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King Robert III of Scotland (1390 - 1406)


Name: King Robert III of Scotland
Father: Robert II, King of Scotland
Mother: Elizabeth Mure
Relation to Charles III: 17th great-grandfather
House of: Stewart
Born: 1337
Ascended to the throne: April 19, 1390
Crowned: August 14, 1390 at Scone Abbey, Perthshire
Married: Annabella Drummond, 1366/7
Children: 3 sons and 4 daughters
Died: April 4, 1406, at Dundonald Castle, Ayrshire
Buried at: Paisley Abbey, Renfrewshire
Succeeded by: his son James I

Son of Robert II he was timid, retiring and badly injured following a kick from a horse. He took the name Robert because his name John was considered a bad omen after the hated John Balliol

He told his Queen that he was ‘the worst of kings and most miserable of men’. The reign was beset by problems including rivalry between the Highlanders, his brothers and the lords of the isles. His brother Robert Duke of Albany may have been responsible for the death of Robert III’s son David.

In 1402 the forces of Henry IV of England invaded the lowlands and following two defeats of the Scots briefly occupied Edinburgh. Robert sent his 10 year old 2nd son James to France in 1406 for safety but he was captured at sea during the journey and taken prisoner by the English. The news of his son’s capture was said to have hastened the death of Robert who died shortly afterwards.

Timeline for King Robert III of Scotland

Year Event
1390Robert III becomes king. He delegates power to his younger brother, the Earl of Fife, later the Duke of Albany
1402English defeat Scots in the Battle of Nesbit Moor and the Battle of Humbleton Hill.
1406Robert is disabled in a riding accident and his eldest son is killed possibly by the Duke of Albany.
1406Robert sends his second son to James to France but he is captured by English near Flamborough Head. James is taken to London, where Henry IV of England confines him in the Tower of London for 18 years.
1406King Robert III dies and James I ascends the throne but is not crowned until 1424 as he is a prisoner of the English.