Robert the Bruce: Scotland’s greatest castle destroyer?

By: David C. Weinczok

A great many things have laid ruin to over 2,000 of Scotland’s castles through the centuries, some more banal than others: the elements, neglect, redundancy, bankruptcy, urban sprawl and, of course, fire and sword. For that final and most dramatic factor, there are only a handful of individuals and wars responsible for most of the casualties. Cromwell’s cannons levelled countless castles great and small; Edward I and III’s numerous invasions were especially destructive, though he also strengthened and even built several; and the Jacobite Risings saw many castles, including the restored and now-iconic Eilean Donan, destroyed or rendered moot by more modern fortifications. Someone you likely did not expect to find on that list, however, is none other than Robert the Bruce.

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