| Notes |
- Married in 1302 while still in her teens, Elizabeth spent the first
several years of her marriage in and around the Court of Edward I, no
doubt wondering if her husband's secret plans of revolt would be
discovered. Then, in 1306, after war had started and she had escaped
to Scotland, she was captured by the English forces and held prisoner
for eight years. During her captivity, she probably did not know if
her husband was alive or dead. Only the position of her father,
Richard Earl of Ulster, kept her from harsher treatment. As a
prisoner, she was moved from the Yorkshire manor of Burstwick in 1308
to Bistelsham in Oxfordshire, from there to Windsor in 1312, and
finally to Rochester prison in 1314. Allowed only the attendance of a
few elderly ladies and often short of food and furniture and clothing,
her conditions were such that at one point she complained to King
Edward that she had "neither attire for her person or head nor a bed
nor furniture of her chamber."
Her husband must have seemed like a stranger when she was released in
a prisoner exchange in 1314 after the Battle of Bannockburn. Robert
The Bruce wanted a male heir for Scotland, but for the next several
years she was not to have a child. Finally, on 5 March 1324, Queen
Elizabeth gave birth to a boy who was christened David in honor of his
great ancestor King David I who had help establish the Bruce family in
Scotland long ago.
After years of not having a permanent residence, Robert and Elizabeth
built a manor house for their family. They chose the village of
Cardross on the north side of the Firth of Clyde, close to Dumbarton,
as the site for their new home, which was built on land purchased from
the Earl of Lennox. It was not a fortified castle, but a substantial
dwelling with hall, king's chamber, Queen's chamber, chapel, kitchen
and larder. The roof was thatched and it had the luxury of glazed
windows. There was a garden, a hunting park, an aviary for the royal
falcons and a slipway for the King's yacht.
Elizabeth stood by her husband through all the years of warfare, but
she was not there at the end to share in his triumph. She died on 26
October 1327, but she lived long enough to know that he would succeed.
She was buried in Dunfermline Abbey, Scotland and less than two years
later, her husband was buried beside her.
(Source: Billy Polk, 1998)
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Bef 1282 - 1327 (> 45 years)