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The Royal Crowns: Robert Bruce

Edward I., after his defeat of John Baliol in 1296, carried off the crown of Scotland to England, and Robert Bruce had another made for himself. This in its turn, after Bruce's defeat at Methven, fell into Edward's hands. Another crown seems to have been made for Bruce in 1314, when he was established in the sovereignty of Scotland after Bannockburn, and the present crown probably consists largely of the material of the old one, and most likely follows its general design. It has, however, much French work about it, as well as the rougher gold work made by Scottish jewellers, and it seems probable that the crown, as it now is, is a reconstruction by French workmen made under the care and by the order Plate V THE DIADEM OF QUEEN MARY OF MODENA CONSORT OF JAMES II THE ROYAL CROWNS of James V. about 1540. It was with this crown that Mary Queen of Scots was crowned when she was nine months old.