Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale (July 1243-4 March 1304) was Lord of Annandale from 1295 to 1304 (succeeding Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale and preceding Robert Bruce) and the jure uxoris Earl of Carrick from 1271 to 1292.
Biography[]
Robert de Brus was born in Writtle, Essex, England in 1243 to a family of Scoto-Norman descent. He was the son of Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale and Isabella de Clare, and he profited from the Second Barons' War, as he came into possession of several confiscated lands. Robert took part in the Ninth Crusade alongside King Edward I of England, taking the cross at Northampton in 1268. His comrade Adam of Kilconquhar was slain in battle at Acre, and Robert broke the sad news to his widow Marjorie of Carrick, who fell in love with him and married him in 1271. Robert became the jure uxoris Earl of Carrick, and he swore fealty to King Edward in 1291 when Edward was proclaimed overlord of Scotland. In 1292, his wife Marjorie died, and the death of his father in 1295 led to his appointment as Constable and Keeper of Carlisle Castle and his succession to the title "Lord of Annandale". He refused to join John Balliol's army in 1296, leading to the seizure of Annandale by John Comyn. Robert sided with Edward during his invasion of Scotland, and he regained Annandale after swearing fealty to King Edward and fighting at the Battle of Dunbar. He encouraged his son Robert Bruce to make peace with England, doing so until the younger Bruce did so in 1302. Robert de Brus died in 1304.