The last of the Bruce kings
David II, son of Robert the Bruce, died at Edinburgh Castle on 22 February 1371. He had been King of Scots for 42 years — but much of that time was spent in exile or captivity. He was just five years old when his father died in 1329, and he was sent to France for safety when Edward Balliol and the English invaded in 1332.
David returned to Scotland in 1341 and attempted to honour the Franco-Scottish alliance by invading England in 1346. He was defeated and captured at the Battle of Neville's Cross near Durham. He spent the next eleven years as a prisoner in England. The ransom for his release — 100,000 merks, a staggering sum — burdened Scotland for decades.
Despite his long captivity, David proved a capable king in his later years. He reformed Scotland's finances, strengthened royal authority, and maintained reasonable relations with England. But he failed in the one duty that mattered most for a medieval king: he produced no heir.
With David's death, the direct Bruce line was extinguished. The throne passed to his nephew Robert Stewart — grandson of Robert the Bruce through his daughter Marjorie — who became Robert II, the first of the Stewart dynasty. The Stewarts would rule Scotland for over three centuries, eventually inheriting the English throne as well. It all began because David II died without a son.