History of Scotland

Our ongoing history of Scotland that chronicles the events in Scotland over the past million years with a special focus on the last thousand as you might expect. We have also digitised a copy of Patrick Tytler's History of Scotland which is an eccentric but wonderfully written history of the the mediaeval years in Scotland. The project of chronicling Scotland's history is ongoing, as is the process of organising and structuring and linking the pages together.

He meets the Competitors at Berwick

First of all, he commanded the hundred and four commissioners or delegates, to assemble in the church of the Dominicans, adjoining to the castle, and there receive the claims to the crown. Upon this, twelve competitors came forward. These were—
I. Florence count of Holland, descended from Ada, the sister of King William the Lion.
II. Patrick Dunbar earl of March, descended from Ilda, or Ada, daughter of William the Lion.
III. William de Vescy, who claimed as grandson of Marjory, daughter of William the Lion.
IV. William de Ross, descended from Isabella, daughter of William the Lion.
V. Robert de Pynkeny, descended from Marjory, daughter of Henry prince of Scotland, and sister of William the Lion.
VI. Nicholas de Soulis, descended from Marjory, a daughter of Alexander the Second, and wife of Alan Durward.
VII. Patrick Galythly, claimed as the son of Henry Galythly, who, he contended, was the lawful son of William the Lion.
VIII. IJoger de Mandeville, descended from Aufrica, whom he affirmed to be a daughter of William the Lion.
IX. John Comyn lord of Badenoch, who claimed as a descendant of Donald, formerly King of Scotland.
X. John de Hastings, who was the son of Ada, the third daughter of David earl of Huntingdon, brother to King William the Lion.
XI. Robert de Bruce, who was the son of Isabel, second daughter of David earl of Huntingdon; and lastly,
XII. John de Baliol, who claimed the crown as the grandson of Margaret, the eldest daughter of David earl of Huntingdon.

Print Email

Arguments of Bruce-and Baliol

The petitions of these various claimants having been read, Edward recommended the commissioners to consider them with attention, and to give in their report at his next parliament, to be held at Berwick on the 2d of June, in the following year. This was an artful delay. Its apparent purpose was to give the commissioners an interval of nine or ten months to institute their inquiries; yet it served the more important object of accustoming the nobility and people of Scotland to look to Edward as their Lord Paramount. When the parliament assembled at Berwick on the appointed day, and when Eric king of Norway appeared by his ambassadors, and insisted on his right to the crown of Scotland as the heir of his daughter Margaret, his petition and the claims of the first nine competitors were easily disposed of. They were liable to insuperable objections: some on account of the notorious illegitimacy of the branches from which they sprung, which was the case with the Earl of March, along with the barons William de Ross and De Vescy; others were rejected because they affirmed that they were descendants of a sister of the Earl of Huntingdon,when the direct representatives of a brother of the same prince were in the field.

Indeed, before the final judgment was pronounced, these frivolous competitors voluntarily retired. They had been set up by Edward, with the design of removing the powerful opposition which might have arisen to his schemes, had they declared themselves against him; and to excuse his delay in giving judgment, by throwing an air of intricacy over the case. This object being gained, the king commanded the commissioners to consider, in the first place, the claims of Bruce and Baliol; thus quietly overlooking the other competitors, whose rights were reserved, never to be again brought forward; and virtually deciding that the crown must be given to a descendant of David earl of Huntingdon. The scene which followed was nothing more than a premeditated piece of acting, planned by Edward, and not ill performed by the Scottish commissioners, who were completely under his influence. The king first required them to make oath, that they would faithfully advise him by what laws and usages the question should be determined: they answered, that they differed in opinion as to the laws and usages of Scotland, and its application to the question before them; and therefore required the assistance of the English commissioners, as if from them was to proceed more certain or accurate advice upon the law of Scotland. A conference with the commissioners of the two nations having taken place, it was found that the differences in opinion were not removed. The English commissioners modestly refused to decide until they were enlightened by the advice of an English parliament; and the king, approving of their scruples, declared his resolution to consult the learned in foreign parts; and recommended all persons of both kingdoms to revolve the case in their minds, and consider what ought to be done. He then appointed a parliament to assemble at Berwick on the 15th of October; at which meeting of the Estates he intimated he would pronounce his final decision.

On the meeting of this parliament at the time appointed, Edward required the commissioners to give an answer to these two questions: 1st, By what laws and customs they ought to regulate their judgment? or, in the event of there being either no laws for the determination of such a point, or if the laws of England and Scotland happened to be at variance, what was to be done? And, 2d, Was the kingdom of Scotland to be regarded as a common fief, and the succession to the crown to be regulated by the same principles which were applicable to earldoms and baronies? The commissioners replied, that the laws and usages of the two kingdoms must rule the question; but if none existed to regulate the case, the king must make a new law for a new emergency; and that the succession to the Scottish crown must be decided in the same manner as the succession to earldoms, baronies, and other indivisible inheritances. The king then addressed himself to Bruce and Baliol, and required them to allege any further arguments in explanation of their right; upon which they entered at great length into their respective pleadings upon the question.

Bruce insisted, that being the son of Isabella, second daughter of David earl of Huntingdon, he was next heir to the crown; that Alexander the Second had so declared to persons yet alive, when the king despaired of having heirs of his own body; and that an oath had been taken by the people of Scotland to maintain the succession of the nearest in blood to Alexander the Third, failing the Maid of Norway and her issue. He maintained, that a succession to a kingdom ought to be decided by the law of nature, rather than by the principles which regulated the succession of vassals and subjects ; by which law, he, as nearest to the royal blood, ought to be preferred; and that the custom of succession to the Scottish crown—by which the brother, as nearest in degree, excluded the son of the deceased monarch—supported his title. He contended that a woman, being naturally incapable of government, ought not to reign; and, therefore, as Devorguilla, the mother of Baliol, was alive at the death of Alexander the Third, and could not reign, the kingdom devolved upon him, as the nearest male of the blood-royal.

To all this Baliol replied, that as Alexander the Second had left heirs of his body, no conclusion could be drawn from his declaration; that the claimants were in the court of the Lord Paramount, of whose ancestors, from time immemorial, the realm of Scotland was held by homage; and that the King of England must give judgment in this case as in the case of other tenements held of the crown, looking to the law and established usages of his kingdom; that, upon these principles, the eldest female heir is preferred in the succession to all inheritance, indivisible as well as divisible, so that the issue of a younger sister, although nearer in degree, did not exclude the issue of the elder, though in a degree more remote, the succession continuing in the direct line. He maintained, that the argument of Bruce, as to the ancient laws of succession in the kingdom of Scotland, truly militated against himself; for the son was nearer in degree than the brother, yet the brother was preferred. He observed, that Brace's argument, that a woman ought not to reign, was inconsistent with his own claim; for if Isabella, the mother of Bruce, had no right to reign, she could transmit to him no claim to the crown; and besides all this, he had, by his own deliberate act, confuted the argument which he now maintained, having been one of those nobles who swore allegiance to Margaret, the Maiden of Norway.

The competitors, Bruce and Baliol, having thus advanced their claims, King Edward required of his great council a final answer to the following question, exhorting the bishops, prelates, earls, barons, and commissioners, to advise well upon the point:—" By the laws and customs of both kingdoms, ought the issue of an elder sister, but more remote by one degree, to exclude the issue of the younger sister, although one degree nearer?" To this the whole council unanimously answered, that the issue of the elder sister must be preferred; upon which Edward, after affectedly entreating his council to reconsider the whole cause, adjourned the assembly for three weeks, and appointed it to meet again on Thursday the 6th of November.

On this day, in a full meeting of all the competitors, the commissioners, and the assembled nobility of both countries, the king declared: that, after weighing Brace's petition, with its circumstances, and deeply considering the arguments on both sides, it was his final judgment, that the pretensions of that noble person to the Scottish crown must be set aside, and that he could take nothing in the competition with Baliol. The great drama, however, was not yet concluded; for the king having ordered the claims of Baliol, and the other competitors which were only postponed, to be further heard, Bruce declared, that he meant to prosecute his right, and to present a claim for the whole or a part of the kingdom of Scotland, under a different form from what he had already followed. Upon this, John de Hastings, the descendant of the third daughter of David earl of Huntingdon, stood up, and affirmed that the kingdom of Scotland was partible; and ought, according to the established laws of England as to partible fiefs, to be divided equally amongst the descendants of the three daughters. This plea was founded upon an opinion of one of the French lawyers, whom Edward had consulted; and Hastings had no sooner concluded, than Bruce again presented himself, and, adopting the argument of Hastings, claimed a third part of Scotland, reserving always to Baliol, as descended from the eldest sister, the name of king, and the royal dignity. Edward then put the question to his council, "Is the kingdom of Scotland divisible; or, if not, are its escheats or its revenues divisible V The council answered, "That neither could be divided." Upon which the king, after having taken a few days more to re-examine diligently, with the assistance of his council, the whole of the petitions, appointed the last meeting for the hearing of the cause to be held in the castle of Berwick, on the 17th of November.

Print Email

Edward decides in favour of Baliol

On that great and important day, the council and parliament of England, with the nobility of both countries, being met, the various competitors were summoned to attend; upon which Eric king of Norway, Florence earl of Holland, and William de Vescy, withdrew their claims. After this, Patrick earl of March, William de Ross, Robert de Pynkeny, Nicholas de Soulis, and Patrick Galythly, came forward in person, and followed the same course. John Comyn and Roger de Mandeville, who did not appear, were presumed to have abandoned their right; and the ground being thus cleared for Edward's final judgement, he solemnly decreed: That the kingdom of Scotland being indivisible, and the King of England being bound to judge of the rights of his subjects according to the laws and usages of the people over whom he reigns, by which laws the more remote in degree of the first line of descent is preferable to the nearer in degree of the second; therefore, John Baliol ought to have seisin of the kingdom of Scotland, with reservation always of the right of the King of England and of his heirs, when they shall think proper to assert it.

After having delivered judgement, Edward exhorted Baliol to be careful in the government of his people, lest by giving to any one a just cause of complaint, he should call down upon himself an interference of his Lord Paramount. He commanded the five regents to give him seisin of his kingdom, and directed orders to the governors of the castles throughout Scotland, to deliver them into the hands of Baliol.

Print Email

Baliol's Coronation

A humiliating ceremony now took place. The great seal of Scotland, which had been used by the regents since the death of Alexander the Third, was, in the presence of Edward, Baliol, Bruce, and a concourse of the nobility of both kingdoms, broken into four parts, and the pieces deposited in the treasury of the King of England, to be preserved as an evidence of the pretended sovereignty and dominion of that kingdom over Scotland.

Print Email

He swears homage to Edward

Next day Baliol, in the castle of Norham, swore fealty to Edward, who gave a commission to John de St John to perform the ceremony of his coronation, by placing the new monarch upon the ancient stone seat of Scone. This ought to have been done by Duncan earl of Fife, but he was then a minor. Baliol was accordingly crowned upon St Andrew's day, and soon after passed into England, where he concluded the last act of this degrading history, by paying his homage to Edward at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, on the day after Christmas.

Print Email

Edward treats Baliol with harshness

Irritated, however, by being reminded of the treaty of Brigham, he openly declared, by his justiciary Brabazon, that although, during the vacancy of the kingdom of Scotland, he had been induced to make promises which suited the time—now when the nation was ruled by a king, he did not intend to be bound by them, to the effect of excluding complaints brought before him from that kingdom, or of preventing him from dispensing justice and exercising the rights of his sovereign dominion, according to his power and pleasure. To give the greater weight to this imperious announcement, the King of England summoned Baliol and his principal prelates and nobles into his privy chamber at Newcastle, and there made Brabazon repeat his resolutions upon the matter in question; after which, Edward himself rose up, and, in the French language, spoke to the same tenor. "These are my firm determinations," said he, "with regard to all complaints or appeals brought before me from Scotland; nor will I be bound by any former promises or concessions made to the contrary. I am little careful by what deeds or instruments they may be ratified; I shall exercise that superiority and direct dominion which I hold over the kingdom of Scotland, when and where I please; nor will I hesitate, if necessary, to summon the King of Scotland himself into my presence within the kingdom of England.

Print Email

Baliol's Subjection

Baliors spirit sunk under this declaration; and he, and the Scottish nobility then in his train, pusillanimously consented to buy their peace with Edward by a renunciation of all stipulations regarding the laws and liberties of Scotland, which had been made in the treaty of Brigham, and which, so long as they continued in force, convicted the King of England of a flagrant disregard of his oath, formerly so solemnly pledged. On this being agreed to, Edward ordered the public records and ancient historical muniments of the kingdom, which had formerly been transmitted from Edinburgh to Roxburgh, to be delivered to the King of Scotland. He also, out of special favour, commanded possession of the Isle of Man to be given to him; and, softened by these concessions, Baliol returned to his kingdom. But it was only to experience fresh mortification, and to feel all the miseries of subjection.

The policy of Edward towards Scotland and its new king, was at once artful and insulting. He treated every assumption of independent sovereignity with rigour and contempt, and lost no opportunity of summoning Baliol to answer before him to the complaints brought against his government; he encouraged his subjects to offer these complaints by scrupulously administering justice according to the laws and customs of Scotland; and he distributed lands, pensions, and presents, with well-judged munificence, amongst the prelates and the nobility. The King of Scotland possessed large estates both in England and Normandy; and in all the rights and privileges connected with them, he found Edward certainly not a severe, almost an indulgent, superior. To Baliol the vassal, he was uniformly lenient and just: to Baliol the king, he was proud and unbending to the last degree. An example of this soon occurred.

Print Email

Summoned To England

The Earl of Fife died, leaving his son, Duncan, a minor, and the earldom to the protection of the Bishop of St Andrews. Macduff, the grand-uncle of Duncan, then seized it; but being ejected by the bishop, on complaining to Edward, was, at the king's command, restored to his estates by the sentence of the Scottish regents. When Baliol held his first parliament at Scone,-f Macduff was summoned to answer for his having taken forcible possession of lands, which, since the death of the last earl of Fife, were in the custody of the king. He attempted a defence; but being found guilty, suffered a short imprisonment. On his release, he was not slow to carry his appeal to the King of England; and Edward immediately summoned Baliol to answer in person before him, to the allegations of Macduff. To this order Baliol paid no regard, and Edward again commanded him to appear. This was not all. He procured his parliament to pass some regulations regarding the attendance of the King of Scots, which, from their extreme severity, seem to have been expressly intended to exasperate this monarch, who found that, in every case of appeal, he was not only to be dragged in as a party, but that his personal attendance was to be rigidly exacted. The first was a grievous, the last an intolerable burden, to which no one with even the name of a king could long submit.

Meanwhile, dissembling his chagrin, he appeared in the English parliament held after Michaelmas, where Macduff was also present. When the cause of this baron noble came on, Baliol was asked what defence he had to offer. "I am," said he, "the King of Scotland. To the complaint of Macduff, or to any matters respecting my kingdom, I dare not make an answer without the advice of my people." " What means this refusal' cried Edward. "Are you not my liegeman,—have you not done homage to me," is it not my summons that brings you here?" To this impetuous interrogation the Scottish monarch firmly answered, "Where the business respects my kingdom, I neither dare, nor can answer, in this place, without the advice of my people."

Print Email

His reply

An artful proposal was then made by Edward, that in order to consult with his people, he should adjourn giving his final reply to a future day; but this he peremptorily declined, declaring that he would neither name a day, nor consent to an adjournment. Under these circumstances, the English parliament proceeded to pronounce judgment. They declared that the King of Scotland was guilty of open contempt and disobedience. He had, they said, offered no defence, but made a reply which went to elude and weaken the jurisdiction of his liege lord, in whose court as a vassal he had claimed the crown of Scotland. In consequence of which they advised the King of England, not only to do full justice to Macduff, and to award damages against Baliol; but, as a punishment for his feudal delinquency, to seize three of his principal castles in Scotland, to remain in the hands of the English monarch until he should make satisfaction for the injury offered to his lord superior.f Before this judgment of the parliament was publicly made known, Baliol presented himself to Edward, and thus addressed him: "My lord, I am your liegeman for the kingdom of Scotland; and I entreat you, that as the matters wherewith you now are occupied concern the people of my kingdom no less than myself, you will delay their consideration until I have consulted with them, lest I be surprised from want of advice; and this the more especially, as those now with me neither will, nor dare, give me their opinion, without consulting with the Estates of the kingdom. After having advised with them, I will, in your first parliament after Easter, report the result, and perform what is my duty."

It was evident that the resolutions of the parliament were unnecessarily violent, and could not have been carried into effect without the presence of an army in Scotland. The King of England, aware of this, and dreading to excite a rebellion, for which he was not then prepared, listened to the demand of Baliol, and delayed all proceedings until the day after the Feast of the Trinity, in 1294.

Not long after this, Edward, who was a vassal of the King of France for the duchy of Aquitaine, became involved with his lord superior, in a quarrel similar to that between himself and Baliol. A fleet of English vessels belonging to the Cinque Ports, had encountered and plundered some French merchant ships; and Philip demanded immediate and ample satisfaction for the aggression. As he dreaded a war with France, Edward proposed to investigate, by commissioners, the causes of quarrel; but this seemed too slow a process to the irritated feelings of the French king; and, exerting his rights as lord superior, he summoned Edward to appear in his court at Paris, and there answer, as his vassal, for the injuries which he had committed. This order was, of course, little heeded; upon which Philip, sitting on his throne, gave sentence against the English king; pronounced him contumacious, and directed his territories in France to be seized, as forfeited to the crown. Edward soon after renounced his allegiance as a vassal of Philip; and, with the advice of his parliament, declared war against France.

Print Email

How to use Timeline

Timeline of Scottish History

How to use Timeline

Timeline of Scottish History

History of Scotland

More Articles ...