Origins of House of Bruce

 

1.  ROBERT (the FIRST) BRUCE.

     The first Robert Bruce was a follower of William the Conqueror, who rewarded him with many manors, chiefly in Yorkshire. The Bruce family, whose surname is taken from Bruis between Cherbourg and Vallanges, is of Norman descent.

 

                             Children:

            2.       i      ROBERT (the SECOND) BRUCE.

 

Second Generation

 

2.  ROBERT (the SECOND) BRUCE.

     Robert Bruce received from King David I of Scotland, who was his comrade at the court of Henry I, King of England, a grant of the Lordship of Annandale.

 

                             Children:

            3.       i      ROBERT (the THIRD) BRUCE.

 

Third Generation

 

3.  ROBERT (the THIRD) BRUCE.

     Robert Bruce was the third in succession of "Robert Bruce" and the second Lord of Annandale.

 

                             Children:

            4.       i      ROBERT (the FOURTH) BRUCE.

 

Fourth Generation

 

4.  ROBERT (the FOURTH) BRUCE.

     Robert Bruce was the fourth in succession of "Robert Bruce" and the third Lord of Annandale.

 

     He married DAUGHTER of WILLIAM the LION.

 

                             Children:

            5.       i      ROBERT (the FIFTH) BRUCE.

 

Fifth Generation

 

5.  ROBERT (the FIFTH) BRUCE.

     Robert Bruce was the fifth in succession of "Robert Bruce" and the fourth Lord of Annandale.

 

     He married ISABEL of HUNTINGTON, (daughter of DAVID EARL of HUNTINGTON and MATILDA of CHESTER).

    

     ISABEL: Isabel was the daughter of the Earl of Huntington.

 

                             Children:

            6.       i      ROBERT (the SIXTH) BRUCE.

 

Sixth Generation

 

6.  ROBERT (the SIXTH) BRUCE, occupation THE SIXTH IN SUCCESSION of ROBERT BRUCE.

     Robert Bruce was the sixth in succession of "Robert Bruce" and fifth Lord of Annandale. His marriage to Isabel de Clare brought into the Bruce family blood of two of the most famous houses of the English nobility. The family of Marshal or Le Marechal held the hereditary marshalship; the famous house of Clare which, in the language of the historian, Freeman, "played so great a part alike in England, Wales and Ireland," was by this time the acknowledged head of baronage. Gilbert de Clare, whose daughter married the sixth Robert Bruce, and Gilbert's father, Richard de Clare, were among "the barons fo the Charter" who forced King John to grant Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215.

 

     He married ISABEL de CLARE, (daughter of GILBERT de CLARE and LADY ISABEL MARSHALL).

 

                             Children:

            7.       i      ROBERT BRUCE.

 

Seventh Generation

 

7.  ROBERT BRUCE, occupation ROBERT BRUCE the 7th and EARL of CARRICK, d. 1305, SCOTLAND.

     Robert Bruce was the seventh in succession of "Rober Bruce" and the Earl of Carrick by right of his wife, Marjory, daughter of Nigel, Earl of Carrick.

 

     He married MARJORY, (daughter of NIGEL and MARGARET STEWART).

 

                             Children:

            8.       i      ROBERT the BRUCE b. 1274.

                      ii     EDWARD BRUCE, occupation KING OF IRELAND.

                             Edward Bruce was King of Ireland.

 

Eighth Generation

 

8.  ROBERT the BRUCE, b. 1274, SCOTLAND, occupation KING OF SCOTLAND(1306-29), d. 1329, SCOTLAND.

     Robert the Bruce was the great champion of Scottish independence. He waged a long and uncertain war against Edward I, perhaps the greatest King of England, who almost succeeded in making Scotland a fief of England. Then Independence of Scotland and the title of "Bruce" to the throne were firmly established by the crushing defeat of Edward II at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314. The great place of Robert the Bruce in Scottish history is fully attested by the writings of standard historians and his fame is immortalized in literature. Robert the Bruce was married twice. His first wife was Isabella of Mar, by whom had only one daughter, Marjory, who later married Walter Stewart, the sixth holder of the hereditary title of High Steward of Scotland. His son by his second wife, Elizabeth de Burgh, was David Bruce who succeeded his father to the throne.

 

     He married (1) ISABELLA of MAR, in SCOTLAND, b. SCOTLAND, (daughter of DONALD EARL of MAR and HELEN of LEWELLYN) occupation QUEEN, d. SCOTLAND.

 

                             Children:

            9.       i      MARJORY BRUCE b. CIRCA 1297.

 

     He married (2) ELIZABETH de BURGH, in SCOTLAND, (daughter of RICHARD de BURGH and UNKNOWN) occupation QUEEN, d. SCOTLAND.

 

                             Children:

                      ii     DAVID BRUCE, b. 1324, SCOTLAND, occupation KING OF SCOTLAND(1329-71), d. 1371, SCOTLAND.

 

                             He married (1) JOAN OF THE TOWER, 1328, in SCOTLAND, b. ENGLAND, occupation QUEEN, d. 1362, SCOTLAND.

                             He married (2) MARGARET LOGIE, 1363, in SCOTLAND, b. SCOTLAND, occupation QUEEN, d. SCOTLAND.

 

Ninth Generation

 

9.  MARJORY BRUCE, b. CIRCA 1297, DUNDONALD, KYLE AYRSHIRE,SCOTLAND, d. 2 Mar 1316, SCOTLAND, buried: 1316, ABBEY of PAISLEY, SCOTLAND.

     Margery was the daughter of Robert I "the Bruce" King of Scotland from his marriage to Isabella of Mar. Margery married Sir Walter Stewart who was a young knight and sixth family holder of the High Steward of Scotland. This marriage produced a son Robert Stewart who was to later become Robert II, King of Scotland (1371-90). Robert's birth was considered something of a miracle since he was delivered by caesarian section from his mother's body who died after a fall from her horse. (source:Kings and Queens of Scotland).

 

     She married WALTER STEWART, 1315, in SCOTLAND, b. 1293, DUNDAONALD, KYLE, AYRSHIRE,SCOTLAND, (son of JAMES STEWART and UNKNOWN) occupation HIGH STEWARD OF SCOTLAND, d. 9 Apr 1326, BATHGATE CASTLE, W. LOTHIAN, SCOTLAND.

    

     WALTER: The first recorded ancestor of the Stewarts was nobly born Breton named Alan, who was a "daipifer" or steward to the Count of Dol in the late eleventh century. Alan the "dapifer" had a son named Flaad who sought advancement in Britain, where he had land on the Welsh Marshes in the reign of Henry I. Flaad's grandson Walter won the favor of David I, who granted  him the barony

     of Renfrew and appointed him High Steward of Scotland. The office became hereditary and hence the Stewart name. Walter was the sixth holder of title.

 

                             Children:

                      i      ROBERT STEWART II, b. Mar-1316, PAISLEY, RENFREWSHIRE, SCOTLAND, occupation KING OF SCOTLAND, d. 14 Aug 1390, CASTLE of DUNDONALD, AYRSHIRE, SCOTLAND, buried: 1390, SCONE ABBEY, PERTHSHIRE, SCOTLAND.

                             When Robert II came to throne, a fourteen years' truce with England still had twelve years to run, though unofficial warfare on the border continued with England. Full scale war broke out in 1385 as a by-product of the Hundred Years' War between England and France. Scotland became involved through assistance to France. Throughout this period Robert II was ever weak in his control of the state. In 1384 he appointed his heir John, Earl of Carrick, to enforce authority on his behalf.

 

                             He married (1) ELIZABETH MURE, CIRCA 1336, in SCOTLAND, b. 1330, ROWALLAN, SCOTLAND, (daughter of SIR ADAM MURE of ROWALLAN and UNKNOWN) occupation QUEEN, d. CIRCA 1355, SCOTLAND.

                            

                             ELIZABETH: Elizabeth was Robert II's first wife, to whom he was related within the "forbidden degrees" of kinship. This required a papal dispensation to have their marriage and heirs recognized by the church and state. Robert II and Elizabeth may not have at first known of this requirement, for it was some years after the birth of their children that they appied for dispensation. This became a growing concern of Robert II's second family and heirs from his marriage to Euphemia of Ross following Elizabeth's death.

                             He married (2) EUPHEMIA (of ROSS) LESLIE, 2 May 1355, in SCOTLAND, b. SCOTLAND, (daughter of HUGH EARL OF ROSS and UNKNOWN) occupation QUEEN, d. 1387, SCOTLAND.

                            

                             EUPHEMIA: Robert II married Euphemia following papal dispensation on 2 May 1355. Euphemia was the widow of John Randolph, Earl of Moray.