Robert the Bruce

Robert the Bruce, crowned Robert I, was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329 and one of the principal leaders of the First War of Scottish Independence. He led Scottish forces to a decisive victory over a substantially larger English army at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, a triumph that secured his hold on the throne and turned the military tide of the war. His campaign for recognition of Scottish independence was eventually rewarded with papal recognition and, in 1328, the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton, in which England formally acknowledged Scotland's independence. He remains one of Scotland's most celebrated national heroes.