GOTC: The Heart of Robert the Bruce

The Heart of Robert the Bruce

By 1328, Robert the Bruce had achieved the goal of an independent Scotland. Any other man would have turned his attention elsewhere, but not Robert the Bruce. Even though he was close to death with what some say was Leprosy, Robert had one last request: that after his death, his heart be removed and taken to the Holy Land by a warrior capable of doing battle with the enemies of God.

The removal of the heart and its separate placement was a custom of the aristocracy and royalty, but for one to ask a warrior to carry it into battle was new. On June 7, 1329, Robert the Bruce passed away. As ordered, his heart was removed and his body placed at Dunfermline, alongside the bodies of many a Scottish King.

The honour of bringing Bruce's heart into battle fell upon Sir James Douglas (the Black Douglas) either by choice of the King or by the nobles present at Bruce's death. The heart was embalmed and placed in a casket for its journey when the season was right.

There are several versions to the story as far as the type of casket the heart was actually placed in. In one story, the casket is made of silver, in another, gold. In the Chronicles of Scotland, Hector Boece states that:

"qhen Schir James Douglas was chosin as maist worthy of all Scotland to pass with King Robertis hart to the Holy Land, he put it in ane cais of gold, with arromatike and precious unyementis; and tuk with him Schir William Sinclare and Schir Robert Logan, with mony other nobilmen, to the haly graif; quhare he buryit the said hart, with maist reverence and solempnitie that could be devisit."

Very early in 1330, the odyssey began, with a ship leaving initially for the continent. Sir Douglas, in the accompaniment of many Scottish Knights, left from Montrose and sailed to Flanders. He was armed with a letter of protection from Edward III of England and a letter of Commendation for King Alfonso XI of Castile and Leon. It seems that the King of Castile was involved in a campaign against the Moors in Spain.

The retinue sat off Flanders for twelve days, receiving visitors and the petitions of those who wished to accompany the group on its crusade. Then the anchor was weighed and the group set sail for Spain and their eventual target of Jerusalem. Some of the men who accompanied Sir James were Sir William Saint Clair (or Sinclair) of Roslin, Sir Simon of Lee, Robert and Walter Logan, and a Sir William Keith of Galston.

The entourage landed in Spain and soon arrived at the camp of King Alfonso XI of Castile. Alfonso was engaged in battle with the current Governor of Grenada, Osmyn, a Moor, and his numerous reinforcements from Morocco. Sir James of Douglas delivered Edward III's letter of commendation, and then considered the situation. It was decided that the cause of King Alfonso was just and fit with the mission of the King's Heart. So the group of crusaders joined in the efforts against the Moors.

Sir James Douglas was given the command of a division of the Christian army, and on the 25th of March 1330 went into his first battle in Spain at Tebas de Ardales. Somehow during the course of the actual battle, the Scots found themselves cut off from the main van of the friendly force. Moors surrounded them and many in the party were slain. It is said that just before his death Sir James Douglas tore the Heart of Bruce from around his neck and flung it forward against the enemy, shouting and following it into battle. In any case, his duty was performed to his King, as the veteran of many battles in the British Isles died in this first battle of Spain, near Andalusia. Sir William Sinclair, Robert and Walter Logan, and many other companions fell with him.

The next day their bodies along with the heart of Bruce were recovered where they had fallen. Sir James Douglas was found with five mortal wounds and a ring of dead Moors lying around him. He had died valiantly in the service of his dead King.

The bodies of the fallen and the Heart of Bruce were returned to Scotland. King David, son of Robert the Bruce, desired that the heart be interred at Melrose Abbey, and it was so placed. The body of Sir James Douglas was placed at St. Bride's Church in Douglasdale.

In 1921 excavations at Melrose Abbey uncovered a small leaden casket that was formed in a cone shape. As there are no other records of a heart being buried at Melrose abbey, it is assumed to be that of Robert the Bruce. The small casket was reburied with a copper tag stating: "The enclosed leaden casket containing a heart was found beneath Chapter House floor, March 1921, by His Majesty's Office of Works". Later, in 1996, the casket was again removed and examined. It was reburied on the 22nd of June 1998.

There is no greater story of chivalry than the story of the Heart of Bruce. The Douglas family to this day carries a Bloody Heart surmounted by the Crown in their armorial bearings. A similar distinction is borne by the Lockhart family, which are the descendants of Sir Simon of Lee, who is said to have carried the heart back to Scotland. Their arms carry the symbol of heart inside a fetterlock.

by BW, February 2000

Suggested Reading:

Robert Bruce, by G.W.S. Barrow, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1965

Links:

Melrose Abbey and the mystery of Bruce's Heart

Melrose Abbey

James, The Black Douglas

The Heart of Bruce

Blackdouglas.com

Britanica.com-Consolidation of Power

Britannica.com-Sir James Douglas

Robert the Bruce

Thursday, December 26th, 2019

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