Edward was young his father had given him Gascony in France, Chester in England and as much of Wales as he could conquer. He had conquered a lot of it, and helped his dad defeat rebellious barons, and fought in the Holy Land on a crusade of his own. As England’s king he had curtailed Church property (he thought it owned too much) and deported all England’s Jews in ships that landed them on Dogger Bank to be drowned by the rising tide. (He thought they owned too much.) In 1295 he established Britain’s first modern government, convening at Westminster a parliament of lords, clergy, and representatives of shire and town to raise money for his wars. His legal and fiscal civil service was there to help them. This left Edward free to handle military business – he held Gascony as vassal of French King Philip and meant to break that vassalage, but first he accepted the Scottish invitation to choose a new king, and met their nobles at the frontier.
Before choosing he asked them all to swear allegiance to him. This would make the next Scottish king his vassal, but all the most powerful claimants swore at once because (1) they would lose their chance to be king if they did not; (2) because he would support the winner if the others ganged against him; (3) because they were used to swearing allegiance to him in England where he could deprive them of their English estates. The other nobles followed their example because (1) some of them had English estates too; (2) because earlier Scots kings had sworn allegiance to English ones for the sake of peace without making a difference to how Scotland was ruled; (3) because Edward had arrived with a large, well-equipped thoroughly disciplined army, which Scotland lacked.
The king Edward chose was John Baliol, later nicknamed Toom Tabard, Scottish for Empty Coat. In the records of his first parliament he appears to be an effective king, but the English legal system soon scooped him hollow.
After Baliol’s coronation Edward announced that, to ensure justice in Scotland, from now on Westminster was the supreme court of appeal. In 1293 Macduff (descended from the thane who defeated Macbeth) lost a case in Scotland so took it to Westminster where lawyers and judges were glad to see him – rich clients pay big fees. The Westminster court summoned John Baliol before it to defend the Scottish court’s decision, treating him like the sheriff of an English county. Baliol came to Westminster and said English judges had no legal authority over Scotland’s king. The judges offered to adjourn the case. Baliol refused the offer because accepting it meant accepting the authority of the court. The judges said refusal showed contempt of court and sentenced Baliol to a fine of his three chief castles and towns. He changed his mind, accepted the adjournment, returned to Scotland.
Which proves you can’t resist London inside London.
I will not give the dreary details of how Baliol signed a defensive alliance with Philip of France – how Edward attacked and butchered the people of Berwick and the Scots earls ravaged Tyneside – how the small Scottish army was smashed – how Baliol retreated as all his castles and towns were taken – how he surrendered, apologized, was publicly uncrowned and sent south with the official Scottish king-making apparatus: sandstone block to sit on, crown for head et cetera. Under feudal law Edward was now the only legal king of Scotland and therefore king of all Britain. But the Scots had only been lightly feudalized.
Edward put English regiments in the main Scottish castles, put governors he could trust in the main towns, provided English garrisons to defend them supported out of local taxation. He ordered all Scotland’s nobility to not just swear but sign a huge oath of allegiance to him which acknowledged they would be wicked traitors if they broke it. They signed. So did the chief citizens of the towns. Only three bishops signed and as Scotland had eight bishops this showed the Church could not be trusted. In Westminster Edward made a law that all vacancies in the Scottish church should henceforth be filled by Englishmen, then he felt free to tackle France.
Robert Wishart, bishop of Glasgow, was a churchman who had signed the grand declaration of loyalty. According to a contemporary reporter a year later he and other signers “caused a certain bloody man, William Wallace, who had formerly been chief of brigands in Scotland, to revolt against the king, and assemble the people in his support”. Wallace was a small landowner driven to revolt by one of the injustices which are bound to happen under military occupations. Taking advantage of the geography that made Scotland poor – the wilderness between fertile districts – he attacked English garrisons one at a time, helped by the common people . . .
PUBLISHER: Please stop, I’ve seen the film –
AUTHOR:. . . and helped by the churchmen, spiritually and materially. Before Wishart emerged as a supporter of independence Edward gave him timbers to build a steeple for Glasgow Cathedral. Wishart gave them to Wallace for use as battering rams. Wallace cleared English garrisons from the lowlands while Moray, another young guerilla fighter, did so in the north. When nearly all the English soldiers had retreated into the big royal castles Wishart got Wallace knighted and proclaimed Guardian of the Scottish Commons. Had Scotland’s nobility now joined Wallace wholeheartedly the fight for independence would have been won in two or three years. Snobbery, ambition and greed made it last sixteen.
Bruce and Comyn supported Wallace half-heartedly because he was a commoner leading an army of commoners. Wallace was fighting to restore John Baliol to the throne, and Comyn and Bruce wanted to be king. And of course they were likely to lose their English estates! Edward arrived with his usual professional army which soon smashed the front lines of Wallace’s commoners. The noble cavalry officers behind them retreated, sent their apologies to Edward, were forgiven and swore allegiance to him a third time – English rulers often forgave treason when committed by one of their own class, a charming trait that persists to this day. Wallace was captured, tried for treason at Westminster, found guilty (though he had never sworn allegiance to Edward) and slowly tortured to death in accordance with an Anglo-Norman legal recipe. For a third time Edward went off to France thinking Scotland was finally his.
Scotland made it impossible for Edward to concentrate on his French business. The pope declared Scotland was a separate nation which Edward should leave alone. Bruce and Comyn now knew that if one stood aside the other could gain the whole kingdom in place of his English estates. They met to discuss the matter in Dumfries High Kirk. Bruce settled the argument by stabbing Comyn to death and six weeks later had himself crowned king of Scotland at Scone. Edward could never forgive him now! Bruce lost his English estates for ever, had to abandon his Scottish ones, for years had no chance of fighting on horseback like an Anglo-Norman nobleman. But he was Scottish born and his mother had been a Gael. He knew the language and went native, fighting a guerrilla war like Wallace and Guevara, avoiding pitched battles but steadily recapturing English garrisons with local support. He had an advantage over Wallace: noblemen could serve him without shame. Edward was told that, despite vengeance taken on Bruce’s followers “the multitude wishing to confirm him in his kingship was increasing day by day”. The clergy were supporting Bruce all over the north. The bishop of Moray said it was as virtuous to fight the English for Bruce as to fight the Saracens in the Holy Land.
No wonder Edward lost his temper and burned Scottish abbeys, unusual conduct then for a Christian king. He died leading another invasion force into the north. Extorting promises to the bitter end he made his son swear to carry his bones with the army until Scotland was finally conquered. Instead Edward II had his father suitably buried in Westminster Abbey under a monument with MALLEUS SCOTORUM carved on it, meaning Hammerer of Scots.
PUBLISHER: Why should such mediaeval politics matter today?
AUTHOR: Because our Scottish MPs are in the same state as the Scottish barons who swore allegiance to King Edward.
PUBLISHER: Explain that!
AUTHOR: For years Bruce, Comyn, Baliol and the others co-operated with Edward, Hammerer of Scots, because it gave them secure places and incomes in England. They also trusted him to keep Scotland for them. He commanded England, Ireland, Wales and much of France – surely he
