Isabella of Mar (fl. c. 1277 – 12 December 1296) was the first wife of Robert Bruce VII, Earl of Carrick. Isabella died before her husband was crowned (as Robert I) King of Scotland. She and her husband were the grandparents of Robert II, King of Scotland, founder of the Royal House of Stuart.
Isabella was the daughter of Domhnall I, Earl of Mar (died 1297 - 1302) and Helen, widow of Máel Coluim II, Earl of Fife. It has been suggested that Isabella's mother was a daughter of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth. This is because Máel Coluim II had indeed "married a daughter of Llywelyn," but she was unnamed; Helen, mother of Isabella of Mar, became conflated with this unnamed daughter of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth because of the fact both were married to Máel Coluim II, Earl of Fife at some point. Genealogical insights indicate that the daughter of Llwyelyn the Earl of Fife married was actually Susanna, and that his widow Helen, who married Domhnall I after 1266, was an entirely different person.
Isabella's father was evidently an adherent of Robert Bruce V, Lord of Annandale (died 1295), a man who staked a claim to the Scottish throne. The close relationship between Domhnall's family and the Bruces is evidenced by two marriages; the first between Isabella and Robert, and the second between Domhnall's son and comital successor, Gartnait (died c.1302), and a sister of Robert Bruce VII.
The marriage of Robert Bruce VII and Isabella probably took place in the 1290s. The union produced a single child, a daughter named Marjorie (died 1316), who was born in about 1296. Robert and Isabella's daughter, Marjorie, married Walter Stewart, Steward of Scotland, and their son eventually reigned as Robert II, King of Scotland (died 1390).
Six years after Isabella's death in childbirth, Robert Bruce VII married his second wife, Elizabeth de Burgh (died 1327).
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The "Great Cause"
As the daughter of an Earl, Isabella's life was deeply entwined with the politics of her kingdom. In 1286, a few years after her birth, King Alexander III was found dead on the shores near Kinghorn. His heir, Margaret of Norway, was too young to take the throne at this time, but four years later in 1290, she was brought to Orkney, where she died at 7 years old. What followed was Scotland's most notorious succession dispute, one that eventually led to Bruce's ascension and the Scottish Wars of Independence. After Margaret's death, the Scottish nobles formed factions in support of the two primary families vying for the throne, the House of Balliol and the House of Bruce. The fate of Isabella, her kingdom, and the future Stewart dynasty all hinged on these two houses.
Clan Mar and the House of Bruce
At around the same time, Isabella's father, Domhnall I, Earl of Mar, was seeking a strong ally that could protect his clan from covetous neighbors. When the succession crisis first arose, Domhnall was already amid a clan dispute with John Comyn of Badenoch. Domhnall claimed that the Comyns had pillaged his lands, and he was thus eager for an excuse to take up arms against this powerful neighbor. As the Comyns were staunch supporters of John Balliol's claim to the throne, Domhnall found a natural ally in Clan Bruce. As the chronicler, John of Fordun, wrote "all the Comyns and their whole abettors stood by Balliol; but the earls of Mar and Atholl, with the whole strength of their power, cleaved, in the firm league of kinship, to the side of Robert of Bruce." Domhnall summoned an army within a mere fortnight of Margret's death, eager and ready to support his newfound ally. This succession dispute, or "Great Cause," was what initially brought Isabella's Clan Mar and the House of Bruce together as allies.
Isabella's father sought to use Isabella to strengthen ties with the powerful Bruce family. And though Clan Mar had no shortage of enemies prior to Margret's death, the succession dispute and their siding with Bruce had brought them new opponents. There was thus a great pressure on the part of Domhnall to sow a strong bond with new allies who could protect the Mars from their growing list of enemies, and in this age of diplomatic marriage, that meant that Isabella was to wed into an allied clan. The premier choice for Isabella's spouse was the young Robert the Bruce, the Earl of Carrick and future King of Scots—and also the grandson of Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale, who was vying for the throne at that time. In the late thirteenth century, the 5th Lord of Annandale was nearing the end of his life, and thus, Domhnall saw the young Earl of Carrick as a potential future king. By pursuing a marriage between Isabella and Bruce, Domnall was not only strengthening his bond with allies, which was his primary goal but was also marrying into a powerful family that might one day rule the kingdom. Isabella, like many European noblewomen in the medieval age, was used as a diplomatic pawn by her ambitious father.
The House of Bruce's interest in Isabella was politically motivated as well, though their interest existed before the succession dispute. To the North of the Earldom of Mar laid the lordship of Garioch. Garioch was a land divided between four different co-heirs, including the House of Bruce. Two of the other co-heirs were John Balliol and John Hastings, who would later fight Bruce for the throne. In April 1290, Bruce made an agreement with Nichlas Biggar, a minor nobleman who held a legal claim to Garioch. This arrangement granted Bruce the two-thirds of the lordship which Balliol and Hastings held; yet, in the end, the arrangement was insubstantial for attaining the lordship, so Bruce turned his eyes south to Clan Mar. As historian Michael Brown wrote:As Earl Donald's [Domnall's] earldom bordered the Garioch and since he held lands in the lordship as Balliol's vassal, Donald had a direct interest in the process. These overlapping landed concerns may have fuelled the growing political alignment between Mar and Bruce which was, once again, formalised through marriage.Even before the succession dispute, the House of Bruce sought a marriage with Clan Mar to strengthen their claim on the lordship of Garioch. Their interests would only "overlap" further with Margret's death and Balliol's rival claim. The marriage between Isabella and Bruce was thus politically motivated—the two clans shared enemies and sought to strengthen their political ties through the marriage.
Robert the Bruce and Marjorie Bruce
Isabella died shortly after her marriage with Robert the Bruce, but not before delivering her daughter, Marjorie Bruce. The details of Isabella's death, like her life, are obscured by a lack of primary sources; however, it is likely she died during-—or shortly after—Marjorie's birth in 1296. Death during childbirth was far from uncommon in the medieval age. As medievalist, Jennifer Edwards, has noted, childbirth in the medieval age was "dangerous for all women [...] Pregnancy and childbirth were recognized as perilous, as well as uncomfortable, times." However, Isabella's early death—at around the age of 19—was atypical, even for the medieval age. Most women who died during childbirth were much older than Isabella; as a point of comparison, modern scholars have estimated that the average age of Norwich women in the 11th century was only 33. This was due to the frequency of childbirth—as Edwards explained, "this statistic does correlate with the time when women were most likely on a second, third, or subsequent pregnancy and thus most at risk of death in childbirth." So, while death during childbirth was not unusual, Isabella's death during her first pregnancy was premature, even for the time.
The year of Marjorie's birth (1296) was a chaotic time for her father, as on 26 March 1296 seven Scottish earls loyal to Comyn launched a surprise attack on Carlisle, Bruce's principal residence at the time. The attack failed, but it proved to be a catalyst to English King Edward's growing frustration with the Scots. In 1296, John Balliol successfully beat Bruce to the throne after being elected by a group of noblemen selected by Edward. But Balliol did not remain loyal to Edward for long, and soon made an alliance with his most powerful enemy—the French. Edward saw the creation of this "Auld Alliance" as a betrayal, and with the recent attack on Carlisle—which Edward considered an attack on England itself—he lost all patience with the Scots. He marched his armies north in March 1296, beginning the Scottish Wars of Independence, and winning substantial victories at Berwick and Dunbar, eventually deposing the then King of Scots, John Balliol. By July 1297, Bruce had joined in the revolt, fighting the English and coaxing Edward towards negotiations. After numerous defeats, Edward signed a treaty in exchange for an oath of allegiance, and due to Bruce's habit of turning coat, Edward ordered that Bruce provide the infant Marjorie as a hostage—as collateral for her father's loyalty. The details of what occurred next are sparse, but Bruce never delivered Marjorie. Why Edward did not retaliate against this blatant disobedience is unknown. The Guardian of Scotland at that time, William Wallace, did not sign the treaty and was still in open revolt. Wallace received a devastating loss from Edward at Falkirk, and with that, the revolt was extinguished. Edward then marched back to England, seemingly content with his victories and made no further demands for Marjorie.
Robert II and the Stewart Dynasty
Marjorie conceived a child shortly after her marriage with Walter Stewart, but she did not live to see her child grow. There are different accounts of what followed, with the traditional one being that Marjorie was taking a ride to Renfrewshire in the latter stages of her pregnancy when her horse spontaneously bucked her off and onto the road, sending Marjorie into premature labor and, like her mother, to her untimely demise at the young age of twenty. However, her child, Robert II, was alive and healthy.
While Robert the Bruce did remarry to Elizabeth de Burgh and fathered a young son with her, David II, David was last of the House of Bruce to hold the crown. Though David married several women during his reign and had even more mistresses, he died without children in the year 1371. Since David was the only male heir of Robert's, Isabella's descendants became the next in line for the throne. The grandson of Isabella and son of Marjorie Bruce, Robert II, succeeded to the throne in place of his childless uncle, continuing the Bruce lineage as the first Stewart to hold the crown.