Harrower Family Tree » Marjorie Bruce (1296-1316)

Personal data Marjorie Bruce 

• She was born on December 12, 1296.Source 1

  Cardross, Dunbartonshire, Scotland

• Title: Princess of ScotlandSource 1
• (Title of Nobility) between March 27, 1306 and March 2, 1316: Princess of Scotland.Source 1
• (Imprisonment) between 1306 and 1314 in Watton, Norfolk, England: Captured by the English in 1306 at age 9, Marjorie was held captive at Watton Abbey until 1314..Source 1
• She died on March 2, 1316, she was 19 years old.Source 1

  Abbey, Renfrewshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

  Oorzaak: Probable Caesarian Section, after falling from a horse

• She is buried on March 2, 1316 in Abbey Church of Paisley, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland.Source 1
• A child of Robert the Bruce and Isabella of Mar

Household of Marjorie Bruce

She is married to Walter Stewart.

They got married on March 2, 1315, she was 18 years old.Source 1

Child(ren):

1. Robert Stewart  1316-1390 

Notes about Marjorie Bruce

Marjorie Bruce 1296 - 1316
Name Marjorie Bruce
Birth Date 12 Dec 1296
Birth Place Cardross, Dunbartonshire, Scotland
Death Date 02 Mar 1316
Burial Date 1316
Burial Place Paisley Abbey, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland

I’ve always had a soft spot for little Marjorie Bruce. Dead before her 20th birthday, her short life was filled with tragedy and adversity from the moment of her birth. I could find no pictures of her, just ones of her tomb; which just about sums it up for poor Marjorie.

Marjorie was born at a time of great upheaval for Scotland; Edward I was claiming overlordship of the country, and the right to choose its next king. John Balliol was picked as king, only for Edward to humiliate and dethrone him a short time later.

Marjorie’s father, Robert the Bruce, was one of the chief claimants of the Scots crown.

Marjorie was the only daughter of Robert the Bruce, Lord of Annandale and Earl of Carrick, and Isabella of Mar. Isabella was the daughter of Donald, 6th Earl of Mar, and Helen, possible illegitimate daughter of Llewelyn the Great, Prince of Wales.
Robert I and Isabella of Mar.

Isabella and Robert had married in 1295 and Marjorie arrived about 2 years later. At the age of only 19, Isabella died shortly after giving birth and poor Marjorie was left motherless, with a father who was fighting, alternately, for and against the English.

Marjorie was named after her paternal grandmother, Marjorie, Countess of Carrick in her own right. And it seems highly likely that Marjorie’s care was handed to one of her father’s sister, either Mary or Christian.

At 6 years old Marjorie acquired a new step-mother when Robert married Elizabeth de Burgh, daughter of Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, and God-Daughter of Edward I. Although Edward I appears to have arranged the marriage in order to keep the Bruce’s loyalty, it was only a short while after the marriage that Robert the Bruce finally decided to join William Wallace and fight for Scotland.

In 1306, following his murder of his rival for the throne, John Comyn, Robert the Bruce defied Edward I by having himself crowned King of Scots at Scone Abbey. Little 8-year-old Marjorie was suddenly a Princess of Scotland as the daughter of King Robert I; although her uncle Edward Bruce was designated Robert’s heir.

Unfortunately Robert’s coronation infuriated Edward I even more. After King Robert was brought to battle, and defeated, at Methven in June 1306 he and his family became fugitives in their own land. Edward I of England was determined to hunt him down; sending men after Robert and all his adherents.

In August 1306 Robert split his party; while he headed west he sent Marjorie and Elizabeth to the north-east, possibly hoping they could escape to Orkney and on to Norway, where his sister, Isabel, was queen.

Accompanying Elizabeth and Marjorie were Robert’s other 2 sisters, Christian and Mary, and Isabella, Countess of Buchan, who had crowned Robert at Scone. They were escorted by John of Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl, and Robert’s younger brother, Sir Niall Bruce.

By September 1306, the women and their escort had reached Kildrummy Castle in Aberdeenshire; where Edward’s forces caught up with them. While Sir Niall Bruce and the garrison stoically attempted to hold off the English troops, the Earl of Atholl escaped with the women. Having made it to the far north of Scotland, but were apprehended at Tain, near Inverness, by the Earl of Ross, a supporter of the Comyns.

Kildrummy had fallen in the mean time.

Sir Niall Bruce and the Kildrummy garrison were handed over to the English and executed; Sir Niall suffered hanging, drawing and quartering at Berwick. The Earl of Atholl and the Bruce women, along with the Countess of Buchan, were sent south to King Edward.

When they reached London, the Earl of Atholl suffered the same fate as Sir Niall, the first earl to ever suffer a traitor’s execution.

Although Edward did not order the executions of the women folk, it cannot be said he treated them kindly. They were used to set an example; a demonstration of the price of rebellion against Edward.

For Mary Bruce and the Countess of Buchan, he ordered the construction of iron cages. Isabella, Countess of Buchan, who had set the crown of Scotland on Robert the Bruce’s head, was imprisoned in one such cage supposedly suspended high from the walls of Berwick castle, open the elements and the mockery of the people of Berwick. The same was ordered for Mary Bruce at Roxburgh. Although the cages were actually in rooms inside the two strongholds, rather than outside and suspended from the walls. Either way, it was still horrendous treatment for two nobelwomen.

Christian Bruce, whose husband had recently been executed as a traitor at Dumfries, was ordered to be confined at a convent at Sixhills in Lincolnshire; while Elizabeth de Burgh was confined to various manors in England and treated more kindly due to her father’s friendship with the king.

For Marjorie Bruce, these events must have been terrifying. Edward ordered her confined in an iron cage in the Tower of London, where no one was to speak to her. Whether Edward relented of his own free will, or was advised against such treatment of a child of not yet 10 years old, the order was rescinded and she was confined to a convent at Watton in Yorkshire.

Although loyal to their king, we can only hope that the nuns took pity on the poor child, and treated her kindly. She was held at Watton for 8 years and it was only her father’s victory at Bannockburn, in 1314, that eventually secured her freedom.

Robert the Bruce’s resounding victory over Edward I son and successor, Edward II, in the 1314 battle meant Bruce was finally in a position to insist on the return of his queen, daughter, sisters and the Countess of Buchan. With so many English nobles taken prisoner, the women were the price demanded in the exchange of hostages.

On Marjorie’s return to Scotland, King Robert almost immediately set about arranging her marriage. With the queen not yet having produced a child, the now 17 year old Marjorie was needed to produce an heir for the Bruce dynasty.

Just 5 years older than Marjorie, Walter Stewart, the wealthy and powerful 6th High Steward of Scotland was the ideal candidate as a husband. Walter had distinguished himself as a commander at the Battle of Bannockburn, and was the man entrusted by Bruce to bring his family home for their English captivity.

Walter and Marjorie were married shortly after, with Marjorie’s dowry including the Barony of Bathgate in West Lothian. Whatever happiness. if any Marjorie derived from the marriage, however, was short-lived.

In 1316, whilst heavily pregnant, she fell from her horse when out riding near Paisley Abbey. Going into premature labour, Marjorie was taken to the Abbey, where she was delivered of a son, Robert, on 2nd March 1316. It is possible that Robert was delivered by caesarian as his mother was close to death. Marjorie survived the birth by just a few hours and died the same day.

Poor little Marjorie Bruce was dead at the tender age of 19, the same as her mother before her, having lived through some of the most turbulent years of Scottish history.

Had she lived she would have seen her son succeed her brother, David II, on the Scots throne as King Robert II, founder of the Stewart dynasty.

Sources:
The Story of Scotland by Nigel Tranter;
Brewer’s British Royalty by David Williamson;
Kings & Queens of Britain by Joyce Marlow;
Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens by Mike Ashley;
Oxford Companion to British History Edited by John Cannon;
Edward I, A Great and Terrible King by Marc Morris;
Britain’s Royal Families by Alison Weir;
History Today Companion to British History Edited by Juliet Gardiner & Neil Wenborn;
The Plantagenets, The Kings Who Made England by Dan Jones;
The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of the Kings & Queens of Britain by Charles Phillips;
Kings & Queens of Britain by Joyce Marlow; englishmonarchs.co.uk; educationscotland.gov.uk;
Sisters of the Bruce; electricscotland.com.

Marjorie Bruce was the oldest child of Robert I, King of Scotland, also known as Robert The Bruce, and his first wife Isabella of Mar. She was born in December of 1296 and her mother died 12 December, 1296 shortly after giving birth. Marjorie was named after her paternal grandmother, Marjorie, Countess of Carrick, who had died 4 years before.

In March of 1306 Scotland was in the midst of the First War of Scottish Independence with England when Marjorie's father Robert the Bruce was crowned King of Scotland. "The Bruce" suffered a defeat at the Battle of Methven and sent Marjorie, her step-mother Elizabeth, and her 2 aunts Mary and Christina North for safety. Unfortunately, they were captured by the English along with Isabella MacDuff. All the men captured were executed including Marjorie's Uncle Niall who was hanged, drawn and quartered and then beheaded. Marjorie's step-mother Elizabeth was deemed a valuable hostage and sent to the Tower of London. Her Aunt Christina, whose husband was just executed, was imprisoned at the convent at Sixhills. Mary Bruce and Isabella MacDuff were imprisoned separately in wooden cages and hung outside the castles of Roxburgh and Berwick, exposed to public view and the elements for 4 long years. A cage was built outside the Tower of London for 9 year old Marjorie but English King Edward I reconsidered and sent her to the convent in Watton instead. Marjorie would remain an English captive until 1314 when she was finally released, exchanged for English prisoners, at the age of 17.

Scotland was free and King Robert the Bruce was at the height of his power when Marjorie married the 2nd most powerful man in Scotland, Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland in 1315. Marjorie and Walter had met when her father sent him to escort Marjorie and her step-mother Elizabeth back from England.

Marjorie was heavily pregnant, near full term, with their first child when on March 2, 1316 at Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, she fell from a horse. The fall triggered pre-mature labour, Marjorie gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Robert Stuart. Robert would grow up to become Robert II King of Scotland. Marjorie would not live to see it. Like her own mother, Isabella, Marjorie died at age 19 from complications of the birth of her first child. She was buried at Paisley Abbey, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland.

After the Battle of Bannockburn, Walter Stewart had been rewarded with a grant of the lands of Largs. After the death of his wife in 1316 Stewart donated those lands to Paisley Abbey where she died and was buried.

Marjorie's marriage to Walter, High Steward of Scotland united Clan Stewart and the royal House of Bruce. Her son Robert II was the first Stewart monarch, through him she was the ancestress of a long line of royalty including Mary Queen of Scots and Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Early life

Her mother, Isabella, was a noblewoman from the Clan Mar. Marjorie was named after her father's mother, Marjorie, Countess of Carrick. Soon after giving birth to Marjorie, at the age of 19, Isabella died.[1] Marjorie's father was at that time the Earl of Carrick.

According to legend, Marjorie's parents had been very much in love, and Robert the Bruce did not remarry until 1302 (six years after his first wife's death), to a courtier named Elizabeth de Burgh.

On 27 March 1306, her father was crowned King of Scots at Scone, Perthshire,[1] and Marjorie, then 10 years old, became a Princess of Scotland.

Imprisonment

Three months after the coronation, in June, 1306, her father was defeated at the Battle of Methven. He sent his wife, two sisters, and Marjorie north with his supporter Isabella MacDuff, Countess of Buchan, but by the end of June they were captured by Uilleam II, Earl of Ross, a Balliol supporter, who handed them over to the English.[1]

As punishment, Edward I of England sent his hostages to different places in England. Marjorie was sent to the convent at Watton. Her aunt, Christina Bruce, was sent to another convent. Elizabeth de Burgh was placed under house arrest at a manor house in Yorkshire. Elizabeth de Burgh's punishment was lighter than the others. This is due to the fact that Edward I needed the support of her father, the powerful Earl of Ulster. Marjorie's aunt, Mary Bruce, and the Countess of Buchan were imprisoned in wooden cages, exposed to public view, at Roxburgh Castle and Berwick Castle, respectively.

For the next four years, Elizabeth, Christina, Mary, and Isabella endured solitary confinement. The latter two experienced daily public humiliation. A cage was built for Marjorie, who was around the age of 12, at the Tower of London, but Edward I reconsidered. He instead sent her to the Gilbertine convent in Watton.[2][3][4] Christopher Seton, Christina's husband, was executed.

Edward I died on 7 July 1307. He was succeeded by his son, Edward II, who subsequently held Marjorie captive in a convent for about seven more years. She was freed in October 1314, in exchange for Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford captured after the Battle of Bannockburn.[5]

Marriage and death
Marjorie's sarcophagus, Paisley Abbey

Upon the liberation of Elizabeth de Burgh and Marjorie from their long captivity in England, Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, was sent to receive them at the Anglo-Scottish border and conduct them back to the Scottish court.[6] He later married Marjorie. Her dowry included the Barony of Bathgate in West Lothian.[3]

The traditional story is that two years later, on 2 March 1316, Marjorie was riding in Gallowhill, Paisley, Renfrewshire while heavily pregnant. Her horse was suddenly startled and threw her to the ground. She went into premature labour and her child, Robert II of Scotland, was born. Marjorie died soon afterward at the age of around 20, like her mother, who was roughly the same age when she died in childbirth. However, it is not clear that this traditional story is correct; some accounts indicate that she may have survived into 1317.[7][8] She may still have died in a riding accident, but this could have taken place after the birth of her son.[9] In fact, one source states that she died in October 1317, after falling from a horse, during a second pregnancy.[10]

At the junction of Renfrew Road and Dundonald Road in Paisley, a cairn marks the spot called "the Knock", near where Marjorie reputedly fell from her horse. Bruce Road and Marjorie Drive are named in her honour. She is buried at Paisley Abbey.

Her son succeeded his childless uncle David II of Scotland in 1371 as King Robert II. Her descendants include the House of Stewart (now styled Stuart) and all their successors on the throne of Scotland, England and the United Kingdom.

Marjorie in fiction

The young adult novel Girl in a Cage, by Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris, features Marjorie Bruce as its protagonist. In it, Marjorie is imprisoned in a cage. Although there is a preface stating that it is fictional, many have taken it to be a true story.[11]

The historical fiction novel Spirit of Fire: The Tale of Marjorie Bruce (2016), by the young author Emmerson Brand, features Marjorie Bruce as its protagonist.[12]

In the historical action drama film Outlaw King (2018), Marjorie is featured as a minor character during the First War of Scottish Independence.

Commemoration

The original site of Bathgate Castle, which was part of her dowry, can be found on the grounds of Bathgate Golf Club. The site is protected by Historic Environment Scotland and the club is barred from carrying out any excavation work on the site without prior permission. Every year on the first Saturday of June, the town of Bathgate celebrates the marriage of Marjorie and Walter in their annual historical pageant, just before the town's Bathgate Procession and Community Festival (formerly Bathgate Procession and John Newland Festival.[13] Local school children are given the parts of Marjorie, Walter, and other members of the court. After the pageant, everyone joins the procession along with Robert the Bruce on horseback.

References

"Elizabeth de Burgh and Marjorie Bruce". Foghlam Alba Archived 11 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
Barrow, G W S (17 June 2005). Robert Bruce. Edinburgh University Press. doi:10.3366/edinburgh/9780748620227.001.0001. ISBN 9780748620227.
Peter., Traquair (1998). Freedom's sword. Niwot, Colo.: Roberts Rinehart Publishers. ISBN 978-1570982477. OCLC 40072790.
Scott, Ronald McNair, Robert the Bruce, p. 87
Barrow, Geoffrey W.S. (1988). Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Edinburgh University Press. p. 231.
1805-1866., Anderson, William (1995). The Scottish nation : or, The surnames, families, literature, honours, and biographical history of the people of Scotland. Heritage Books. ISBN 978-0788402456. OCLC 33233987.
Broadman, Stephen The Early Stewart Kings
Penman, Michael, Robert the Bruce, King of the Scots
The Kings & Queens of Scotland. The History Press. 31 July 2002. ISBN 075243814X.
Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd Edition. Create Space. 2011. p. 534. ISBN 978-1461045205.
Yolen, Jane (2004). Girl in a Cage. Speak. ISBN 978-0142401323.
Brand, Emmerson (2016). Spirit of Fire: The Tale of Marjorie Bruce. Creativia. ISBN 978-1973422884.
"Bathgate Procession changes name due to John Newland's slavery links". 10 June 2020.

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Timeline Marjorie Bruce

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