In 1290, following the death of Margaret I, Scotland had no obvious heir to the throne and the country was ruled by six Guardians. Fearing civil war, William Fraser, Bishop of St Andrews called upon Edward I of England to adjudicate between thirteen claimants, commonly called Competitors.
The Competitors for the Crown of Scotland were: Eric II, King of Norway Floris V, Count of Holland John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch John de Balliol John de Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings Nicholas de Soules Patrick de Dunbar, 7th Earl of Dunbar Patrick Galithly Robert de Brus, Earl of Annandale Robert de Pinkeney Roger de Mandeville William de Ros, 2nd Baron de Ros William de Vesci, Baron de Vesci Edward used the situation to his advantage, insisting that the King of Scotland should be subservient to the King of England. Nine of the claimants agreed to Edward's proposals, who were then reduced to three: John de Balliol, Robert de Brus and John de Hastings, all of whom were descendants of the three daughters of David, Earl of Huntingdon. After further deliberation, Edward I awarded the crown to John Balliol, the descendant of the Earl's eldest daughter, and the senior legitimate heir by primogeniture. Robert Bruce's claim was equally valid in law because, although descended from the second daughter, he was a generation nearer David I. In 1296, Balliol renounced his fealty to England whereupon Edward immediately marched north and Balliol was forced to surrender himself and his kingdom to Edward. However, in 1306 the crown was assumed by a grandson of Robert de Brus, who became King Robert I.With the death of Alexander III of Scotland in 1286 without a male heir, the throne of Scotland had become the possession of the three-year old Margaret, Damsel of Norway, the great-granddaughter of the King. In 1290 the Guardians of Scotland who had been appointed to govern the realm during the young Queens minority drew up the Treaty of Birgham, a marriage contract between Margaret and the then five-year old Edward of Caernarvon the heir to the English throne. The treaty , amongst other points, contained the provision that although any offspring of this marriage would be heir to the crowns of both England and Scotland, the latter kingdom should be "separate, apart and free in itself without subjection to the English Kingdom".
In early October the young Queen died in Orkney on her way to Scotland, leaving Scotland without an undisputed successor to the throne. One of the strongest claimants John Balliol, lord of Galloway forged an alliance with Antony Bek, the representative of Edward I in Scotland and began styling himself 'heir of Scotland' while another Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale turned up to the site of Queen Margarets supposed inauguration with a force of soldiers amidst rumours that his friends the Earl of Mar and the Earl of Atholl were also raising their forces.
Edward I steps in
To avoid the catastrophe of open warfare between the Bruce and Balliol the Guardians and other Scots magnates asked Edward I to intervene. Edward seized the occasion as an opportunity to gain something he had long desired — legal recognition that the realm of Scotland was held as a feudal dependency to the throne of England. The English kings had a long history of presuming an overlordship of Scotland, harking back to the late 12th century when Scotland had actually been a vassal state of England, but the legality of the 13th century claim was questionable.
In line with this desire Edward demanded in May 1291 that his claim of feudal overlordship of Scotland be recognised before he would step in and act as arbiter. Floris V, Count of Holland, son of William II, Count of Holland, son of Floris IV, Count of Holland, son of William I, Count of Holland, son of Floris III, Count of Holland by his wife Ada, daughter of Henry, Earl of Huntingdon, son of King David I. He claimed that Earl David of Huntingdon had renounced his hereditary rights to throne of Scotland. Patrick Dunbar, 7th Earl of Dunbar, son of Patrick, 6th Earl of Dunbar, son of Patrick, 5th Earl of Dunbar, son of Patrick, 4th Earl of Dunbar by his wife Ada, natural daughter of King William the Lion. He descended, in an allegedly legitimate unbroken male line, from a younger brother of King Duncan I of Scotland (who allegedly also was a younger son of Bethóc, the male line being that of Lords of Dunbar, originally Earls of Northumbria, later Earls of Dunbar (see Earl of March). His son became recognized as the Earl of Scottish March. Also, an additional claim in his favor was that made by his wife, Marjory, daughter of Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, allegedly descended from King Donald III. William de Vesci, Baron de Vesci, son of William de Vesci, son of Eustace de Vesci by his wife Margaret, natural daughter of King William the Lion. William de Ros, 2nd Baron de Ros, son of Robert de Ros, 1st Baron de Ros, son of William de Ros, of Hamlake, son of Robert de Ros by his wife Isabella, natural daughter of King William the Lion. Robert de Pinkeney, son of Henry de Pinkeney by his wife Alicia, daughter of John Lindesay by his wife Marjorie, an alleged natural daughter of Henry, Earl of Huntingdon, son of King David I. Nicholas de Soules, son of … de Soules by his wife Ermengarde, daughter of Alan Durward by his wife Marjorie, natural daughter of King Alexander II. Patrick Galithly, son of Henry Galithly, natural son of King William the Lion. Roger de Mandeville, son of ….. de Mandeville by his wife Agatha, daughter of Robert Wardone by his wife Aufrica, daughter of William de Say by his wife Aufrica, natural daughter of King William the Lion. John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, son of John Comyn, son of Richard Comyn, son of William Comyn, son of Richard Comyn by his wife Hextilda, daughter of Ughtred of Tynedale by his wife Bethoc, daughter of King Donald Bane. John de Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings, son of Henry de Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, son of Henry de Hastings by his wife Ada, fourth daughter of David, Earl of Huntingdon, son of Henry, Earl of Huntingdon, son of King David I. John Balliol, son of John Balliol by his wife Devorguilla, daughter of Alan, Lord of Galloway by his wife Margaret, eldest daughter of David, Earl of Huntingdon, son of Henry, Earl of Huntingdon, son of King David I. Robert de Brus, Lord of Annandale, son of Robert de Brus the Lord of Annandale by his wife Isabella, second daughter of David, Earl of Huntingdon, son of Henry, Earl of Huntingdon, son of King David I. This Robert Bruce was Regent of Scotland sometime during minority of King and was occasionally recognized as a Tanist of the Scottish Throne. Eric II, King of Norway, father of Queen Margaret I and son-in-law of King Alexander III.
The arguments
In reality only four of these men had genuine claims to the throne: John de Hastings, Balliol, Bruce and Floris V.
John Hastings, an Englishman with extensive estates in Scotland, could not succeed to the throne by any of the normal rules governing feudal legacy and instead had his lawyers argue that Scotland was not a true kingdom at all based, amongst other things, on the fact that Scots kings were traditionally neither crowned nor anointed. By the tradition of primogeniture he was the rightful claimant, and that tradition had been followed in choosing heirs to the Scottish throne since King Edgar in 1097. Indeed the other Scottish claimants (including Bruce) had already tacitly acknowledged the tradition of primogeniture in allowing Margaret of Norway to claim the throne. Whatever the truth of this the fact remained that Alexander did eventually produce a male heir and that in the same period John Balliol also produced sons, all of whom would have a stronger claim than Bruce. Bruce also began by arguing alongside Balliol that the kingdom was indivisible but when it became apparent that his own claim was going to fail he instead performed a rapid U-turn and joined Hastings in arguing that it be split amongst the three senior claimants, a fact for which he has been excoriated by many modern historians. Although not a direct descendent of David I he claimed that David had given up his right to the throne to his brother William in exchange for a grant of land in Aberdeenshire. If true, this would make Floris the rightful King of Scotland. Floris claimed that although he did not possess copies of the documents detailing the handover of power one must exist somewhere in Scotland and Edward postponed the court for a full ten months while a search was made through various castle treasuries. This has been interpreted to mean that Floris and Bruce were in collusion, with Bruce hoping that taken together their arguments could defeat Balliol with Bruces' claim then being upheld in favour of Floris.
Election
Edward I gave judgement on the Scottish case on November 17, 1292 in favour of John Balliol with his son Edward becoming heir designate. Of special note was the support of John Comyn another competitor and head of the most powerful baronial family in Scotland who was married to Balliol's sister, Elanor.
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