‘And whoever would rehearse all the deeds / Of his high worschip and manheid,’ wrote Archdeacon John Barbour of Sir Edward Bruce, ‘Men might make a great romance.’ Barbour's Bruce is an account of the reign of Robert I of Scotland (1306–29) composed about 1375 at the court of his grandson, Robert II, the first Stewart king of Scotland (1371–90). The poem narrates the deeds of Robert I and his trusted companions: his brother, Edward Bruce; Thomas Randolph, earl of Moray; and, in particular, ‘the good’ Sir James Douglas. Barbour's note on Edward Bruce's celebrated deeds, entitling him to his own romance, emphasizes the role of romance and oral dissemination in the remembrance of deeds of renown at the heart of chivalric culture. This discussion will address Barbour's use of romance and chivalry to legitimize the way the Scots waged war and the means by which Robert I became king. It will divide into two parts, treating in turn the characteristics of chivalric dissemination necessary to commemorate the deeds of celebrated knights, and Barbour's presentation of the Scots’ war as just.

Romance, chivalry and war

Barbour's Bruce elucidates the importance of oral dissemination in the formation of reputation and the implications of this reputation for a contemporary audience. The houses of Stewart and Douglas based their political prominence in late fourteenth-century Scotland on the reputations of Robert I and James Douglas. The cultivation of their reputations was initiated during the reign of Robert I who legitimized his kingship through a celebration of his struggle to secure it. Documents emanating from his reign, such as the Declaration of Arbroath (1320), emphasize this image of King Robert suffering for his people and heritage. The hardship endured is akin to the matter of romance: the exact premise for the composition of The Bruce. Barbour's designation of his narrative as a romanys has caused much confusion. It is followed by an elaboration of what – to Barbour – is involved in the narration of such a romance: a work that will tell of men who were in great distress and underwent much hardship in order to reach their destinies.