By the summer of 1309, King Robert controlled all of Scotland north of the River Tay. His son took over, as Edward II, but Bruce ran wild in the highlands of Scotland, wiping out the Comyn’s power in the North-East. This proved increasingly successful, and the English lost their king when Edward caught a fatal case of dysentery, while heading north to take on the rebels. He regrouped his forces, and returned to the fray in early 1307, beginning a guerilla campaign. His brother and wife fell into Edward’s hands, and Bruce was sent into hiding, most likely in the Western Isles. The first years of the subsequent rebellion did not go well, with Edward I and his son, the Prince of Wales, sallying forth, seizing Bruce’s lands and giving them to English loyalists. Kim Traynor, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Bruce took care of him during a meeting at Greyfriars Monastery, an act which won him formal excommunication, but the support of some Scottish bishops, who crowned him king anyway. Chief among them was Robert Comyn, the most powerful noble in the country. However, in order to do so and become Scotland’s King, he had to navigate the claims of other contenders to the throne, not all of whom were as averse to English patronage as Robert.

For after the death of Wallace in 1305, Bruce took up the cause of independence from England, and became its standard bearer over the following years. William Wallace may have got the Oscar-winning motion picture, but there’s a good case to be made that, in terms of impact in Scottish history, a much more influential figure was his contemporary, Robert the Bruce.

Battle blitz no flash