EVENTS
Events
The death of Alexander III (March 1286)
The death of Alexander III’s son and heir in 1284 had caused considerable
uncertainty throughout the kingdom of Scotland. It was the desire to acquire a
new heir that led the King of Scots to remarry.
It was while travelling to visit his new wife on a stormy night that tragedy
struck. Alexander had finished some business at Edinburgh castle. He
announced that it was his intention to travel on to Kinghorn, where his wife
was waiting for him. His retainers and guards cautioned against travelling in
such a storm.
However, Alexander ignored their pleas and duly set off into the night, with
only a small escort. Somewhere in the dark, Alexander was separated from
his escort and was never seen alive again. The next day his body was found,
his neck broken, possibly due to a fall from his horse. Alexander III, King of
Scots was dead, and Scotland was without a king.
For a few weeks after his death there was some hope that Alexander’s widow
might be pregnant. While there would be complications with a minority
monarch, these could be overcome. However, it soon became clear to all that
the queen was not with child.
The Parliament of Scone (April 1286)
The main concern for the Paliament of Scone was to ensure a peaceful
transisiton of authority to the next king or queen. Alexander did have one
surviving heir, his three-year-old granddaughter, Margaret. Margaret, known
as the Maid of Norway, was the daughter of the King of Norway. Her mother,
Alexander’s own daughter, had died in childbirth. The succession of the Maid
had been agreed in the tailzie of 1284. Accepting a three-year-old girl as heir
was, however, fraught with problems:
 Firstly, would she survive long enough to take the throne? Child mortality
was high, even among noble born children; many did not reach their fifth
birthday. Her health was now a major concern for Scotland.
 Secondly, who would be chosen as regent? The most powerful noble
families distrusted each other. If one was picked , then how would they
keep the other houses in line? The fear of civil war surrounded the
discussion and was a very real threat.
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 Finally, who would she be married to? Surely a girl, even when grown up,
would be unable to rule the country by herself. It was necessary for a
suitable husband to take over the responsibilities. However, a Scottish
husband would almost certainly have to come from one of the competing
noble families. If one was chosen and not the other that in itself might lead
to civil war. Equally problematic would be a foreign husband. Who could
they trust to maintain the rights and responsibilities of the kingdom?
Despite these problems, the nobles gathered at a hastily called parliament at
Scone in April 1286. The Scots nobles agreed to work together for the good
of the kingdom, rather than for their individual benefit or glory. Two earls,
two barons and two bishops were to rule Scotland until Margaret or her
husband was able to take over. This was a remarkable show of maturity for
the kingdom of Scots and its nobility. A minority ruler was not, in itself, a
new thing, given that Alexander II and Alexander III had both been
minorities; but they were male and did not live in Norway.
The six elected men were given the title Guardians of Scotland, and set out
looking for a suitable husband for Margaret. Eventually they agreed to
negotiate with the English to arrange a marriage between Margaret and young
Prince Edward, the son of Edward I. There was a fear that the guardians
would be sidelined by Edward I and Eric, the King of Norway. Eric had been
keen to see his daughter installed as queen of Scots, and had sent envoys to
Edward I hoping to force the issue.
The Treaty of Salisbury (1289)
The representatives of both the Guardians of Scotland and the King of
England had to negotiate with Margaret’s father as to if and when he would
allow her to travel.
Further, Edward I was determined that he would not hand his son over in
marriage unless Margaret was free of any previous marriage contracts and
Scotland was a safe place for them to rule. Edward went further in the treaty,
demanding that Margaret be handed over to him, to be raised in the English
court, until Scotland was a safe place for her to return to.
At the time this was not seen as such an unusual stipulation to make.
Different historians have their own opinions as to why Edward demanded
this. Perhaps he had already begun to contemplate ways in which he could
extend his authority over the kingdom of the Scots.
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The Treaty of Birgham
In July 1290 the Scottish guardians sought concessions from the English upon
the marriage. The document is very detailed and shows the safeguards that
were put in place to preserve Scotland’s independence. Put simply, the treaty
promised the following:
 Edward I would respect the borders between England and Scotland, and
each country would remain separate.
 Edward agreed that no parliament governing Scotland would be held in
England.
 Scottish laws, customs, rights and freedoms would be preserved.
 The Scottish church would remain free from interference from the English
church.
It is because Edward agreed to these demands that many historians do not
believe he had any serious desire to pursue his claims of overlordship of
Scotland at this time. However, other historians point out that at the same
time as agreeing the treaty, Edward also incorporated the Isle of Man into his
territory and he insisted the Bishop of Durham help to run Scotland in the
name of Margaret.
Death of Margaret
In September 1290, tragedy again befell Scotland. Marg aret died on her way
from Norway to Orkney. The exact cause of her death is not known, although
it is likely that she caught pneumonia on the sea voyage and failed to recover.
Once again the threat of civil war materialised as Bruce was rumoured to be
gathering troops. Fearful of the ambitions of Bruce, Bishop Fraser of St
Andrews, one of the six guardians, wrote to Edward I, begging him to
intercede. Edward agreed to decide between the 13 claimants for the vacant
Scottish crown. For the most part the guardians were happy with this: both
Balliol and Bruce believed they had the best argument, and that Edward
would favour them. The others knew Edward’s reputation as an expert in the
law. Few at this stage were suspicious of his motives.
Norham (1291–92)
The Scots nobles and clergy met Edward I at Norham, near the border, in May
1291. At Norham, Edward surprised the guardians by demanding that they
accept him as their feudal overlord. This was a condition he demanded before
making his judgment on who would be King of Scots. He had ordered an
army to assemble, in order to intimidate the Scots and make sure that his
judgement was accepted. Edward himself claimed that the army was there to
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keep the peace. The Scots had asked Edward to arbitrate (help); Edward
believed he was there to judge the case.
However, the Scots replied that only their king could deal with such a
request, dodging the issue of overlordship in the immediate term. Overall,
Edward was now in the driving seat as the Scots needed his help to c hoose
their king.
At some point during this period, Robert Bruce orchestrated the appeal of the
seven earls, a letter written in the name of the Scottish earls stating their
support for Robert Bruce’s claim to the throne. Most historians agree,
however, that this letter was probably a piece of Bruce propaganda, and is
unlikely to truly represent the views of the Scottish earls. Rather, it is
Bruce’s response to the letter from Bishop Fraser to Edward I. Bishop Fraser
was a supporter of John Balliol’s claim and the guardianship was dominated
by the Comyn family.
The Great Cause
The task of choosing the new king has come to be known as the Great Cause.
Of the 13 claimants (14 if you count Edward himself), three men had the best
claim – John Balliol, John of Hastings and Robert Bruce. All three were
descendants of the daughters of David, Earl of Huntingdon, a descendant of
David I of Scotland. In order to ensure he would be overlord of Scotland,
Edward demanded that all claimants accepted this before he woul d pass
judgment on them. Again, as Edward viewed himself as judge in the case, his
judgement would be binding if he established overlordship first. All agreed,
as none wished to be left out of the competition to be king, with Balliol last
to accept this demand. Both Bruce and Balliol held lands in England for
which they already paid homage to the English king, which they would not
have wanted to risk. Similar oaths followed from the Scottish guardians,
nobles and clergy. Edward had arranged a blockade of Scotland if it proved
necessary, to secure his goal of overlordship. He had also obtained possession
of the Scottish castles to award to the successful claimant, and appointed
English officials to work alongside the Scots.
Each claimant in the Great Cause was allowed the opportunity to present their
case. All of the evidence was heard and discussed by 104 auditors, who had
to deal with questions of legality. Edward enlisted legal opinion from as far
afield as Paris. He wanted to ensure that he set the correct precendent. During
these proceedings, there was the question of whether , in the absence of a
direct heir, Scotland should instead be divided into three between the leading
claimants. Was Scotland a real kingdom which was indivisible? Hastings
argued that Scotland was little more than a barony which could be divided.
There was also the question of whether seniority of line was to be favoured
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over nearness of degree of relation. The court declared that seniority of line
was favoured just before judgment was reached, and Bruce then switched to
support Hastings and argued that Scotland should be divided. Some of the
competitors, such as Floris V, Count of Holland, were able to hold up the
slow proceedings still further by claiming to be searching for docum ents to
prove that David, Earl of Huntingdon had given up the rights of inheritance.
Edward’s decision
Edward announced his decision on 17 November 1292, after 13 months of
arguments and debate. In the end, it was decided that John Balliol had the
better legal claim. This decision rested on the law of primogeniture, which
had been reasonably well established in Scotland since the reign of David I.
This law states that inheritance of title and property should pass to the first born child and their descendants. Balliol was thus chosen to become King
John of Scots. Edward’s decision has been seen by some as controversial.
Notably, subsequent Scottish kings put forward the idea that Bruce had the
better claim, and that Edward chose Balliol only because he thou ght he would
be easier to manipulate. This propaganda of the Bruce faction may have some
weight as Duncan has recently argued that Bruce’s claim had sway with the
court in the later months, but that Edward took no notice. Largely, however,
historical opinion recognises that Balliol had the better claim.
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