Robert III (c.
1340 –
April 4, 1406), King of Scots (reigned 1390 - 1406), the eldest son of King
Robert II by his mistress,
Elizabeth Mure, became legitimised with the formal marriage of his parents about
1349. (They had previously married in 1336, but some had criticised that ceremony as uncanonical.)
In
1367, Robert III married
Anabella Drummond, daughter of
Sir John Drummond of
Stobhall and
Mary Montifex.
In
1368 his grand-uncle King
David II of Scotland created him
Earl of Carrick, and he took some part in the government of the kingdom until about 1387, when a kick from a horse disabled him. Probably in consequence of this accident his brother
Robert, Earl of
Fife, and not the crown prince himself, became guardian of the kingdom in 1389; but the latter succeeded to the throne on his father's death in May
1390.
At this time he changed his baptismal name of John - unpopular owing to its connection with
John de Baliol; he also wished to avoid being called John II, as recognition of Balliol's kingship would weaken the Bruce title to the throne - for that of Robert, and became crowned at Scone in August 1390 as King Robert III. Although he probably attended several parliaments, the new king was seen only nominally as the ruler of Scotland, the real power remaining in the hands of his brother, the Earl of Fife.
In 1399, however, owing to the king's "sickness of the body", his elder son,
David, Duke of Rothesay, gained appointment as lieutenant of the kingdom; but there followed an English invasion of Scotland, serious differences between Rothesay and his uncle, Robert, now Duke of Albany, and finally in March
1402 Rothesay's mysterious death at
Falkland Palace.
Robert III began to fear for the fate of his only surviving son, young James. In February 1406 he had James taken in secrecy to
Dirleton Castle to wait for a ship to transport him to France. Robert of Fife sent a large force after Crown Prince James and when a battle was fought near-by, James was put in a rowing boat and ferried to the
Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth. The 11-year-old heir to the throne and his guardians were left for a month on the tiny, windswept, rocky island among the boiling seas, before a ship arrived trying to bring James to France. Robert of Fife informed the English King, who arranged the ship's interception. Thus James became a prisoner of the King of England for 18 years. When Robert III heard of his son's capture, he became even more depressed and allegedly died from grief over the capture of James. Robert asked to be buried under a dunghill with the epitaph:
Here lies the worst of Kings and the most miserable of men. Instead he was interred at
Paisley instead of
Scone, the traditional burial ground of the Scottish kings, as he did not consider himself worthy of the honour.
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