1318

SOURCES:

1. The Kingship of Robert I (1306-29) PDF.  Author?
2. Melrose.Bordernet, website
3. Fourteenth Century Fiend, historical fiction author's blog
4. Edward the Second, blog of history writer Kathryn 

GENERAL/SETTING THE SCENE:

• Robert and his followers would have been recuperating from spending January to May 1317 in Ireland under harsh conditions and near starvation.  On his return, had sent envoys to Archbishop of York to discuss 'final peace.' [1]

UNDATED:

EARLY:

Stated on as 'early in 1318': 

• John Deydras, AKA John of Powderham, appears at Beaumont Palace claiming to be the true king of England.  Read about him here.
• King Edward II grants safe conduct to the Bishop of Melrose to travel to Holm Cultram for the election of a successor to abbot Robert. [2.]

First three months:

• Bruce mostly spent in and around Arbroath, the seat of his Chancellor, Abbot Bernard, or close to the border for ongoing talks. [1]
• Continued resettlement of lands, offices, and national defense [1]
• Appointed Nicholas Scrymgeour of Dundee as royal standard bearer in exchange for former Baliol lands. [1]
• Worked on stabilizing his land north of border Marches [1]
• Endowed a chapel to St. Fillan, attached to Inchaffrey Priory as thanks for Fillan's intercession during his flight through Perthshire in 1306 [1]

MID:

Spring:

• Raids by James Douglas into Northumberland, County Durham, Cumberland [1]
• English castles of Wark, Harbottle, and Mitford are razed [1]
• Carlisle in the west reports exhaustion from constant watches for Scots [1]
• Durham cathedral pays 600 merks to Douglas and Moray (Thomas Randolph) for a temporary truce. [1]
• Rumors spread that the Scots and Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, Edward II's cousin, are in collusion [1]

Mid Summer

• Bruce embarks on a circuit of political and pious activity.  See June. [1]
• Bruce forces a priest to perform a high Mass only to have a dove steal the Host [story relayed in Vita Edward Secundi of obvious questionable truth.] [1]

LATE:

July 27 to Dec 3:

• a gap in exact information.  The Kingship of Robert I suggests this time was used to transfer troops to Ulster, with Thomas Randolph (Moray), to reinforce Edward Bruce. [1]

Late autumn:

• Bruce summons emergency parliament to Scone

BY MONTH AND DATE:

January

• 23: A team convened by Pope John XXII declares many of the doctrines and views of the 'Spirituals,' a group of Franciscans, to be erroneous.  Those who refuse to yield are burned at the stake or escape to Sicily. From the Catholic Encyclopedia. CLICK HERE to read more.
• 26: Sir Gilbert Middleton condemned to be 'hanged and drawn in the site of the cardinals which he had robbed.'  Read more at Executed Today.  Read more at my blog.  The attack happened on September 1, 1317.

February

• 18: a papal bull raises the Abbey of Saint-Pons to an episcopal see.  SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA

March

April

• 1: /night of March 31: James Douglas re-takes Berwick for the Scots
• Very Early: Bruce would have received word of Douglas's success in taking Berwick.
• 12: Bruce was at Berwick with his son-in-law Walter the Steward, James Douglas, William Lindsay the chamberlain, Robert Keith the Marischal, and others.  The siege of the castle begins. [1.]
• 23: Easter Sunday.  Did Robert withdraw from Berwick and go north for the Holy Day? [1.]

May

• By the end of May: the English castles of Wark on Tweek, Harbottle, Mitford had fallen to the Scots.  Douglas had plundered Northallerton, Ripon, Boroughbridge, Scarborough.  He spared Ripon Abbey for blackmail.  Source: Melrose.Bordernet
• 7: Four Fraticelli Franciscans are burned at the stake in Marseilles: Jean Barrani, Deodat Michel, Guillem Sainton, and Pons Rocha.  Read more at Executed Today.  [I have found
• 20: Bruce is at Colquhon near Dumbarton, likely waiting for a shipment of arms from the continent [1.]

June

• Undated: Edward II assembles troops at York to re-take Berwick.  Heavy attacks by land and sea continue into mid-1319, ultimately failing.  Source: Melrose.Bordernet
• Undated: Hartlepool begs Edward II for defense against Robert de Brus, who has threatened to burn and destroy in retaliation for their capture of a ship containing his armor and victuals [1]
• 5: Bruce has returned to Berwick.  His captains storm the castle.  He vows to rebuild [1]
• 5: QUESTIONABLE: John of Deydras is executed.  Read more at Executed Today [NOTE: Other sources talk about an encounter between John of Deydras and Edward at a meeting that must have taken place after this date.  Until further research, I question the accuracy, but leave it here for future comparison.]
• 24: Bruce is likely at Stirling. [1]
• 29: Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul, likely marked by Bruce at Dunfermline

July

• 5: Bruce is at the newly finished Cathedral of St. Andrew in Fife, consecrated that day by bishop William Lamberton (to whose diocese Berwick returned.) [1]
• 7: Bruce is likely at Arbroath's Tironensian Abbey for the Translation Feast of St. Thomas Becket [1].  Also, anniversary of death of Edward I.
• 8: Death date of Alexander II of Scotland, in 1249
• 11: Bruce's 44th birthday
• Late July: Edward II begins preparations for re-taking Berwick [1]

August

• 9: Treaty of Leake

September

• Undated: Papal censures begin to arrive against Bruce [1]
• 7: Edward II's siege of Berwick begins and within ten days has dissolved into feuding [3.]

October

• 14: Edward Bruce killed at Dundalk along with Sir John Soules, Sir Phillip Mowbray, several Stewart cadets, and his army led by the MacDonalds and MacRuaridhs

November

• Undated: Edward Baliol arrives in London as guest of Edward II

December

• 3: New act of succession instituted, making Robert Stewart, Bruce's grandson, heir presumptive should Bruce die without a son, with guardianship appointed to Randolph if Robert Stewart were still a minor on Bruce's death. [1]
• 5: Official pardon of Bishop Henry Cheyne of Aberdeen, by the Bruce [1]
• 15: Bruce is likely at Arbroath, issuing grants to begin increasing James Douglas's military presence in the southwest of Scotland