Robert I (1274-1329), or Robert Bruce, was king of Scotland from 1306 to 1329. Leader of the successful resistance to the threat of English domination of his country, Bruce is regarded as one of the great patriots of Scottish history.

Robert Bruce was the eighth male to bear that name in a direct line going back to the first Robert, who probably took part in the Norman conquest of England and died about 1094. The family subsequently gained considerable lands and prominence in Scotland. The fifth Robert Bruce (died 1245) married the niece of King William, "the Lion," thus establishing a possible claim, albeit a distant one, to the Scottish throne. This claim was advanced by the sixth Robert on the highly complicated succession quarrel that arose in Scotland in 1290. William the Lion's grandson, Alexander III, had died in 1286, leaving as direct heir only a three-year old granddaughter, Margaret, the "Maid of...