In July 2010 a broadsword which commemorates King Robert the Bruce of Scotland was sold at auction in London. The sale took place at Bonham's, the famous auction house founded in 1793, and the sword fetched £10,800.
Bonham's believe the blade was crafted and inscribed in 14th century Scotland in honour of Robert the Bruce (1274-1329) and his faithful friend and lieutenant Sir James Douglas, remembering an event which took place after Robert the Bruce's death, when Douglas was charged with carrying the king's embalmed heart on crusade to the Holy Land.
Provenance of the Robert the Bruce Broadsword
The broadsword was passed down through the Douglas family to Sir Alec Douglas-Home of the Hirsel (south of Glasgow, Scotland.) Sir Alec Douglas-Home was a British politician and served as Conservative Prime Minister from 1963-64.
Sir Alec's ancestor James Douglas was closely associated with Robert the Bruce, Scotland's hero king. As his friend and lieutenant, Douglas was asked by Robert the Bruce on his deathbed to take his heart on crusade. He made it as far as what was then Moorish Spain, falling in battle against the Moors at the Battle of Teba.
Robert the Bruce's heart, which Sir James had worn in a silver casket around his neck, was brought home by the surviving Scottish knights who had accompanied him to Spain and buried at Melrose Abbey in the Scottish Borders. Robert the Bruce's body lies in Dunfermline Abbey.
Bonham's describes the sword as a "fine and rare English silver-hilted broadsword" bearing the maker's mark of Thomas Vicaridge. While the silver hilt made by this famous London swordsmith dates from 1705, the blade itself is almost four hundred years older. It is marked with the date it was made, one year after the Battle of Teba in which Sir James Douglas was killed.
Inscriptions on the Robert the Bruce Broadsword
The 700-year-old blade bears several inscriptions. These include the date of 1331 and the figure of a wild man, also known as a wodewose, one of the emblems of the Douglas Family. The wild man has a heart carved on his left breast, symbolising Robert the Bruce's embalmed heart.
The blade also bears the words: "For Strength in Stier This I bear", meaning "For strength in battle this (the heart) I bear."
The Heart of Bruce
Robert the Bruce is remembered by Scots as the hero king, the man who succeeded William Wallace, Guardian of Scotland, in the fight to wrest back Scotland's independence from the English. King Robert affirmed and asserted this independence in his victory over an English army at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
An old Scottish saying still frequently used today also remembers Robert the Bruce's bravery and stout heart. When someone takes on a difficult or challenging task, the admiring response is: "You've got the heart of Bruce."
Read about Scotland's Royal House of Stuart, whose kings and queens descended directly from Robert the Bruce via his daughter Marjorie.
