Good King Robert

Had Robert Bruce done no more than defy the power of Edward I, restore the monarchy and win the battle of Bannockburn, he would still be reckoned among the Titans. But his fame among contemporaries and with posterity has always rested on a broader and more profound achievement. He was known to later generations of his countrymen as ‘Good King Robert’. The epithet has been most sparingly distributed among Scottish sovereigns. Contrary to what might be supposed, the title ‘good’ was not bestowed automatically upon every king of Scots who defeated the English. Its attribution to Bruce sprang from a