Rival Dynasty: the Bruces of Scotland

A confusing aspect of the early Medieval period in Britain and Europe was that noble and royal families owned land and owed feudal loyalties in several different domains at once.  Just as the Plantagenet dynasty spread from Ireland to the Scottish border and throughout most of southern and western France, so other nobles held titles and land both on the Continent and in Britain, owing loyalty to the King of France, the King of England, the King of Scotland and, most of the time, to their own interests regardless of any of the above.  One of these problematic noble houses was the Bruces of Annandale. 

Like many noble families, the Bruces were Anglo-Norman.  The name de Brus came from a French place name Brix, near Cherbourg in France.  Though Robert Bruce is often called Robert the Bruce, with the etymology of the name having something to do with the color brown, that's a misconception.  So, too, is the idea that a Bruce ancestor served with William the Conqueror.  The first Bruce of Annandale appears in the historical record in 1106 as a supporter of the future King David I of Scotland.  However, when David later threw his supported behind Empress Matilda, the Bruce family was split, with the Lord of Annandale siding with King Stephen and capturing his own son, who was serving with David's contingent in support of Matilda.  His descendant, the 4th Lord of Annandale, later married into the royal family of Scotland, thus acquiring their claim to the Scottish throne.  When the last Dunkeld King of Scotland, Alexander III died without heirs, and his granddaughter Margaret died en route from Norway to try to claim the throne, both the Bruces of Annandale and the Balliol family claimed the throne instead.  Then, they both asked Edward I of England to arbitrate the dispute.

Edward settled matters by launching a full-scale invasion of Scotland.  Incidentally, the Plantagenets also had a Dunkeld claim, through Empress Matilda's mother, who'd been a princess of Scotland.  In Edward's mind, that was enough, if he even thought that far back.  John Balliol died and Robert Bruce swore fealty to Edward, then joined the revolt for Scottish Independence in 1297.  After the death of William Wallace, Bruce's rivalry with another Scottish lord, John Comyn, threatened to throw the Kingdom back into Edward's control again.  Robert Bruce killed John Comyn, braving excommunication for doing so, and was crowned at Scone in 1306.  He eventually led the Scots to victory at Bannockburn in 1314.  In 1329, Robert died and his son, David II, became King of Scotland.  David died without issue in 1371.  Meanwhile, Robert's daughter Marjorie had married Walter Stewart, her father's High Steward of Scotland, hence the name.  Their son became Robert II, the first Stewart King of Scotland.  Stewarts, and later Stuarts, would rule Scotland until 1603, when a Bruce, Plantagenet and Tudor descendant James VI of Scotland became James I of England.