predominantly Lothian and therefore lowland based — did not restrict his attention to one sector of his kingdom but frequently visited the more remote areas of the north and west among his Gaelic lords.<ref>Boardman, ''Early Stewart Kings'', pp. 94-95</ref>

Robert ruled over a country that continued to have English enclaves within its borders and Scots who gave their allegiance to the king of England — the important castles of Berwick, Jedburgh, Lochmaben and Roxburgh had English garrisons and controlled southern Berwickshire, Teviotdale and large areas in Annandale and Tweeddale.<ref>Boardman, ''Early Stewart Kings'', p. 108</ref> In June 1371, Robert agreed to a defensive treaty with the French, and although there were no outright hostilities during 1372, the English garrisons were reinforced and placed under an increased state of vigilance.<ref>Sadler, ''Border Fury'', p. 258</ref> Attacks on the English-held zones, with the near-certain backing of Robert, began in 1373 and accelerated in the years 1375–77. This indicated that a central decision had probably been taken for the escalation of conflict rather than the previous small-scale marauding attacks by the border barons.<ref>Tuck & Goodman, ''War and Border Societies'', pp.38-39</ref> In 1376, the [[Earl of March]] successfully recovered Annandale, but then found himself constrained by the [[Bruges]] Anglo-French truce.<ref>Sadler, ''Border Fury'', p. 260</ref>

[[File:Dunfermline Abbey Geograph.jpg|thumb|275px|left|[[Dunfermline Abbey]] which received Coldingham Priory as daughter house from King Robert]]

In his dealings with Edward III, Robert blamed his border magnates for the escalating attacks on the English zones; regardless, the Scots retained the recaptured lands, often portioned out among minor lords, to secure their interest in preventing English re-possession.<ref>Sadler, ''Border Fury'', pp. 259–260</ref> Despite Robert's further condemnations of his border lords, all the signs were that Robert backed the growing successful Scottish militancy following Edward III's death in 1377.<ref name="Boardman ODNB"/> In a charter dated 25 July 1378 the king decreed that [[Coldingham Priory]] would no longer be a daughter house of the English [[Durham Priory]] but was to be attached to [[Dunfermline Abbey]].<ref>Tuck & Goodman, ''War and Border Societies'', p. 40</ref> In early February the Scots — apparently unaware of the conclusion of an Anglo-French truce on 26 January 1384 that included the Scots in the cease-fire — conducted an all-out attack on the English zones winning back Lochmaben Castle and Teviotdale.<ref>Boardman, ''Early Stewart Kings'', p. 118</ref> John of Gaunt led a reciprocal English attack that took him as far as Edinburgh, where the burgesses bribed him to leave the town unharmed. Haddington, however, was destroyed.<ref>Boardman, ''Early Stewart Kings'', pp. 118–119</ref> Carrick and James, Earl of Douglas (his father William had died in April),<ref name="Tuck p. 42">Tuck & Goodman, ''War and Border Societies'', p. 42</ref> wanted a retaliatory strike for the Gaunt raid. Robert may have concluded that as the French had reneged on a previous agreement to send assistance in 1383 and then entered into a truce with England, any military action would have been met with retaliation and exclusion from the forthcoming Boulogne peace talks.<ref name="Tuck p. 42"/><ref name="Boardman, p120-1">Boardman, ''Early Stewart Kings'', pp. 120–121</ref> On 2 June 1384, Robert resolved to send [[Walter Wardlaw]], [[Bishop of Glasgow]] to the Anglo-French peace talks, yet Carrick ignored this and allowed raids into the north of England to take place.<ref name="Boardman, p120-1"/> Despite this, by 26 July, the Scots were part of the truce that would expire in October. Robert called a Council in September probably to decide how to proceed when the truce concluded.<ref>Boardman, ''Early Stewart Kings'', p. 123</ref>