Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany (1339–1420) was a younger son of Robert II of Scotland who as regent was de facto ruler of Scotland for several years during the reigns of Robert II, Robert III and James I. His third and longest period as regent was from 1402 until his death in 1420.

Start of third regency He had experienced some ups and downs, including two earlier periods as regent, but his position became threatened during the reign of King Robert III of Scotland by the rise of the king's son, David, Duke of Rothesay.

The Duke of Rothesay died in Robert Duke of Albany's custody at Falkland Palace on 25 or 27 March 1402. Although it was claimed that David died of dysentery, most contemporaries believed that Robert had ordered his nephew David to be starved to death. Robert probably faced formal accusations of murdering his nephew during a general council, called to discuss David's death, which met in Edinburgh in May 1402. Archibald, 4th Earl of Douglas, was also viewed with suspicion for his role in David's death. Despite these tensions, Robert was able to dominate the proceedings of the council. Robert arrived in Edinburgh with a large number of his affinity, while Edinburgh Castle was already controlled and garrisoned by his ally, the Earl of Douglas. Robert forced his eldest brother, Robert III, to pardon him for David's death by declaring that David had died of natural causes. At the conclusion of the council, Robert was appointed as regent of Scotland for a period of two years.

Robert's victory over his nephew made him the most powerful man in Scotland. After becoming regent in May 1402, Robert gained effective control of the Scottish royal court. By the autumn of 1402, Robert's eldest brother, the king, was surrounded on a daily basis by members of Robert's affinity, who were led by Robert's younger half-brother, Walter, Earl of Caithness. These men seem to have ensured that the king remained within the Stewart family's ancestral lands in southwestern Scotland. Robert may even have relied on Walter to physically detain their eldest brother, keeping Robert III under informal arrest.

Homildon campaign (1402)

The beginning of Robert's third regency was accompanied by renewed conflict between Scotland and England.Henderson, Thomas Finlayson (1898). "Stewart, Robert (1340?-1420)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 54. pp. 339–342 Henry IV of England, who had already invaded Scotland, faced serious challenges to his rule by 1402, including the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr in Wales. Around this time, Thomas Warde, an impostor claiming to be Richard II, the deposed King of England, first appeared in Scottish records. Robert paid Warde an annual pension to sustain a court and entourage at Stirling Castle. After arresting his nephew at the end of 1401, Robert sent David Lindsay, 1st Earl of Crawford, to explain to the advisors of Charles VI of France that Richard II was still alive and living in Scotland. Although the French were not convinced by Robert's claims, Henry IV viewed the impostor as a dynastic threat.

Robert's promotion of Warde as a challenger to Henry IV was probably influenced by his ally, Archibald, 4th Earl of Douglas, to whom he had promised control of Anglo-Scottish policy at Culross. The earl's hostility towards England was driven by his feud with the exiled George Dunbar, Earl of March, who had taken refuge in northern England. During the summer of 1402, the Earl of Douglas supervised two Scottish attacks on northern England. The second attack met with disaster, as the Scottish army was destroyed by George, Earl of March, and his English forces at the Battle of Nesbit Moor. After this defeat, Douglas asked Robert to support a retaliatory Scottish campaign against England. Robert agreed to support the earl's war effort, and his affinity probably formed the core of the Scottish army that invaded England in September 1402.

This new Scottish invasion culminated at the Battle of Homildon Hill, fought in Northumberland on 14 September 1402. Robert's eldest son, Murdoch, led the Scottish army alongside the Earl of Douglas. The battle resulted in a serious Scottish defeat. English troops captured both Murdoch and Douglas at the end of the battle. Various Scottish noblemen, including Thomas Dunbar, Earl of Moray, Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, and George Douglas, Earl of Angus, were also captured, amidst the destruction of the Scottish army on the battlefield.

Cocklaws and renewed war The Scottish defeat at Homildon Hill left southern Scotland open to English attack. Henry IV of England used his army's victory as leverage in his campaign to be recognized as the feudal overlord of Scotland. Early in 1403, Henry IV made a symbolic grant of the earldom of Douglas to Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland. This grant provided the pretext for Percy's son, Harry Hotspur, to invade Scotland with a large army in May 1403. Hotspur besieged the tower house of Cocklaws, near Ormiston. After receiving news of the siege, Robert convened a general council at Falkland Palace to debate the Scottish response. According to Walter Bower, Robert delivered an impassioned speech in favor of relieving the garrison of Cocklaws.: "I vow to God and St. Fillan that, if I am spared, I shall be there on the appointed day, even if no one comes with me save my boy Patrick as rider of my warhorse." Robert led a Scottish army south to confront Hotspur in July 1403, recapturing Innerwick Castle during the short campaign. A potential battle between Scottish and English forces was averted when Hotspur, who had briefly joined his father's rebellion against Henry IV, was defeated and killed by the English king at the Battle of Shrewsbury on 21 July. The collapse of the English campaign of 1403 bolstered Robert's public image as a defender of Scotland on the battlefield.

Despite the apparent Scottish victory in 1403, intermittent conflict between the two kingdoms continued for several years. Robert was reluctant to engage in open war against England, due to the captivity of his eldest son, Murdoch, at the court of Henry IV. During a general council in August 1404, Robert ordered an embassy to travel to England to negotiate for the release of Murdoch and his fellow captive, Archibald, Earl of Douglas. These negotiations were ultimately rendered futile when a new Anglo-Scottish war erupted in 1405, coincidental with the major rebellion of Richard Scrope, Archbishop of York, against Henry IV. James Douglas of Balvenie, the brother of the imprisoned Earl of Douglas, led a Scottish army to plunder the city of Berwick-upon-Tweed, while Scottish and English naval forces clashed in the Irish Sea.

Dynastic and national politics Robert was reappointed as regent by a general council in April 1404, receiving a commission to govern Scotland for another two years. Robert's reappointment signaled his continued political dominance of Scotland, but his eldest brother, Robert III, began to reemerge onto the political scene around this time. The king, who had been relegated to obscurity since the death of his son in 1402, began to challenge Robert's power as regent with his remaining personal authority. Robert III's renewed presence in Scottish politics after 1404 probably stemmed from the influence of three men - Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, Henry Wardlaw, Bishop of St. Andrews, and David Fleming of Biggar - who had become established as a triumvirate of royal favorites.

Robert's relationship with Wardlaw was particularly complicated. After securing the regency in 1402, Robert settled previous disputes over the diocese of St. Andrews by forcing his illegitimate half-brother, Thomas Stewart, to resign his claims to the bishopric in favor of Walter Danielston, the former keeper of Dumbarton Castle. Wardlaw was elected to succeed Danielston as bishop after the latter died before he could be consecrated. Robert likely viewed Wardlaw with animosity, which encouraged the bishop to support the king's return to power. Robert's interests in northern Scotland also set the stage for political conflict with his eldest brother. After the death of his ally, Euphemia, Countess of Ross, in , Robert had secured the marriage of his daughter, Isabella, to Alexander Leslie, Euphemia's son and heir. Alexander's unexpected death in 1402 left Robert's young granddaughter, Euphemia Leslie, as suo jure Countess of Ross. Robert was probably forced to lead military forces to secure his granddaughter's claim on the earldom. Robert had gained substantial personal control over Ross by 1405.

Tensions between Robert and his resurgent eldest brother were also inflamed by the political situation in the earldom of Mar. After the death in 1402 of Malcolm Drummond, lord of Mar through his marriage to Isabel Douglas, Countess of Mar, Robert moved to gain physical control of the earldom. Robert likely sought to lay the groundwork for his political allies, the Erskine family, to be recognized as earls of Mar. The widowed countess initially supported Robert's dominance of Mar, but in August 1404 she signed a marriage contract with Alexander Stewart, Robert's illegitimate nephew. Robert was unable to prevent Isabella's wedding to Alexander, which took place at Kildrummy Castle on 9 December 1404. Alexander secured royal confirmation of his marriage in January 1405, signaling the king's own opposition to Robert's wishes. Robert III's support for the Scottish attack on Berwick in 1405, which jeopardized negotiations for the release of his nephew, Murdoch, was a sign that effective control of the Scottish government had been returned to the king and his triumvirate of favorites. The king's independent control of foreign policy was demonstrated when he allowed Henry Percy, the young grandson of the rebellious Earl of Northumberland, to take refuge in Scotland during 1405.

Final ascent to power (1406) Despite his recovery of political power, Robert III had become severely ill by late 1405. Later historians, including Walter Bower, claimed that the king decided to send his only surviving son, James, to France around this time. This decision was allegedly driven by fears that Robert, who had already killed his eldest nephew, also sought to arrange James' death in order to succeed his eldest brother as king. James fled Scotland early in 1406, his party pursued and attacked by Albany's allies.

Robert's political allies, the Douglas family, provoked the collapse of Robert III's triumvirate in February 1406. David Fleming of Biggar, the king's favorite knight, led a royal army into East Lothian to confront James Douglas of Balvenie, his local political rival and the brother of Archibald, 4th Earl of Douglas. Walter Bower described Fleming's campaign in East Lothian as a "provocation" against the Douglas family, while Thomas Walsingham, the contemporary English historian, believed that it represented open civil war in Scotland. Fleming brought Prince James on campaign as the figurehead of his army. Having raised his own army, Balvenie defeated and killed Fleming at Herdmanston on 14 February. James fled for safety, first to North Berwick, and then to the Bass Rock, where he remained under the care of the Earl of Orkney, another of the king's favorites. At this crucial moment, Robert's presumed hostility towards his nephew may have convinced James' advisors not to attempt his return to the Scottish mainland. A ship was instead chartered to bring James to safety in France. This desperate measure backfired when the ship was captured near Flamborough Head by English pirates. James was taken as a prisoner to the court of Henry IV.

Robert III died on 4 April 1406, shortly after hearing the news of his son's capture. With the death of his eldest brother, and the capture of his nephew, Robert was once again the most powerful man in the Stewart dynasty.

Governor of Scotland (1406-1420)