# Isabel Bruce

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{{Short description|Queen of Norway from 1293 to 1299}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox royalty
| consort        = yes
| name           =Isabel Bruce
| succession     =[Queen consort of Norway](/source/Queen_consort_of_Norway)
| image          =
| reign          =1293–1299
| spouse         ={{Marriage|[Eric II of Norway](/source/Eric_II_of_Norway)|1293|1299| end=d}}
| issue          =[Ingeborg Eriksdottir of Norway](/source/Ingeborg_Eriksdottir_of_Norway)
| house          =[Bruce](/source/House_of_Bruce)
| father         =[Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale](/source/Robert_de_Brus%2C_6th_Lord_of_Annandale)
| mother         =[Marjorie, Countess of Carrick](/source/Marjorie%2C_Countess_of_Carrick)
| birth_date  =1272
| birth_place =[Carrick, Scotland](/source/Carrick%2C_Scotland)
| death_date  ={{death year and age|1358|1272}}
| death_place =[Bergen, Norway](/source/Bergen%2C_Norway)
| place of burial=
|}}
'''Isabel Bruce''' (''Isabella de Brus'' or ''Isobail a Brus'', or ''Isabella Robertsdotter Brus'') (c. 1272&ndash;1358) was [Queen of Norway](/source/Queen_consort_of_Norway) as the wife of [King Eric II](/source/Eric_II_of_Norway).<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://snl.no/Isabella_Bruce
|title= Isabella Bruce
|publisher=   • Store norske leksikon 
|access-date=October 29, 2015}}</ref>

==Background==
thumb|left|upright|Arms
Isabel was born in [Carrick, Scotland](/source/Carrick%2C_Scotland). Her parents were [Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale](/source/Robert_de_Brus%2C_6th_Lord_of_Annandale) and [Marjorie, Countess of Carrick](/source/Marjorie%2C_Countess_of_Carrick). Her brothers included [Robert the Bruce](/source/Robert_the_Bruce), future King of Scots, and [Edward Bruce](/source/Edward_Bruce) who would be [High King of Ireland](/source/High_King_of_Ireland) briefly. In 1293 at the age of 21, she traveled to Norway with her father and was married at Bergen to King Eric. Her dowry for the marriage was recorded at the time by Norwegian nobleman [Audun Hugleiksson](/source/Audun_Hugleiksson) who noted she brought: precious clothes, 2 golden boiler, 24 silver plate, 4 silver salt cellars and 12 two-handled soup bowls (scyphus) to the marriage.
<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://nbl.snl.no/Eirik_2_Magnusson
|title=Eirik 2 Magnusson, Konge
|publisher=   Norsk biografisk leksikon
|author= Narve Bjørgo
|access-date=October 29, 2015}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web
|url= https://nbl.snl.no/Audun_Hugleiksson_%E2%80%9CHestakorn%E2%80%9D
|title= Audun Hugleiksson "Hestakorn"
|publisher=   Norsk biografisk leksikon
|author= Knut Helle
|access-date=October 29, 2015}}</ref>

Isabel was king Erik's second wife, he having previously been married to the daughter of King [Alexander III of Scotland](/source/Alexander_III_of_Scotland), [Margaret of Scotland](/source/Margaret_of_Scotland%2C_Queen_of_Norway), who died in childbirth in 1283. Upon the death of King Alexander three years later, his granddaughter, Eric's daughter [Margaret, Maid of Norway](/source/Margaret%2C_Maid_of_Norway) became heir to the throne of Scotland. King Eric arranged the marriage of his daughter to the English King [Edward I](/source/Edward_I_of_England)'s son [Edward](/source/Edward_II), which became moot upon the child's death in 1290. The death of Queen Margaret left Scotland without a monarch, and at the mercy of Edward I of England. 
<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://nbl.snl.no/Margrete_Eiriksdotter
|title=Margrete Eiriksdotter, Prinsesse og Dronning
|publisher=   Norsk biografisk leksikon
|author= Narve Bjørgo
|access-date=October 29, 2015}}</ref>

Soon, [John Balliol](/source/John_Balliol) tried to take the Scottish crown with the aid of [John Comyn, the Red Comyn](/source/John_III_Comyn%2C_Lord_of_Badenoch). The Bruce family captured strongholds in Galloway, and fighting in the name of the Maid of Norway (Margaret), suppressed the rebellion with many important families like the Stewards supporting them. At the time of Isabel's marriage in 1293, her brother was one of the claimants to the Scottish throne.  The Bruces were aligned with King Edward against King  John Balliol and his Comyn allies. In 1306, Robert the Bruce was chosen to be King of Scotland. Scottish historian  [G.W.S. Barrow](/source/G.W.S._Barrow) observed that King Eric's renewed contacts with Scotland "increased the ties of friendship which bound him to the English king."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=fmA1R9aPK90C&dq=isabel+bruce+queen+of+norway&pg=PA86 Barrow, G.W.S., ''Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland'', Edinburgh University Press, 2005] {{ISBN|9780748620227}}</ref>

==Activity ==
Isabel  was widowed, at age 26, at the death of King Eric in 1299. Erik was succeeded by his brother,  King [Haakon V of Norway](/source/Haakon_V_of_Norway) who reigned until his own death in 1319. Isabel never remarried, despite surviving her husband by 59 years. Their marriage did not produce a male heir, though it did produce a daughter, [Ingeborg Eriksdottir of Norway](/source/Ingeborg_Eriksdottir_of_Norway), who, having firstly been engaged to [Jon II, Earl of Orkney](/source/Jon_II%2C_Earl_of_Orkney), married [Valdemar Magnusson](/source/Valdemar_Magnusson) of [Sweden](/source/Sweden), [Duke of Finland](/source/Duke_of_Finland), in 1312. Isabel herself arranged both engagements.

She did not return to Scotland, but lived in [Bergen, Norway](/source/Bergen%2C_Norway), the rest of her life, and died there. As a queen consort, there is little information about her life, but her life as a queen dowager is better documented. Queen Isabel participated in many official events and ceremonies and did not lack influence. She was present with the royal couple at the inauguration in 1305 of Bishop Arne Sigurdssön,  the new Bishop of Bergen. She had a good relationship with the clerical powers in Bergen, made donations and in 1324, received several houses from the church. It has been suggested, that she participated as a mediator in the negotiations between Norway and Scotland regarding  [Orkney](/source/Orkney) and [Shetland](/source/Shetland) during 1312 under which the [Treaty of Perth](/source/Treaty_of_Perth) was reaffirmed.  In 1339, the king pardoned a prisoner at her request. She exchanged letters with her sister [Christina Bruce](/source/Christina_Bruce) and sent soldiers in her support. In 1357, she was one of the heirs of her daughter Ingebjorg, Duchess of Uppland, Öland and Finland.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://nbl.snl.no/Arne_Sigurdsson
|title=Arne Sigurdsson, Biskop
|publisher=   Norsk biografisk leksikon
|author= Anna Elisa Tryti
|access-date=October 29, 2015}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://nbl.snl.no/Isabella_Bruce
|title=Isabella Bruce, Dronning
|publisher=   Norsk biografisk leksikon
|author= Randi Wærdahl
|access-date=October 29, 2015}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Other sources==
*Blakely, Ruth Margaret (2005) ''The Brus Family in England and Scotland, 1100-1295'' (Boydell Press) {{ISBN|978-1-84383-152-5}} 
*Penman, Michael  (2014) ''Robert the Bruce: King of the Scots'' (Yale University Press) {{ISBN|978-0-30014-872-5}}

{{S-start}}
{{Succession box | title=[Queen consort of Norway](/source/Queen_consort_of_Norway)| before=[Margaret of Scotland](/source/Margaret_of_Scotland_(Queen_of_Norway))| after=[Eufemia of Rügen](/source/Eufemia_of_R%C3%BCgen)| years=1293–1299}}	
{{S-end}}
{{Norwegian consorts}}
{{Scandinavian Scotland}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Isabel}}
Category:Norwegian royal consorts
Isabel Bruce
Category:House of Sverre
Category:Fairhair dynasty
Category:1270s births
Category:1358 deaths
Category:13th-century Norwegian nobility
Category:14th-century Norwegian nobility
Category:13th-century Norwegian women
Category:14th-century Norwegian women
Category:13th-century Scottish nobility
Category:14th-century Scottish nobility
Category:13th-century Scottish women
Category:14th-century Scottish women
Category:Norwegian people of Scottish descent

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Isabel Bruce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Bruce) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Bruce?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.
