Robert III., King of Scotland, eldest son of the preceding; born in 1340 and was originally called John, but changed his name on his coronation in 1390. He trusted his management of affairs almost entirely to his brother, whom he created Duke of Albany. In 1398 Albany was compelled to resign his office by a party who wished to confer it on the king's eldest son, David, Duke of Rothesay. War was renewed with England, and the battle of Homildon Hill, Sept. 14, 1402, resulted in a disastrous defeat of the Scotch. In this year the Duke of Rothesay died in Falkland Castle, where he had been imprisoned. Dread of Albany, who had recovered the regency, induced the king to send his second son, James, to France in 1406; but the vessel which carried him was captured by the English, and Henry IV. long detained him as a prisoner. Soon after this event Robert died in Rothesay, Bute, in 1406.


Entry from Everybody's Cyclopedia, 1912.

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