With the passing of King David II Bruce in 1371, the Royal House of Bruce came to an end, and his nephew Robert Stewart came to the throne as Robert II. There was some minor protestation by the Earl of Douglas, though the reasons behind this are not known even to this day, some think there was an issue over Robert's right to the throne, others that Douglas had issues with two members in charge of the law north and south of the forth. Robert II, soon settled this issue, and named his son Alexander Stewart as Lord of Badenoch, and named him Justiciar North of the Forth, confirmed his son John, Earl of Carrick as Justiciar south of the Forth, and got Parliament to pass an act recognising the rights of his sons from his first marriage to the throne, not going over primogeniture, but a safe guard. King Robert began considering the chances of renewing the Auld Alliance and attacking England for tactical gains, however, there were several places within Southern Scotland that were still held by the English, and therefore, the king called the banners and in the winter of 1371, marched southward to drive out these English held garrisons.
Scots activity stirred the border lords in England and there was conflict backwards and forwards for some time, King Edward III in France at the time planning another assault into the French heartland, sent word for his son the Duke of York to deal with this problem. The Duke marched north with some 3,000 men and met with the Scots at Berwick, where instead of giving battle, he negotiated a treaty, which allowed Roxburgh, Jedburgh and Annandale to pass back into Scottish hands but kept Berwick. English garrisons were recalled into England, and then the Duke of York sailed for France to join his father and brothers in preparations for a final campaign there.
In early 1372, an English force under the command of Edward, the Black Prince landed in Aquitaine to renew the conflict with France. The campaign got off to a very good start and the English recorded some very good victories. King Charles V of France, hurriedly began preparing for his own response and summoned the banners, sending a force under his commander Sir Betrand, an battle was fought near Loches which resulted in another decisive English victory and also led to the death of Sir Bertrand. Charles V, knowing he was either going to be broken or win in the final campaigns that came up, summoned his lords to meet him and from there the campaign renewed itself. There were several engagements throughout the rest of 1372, but eventually in early 1373 Charles V negotiated a settlement with the English allowing them to keep Aquitaine and Gascony without the need of fealty though a hefty sum was required for these territories. Edward the Black Prince knowing that his father did not have sufficient funds to pay the fee called upon his ally Pedro the Cruel for the repayment, the King of Castille reluctantly parted with his money and furthermore gave the man the Lordship of Biscay. With these additional funds, Edward paid the fee and returned to his lands in Aquitaine, whilst his brothers John and Edmund returned to England.
The Black Prince, having married Joan of Kent in 1360 and having sired two sons with her, their sons Edward and Richard, returned to his wife and held court once more as Prince of Aquitaine. However, the prince and princess of Wales had suffered a grievous loss in early 1371, when their eldest son Edward had died from the plague. Edward now took steps to ensure the safety of his only remaining heir Richard. In England, King Edward was growing increasingly frail, and was furthermore relying heavily on his son John, Duke of Lancaster to attend to the affairs of the realm, something that was causing much resentment amongst some of the nobility.