Robert II of Scotland

Robert II
Great Seal of Robert II
King of Scots
Reign	22 February 1371 – 19 April 1390[1]
Coronation	26 March 1371
Predecessor	David II
Successor	Robert III
Regents	See list John Stewart, Earl of Carrick (1384–1388) Robert Stewart, Earl of Fife (1388–1390)
Born	2 March 1316 Paisley Abbey, Renfrewshire, Scotland
Died	19 April 1390 (aged 74) Dundonald Castle, Ayrshire, Scotland
Burial	Scone Abbey
Spouses	Elizabeth Mure ​ ​ (m. 1336; died 1355)​ Euphemia de Ross ​ ​ (m. 1355; died 1386)​
Issue more...	Robert III Walter, Lord of Fife Robert, Duke of Albany Alexander, Earl of Buchan David, Earl of Caithness Walter, Earl of Atholl Elizabeth, Countess of Crawford Thomas, Bishop of St. Andrews
House	Stewart
Father	Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland
Mother	Marjorie Bruce

Robert II (2 March 1316 – 19 April 1390) was King of Scots from 1371 to his death in 1390. The son of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, and Marjorie, daughter of King Robert the Bruce, he was the first monarch of the House of Stewart. Upon the death of his uncle David II, Robert succeeded to the throne.

Edward Bruce, younger brother of Robert the Bruce, was named heir presumptive but Edward had no children when he was killed in the Battle of Faughart on 14 October 1318. Marjorie Bruce had died probably in 1317 in a riding accident and Parliament decreed her infant son, Robert Stewart, as heir presumptive, but this lapsed on 5 March 1324 on the birth of a son, David, to King Robert and his second wife, Elizabeth de Burgh. Robert Stewart became High Steward of Scotland on his father's death on 9 April 1327, and in the same year Parliament confirmed the young Steward as heir should David die childless. In 1329 King Robert I died and his five-year-old son succeeded to the throne as David II under the guardianship of Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray.

Edward Balliol, son of King John Balliol—assisted by the English and those Scottish nobles who Robert I had disinherited—invaded Scotland inflicting heavy defeats on the Bruce party on 11 August 1332 at Dupplin Moor and Halidon Hill on 19 July 1333. Robert, who had fought at Halidon, joined his uncle David in refuge in Dumbarton Castle. David escaped to France in 1334 and Parliament, still functioning, appointed Robert and John Randolph, 3rd Earl of Moray, as joint guardians of the kingdom. The English captured Randolph in July 1335 and in the same year, Robert submitted to Balliol bringing about the removal of his guardianship. His former position was reinstated in 1338 until David returned from France in June 1341. Hostilities continued and Robert was with David at the Neville's Cross on 17 October 1346 and either escaped or fled the field. David, however, was captured and remained a prisoner until he was ransomed in October 1357.

Robert married Elizabeth Mure around 1348, legitimising their four sons and five daughters. His subsequent marriage to Euphemia de Ross in 1355 produced two sons and two surviving daughters. Robert rebelled against King David in 1363 but submitted to him following a threat to his right of succession. David died in 1371 and Robert succeeded him at the age of fifty-five. The border magnates continued to attack English-held zones in southern Scotland and by 1384, the Scots had re-taken most of the occupied lands. Robert ensured that Scotland was included in the Anglo-French truce of 1384 and that was a factor in the coup in November when he lost control of the country first to his eldest son, John, and then from 1388 to John's younger brother, Robert. Robert II died in Dundonald Castle in 1390 and was buried at Scone Abbey.