January 20, 1356: Edward Balliol surrendered his claim to the Scottish throne

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2nd War of Scottish Independence, Charles of Valois, David II of Scotland, Edward Balliol, John Balliol. King of Scots. Edward III of England, Robert I of Scotland

Edward Balliol (c. 1283 – January 1364) was a claimant to the Scottish throne during the Second War of Scottish Independence. With English help, he ruled parts of the kingdom from 1332 to 1356.

Claim to Scotland

Edward was the eldest son of John Balliol and Isabella de Warenne. John Balliol was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296.

As a child, Edward was betrothed to Isabelle of Valois, the eldest daughter of Charles, Count of Valois (1271-1325) and his first wife Marguerite of Anjou (1273-1299).

Charles of Valois was the third son of King Philippe III of France and Infanta Isabella of Aragon, and was a member of the House of Capet and founder of the House of Valois, whose rule over France would start in 1328.

Margurite of Anjou was a daughter of King Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hungary, the daughter of King Stephen V of Hungary. Her father ceded to her husband, Charles of Valois, the Counties of Anjou and Maine as her dowry.

Edward’s father John resigned his title as King of Scotland in 1296, and it was likely this that caused the King Philippe III of France to break the marriage contract and betroth Isabelle instead to Jean son of Arthur II, Duke of Brittany.

The death of King Robert I of Scots in June 1329 left his six-year-old son David II as King and one of King Roberts’ ablest lieutenants, Thomas Randolph, the Earl of Moray, as regent. However, another of King Robert’s most able lieutenants, the Black Douglas, was killed in battle a year after the king’s death. Then Randolph suddenly also died, on his way to meet an invasion by Edward Balliol backed by King Edward III of England. Balliol’s forces defeated the new regent, the Earl of Mar, at the Battle of Dupplin Moor in Perthshire in August 1332.

Edward Balliol was crowned at Scone in September 1332, but three months later he was forced to flee half-naked back to England, following a surprise attack by nobles loyal to David II at the Battle of Annan.

On his retreat from Scotland, Balliol sought refuge with the Clifford family, land owners in Westmorland, and stayed in their castles at Appleby, Brougham, Brough, and Pendragon.

Return

Edward Balliol was put back into power by the English in 1333, following the siege of Berwick and the Battle of Halidon Hill. Balliol, under the Treaty of Newcastle (1334), then ceded the whole of the district formerly known as Lothian to Edward and paid homage to him as liege lord while staying in Blackfriars friary in Newcastle upon Tyne.

With no serious support in Scotland, he was defeated again in 1334, fleeing Scotland once more.

In November 1334, Edward III invaded again, but unable to bring the Scots to battle, he retreated in February 1335. The final blow was the English defeat on November 30, 1335 at the Battle of Culblean, which was the effective end of Balliol’s attempt to overthrow the King of Scots.

Edward III and Edward Balliol returned again in July 1336 with a large English army and advanced through Scotland, first to Glasgow and then to Perth, destroying the surrounding countryside as they went. But by late 1336, the Scots had regained control over virtually all of Scotland, and by 1338 the tide had turned against the usurper.

Edward Balliol returned to Scotland after the defeat of King David II at the Battle of Neville’s Cross in 1346 and with a small force raised an insurrection in Galloway in a final attempt to gain the crown of Scotland. He only succeeded in gaining control of some of Galloway, with his power diminishing there until 1355.

Final years

On January 20, 1356, Edward Balliol surrendered his claim to the Scottish throne to Edward III in exchange for an English pension. He spent the rest of his life living in obscurity. He died childless in January 1364, at Wheatley, Doncaster, Yorkshire, England. The location of his grave has been speculated to be under a Doncaster Post Office. His heirs were his four sisters.

October 17, 1346: King David II of Scotland is captured and held captive in England

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David II of Scotland, Earl of Angus, Edward III of England, Odiham Castle, Robert I of Scotland, Robert the Bruce, Windsor Castle

David II (March 5, 1324 – February 22, 1371) was King of Scotland for nearly 42 years, from 1329 until his death in 1371. He was the last male of the House of Bruce. Although David spent long periods in exile or captivity, he managed to ensure the survival of his kingdom and left the Scottish monarchy in a strong position.

David II was the eldest and only surviving son of Robert I of Scotland and his second wife, Elizabeth de Burgh. He was born on March 5, 1324 at Dunfermline Abbey, Fife. His mother died in 1327, when he was 3 years old. In accordance with the Treaty of Northampton’s terms, on July 17, 1328, when he was 4, David was married to seven-year-old Joan of the Tower, at Berwick-upon-Tweed. She was the daughter of King Edward II of England and Isabella of France, the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughtedeath King Philippe IV of France and Queen Joan I of Navarre They had no issue.

Reign

David became king upon the death of his father on June 7, 1329. David and his wife were crowned at Scone on November 24, 1331.
During David’s minority, Sir Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray, was appointed Guardian of Scotland by the Act of Settlement of 1318. After Moray’s death, on July 20, 1332, he was replaced by Donald, Earl of Mar, elected by an assembly of the magnates of Scotland at Perth, August 2, 1332.

Only ten days later Mar fell at the Battle of Dupplin Moor. Sir Andrew Murray of Bothwell, who was married to Christian (or Christina), the sister of King Robert I of Scotland, was chosen as the new Guardian. He was taken prisoner by the English at Roxburgh in April 1333 and was thence replaced as Guardian by Archibald Douglas (the Tyneman), who fell at the Battle of Halidon Hill that July.

In 1346, under the terms of the Auld Alliance, David invaded England in the interests of the French, who were at war with the English in Normandy. After initial success at Hexham, David was wounded, and his army soundly defeated at the Battle of Neville’s Cross on October 17, 1346.

On that day King David II of Scotland was captured and taken prisoner by Sir John de Coupland, who imprisoned him in the Tower of London. David was transferred to Windsor Castle in Berkshire upon the return of Edward III from France. The depiction of David being presented to King Edward III in the play The Raigne of King Edward the Third is fictitious. David and his household were later moved to Odiham Castle in Hampshire. His imprisonment was not reputed to be a rigorous one, although he remained captive in England for eleven years.

On October 3, 1357, after several protracted negotiations with the Scots’ regency council, a treaty was signed at Berwick-upon-Tweed under which Scotland’s nobility agreed to pay 100,000 marks, at the rate of 10,000 marks per year, as a ransom for their king. This was ratified by the Scottish Parliament at Scone on November 6, 1357.

Return to Scotland

David II of Scotland (left) and Edward III England (right)

David returned at once to Scotland, bringing with him a mistress, Katherine (or Catherine) Mortimer, of whom little is known. This was an unpopular move, and Katherine was murdered in 1360 by men hired by the Earl of Angus and other nobles, according to some sources; the Earl was then starved to death. She was replaced as mistress by Margaret Drummond.

After six years, owing to the poverty of the kingdom, it was found impossible to raise the ransom instalment of 1363. David then made for London and sought to get rid of the liability by offering to bequeath Scotland to Edward III, or one of his sons, in return for a cancellation of the ransom.

David did this with the full awareness that the Scots would never accept such an arrangement. In 1364, the Scottish parliament indignantly rejected a proposal to make Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the next king. Over the next few years, David strung out secret negotiations with Edward III, which apparently appeased the matter.

His wife, Queen Joan, died on September 7, 1362 (aged 41) at Hertford Castle, Hertfordshire, possibly a victim of the Black Death. He remarried, on about February 20, 1364, Margaret Drummond, widow of Sir John Logie, and daughter of Sir Malcolm Drummond. He divorced her on about March 20, 1370. They had no children. Margaret, however, travelled to Avignon, and made a successful appeal to the Pope Urban V to reverse the sentence of divorce which had been pronounced against her in Scotland.

She was still alive in January 1375, four years after David died.
From 1364, David governed actively, dealing firmly with recalcitrant nobles, and a wider baronial revolt, led by his prospective successor, the future Robert II. David continued to pursue the goal of a final peace with England. At the time of his death, the Scottish monarchy was stronger and the country was “a free and independent kingdom” according to a reliable source. The royal finances were more prosperous than might have seemed possible.

Death of King Robert III of Scotland.

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David II of Scotland, Duke of Albany, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Henry IV, Henry IV of England, House of Stuart, James I of Scotland, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of Scotland, Robert III of Scotland, Robert the Bruce

On this date in History. April 4, 1406. Death of King Robert III of Scotland.

Robert III (c.1337/40 – April 4, 1406), born John Stewart, was King of Scots from 1390 to his death. He was known primarily as John, Earl of Carrick before ascending the throne. He was the eldest son of Robert II and Elizabeth Mure and was legitimated with the marriage of his parents in 1347.

In 1368 David II, King of Scots created John Earl of Carrick. His father became king Robert II in 1371 after the unexpected death of the childless King David II. Robert II’s claim to the throne of Scotland was as the nephew of David II and also as a grand son of Robert I (Robert the Bruce). Robert II was the son of the son of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland and of Marjorie Bruce, daughter of the Scottish king Robert the Bruce by his first wife Isabella of Mar. This made Robert II the first Scottish king of the House of Stewart (Stuart)*

John Stewart, Earl of Carrick was influential in the government of the kingdom but became progressively more impatient at his father’s longevity. The Earl of CarrickRobert II died at Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire on April 19, 1390 and was buried at Scone on April 25. The Earl of Carrick was 53 years old when he ascended the Scottish throne.

In May 1390 the Scottish Parliament granted John permission to change his regnal name to Robert III probably in part to maintain the link back to Robert I but also to disassociate himself from unpopular King John Balliol.

In 1367 Robert III, then Earl of Carrick, married Annabella Drummond the daughter of Sir John Drummond, 11th Thane of Lennox and Mary Montifex, daughter of Sir William Montifex. They had seven children. The heir to the throne was David Stewart (24 October 1378 – 26 March 1402). He was the first Duke of Rothesay from 1398. He was named after his great-great-uncle, David II of Scotland, and also held the titles of Earl of Atholl (1398–1402) and Earl of Carrick (1390–1402).

In late February 1402, while travelling officially to St Andrews, David was arrested just outside the city at Strathtyrum in a sting operation which had been arranged by Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany (c. 1340 – 3 September 1420), the younger brother of Robert III, King of Scots a ruthless politician. The Duke of Albany, at that time in complicit alliance with Archibald, fourth Earl of Douglas. (David’s father-in-law, the highly influential third Earl, had died two years before, in 1400.) concocted the pretext for David’s arrest was that his lieutenancy had expired. He was initially held captive in St Andrews Castle, and soon afterwards taken to Falkland Palace, Albany’s residence in Fife. At Falkland David remained a prisoner and shortly died there, reputedly of starvation. A few weeks later, in May 1402, a public enquiry into the circumstances of David’s death exonerated Albany of all blame.

Following David, the Duke of Rothesay’s death, and with the restoration of the lieutenancy to Albany and the Scottish defeat at the battle of Humbleton, Robert III experienced almost total exclusion from political authority and was limited to his lands in the west.

By October 28, 1405 Robert III had returned to Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire. With the king’s health failing, it was decided in the winter of 1405–6 to send the young prince James, now heir to the throne after his brothers death, to France out of the reach of the Duke of Albany. On March 22, 1406 the ship was taken by English pirates off Flamborough Head, who delivered James to King Henry IV of England. Robert III had moved to Rothesay Castle where, after hearing of his son’s captivity, died on April 4, 1406, and was buried in Paisley Abbey, which had been founded by the Stewarts.

James Stewart, succeeded Robert III as James I, King of Scots (although at that time remaining uncrowned and in captivity in England) while the Duke of Albany secured himself as de facto ruler of Scotland.

* Stewart was the original spelling for the name of the Royal House. It was after the reign of Mary I, Queen of Scots and her time in France did the spelling of the Royal House change to Stuart, the French form of the name.

This date in History: House of Stewart ascends the Scottish throne.

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David II of Scotland, House of Bruce, House of Stewart, House of Stuart, Kingdom of Scotland, Robert I, Robert II of Scotland, Robert the Bruce

On this date. In History, February 22, 1371: David II, King of Scots died and was succeed by his nephew as Robert II, King of Scots, first monarch of the House of Stewart (Stuart).

David II (March 5, 1324 – February 1371) was King of Scots from 1329 until his death, and the last male of the House of Bruce. Although David spent long periods in exile or captivity, he managed to resist English attempts to annex the Scottish kingdom, and left the monarchy in a strong position for his nephew.

David II was the elder and only surviving son of Robert I of Scotland and his second wife, Elizabeth de Burgh. He was born on March 5, 1324 at Dunfermline Abbey, Fife. His mother died in 1327. In accordance with the Treaty of Northampton’s terms, David II was married on July 17, 1328 to Joan of the Tower, daughter of Edward II of England and Isabella of France, at Berwick-upon-Tweed. They had no issue.

David II died unexpectedly and at the height of his power in Edinburgh Castle on February 22, 1371. He was buried in Holyrood Abbey. At the time of his death, he was planning to marry his mistress, Agnes Dunbar(niece of Agnes Randolph, also known as “Black Agnes of Dunbar”). He left no children and was succeeded by his nephew, Robert II, the son of David’s half-sister Marjorie Bruce. He was the last male of the House of Bruce.

Robert II (March 2, 1316 – April 19, 1390) reigned as King of Scots from 1371 to his death as the first monarch of the House of Stewart. He was the son of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland and of Marjorie Bruce, daughter of the Scottish king Robert the Bruce by his first wife Isabella of Mar.

Edward Bruce, younger brother of Robert the Bruce, was named heir to the throne but he died without legitimate children on December 3, 1318 in a battle near Dundalk in Ireland. Marjorie by this time had died in a riding accident – probably in 1317. Parliament decreed her infant son, Robert Stewart, as heir presumptive, but this lapsed on March 5, 1324 on the birth of a son, David, to King Robert and his second wife, Elizabeth de Burgh. Robert Stewart inherited the title of High Steward of Scotland on his father’s death on April 9, 1326, and a Parliament held in July 1326 confirmed the young Steward as heir should Prince David die without a successor. In 1329 King Robert I died and the six-year-old David succeeded to the throne with Sir Thomas Randolph, Earl of Morayappointed Guardian of Scotland.

David was buried at Holyrood Abbey almost immediately but an armed protest by William, Earl of Douglas delayed Robert II’s coronation until March 26, 1371. The reasons for the incident remain unclear but may have involved a dispute regarding Robert’s right of succession, or may have been directed against George Dunbar, Earl of March and the southern Justiciar, Robert Erskine. It was resolved by Robert giving his daughter Isabella in marriage to Douglas’s son, James and with Douglas replacing Erskine as Justiciar south of the Forth. Robert’s accession did affect some others who held offices from David II. In particular, George Dunbar’s brother John Dunbar, the Lord of Fife who lost his claim on Fife and Sir Robert Erskine’s son, Sir Thomas Erskine who lost control of Edinburgh Castle.

On This Day…July 5,

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Albert VI Duke of Bavaria-Leuchtenberg, Auld Alliance, Charles IX of France, David II of Scotland, Elisabeth of Austria, England, France, Joan of England, Pedro III of Portugal, Scotland

1295 – Scotland and France form an alliance, the so-called “Auld Alliance”, against England.

Births

1321 – Joan of England, Queen consort of King David II of Scotland (d. 1362)
1554 – Elisabeth of Austria, queen consort of Charles IX of France (d. 1592)
1717 – Pedro III of Portugal, consort of Queen Maria I of Portugal (d. 1786)

Deaths

1375 – Charles III of Alençon, French archbishop (b. 1337)
1666 – Albert VI, Duke of Bavaria-Leuchtenberg (b. 1584)