Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale

Following the Battle of Evesham, in August 1265, both Bruce and his father profited from the seizure of the rebellious barons' possessions, including those of Bernard.

[8] The marriage between Robert de Brus and Marjorie of Carrick was a strategic union that significantly influenced his political career and legacy.

Marjorie, a wealthy and influential heiress, brought significant lands in Carrick along with a strong claim to Scottish nobility, enhancing the political standing of the Brus family.

[9][10] Their marriage, which occurred around 1271, was not only a personal union but also a consolidation of power that would later play a key role in the succession of the Scottish throne.

[15] Around this time his mother died; the date is unknown but, on 3 May 1273, his father married Christina de Ireby, the Widow of Adam Jesmond, the Sheriff of Northumberland, at Hoddam.

[8][16][17] This may be one of the reasons why the father appears to have independently managed the possessions in the North, as well as intermittently holding the position of Constable of Carlisle, while Robert appears to have confined himself largely to the management of the southern and Midland possessions, with his brother Richard who independently held Tottenham and Kempston, as well as commanding a Knight banneret for Edward.

Richard is recorded as receiving a number of wards and gifts of deer and to have sought permission to empark the forest at Writtle at this time.

In February 1284, Bruce attended a convention at Scone, where the right of succession of Alexander III's granddaughter, Margaret, Maid of Norway was recognized.

[19] On 1 June 1285 the Earl & Countess of Carrick, at Turnberry, grant the men of Melrose abbey certain freedoms, according to English law.

The initial civil proceedings, known as the Great Cause, awarded the Crown to his father's first cousin once removed, and rival, John Balliol.

In November, his father, Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale—the unsuccessful claimant—resigned his Lordship of Annandale, and claim to the throne to him, allegedly to avoid having to swear fealty to John.

For, on account of the ill-will, begotten of the spring of envy, which the Comyns had conceived towards the said William, they, with their accomplices, forsook the field, and escaped unhurt.

through the pride and burning envy of both, the noble Estates (communitas) of Scotland lay wretchedly overthrown throughout hill and dale, mountain and plain.

And it is remarkable that we seldom, if ever, read of the Scots being overcome by the English, unless through the envy of lords, or the treachery and deceit of the natives, taking them over to the other side.

[27] This is contested as no Bruce appears on the Falkirk roll, of nobles present in the English army, and, ignoring Blind Harry's 15th claim that Wallace burned Ayre Castle in 1297, two 19th-century antiquarians: Alexander Murison and George Chalmers have stated Bruce did not participate in the battle and in the following month decided to burn Ayr Castle, to prevent it being garrisoned by the English.

In Outlaw King, he is played by James Cosmo, who had a role in Braveheart as Old Campbell, the father of Wallace's childhood friend.