Explain The Reaosns Why There Were Difficulties In The Relationship Between John Balliol And Edward I.

Question 1

Explain the reasons why there were difficulties in the relationship between John Balliol and Edward I.

Answer 1

• Balliols was relatively inexperienced as a politician which explains the difficulties in the relationship between John Balliol and Edward i as he had not been given the same political instructions on ruling a kingdom than his three older brothers so, he was personally unprepared for the task of being king of Scotland. This shows a difficulty Balliol faced in his relationship with Edward as his lack of political experience made it easier for Edward to control him and ultimately express authority over Balliol and the Kingdom of Scotland.
• The Berwick Burgess case explains the difficulties in the relationship between John Balliol and Edward I as only a week into King Johns reign, a Berwick Burgess took his legal case complaint to Edwards Parliament at Newcastle in 1292, the English king found himself in favour therefore, Edward demanded King John to change his decision. This shows a reason why there was difficulties in the relationship between John Balliol and Edward I as this was humiliating for the Scottish king to be forced to change his decision as Edward had officially overturned a Scottish legal decision, this now showed that Scotland was inferior to England.
• The Macduff case explains a reason why there was difficulties in he relationship between John Balliol and Edward I as Macduff had been disinherited from his lands and had appealed to Edward in 1291 during the Great Cause however, Macduff was rested for a brief period of time when King John took over the kingdom, Macduff was released and Edward took the case into his hands and summoned King John to Westminster in September 1293 to explain his judgement on this issue. This shows the difficulties in the relationship between John Balliol and Edward I as King John was forced to agree to follow Edward to appeal the case of Macduff which was yet another humiliating climb down for the Scottish King as he had no power to express objection.
• Scotland was ordered to fight for Edward against France which explains a difficulty in the relationship of John Balliol and Edward I as the prospect of a foreign war caused rebellion in Scotland as Edward summoned feudal lords and king John to fight for him, the assumption that the Scots were to fight against France who was one of Scotlands trading partners was a bad prospect for Scotland, twelve new guardians were appointed to defy Edward and they made a treaty with France against Edward. This shows the difficulties in the relationship of John Balliol and Edward I as Scottish nobility were now fed up with the humiliating reign of King John an simply pushed their king to one side and assumed leadership of the kingdom and of the war against Edward.
• The massacre of Berwick explains a difficulty in the relationship of John Balliol and Edward I as according to the chronicle of Lanercost, 15,000 people were slaughtered during the siege of Berwick by English troops. This shows a difficulty in the relationship of John Balliol and Edward I as Scottish people had now heavily faced the wrath of Edward I and they received little help and encouragement from King John so once again he was not able to combat Edward even though Scotland started the fight.
• The Battle of Dunbar explains a difficulty in the relationship between John Balliol and Edward I as many of the guardians and over 130 Scottish nobles were taken prisoner after the disaster that was the battle of Dunbar. This shows a difficulty in the relationship of John Balliol and Edward I as this battle left no effective central leadership in Scotland nor did anyone want to continue war as King John recoiled all war effort on his part so Scotland had no choice but to give in to Edward.
• Edwards march north explains a difficulty in the relationship of John Balliol and Edward I as Roxburgh castle surrendered to the English troops after a short siege and Jedburgh and Edinburgh fell to powerful siege engines such as ‘warwolf’, and Stirling castle was abandoned by defenders so by the end of July Edward had marched across Scotland accepting surrenders of important castles along the way. This shows a difficulty in the relationship of John Balliol and Edward I as king John failed to offer any real leadership during the 1296 invasion and he failed to rally nobles to fight back against Edward which shows his lack of bravery and kingship in Scotland and was once again outmatched by Edward.
• The ceremony of king Johns surrender explains a difficulty in the relationship of John Balliol and Edward I as this was a humiliating ceremony on the 10th July 1296, the royal badge was symbolically ripped from king johns surcoat by Edward himself, leading to king Johns nickname ‘Toom tabard’. This shows a difficulty in the relationship of John Balliol and Edward I as king John was officially held prisoner in England and Scotland had lost the fight and were now at the mercy of King Edward who had now received surrender from King John Balliol.