Letter from Robert the Bruce from 1310 found at British Library…
A previously unknown letter of Robert the Bruce, addressed to the king of England, was recently found in a British Library manuscript. The letter of Robert the Bruce to Edward II, had been added at the end of the end of the 15th century at the foot of the page in a manuscript – London, British Library, MS Cotton Titus A XIX, f. 87r – by the monks of Kirkstall Abbey in Yorkshire. The letter was included in a dossier of the correspondence of King Edward III of England (1327-1377) with the king of France, the archbishop of Canterbury, Popes Benedict XII and Clement VI, and the emperor of Bavaria. Formerly identified as a letter sent by Robert II, king of Scots, to Edward III, the letter in question has now – according to an article on the Medieval Manuscript Blog been convincingly attributed to Robert the Bruce by Professor Dauvit Broun from the University of Glasgow.
According to the blog, “The letter was written in 1310, and reveals how, when faced with an English army marching into Scotland, Robert made an eloquent appeal to King Edward II, asking for peace on the understanding that Scottish independence be recognised. At the time of writing (1310), King Edward II of England (1307-1327) was leading an army into Scotland. Robert the Bruce (1306-1329) was trying to stave off this invasion by seeking to open negotiations with Edward, aimed in turn at asserting Scottish independence.” Soon after the letter was sent, Edward II’s army returned south of the border. When Edward subsequently re-invaded Scotland, he was stopped at Bannockburn, where the Scots won an overwhelming victory in a pitched battle, securing their independence for centuries.
Describing the letter Dauvit Broun reports that “Bruce’s tone is extremely conciliatory; he seems to be offering to do anything possible to establish peace. However, he is nonetheless plainly addressing Edward as one king to another. There is no doubt that the bottom line here is that Edward should recognise Robert as king of the Scots.”
Breaking of Britain
The letter has been identified in connection with a large interdisciplinary research project, The Breaking of Britain, a collaborative project, funded by the AHRC, between the University of Glasgow, Lancaster University, the University of Edinburgh, and King’s College London (including the Department of Digital Humanities). The project is concerned with the period, which extends from the failure of Alexander II’s short-lived revival of a Scoto-Northumbrian realm in 1216–17 to the formal abolition of cross-border landholding by Robert I in November 1314, following his victory at Bannockburn.
The project builds on the work of another project funded by the AHRC, The Paradox of Medieval Scotland and will extend the People of Medieval Scotland database to 1314. It will also be linked to a new database, recording interactions between the Crown and people in the three northern counties of England from 1216 to 1307. The project will also study border chronicles as a source both for medieval perceptions of identity and fields of medieval historical interest.”
The Letter
The letter was written in Latin, but a translation has kindly been provided by Dauvit Broun, University of Glasgow, on the website of “The Breaking of Britain” project together with a thorough presentation of the letter and the context in which is was written.
“To the most serene prince the lord Edward by God’s grace illustrious king of England, Robert by the same grace king of Scots, greeting in Him through whom the thrones of those who rule are governed. When, under the sweetness of peace, the minds of the neighbouring faithful find rest, then life is adorned with good conduct, and also the whole of Holy Mother Church, because the affairs of kingdoms are everywhere arranged more favourably by everyone. Our humbleness has led us, now and at other times, to beseech your highness more devoutly so that, having God and public decency in sight, you would take pains to cease from our persecution and the disturbance of the people of our kingdom in order that devastation and the spilling of a neighbour’s blood may henceforth stop. Naturally, everything which we and our people will be able to do by bodily service, or to bear by giving freely of our goods, for the redemption of good peace and for the perpetually flourishing grace of your good will, we are prepared and shall be prepared to accomplish in a suitable and honest way, with a pure heart. And if it accords with your will to have a discussion with us on these matters, may your royal sublimity send word in writing to us, by the bearer of this letter. Written at Kildrum in Lennox, the Kalends of October in the fifth year of our reign [1 October 1310].
The referendum
The letter is found amidst growing disquiet that the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence will not be governed by fair play. In spite of heavy regulations concerning the money which the two opposing parties are allowed to spend in the last 16 weeks before the referendum in 2014, different organisations are busy trying to boost the funding by establishing a string of “independent” local committees. At the same time worries are surfacing concerning that less strict rules will applied by Westminster as opposed to Hollyrood.
The referendum will not be held at exactly the same time as the 7th centennial on 21.06.2014 for the Battle of Bannockburn, but it will be close enough: 18.09.2014. But a new visitor-centre at the site of the battle is scheduled to open next summer in a bid to inform the public about the epoch-making battle and its historical significance. In this connection the results of the research project are bound to play a significant role.
READ MORE:
Read more about the new visitor centre at the site of the Battle of Bannockburn