Battle axe in its mighty head..." - "A Child's History of England" by Charles Dickens. Richard is, however, recorded as using a Danish Axe at the relief of Jaffa. Geoffrey de Lusignan is another famous crusader associated with the axe. Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, used an axe to defeat Henry de Bohun in single combat at the start of the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Given that Bruce was wielding the axe on horseback, it is likely that it was a one handed horseman's axe. They enjoyed a sustained revival among heavily armored equestrian combatants in the 15th century. In
Robert the Bruce a period with one or more allied English noble families, such as the de Clares of Gloucester, or perhaps even in the English royal household. Sir Thomas Grey asserted in his "Scalacronica" that in about 1292, Robert the Bruce, then aged eighteen, was a 'young bachelor of King Edward's Chamber'. While there remains little firm evidence of Robert's presence at Edward's court, on 8 April 1296 both Robert and his father were pursued through the English Chancery for their private household debts of £60 by several merchants of Winchester. This raises the possibility that young Robert the Bruce was on