John Barbour 1320-1395

John Barbour (c.1320 – 13 March 1395), was a Scottish poet and the first major literary voice to write in Scots, the vernacular language of Lowland Scotland. He holds a place in the nation's literary tradition similar to the position that Chaucer, roughly his contemporary, independently occupies vis a vis the vernacular tradition in England. Barbour was the Archdeacon of the Kirk of St Machar in Aberdeen. He also studied in Oxford and Paris. His principal patron was Robert II and evidence of his promotion and movements before Robert Stewart came to power as king tend to suggest that he acted politically in the future king's behalf. [1]

Although Barbour was a man of the church, his writing is strongly secular in both tone and themes. The Brus, his major surviving work, was written while he was a member of Robert II's court in the 1370s. The poem's subject is Robert the Bruce and the ultimate success in his prosecution of the First War of Scottish Independence, but it also features actions of Robert II's Stewart forebears in the conflict. Another work, The Stewartis Oryginalle (now lost) purportedly traced the genealogy of the Stewart line. Historically, the Bruce royal line was extinguished with the death of Robert II's uncle, David II.

Barbour died in 1395, probably in Aberdeen.