Where is the Body of Robert the Bruce Buried? The surprising story of the Scottish hero's corpse.
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On his death bed Robert the Bruce, King Robert I of Scotland had an unusual request - that his heart should be removed from his body and taken on a journey. This video explores the story of that journey and the eventual burial place of various parts of Bruce's body in different locations. It looks at the opening of his tomb in the 19th century and the possible form of his tomb.
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As someone who is from and lives in Dunfermline (I can see the Abbey from my bedroom window!) this was a fascinating video. I’d known bits of the story of Robert the Bruce’s body, but never the full story. Great video!
We tried living there, where my husband grew up and lasted four years, how do you do it?😂
Too many accounts of where he was supposedly buried. Melrose, Dunfermline ect ect .. but given that his heart was encased in lead( not silver) which I have seen in a drawing. Then it stands to reason that he was carved up and disposed of here, there and everywhere.
Just like the Scots.
That's them all over.
In researching an ancestor who was killed during our Civil War, we visited his grave and the location of his death in Georgia. It was a remarkable visit. I was surprised to find out that after his death, he was buried in a temporary grave and later removed to his final location to Marietta National Cemetery in Marietta, Georgia along with many of those who also were killed during that time. In all likelihood, I was told, when it came time to remove him, little remained but his bones and maybe his clothes. I think our modern view here in the states of how the dead were to be treated was greatly changed during the Civil War where so many perished and had to be interred quickly in sometimes frightfully hot summers.
You are absolutely correct! Especially during the Civil War. I’ve seen pictures of the Gettysburg Battlefield just after the skirmish of July 1863 and it is t a very pretty sight! And it must have been horrible for those people who had to bury all the soldiers temporarily. And I’m sure names were probably lost and burial places forgotten. Pennsylvania in July can be brutal weather-wise.
Yes - after battles it was almost a certainty that the bodies of the dead would have been separated between union and confederate, registries made and then the bodies buried in separate mass graves where they would be left until the cessation of hostilities. After the war, they would then typically be exhumed and then either returned to their families (if that was the request) or buried in permanent war dead cemeteries (again, separate cemeteries for union and confederate war dead).
An interesting mote is that I believe for all of the reasons you mention here, a movement was made to make identification of soldiers easier in the future. We call them Dog Tags.
@@sandybruce9092 And even worse for those who had to exhume them unless it was a number of years later.
@@debbiew.7716 Yes an American Experience Documentary "Death and the Civil War" is very enlightening. I cried through most of it. My great great grandmother's four brothers were never found. They fought for both sides.
My eldest brother has written a book for our family called Who Do You Think You Are, he has worked on the book for over 10 years (yet unfinished) and with countless hours spent, requested documents etc from all over the world, it has been revealed that King Robert The Bruce (on my mother's side who was born in Scotland) that Robert the Bruce is in fact my 21-times great grandfather, a huge important part of history and such a brave man and a valuable find for our family tree. Thank you for your documentary really enjoyed it.
Thanks for sharing! Glad you found the video interesting 😊
People today all too often place today's values on yesterday's actions.
I agree with you. To many people carry today’s culture/beliefs with them when they visit the past. Visit Britain 800 years ago and you would be in a strange unfamiliar place unable to understand what they said and often what they believed. Something l find faintly amusing is that some peoples misunderstanding of the past leads them to think that the present is guilty of the actions that were carried out in the past.
When actions taken in early modern times, their repercussions may be evident in contemporary institutions, culture, education, and the like. That is not imposing early 21st-century values retroactively.
@@dolinaj1 Don’t be an apologist for these attitudes….I’ve talked and wrote to SO MANY people like you who condemn people going back for AGES…you see, ‘early modern times’ can mean ANYTHING YOU WANT IT TO MEAN if you WANT to make whatever is happening today stretch back to any moment in history you want.
It’s all about expanding the definitions, apologizing and justifying your mindset…a mindset I have seen used for any time in history, as long as it fits a political purpose to condemn that individual, that time, that people, or even that ethnicity as long as it’s an ethnicity you’re allowed to condemn and not one that is politically expedient to prop up.
On most everything!
Because they've stopped studying history.
Having had certain family customs for burial, I found that we have all had to sadly rethink things since the world was hit with Covid. My Mother, whose entire family had traditional earth burials had already purchased a plot. She did not die of Covid, but they diagnosed her with it along with her primary cause of death. We could not prepare her body the normal way. The funeral home did not embalm her, so we were not even able to say final goodbyes. (Advised seeing her in that condition would be very hard.)We had to choose cremation for her. I was appalled at first, I felt I was betraying her. Then I realized so many others had it worse. It was indeed her earthly shell. We were able to have her ashes buried in her original plot. By the way we are related to Bruce a long ways back on my Father's side. I greatly enjoyed this journey of discovery. Thank you and Love from Utah, USA!
@debbiew.7716 ❤ I'm so sorry for what you've gone through ❤
We may be family
My mom died in 2020 due to complications from Covid. She was cremeted because it was the best that could be done, at the time. It's not what she would have wanted, but it was our only option at the time. So, I know your pain and how it can be hard to fulfill a dying loved one's final wishes. You just never know what actually will happen, when the time comes.
First I am sorry you we're not giving any other options for a traditional ground burrial as per her wishes 😢 secondly I feel it was wrong that if your mother did not have covid and her death was not due to Covid it should have Never been listed on her death certificate as cause of death,thirdly her body for burrial should Not have been treated like that of someone who did have and or died of covid. Our state and Government should have Not been able to force families into cremation if No covid caused the death 😳 😢 again my deepest sympathy to you and your family 👪 ❤ 🙏
Hi Allan! Watching the earlier part of the video, I had determined to ask you why the choir is considered the holiest place within the complex, but you do a beautiful job explaining that later. Your analysis, regarding the authenticity of the remains at Dunfermline, as well as the conclusion of the final resting place of the heart, have the ring of truth and I find it compelling. Cheers!
Very interesting video. I sincerely appreciate the obvious time and efforts you have put into these videos. I love history and each account gives me more to feed my interest.
I so very much enjoy your videos. You provide education not only of historical architecture, Royals, and other notable figures, but also of religious terms that I was I a familiar with. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
It was only 100 years ago Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon opened King Tutankhamun's sarcophagus and studied the boy king... and, no doubt, if we ever discover Queen Nefertiti's tomb we'll do the same with her too.
Not forgetting the Victorian perchance for grave robbing and then selling the freshly deceased to Anatomy schools.
"Requiescat in Pace" has meant different things through the ages and, to the next Generation, the previous' ways of honouring/looking after the dead must've been seen as abhorrent.
I visited Melrose Abbey about Four years ago as part of holiday on the borders.The abbey and its grounds were well worth the visit. It struck me as a little odd that the Bruce’s heart should have been buried in such a spot. I assumed,wrongly, that there was some identification with the heart.
Thank you for the clarification
I grew up a few miles away, we were always taught as children that Bruce's heart was there. I'm not a religious person, I prefer to worship nature, but I believe stone is very special. Did you feel it there? A great sense of awe washes over me when I'm near the abbey. I think I recall reading that at least some of the stone may have been repurposed from the presumably then ruinous Roman fort at Trimontium, a few miles along the Tweed.
@@interneteditor5258 l did get a sense of awe when I was at Melrose Abbey. I think it was the history of the area and the fact l had wanted to visit the area for many years.
Excellent video presentation. Thank you!
Wonderful video as usual Allan! Keep up the great work!
This channel is rich in content--story, narration, medieval items , photos & illustrations.
Sounds like you're enjoying my videos! Good to hear, thanks for watching!
The story regarding Robert the Bruce's Heart going on Pilgrimage or Crusade, is why it is believed by some historians, that he is the true "Braveheart" (as opposed to William Wallace).
Great Video as always!
Not by any historians of record, though it is asserted fairly often on the internet, and in a Channel 4 documentary from 2001, reproduced on several channels on TH-cam, in both cases as a result of the Mel Gibson film. There is no reference in any historical sources to King Robert being known as or referred to as 'Braveheart.'
Oh, excellent. Love your videos and so well-researched! New subscriber and magazine purchase, and I am having so much fun binging your articles and videos - such knowledge. Thanks and greetings from Oklahoma! 🇺🇸
Glad you're enjoying my channel, thanks for watching! I hope you enjoy the magazine too 😊
There was a man who visited Scotland in the 1950s with an interest in historical collectibles. One day he was approached by a shady street vendor who offered to sell him the skull of Robert the Bruce for 100 pounds sterling.
"Is it authentic?" he asked the seller and the man said,
"Aye, it 'tis. Dug it up m'self just a few weeks ago!"
So, the man parted with 100 pounds sterling and purchased what he assumed to be a rare artifact.
A few days later he was walking the streets and saw the same man working at a vendor's stall. Upon approaching the seller he noticed that on the counter there was a skull, a bit smaller than the one he had purchased, with a label that read - Robert the Bruce.
Indignant, he said, "How can this be? I purchased the skull of Robert the Bruce from you two days ago!"
The seller, realizing he'd been caught, saved himself with some quick thinking ..
"Aye, so y'did and fine specimen it was if I do say so m'self. But this one here, it's the skull of Robert the Bruce as a wee lad."
😊
This is brilliant.
🤣🤣👍💖
@@allanbarton 😊
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
LOL
Thank you very much for, your research and overview into 19th century antiquarian studies and the typology of high medieval elite mortuary archaeology.Looking forward to the next one.
Once again you have made my Sunday morning with wonderful stories.
That's really nice of you to say so. Thank you.
This is fascinating Allan! Thanks so very much.
Wonderful as always!!!!
Wonderful history as always, along with great visuals.
Many thanks!
Love, love, love your videos.
So informative and incredible detailed research.
Can’t wait for the next one ☺️
Thank you.
Excellent video Allan! Thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching!
Thank You! I enjoy your commentaries and the pictures that you have on your videos! Great work!
I'm glad you're enjoying my channel, thanks for watching!
A most interesting upload. Thank you.
Great video. Would love to see one on Edward Bruce, buried not far from me here in Ireland.
Riveting, authoritative - merci beaucoup!
Thank you.
Thanks for yet another VERY educational video, Allan!!💖👍💚
Glad you enjoyed it 🥰
My son is related to Robert the Bruce through his fathers side of the family, I was amazed recently how far up the tree it goes to the first king of Scotland. Maybe we might visit Scotland some day to look for the graves.
Thank you for sharing your careful scholarship on Bruce. I found it to be exciting.
I'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching!
Such an interesting video and very well explained and I agree with you on the outcome on his body 👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
Interesting as always. I appreciate your calm delivery and conversational tone. It’s great company as I do housekeeping in a Sunday afternoon.
That's very kind of you to say so.
Your content is fascinating and, clearly, the fruit of a serious research.
Thank you very much.
Greetings from Montevideo city, Uruguay.
I went to Melrose Abbey in 1958 when I was 7, almost 8, with my parents. Long ago and far away, but I remember the experience and I recognized the ruins instantly.
Another interesting video. Thanks Allan!
Glad you enjoyed it
Another great video!
Brilliant. Riveting and your conclusion at the end ‘feels’ true, thank you.
So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching!
Great video!
I appreciate your discussion of people's presentism, a problem that few people are willing to acknowledge.
It is a big issue seeing history from a present perspective. Doing that makes it difficult to understand.
Hello Allan... I enjoy your calm, reasoned analysis, as well as your application of your knowledge of beliefs and practices of ancient times - that differ from contemporary attitudes.
A question: Practically, how did "antique" Christians conceive of resurrection of their bodies at the day of judgement when organs and body parts were sometimes widely separated? Would god carry out reassemby? AND, where people were executed most horribly and their bodies dismembered, would this have been an added psychological burden for them as they anticipated their deaths?
Very interesting question 🤔 I to would like to know Allen's opinion and will be watching for a response from him concerning your question 😊 thank you for asking 😊
Oh geez just realized this was from a year ago 😐 was realy hoping your question got answered 😳 thanks anyhow 👍
I found this quite fascinating and interesting. Learning about people in this time period is really important for me because of my heritage. Thank you so much .
Glad you appreciated it!
Thank you for the detailed explanation about Robert de Bruce in this video! Martha
Thank you for this.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you
I am not religious but I do feel it's a great shame that so many holy places have been neglected or deliberately torn down. Of course our dear old Henry VIII was the main ringleader, mind you at the time the RC church was not very pious and wisps of that still occur. I'm going up the chimney - Frying Tonight. Yet another very well thought out and executed video.
Agreed but don't forget that Oliver Cromwell and his cohorts were just as responsible for damage to churches and castles.
Blast that gluttonous b@stard 😂😅
Very interesting Robert the Bruce is one of my ancestors, but I know little about him. What you were saying about the medieval attitude to bodies being exhumed I have never heard before. Though given their views about how humans are resurrected, sort of ties in with that notion. I can see why a medieval monarch might give instructions to be exhumed and have certain actions performed on their corpse before reburial. I had sort of assumed that the other exhumations were more tied to the rise of science, and or historical practice. It would be great to get his dna, pity they poured pitch into the burial cavity.
I'm also supposedly an ancestor but I suspect a great number of us are.
Very informative video. Thank you also for taking the time to explain that opening tombs was a fairly common practice in medieval times,
AN ACCEPTABLE PRACTICE IN THOSE DAYS. As for the Bruce's heart, I read many years ago, that his
heart was supposedly buried in a window sill at Melrose Abby. Supposedly. Thank you.
I'm glad you said about how people felt about bodies in the past and people trying to project modern values onto the past happens way too often, but tbf I would love the tombs to be open again and proper documented with pics, X-Rays, MRI's and all that I make 3d models of historical people and facial reconstructions so having a 3d scan of like idk Edward I would be amazing to have
That would be such interesting work, science, studies. I think some may find this stuff off putting but I think it's facinating and if we have the chance to document history, then why not? Especially since we have technological capabilities nowadays to do so. We can do scans and make models to do further and further studies with the digital models and scans. I wish our modern society would find a healthier more open connection with death instead of our current situation where we are so separate and sanitized towards it. Almost repulsed and push it away to pretend it doesn't exist.. there's a healthy balance and I hope we can find that.
Loved this video! The whole family watched as well. All of us have some small degree of Scottish heritage (no one at all to brag about, lol), but you go where we, in the States, cannot. Thank you for that.
By the way, did you tidy up the beard and hair a bit? Looks smashing!
Glad you all enjoyed it - have you managed to visit Scotland? It is such a wonderful country - I will try and visit next year and post some more videos from there. Well spotted, I have lost a lot of weight since earlier in the year and I cut my hair and beard back in the summer. The hair and beard were more neglect than choice and I didn't feel myself - I do now!
So glad you are feeling more yourself Alan. Your videos are amazing.
@@allanbarton No, none of my family have had the great pleasure of visiting Scotland. How I wish I could! Your videos are a window to a place far away, a pleasurable visit however brief.
Good on you for losing weight (that is a real tough feat!) and your appearance. Good to see you are sporting it! Bravo!!
Very interesting and informative.
Ooh. The Reformation has always been a period I found compelling. I don't recall mention of "unroofing" as a standard form of razing, but clearly this is Allan's inference here. I'm going to look it up. I appreciate the level of detail in these videos, Allan. Thanks.
I'm here for the history. Can't say I'm a fan of some of these burial practices but I imagine they would also have a few things to say about us. Death being a much more frequent visitor might have been a factor in their attitudes.
I am not sure that death was any more frequent then than now. We only get to die the once. I do think dying and death is less visible in places like the United Kingdom. Perhaps we are the oddities when considered in context with other cultures.
I posted this on Neil Sean's channel. Nicki Montie suggested I pass it on to you for consideration. "t would be lovely is someone would mention Mary, Queen of Scots' Pearl earrings which now dangle under the arches of one of the crowns. Little is ever said about them. Most of her few possessions were kept after her execution. Her gold rosary was stolen last year -from Arundel Castle. I can't help feeling it would have been safer in the Jewel Room in Edinburgh Castle." This is fascinating. St Andrews University has produced a reconstruction of King Robert's original tomb, and various other buildings/tombs. Thank you for addressing The Bruce. Perhaps James IV would be another worthy of inspection. He still lies under a golf course which is on the site of Sheen Abbey. Thank you!
Another brilliantly informative documentary from Allan Barton. I'm sure there was a practice in medieval England of digging up the body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an ossuary. But I'm not sure if there's any ossuary's left in Britain.
That's right - I've been planning a video on charnel houses, so I should just get on a do it. It seems to be the right moment.
@@allanbarton Thanks for the reply Allan. It will be a good follow on from the other videos, I feel it in my bones!
Fascinating story! New subscriber!
Thanks for watching, I'm pleased you enjoyed it!
Opening of vaults, tombs, graves; we all have morbid curiosity. It is more than that for historians though. It allows us to learn from the past.
A question I have heared and can not answer. When does a "tomb" become ancient enough to open without causing public outcry?
maybe when there are no relatives left to object?
@@aaronjaben7913 It is intetesting. Can you imagine digging up President Lincoln or Washington? When we find an abandon cemetary from the 1700s it is a toss on what we do. Famous people I guess are protected in death as in life?
@A Teufel
Lincoln was dug up.
A very interesting video, thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching!
Very interesting
Excellent!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
My only concern with the opening of a tomb is the risk to well preserved remains through the introduction of air, moisture and bacteria. This is why we no longer unwrap Egyptian mummies but use other methods like scanning and computer modeling to examine these remains. Far too many ancient artifacts, including human remains, have been destroyed because of poor handling. Let's not lose anymore if we can avoid it.
Another brilliant video Allan. I believe The Bruces father died of leprosy? I might be misremembering it from school history though. I'm Scottish and we were taught about Robert the Bruce etc. I'm old now though so could be getting mixed up? Doesn't take much to confuse me. Really enjoyed the video-thank you once again 🙂
Love your video's!
Thanks very much!
Thank you for a level-headed, sober and well-informed examination of the subject. A welcome change on this platform.
A small point. You mention the battle of Teba. We can be fairly certain Sir James Douglas died on the frontier of Granada during the siege of Teba castle in 1330. Whether he died at the Battle of Teba, so-called, is open to question. Modern commentators (since the C18th) drawing on the canonical sources, still choose to shoe-horn events synthesised from those contradictory narratives into events described in the Castilian chronicles despite the fact that these make no mention of Douglas’ presence and the events they describe correspond very little to those presented in the traditional sources. The Spanish do however make mention of an unnamed foreign knight-(un conde estraño) whose death in a skirmish days prior to the battle, as tersely described in the Castilian accounts, "through his own error... breaking formation to make an ill-timed and ill judged attack" evokes the essence of the traditional sources, that Douglas' zeal for battle, in one way or another, brought about his demise.
Je[h]an FROISSART (c. 1337 - c. 1410), canon of the abbey of Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix at Chimay.
"For centuries, Froissart's Chronicles have been recognised as the chief expression of the chivalric revival in 14th-century England, France and Scotland. His history is also an indispensable source for the first half of the Hundred Years' War."
Well worth reading!
I have a beautiful set of his Chronicles printed in the early 19th century on the Hafod press in Wales. They are a wonderful resource.
Doesn’t bother me a bit, if anything I’d exhume them all to at least replace their wooden coffins. What they did to Elizabeth Woodville was terrible, just letting her bones fall out all over.
Well, it seems to me that if Robert the Bruce wanted his tomb to be made in Paris, another French practice of heart-burial makes sense (it wasn't just the French doing this, of course). Lovely video!
This story is very very interesting.
Maybe I missed it, but I am surprised it is not mentioned that the lid of Bruce's tomb is made of Imperial Porphyry obtained from the lid of the sarcophagus of a Roman Emperor, indeed, likely that of Constantine the Great himself. The porphyry was obtained by Lord Elgin with the permission of the Ottoman Sultan. It belonged to one of the two Imperial Porphyry sarcophagi that are not fully accounted for from the nine that laid in the Church of the Holy Apostles between 337-500 AD. Among the Emperors entombed in this rare and most sought after stone, included Constantine I, Constantius II, Julian, Theodosius and Jovian. The intact Imperial Porphyry sarcophagi of St. Helena and Constantine's daughter Constantia, are currently on display in the Vatican Museum. The Ottomans removed the giant sarcophagi from the Church before they demolished it in 1460. They had been lying around Constantinople for 350 years before Elgin was given leave to take one of the lids back to Britain. He then donated it for its use for The Bruce's tomb. It is a mighty gift for what a Roman Emperor would consider as a barbarian king beyond the borders of the Empire.
I had no idea, that is fascinating thank you. There are still a number of these porphyry sarcophagi in the vicinity of Hagia Sofia.
@@allanbarton Yes, in total we know there were nine Imperial Porphyry sarcophagi thanks to the records provided in the works of Constantine VII. Off the top of my head, four are outside the Istanbul History Museum (Julian, Theodosius, Jovian and one other) and two are in the courtyard of the Hagia Irene (one of which being Constantius II). One's case is used as a water cistern for an ablation fountain for the Blue Mosque without the lid. Constantine the Great's sarcophagus remains missing. It was the largest of the nine Imperial Porphyry sarcophagi hence why they think the lid on the Bruce's tomb is likely his. Two see complete examples of this type of Imperial sarcophogi, there are two in the Vatican museum in perfect condition belonging to St. Helena and Constantine's daughter, wife of the Emperor Julian, Helena.
As someone in the funeral industry it's quite noticeable how our opinion of death has changed. Not just how we bury the dead but the whole process. Used to be the family did most if not all the work now you have practitioners who do most of the work for you. A lot of places still practice grave recycling to this day as well.
We have a Above the ground Crypt, in New Orleans, The thought of "Checking" on the family is normal, however the Up Keep is Necessary. As a child I can remember broken and dilapidated tombs, Several ' non- profit' groups try to maintain and help when they can. However many are privately owned and subjected to vandalism, the theft of Ornaments, crosses, angles, was common in the 1970's. The City has a more protective attitude these days, happily!
There are cultures out there that dig up Grandma to have a dance with her 20 years after her passing. There are other places where your grave spot is only a rental and if no one pays, then you get exhumed and someone else takes your spot.
I imagine the pearl-clutching would be glorious if I told you the Big Bopper's (Jiles Perry Richardson) story.
The Big Bopper's son never got to lay eyes on his father as he was born after his tragic passing.
When they exhumed him to move him to a different part of the cemetery, not only did they do a full x-ray analysis of his plane crash injuries to end rumors about the incident, his son finally laid eyes on his father for the first time decades after his death.
I would would have done the same.
Many years ago I studied anatomy at Edinburgh, and can recall one of the professors bringing out the cast skull of The Bruce. The Prof then discussed various anomalies of the facial bones, which he said indicated The Bruce had suffered from leprosy...
Also heard the counter argument that the disfigurement of the skull could also be attributed to trauma or battle wounds, most notably the scar above the left eye socket and the front upper teeth. Unfortunately we will never know for sure.
King Peter I of Brazil but VI of Portugal, have his heart embalmed in a church of Porto city, Portugal, and was taken to Brazil in August this year in a state ceremony to commemorate the 200 years of Brazil independence from Portugal. He declared Brazil independence.
Nothing wrong with opening the graves, this is history.
Not your choice to make.
I grew up in Dunfermline and was never taught anything about the history of the town during my education aside from the connection with Carnegie. I think that’s changed since then.
As a near-native of Dunfermline, I was familiar with most of the story of Bruce’s body, but I learned plenty here that I had not know. Thank you.
I wonder if any DNA from the heart could be taken and matched up ( or not) with the toe bones of the Bruce?
Exactly what I was thinking.
Super video, very interesting. I've read most of my Scots history from Nigel Tranter, and he is pretty accurate, by and large. Bits of poetic licence her and there, but salient facts seem to be OK. But one question. If the tomb in Dunfermline Abbey was opened in 1821, how could it be reopened in 1819 when the Abbey was completed? Particularly as they only decided to rebuild in 1818? Something is awry!
The journey of Bruce’s embalmed heart on crusade to southern Spain is very interesting. Sir James “the Black” Douglas and other loyal battle hardened knights carried the casket containing the heart into conflict but were killed in 1330 in an attack on the Muslim stronghold of the Castillo de las Estrellas, as part of the ongoing Christian reconquest over the last Muslim Spanish stronghold of Granada, a city still overlooked by the castle fortifications and the beautiful Alhambra Palace. The bones of the deceased Douglas were returned to Scotland as was the heart of Bruce. Each year, a ceremony is held on the 25th August in the small village of Teba, the site of the battle, not so far from Malaga. The Plaza España features a commemorative Dumfriesshire marble monument dedicated to Sir James Douglas.
The monument at Teba is polished granite, a more appropriately Scots stone. 'Castillo de la Estrella' is s modern name (after the local name of Cerro de la Estrella for the hilltop on which the castle stands). In 1330 the castle was known as Teba or 'Teba de Hardales' from the Arab name for the fortress of Hisn Atiba and the nearby district centre of Fardarish (modern Ardales).
I've always been on the fence; love the history found from inside the tombs when treated respectfully yet also that they should be left alone. Saying that, I'd love to be lay in a peet bog in Scotland for 400+ years until someone finds me, does a bunch of tests and finds out I lived a very boring life.
Thank you so much for this very interesting & informative video. I've been to Scotland twice researching my ancestry & have actually visited Dunfermline Abbey & the Bruce's vault. In my research, I found that my ancestor Andrew Murray was supposedly buried next to the Bruce in his original burial site but that site is either kept a secret or not something that is very well known. In YOUR research does any of this sound familiar?
I wish I could see my grandfather living or dead. 😢
Dunfermline is a beautiful village! 🎉🎉🎉
When did the hearts of French royalty start to be entombed separately from the other bodily remains? Even the last Louis, Marie Antoinette's poor child, had his ten year old child's heart buried in a funeral urn. separately
Very interesting indeed, what I find fascinating is that his father Robert-de-Bruce held the Manor of Writtle in Essex, & that the magnificent Church still stands, its ancient font was buried in the grounds, Its likely De Bruce was born there in Writtles Manor, & Baptised in the full emersion Font, was his son The Bruce also born here, making him.an Essex lad?
21st great grandson of Robert the Bruce says this was a very interesting article
Anyhow, I fine this documentary interesting
The knight who carried King Robert's heart back from Spain was wore the key to the lock around his neck the whole time back and in honor of this the family name was changed from Loc..(something or other) to "Lockhart." He also returned with the Lee Penny, which is said to have magic healing powers. He received it as part of a ransom for some captive emir.
That is supposedly one "Sir Simon Locard," but it is simply an enthusiastically promoted family legend.
It’s only a carcass the soul has gone! Do what you like with the old carcass!
That is not what they believed. Christians have never believed the body is just a carcass and is meaningless after the soul has departed.
@@allanbarton not where I come from lol it’s just an empty shell! But I suppose they believed in other things? Good video! I enjoyed it!
@@MultiSirens shocking, that is not what the Apostles and St Paul believed. What then is the point of the resurrection if the body is of no matter? Christ was raised so that we too are raised like Him.
@@allanbarton maybe we shall never agree! I’m too much the opposite? For what I believe the soul is the important thing? Good video though and I do appreciate you responding! Maybe we will talk further on this subject! Cheers!
Bruces mother was the countess of Carrick who got hold of his father, her sisters married into the western clan chiefs.
Interesting stuff is the Bruce campaigns into the north of England 1306 to 1328 where the Scots wreaked havoc. Battles of Old Byland where the Argyle men climbed Sutton Bank and attacked Edward IIs forces. He escaped capture out of a window. The battle of Myton and the night attack on the English camp at Stanhope Park where the future Edward III escaped the Scots by hiding under a collapsed tent. 😂
A naval expedition to the Forth was a flop as the English ships were attacked by Scots and Flemish ships.
I can’t believe people are so fragile these days. Or maybe I can…
Easily.
Thanks for this.... really interesting. I hear a hoard of Edward 1st & 2nd , coins have been found near the village of Dunscore near Dumfries " The Dunscore Hoard," I believe the were probably hidden around the time Robert the Bruce was in the area. There are thousands of silver coins...so maybe it does have a link!
That's fascinating, had this just been found?
@@allanbarton I think it was in the past couple of weeks
th-cam.com/users/shortslnV8dNREa5A?feature=share
Dunfermline and the Abbey are fascinating places, well worth a visit and also the (Free!) guided tour by a Carnegie Guide on Saturdays. Rain or shine!
Bruce's Cardross Manor is a complete disaster and surely a disgrace?
Another item removed to Abbotsford:
The pulpit from the N. wall of the nave.
Hi Allan superbly informative.
I may have missed it but what was the thinking behind calling him the Bruce or later just Bruce? One of my grandparents was very Scottish and as I was born on his birthday his influence was dominant. He himself was quite a dominating character.
So much to learn😅
Robert's family were Normans called de Brus (various spellings in those days). This was anglicised to The Bruce (though literally it should have been OF Bruce of course). Eventually that usage simplified to simply Bruce.
@@interneteditor5258 thankyou for taking the time to respond to my query and perhaps save Allan's sanity.. now to track down where Bruce the place is/was. This is a magnificent addition to the TH-cam and I am quite amazed there is such an entity as an Internet Editor.
@@marilynwoolford-chandler1161 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brix,_Manche
@@marilynwoolford-chandler1161 The handle was chosen as a nod to my annoying habit of correcting people in online comments. 😂
@@interneteditor5258 Thank you so much for the web link...very interesting😁
When you also consider that the majority of graves in the medieval period were not given a permanent marker, or even any marker, it's not surprising that subsequent burials frequently disturbed a previous interment. When that happened, the bones were either gathered up and re-interred in a corner of the new grave, or transferred to the charnel house or crypt. In the 17th and 18th centuries, some city graveyards became so overcrowded that older burials were regularly lifted to make room for the new generations. It's only in the 19th century, with the Victorian emphasis on sentiment that the permanence of burials became the tradition.
Absolutely. Judi, have you seen my most recent video on that very subject?
I liked that remark
Wow! I saw the tomb of Robert the Bruce, utterly didn't know that his heart was in the Melrose Abbey?!?
In my opinion , it's an interesting documentary. May I add a small detail: leprosy has a very slow evolution, and leaves visible marks on the victim's skeleton. A qualified eye( a forensic surely, but perhaps even an experienced archeologist ) will motive at first sigur that that man suffered of a slow evolution illness. If he can identify visually the illness...I do not know for sure, but If Dna test is possible many illnesses like leprosy can be identfied....So: there wasn't found any contemporary document mentioning that illness in the great king's case...but, at least in some cases xxi-th century's science is much more relevant than 1000 xiv-th century's dokument taken together
People upset by the opening of tombs are expressing puritanical and religious views that have scarce rational support. Dead bodies generally decompose so one can fairly argue that one should never dig in the soil lest they disturb some ancient burial. Also, what is the time limit for examination of the dead?
Social conventions so often observed are rarely examined as to their origins. This results in irrational behaviors generally rooted in superstition or the economic or social advantage of a certain group.
Its very good to know that where mediaeval king's/ Queens are buried prove to be true and that the heart of the Bruce is buried in the high alter of Melrose Abbey
The Logan family coat of arms - my Mother's - shows three stakes impaling a heart. Ostensibly, this represents three Logan knights tasked with taking the heart of the Bruce to the Holyland. I was told they were waylayed in Spain. and killed. Within the last twenty years a cask has been found in Spain that had held the heart.
Mr Barton, please comment.
Two brothers, Sir Robert and Sir Walter Logan were recorded by the poet John Barbour as dying with Sir James Douglas at Teba in Spain. No casket associated with that episode, or any other, has been found in the Teba district. As the video describes, a shrivelled heart was discovered at Melrose Abbey in 1996, presumed by some, now many, to be that of King Robert I.