The Political Ambitions and Influences of the Balliol Dynasty

507 Pages·2008·34.91 MB·English

111
Declaration
I hereby declare that this thesis has been composed by myself, and that the work which
it embodies has been done by myself and has not been included in any other thesis.
Signed a(&dJ2/aa Date Q 2ccf
lv
Acknowledgements
Without a doubt, my first thanks have to go to Dr Michael Penman and Dr Fiona
Watson for proposing this topic as my thesis project just over four years ago. Dr
Penman, my primary supervisor since this project began, never faltered when I
bombarded him with questions covering a range of areas. He has always given great
support, too, from writing letters for lost luggage to making phone calls for lost
funding. His suggestions given on my research were so insightful and always pointed
me in the right direction or uncovered new areas to investigate. I am sincerely grateful
for everything and could not have wished for a better supervisor.
Dr Richard Oram, my secondary supervisor, also deserves great appreciation for
providing suggestions and helpful comments on the Balliols' lands in Galloway and for
directing me to important sources throughout this study. I would also like to thank Dr
Simon Taylor, a specialist in medieval place-names, who answered several queries
regarding lands in Scotland.
To everyone in the History Department at Stirling for encouragement and laughs
and to Annabelle, Linda and Kitty for always being more than helpful in the office and
helping me with my seemingly endless questions.
I would also like to thank the following for assisting me financially with various
research trips I made during the course of this study: Faculty of Arts, Department of
History and the University Alumni Fund (Stirling University); Royal Historical Society;
British Federation of Women Graduates (Theodora Bosanquet Bursary and the
Foundation Main Grant); Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (Dorothy Marshall
Bequest); Gilchrist Educational Trust. Moreover, the entire staff and librarians from the
following have been very helpful with many of my general and academic questions:
Stirling University Library (Stirling); National Library of Scotland (Edinburgh);
National Archives of Scotland (Edinburgh); National Archives (formerly Public Record
Office, Kew); British Library (London); Durham Cathedral Library (Durham); Balliol
College Library (Oxford); Bodleian Library (Oxford); Archives Nationales (Paris);
Bibliotheque Nationale de France (Paris); and to the Hitchin (Hertfordshire) historians,
James Dawson and David and Bridget Howlett, for directing me to a few sources and
answering some of my queries on the Balliol lands there.
In writing this thesis, I have had so much support from so many friends around
the world, without which this adventure would have been less rewarding and very
lonely. To Helen Rapport, especially, I owe a great deal of gratitude for the bottomless
cups of coffee, dinners, movies, chats and encouraging support not just with the thesis,
but with everything else life threw at me in these last years. I perhaps will never be
able to admit how much you and Mike have helped me.
To my best friends and 'sisters' back in Arkansas (and Bolivia), Moira, Daniela
and Alejandra, I have to say thanks for supporting me from the beginning of our
friendship and being there for me, despite the ocean between us, during the years I have
been here. I have missed you so much! To Eliana, Giselle, Gynna, Veronica, Roberta,
Christopher, Cecil, Denny and Tawfiq for also being there and helping me enjoy my
holidays at home!
Having this opportunity has been worthwhile in itself but my experience would
not have been the same without all the friends I have made along the way. To Nicki for
the movie nights, great girls' road trips (not to mention recently teaching me to drive a
manual!) and for keeping me sane in spite of Latin, palaeography and conferences.
Hopefully September will come and go without a hitch! To Delia, whom I have only
known less than a year, for being so strong and reminding me what can be
V
accomplished (and for being the best flatmate I could fmd!). Stuart, thanks for your
generosity, your friendship, for always being yourself and for all the dramatic memories
(both on and off stage!). To Dave for the Pimms, making the library interesting, and
much needed support. To Mark (for the flat!) and the other Bl9ers for well-timed
interruptions and distractions, games and drinks nights! To everyone in the Loch Leven
Players and Orwell Dramatic Society who gave me the opportunity to tread the boards
for the first time and who made all our productions so much fun! A special mention
must go to the late Lamar Bryson, whose care packages and emails of encouragement
always brought a smile to my face. Certainly, I must say thanks to all my flatmates
from House 30, for three great years: to Aglaia for opening my mind to all things Greek
and to Eva for bringing me round to drinking coffee. To Iris, for distracting me with a
good chat when I really needed it. To Sylvie, for your great party, although I think I
still owe you for the fme! To Ellie, for all the coincidences we shared (at least yours
worked out), for being such an admirable hard-worker and for the fun in Greece. To
Ann and Upala (and Joseph, too!) for always keeping me company with never-ending
movies, ice cream journeys and for keeping me laughing with your wittiness. And
especially to Chrissa for being the sweetest person ever, a great listener and definitely
my match when it comes to cooking and cleaning! Thanks too for letting me come to
visit! Of course to Janey for all the recipes, laughs and wisdom and for always being
there even though Taiwan is so far away!
Finally, this would not have been possible at all if it were not for my parents,
Ken and Jenny, and every member of my family who called me, sent me mail, or visited
me on my few breaks home (or finally came to see me!). Without your love and
support I do not believe I would have lasted, or enjoyed it as much as I have. It has
been unforgettable.
vi
List of Abbreviations
AN Archives Nationales, Paris
Anglo-Scottish Relations Anglo-Scottish Relations 11 74-1328. some selected
documents, ed. E.L.G. Stones (London, 2'' edition, 1970)
APS The Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, eds. T. Thomson
and C. Innes (12 volumes, Edinburgh, 1814-75)
Barrow, Robert Bruce G.W.S. Barrow, Robert Bruce and the Community of the
3r1
Realm of Scotland (Edinburgh, edition, 1988)
BIHR Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research
BL British Library, London
CCR Calendar of Close Rolls (47 volumes, London, 1892-1963)
CDS Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland, ed. J. Bain (5
volumes, Edinburgh, 1881-88)
Charter Rolls Calendar of Charter Rolls (5 volumes, London, 1903-16)
Chronicon de Lanercost Chronicon de Lanercost, 1201-1346, ed. J. Stevenson
(Edinburgh, 1839)
Chron. Bower Scotichronicon by Walter Bower, ed. D.E.R. Watt et al. (9
volumes, Aberdeen, 1987-99)
Chron. Fordun Johannis de Fordun Chronica Gentis Scotorum, ed. W.F.
Skene (Edinburgh, 1871-72)
Chron. Majora Matthaei Parisiensis, Chronica Majora,e d. HR. Luard (5
volumes, London 1872-83)
CInqPM Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem (30 volumes, London,
1904-68)
CPR Calendar of Patent Rolls (London, 1891-
EHR The English Historical Review
Foedera Foedera, Conventiones, Litterae et Cuiuscunque Generis
3rd
Acta Publica, ed. T. Rymer (The Hague, edition in 6
volumes, 1745 reprinted 1967).
Great Cause E.L.G. Stones and G.G. Simpson, Edward land the Throne
of Scotland 1290-1296: an Edition of the Record Sources for
the Great Cause (2 volumes, Oxford, 1978)
NA National Archives, Kew (formerly Public Record Office)
NAS National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh
NLS National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
RMS Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum (The Register of
the Great Seal of Scotland), 1306-1424, ed. J.M. Thomson
(Edinburgh, 1912)
Rot. Scot. Rotuli Scotiae in Turn Londinensi (2 volumes, London,
18 14-19)
RRS Regesta Re gum Scottorum
SHR The Scottish Historical Review
Stevenson, Documents Documents illustrative of the History of Scotland, 1286-
1306, ed. J. Stevenson (2 volumes, Edinburgh, 1870)
TDGNHAS Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural
History and Antiquarian Society
vii
List of Genealogical Tables and Maps
Genealogical Tables:

The Balliol Family 33

The Galloway Inheritance 44

The Huntingdon Inheritance 50

The Thirteen Claimants to the Throne of Scotland, 1290-92 151
Maps:

Northumberland Balliol Lands, c. 1278 24

The Balliol Lands in Durham 26

The Balliol Lands in Picardy 36

Galloway 43

The Balliols' Huntingdon Inheritance in Scotland 45

The Balliol Lands in England, c. 1268 55

King John Balliol 's Exile, 1299-1301 255
1
Introduction
The PoliticalAmbitions and Influences of the Balliol Dynasty, c. 1210-1364
The Balliol dynasty has received, for the most part, a brief mention in Scottish
history, but it has remained merely peripheral in the shadows of the Bruce dynasty and
the equally powerful Comyn family. Traditional views have augmented the failures and
shortcomings of King John (1292-96) and of his son, King Edward (1332-56), resulting
in a generally blackened reputation for the whole family. Repeatedly, John and Edward
have been assessed by contemporary and later sources as Scottish kings rather than as
English barons; thus, what has emerged is a simplistic puppet image of the family—a
Scottish dynasty loyal to the English which had no real importance in the fight for
independence in the years after Alexander III's death in 1286. Much of this
misconception is due, paradoxically, to the predominately English nature of the family
and their loyalties and connections to the English royal family.
This perceived image was pushed forward quickly after King John's surrender
and abdication in 1296 in order to gloss over Robert Bruce's usurpation in 1306.
Primarily, this can be seen in the reign of Bruce (1306-29), who used much
propagandist legislation to justif' his seizure of the Scottish throne.' When Bruce
gained the crown, many Scots still believed that John Balliol was rightfully king, and
therefore, his son, Edward, was the heir to the throne, not Bruce. 2 In fact, the kingship
of Robert I was publicly 'accepted' only later through the Declaration of the Clergy in
1309, and it was this acceptance that slowly developed into the legend of Bruce's
superior claim. In this engineered Declaration, Bruce's rights to the throne were
championed over those of John Balliol, who was viewed as a pawn of Edward I and a
'R.J. Tanner, "Cowing the Community? Coercion and Falsification in Robert Bruce's Parliaments, 1309-
1318," in The History of the Scottish Parliament: Parliament and Politics in Scotlana 1235-1560,e ds.
K.M. Brown and R.J. Tanner (Edinburgh, 2004), 50-73.
2Barrow,Robert Bruce, 113, 166.
2
king who was 'on various pretexts taken, imprisoned and deprived of kingdom and
people by the king of England,' while assertions were made regarding the Bruce
family's support from the 'faithful people' of Scotland, who 'had always
understood.. .that the said lord Robert, the grandfather, was true heir after the death of
King Alexander.'3
The Balliol reputation continued to be degraded, especially in most fourteenth
and fifteenth century Scottish chronicles. In later years, after the failure of the Balliol
line in 1364, Scottish chroniclers began to promote the Bruce cause. One exception
comes from Andrew Wyntoun's Original Chronicle (c. 1420), which explains how
Dervorguilla de Balliol, mother of King John, 'spendit hir tresour dewotly' by founding
Sweetheart Abbey near Dumfries and other friaries.4 Other Scottish writers, such as
John of Fordun (c. 1380) and his continuator Walter Bower (1440s), must be
approached carefully because of the amount of Bruce propaganda inserted into their
stories, as well as their frequent attempts to gloss over the English connections of
Robert Bruce and the Comyn family.5 Indeed, Bower's claim that Edward Balliol had
no right to the Scottish throne because of his grandmother's [Dervorguilla] illegitimacy
surely sparked arguments by later historians that the Balliol dynasty never had a
legitimate claim in 1292.6 Moreover, the authorship of both Bower and Fordun is
questionable and biased and its authenticity, having been written decades after many of
the events they discuss, is also put into doubt. Wyntoun may also have based his work
on John Barbour's The Bruce (c. 1371-76), and the Anonymous Chronicle, which spans
A.A.M. Duncan, "The Declarations of the Clergy, 1309-10," in The Declaration of Arbroath: History,
Sign flcance, Setting, ed. G.W.S. Barrow (Edinburgh, 2003), 32-49 at 35, 44; D.W. Hunter Marshall, "On
a Supposed Provincial Council of the Scottish Church at Dundee in February 1310," SHR, xxiii (1926),
80-93; Barrow, Robert Bruce, 184. The Declaration is dated 17 March 1309.
'
The Original Chronicle ofAndrew of Wyntoun, ed. F.J. Amours (Edinburgh, 1914), Book 8, Chapter 8.
This is seen primarily with the English baronial conflict of the 1250s and 1260s, when Comyn and
Bruce went to England to assist King Henry (See Chapter Two; Chron. Fordun, i, 302).
6 Bower claims that Dervorguilla was illegitimate because the dispensation requested for the marriage of
her parents, Alan of Galloway and Margaret of Huntingdon (who were cousins), had failed due to the
deaths of the messengers on the way to Rome (Chron. Bower, vii, 289).
3
from 1324 (the birth of David Bruce) to 1390 (the death of Robert II). In addition, he
may have decided against using certain parts of Fordun's Gesta Annalia II because of
the disagreeable portrayal of Robert Stewart (later Robert II).
Fiona Watson has recently provided a valuable investigation of King John's
reputation in late medieval English and Scottish chronicles, such as Flores Historiarum,
the annals of William Rishanger and Barbour's The Bruce, and in later antiquarians,
such as Sir Walter Scott and John Hill Burton. Her piece examines primarily the claims
that John was removed from office in 1295 for his ineffectiveness. 8 Indeed, through his
forced abdication in 1296 and the degrading ceremony surrounding it, John Balliol
earned the ever-lasting nickname of 'Toom Tabard,' apparently coined by Peter de
Langtoft, a contemporary English chronicler who died at the beginning of the
fourteenth century. Langtoft's caption 'His tipet is tipped, / His tabard is tom' was
echoed by the Scottish Wyntoun, over a hundred years later, who explains that 'Tuyme
Tabart he was callit eftirwart.' 9 Although he still appears as a puppet king, it has
become clearer that he was a willing puppet because of his English upbringing and the
loyalty of his family to that realm. Indeed, in truth he was a 'comparative stranger' to
Scotland and remained 'an Englishman rather than a Scotsman."° His English nature
and service under Edward I ensured that he would not rise to become a great Scottish
king, although evidence does indicate that he attempted to stress royal authority upon
his accession.
D. Broun, "A New Look at Gesta Annalia Attributed to John of Fordun," in Church, Chronicle and
Learning in Medieval and Early Renaissance Scotland, ed. B.E. Crawford (Edinburgh, 1999), 9-30, at 18;
S. Boardman, "Chronicle Propaganda in Late-Medieval Scotland: Robert the Steward, John of Fordun,
and the 'Anonymous Chronicle," SHR, lxxvi (1997), 23-43, at 25-8.
8 F. Watson, "The Demonisation of King John," in Scottish Histoiy: the Power of the Past, eds. E.J.
Cowan and R.J. Finlay (Edinburgh, 2002), 29-45, at 29.
The Chronicle of Pierre de Langtoft, ed. 1. Wright (London, 1866), 25 8-9; The Original Chronicle of
Andrew of Wyntoun, Book 8, Chapter 12, lines 1953-62.
'°Barrow, Robert Bruce, 49.
4
Edward Balliol has also been portrayed as a threatening usurper by two
chronicles, the fourteenth century English Auctore Bridlingtoniensi and the fifteenth
century Scottish Liber Pluscardensis, which claim that those Scots who adhered to
Balliol after 1332 were inclined to do so 'more from fear than from love." The
portrayal of this by the Pluscarden chronicler is understandable as it justifies the S cots'
unexpected defeat following Balliol's invasion and enthronement in 1332. The English
knight and chronicler, Sir Thomas Gray of Heton, who was captured in 1355 by the
Scots and wrote his Scalachronica while in prison, provides useful information on
Balliol's early campaigns and the participation of the English king and his govermnent
in the regime.'2 Gray portrays Edward III as commander of the Scottish expeditions, as
can be expected, which is a similar approach used by the French chronicler, Jean
Froissart. Both Froissart and Gray underline Edward III's role as the benefactor of
Balliol's campaign in Scotland, suggesting that the English king was using Balliol as a
means to 'preserve the conquests' in the north, a theme which will be examined in
Chapter Seven.'3 Other French chroniclers, such as the author of Les Grandes
Chroniques de France and Jean le Bel on the other hand, make modest references to the
Balliol dynasty in passing, usually limited to Edward Balliol and his invasion of
Scotland in 1 332.' This illustrates that the Balliol family, despite their established
French connections, had also been neglected by contemporary and later French
chroniclers although there had been an increased interest in the family in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as outlined below.
'
Auctore Bridlingtoniensi [hereafter Bridlington] in Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I and Edward
II, ed. W. Stubbs (London, 1882), ii, 108-9; Liber Pluscardensis, ed. F.J.H. Skene (Edinburgh, 1877-80),
ii, 266.
12 Scalachronica: by Sir Thomas Gray, a Chronicle of England and Scotland, ed. J. Stevenson
(Edinburgh, 1836).
13 Froissart 's Chronicles, ed. and trans. J. Jolliffe (London, 1967), 64.
14 Jean Froissart, Chroniques,e d. N. Desgrugillers (Paris, 2003); Froissart's Chronicles; Chronique de
Jean le Bel, eds. J. Viard and E. Déprez (Paris, 1904-05); Les Grandes Chroniques de France, ed. J.
Viard (Paris, 1953).
5
The thirteenth and fourteenth century English Chronicle of Lanercost, which
covers the dates 1201 to 1346, proves to be a very important resource for the three
Balliol lords examined in this study. Most of the chronicle's information was written
by contemporaries, perhaps one of whom was Friar Richard of Durham, who A.G.
Little believes was a close friend of Dervorguilla de Balliol.'5 Possibly an inside
source, Friar Richard provided essential details in the chronicle of the long-standing
dispute which John (I) Balliol (d. 1268) had with the bishops of Durham, resulting in
the foundation of Balliol College (c. 1263), discussed here in Chapter Two and
Appendix B. In addition, it also appears to be a trustworthy source for the kingships of
John (TI) and Edward. Although one cannot consider any medieval chronicler to be fair
and unbiased, the Lanercost writer appears to be both critical of the Balliol family as
well as praising their accomplishments and successes, especially concerning King John
and King Edward. This may have been related to the fact that the Balliols were based
in northern England, as was the Lanercost Priory, which was just outside Carlisle. Of
course, the priory was attacked on more than one occasion by the Bruce S cots in the
wars against England;'6 thus the chronicler may have favoured the Balliols as
Englishmen.
Sixteenth century chronicler John Leslie notes that John (II) treated King
Edward I of England—during the Great Cause—with 'sweet words' and 'had promised
that if the king [Edward] would crown him, he should by all means possible, conform to
[Edward's] power, make rich the realm of England, diminish the liberty of Scotland,
augment largely the kingdom of England, and of his fidelity make an oath, to know
'
A.G. Little, Franciscan Papers, Lists and Documents (Manchester, 1943), 44, 46, 49. Incidentally the
chronicle was known in the early sixteenth century as the Chronicles of Friar Richard of Durham. Little
declares that Friar Richard may have been the same as Brother Richard de Slickburn, one of
Dervorguilla's agents in the foundation of Balliol College.
16 Chronicon de Lanercost, 190-1, 324, 346.