REVOLT OF SCOTLAND AND WAR WITH FRANCE 139 John Hastings. Two of these, Balliol and Bruce, were also vassals of Edward I for lands that they held in England. It was impossible for the Scotch people to decide among so many competitors; so the chiefs agreed to submit to Edward's arbitration: and in requesting his intervention they advanced the theory that he was in fact the lord paramount of the kingdom. King Edward had never made any claim to the control of Scotland, but it is only natural that he should make as much as possible out of this admission on the part of the Scotch leaders themselves. Edward I summoned the Scotch magnates to meet him at Norham on the border in 1291.1 He came to the meeting place with a strong force and at once revived the old claim to overlordship. The Scotch submitted and acknowledged him as suzerain. All the candidates for the kingship agreed "of our own free will to receive judgment from him as our Lord Paramount," and to abide by his decision. The following year Edward made the award, and the crown was given to John Balliol, a decision that was in strict conformity to the feudal law of inheritance. John Balliol promptly did homage to Edward, who was continued as lord of all Britain. John Balliol, king of Scotland. 1292. John Balliol renounces his allegiance. 123. The Revolt of Scotland and the War with France. Soon, however, the satisfaction of Scotland turned to distrust; for Edward adopted a policy that went far beyond what feudal law would sustain: he demanded that appeals should go from the courts of Scotland to his own court of king's bench at Westminster. The first case to be appealed was one that was brought against King John Balliol himself by a certain wine merchant of Gascony who had an old bill against the Scotch crown for wine that had been furnished to Alexander III. This was too much for the Scotch king. After scarcely more than a year of apparent loyalty, John Balliol began negotiations with Edward's enemy, Philip the Fair of France. King Edward summoned him to join in a 1 Cheyney, No. 133; Gardiner, 215-216. war upon France, but King John refused. The following year, 1295, he renounced his allegiance.1 Situation in 1295. The year 1295 is one of great landmarks in English history. Edward I was in a difficult position. Scotland was in revolt; Wales was restless; and trouble was brewing in France. There still remained to the Angevin kings the Gascon part of the Aquitanian duchy that Louis IX had permitted Henry III to retain half a century before. For these lands Edward, who was duke of Gascony, was the vassal of the French king. Philip the Fair treated his vassal in Gascony very much as King Edward treated his own vassal, King John Balliol, though the English king, who was easily blinded by his own advantage, did not perceive the similarity. Philip had come into the possession of some of the frontier fortresses in Gascony and refused to return them. War was unavoidable, but with Scotland in rebellion, the time was anything but favorable. 124. The "Model Parliament." 1295.2 King Edward now called on all the nation to help provide funds for the wars that The Model Parliament. 1295. were in prospect. All classes of society that had wealth and all the organized communities that had authority to make assessments were called into parliament; this was the so-called "Model Parliament," though the name is hardly appropriate, as no subsequent parliament was just like the model of Edward's reign. It was a large body that Edward assembled in 1295. The earls and the barons appeared in person. The higher church officials, the bishops, the abbots, the archdeacons, and the priors of the cathedral chapters also attended in person; the lower clergy sent proctors or representatives. The shires were represented by 74 knights and the boroughs by 220 burgesses. It is not known how this body transacted its business or whether it sat in a single house. Parliament was still in the process of formation and had no definite field of activities; this parliament was called to grant funds to meet an unusual situation. The king was successful in his negotiations with the lords and the Taxation. 1 Innes, I, 146–147. 2 Review sec. 99. THE TROUBLE WITH BONIFACE VIII 141 representative members: each particular class voted a fraction of its personal property to the king's use: the nobles and the knights from the counties offered an eleventh, the church a tenth, and the merchants from the boroughs a seventh. Union of 125. The Conquest of Scotland. 1296. The next year King Edward attacked the northern kingdom, deposed John Balliol, and proclaimed himself king of Scotland. For ten years Edward ruled as sole king in the British Islands. To symbolize the union of the crowns, England and Scotland. the Stone of Scone, on which the Scotch kings had long been crowned, was carried off to England and placed in the seat of the throne in Westminster Abbey where it still remains. An English regent was left in Scotland to represent Edward's authority. For a time the Scotch nobles acquiesced in these agreements, but their loyalty was of doubtful character. 126. The Trouble with Boniface VIII: "Clericis laicos." The trouble with France was still unsettled, and Edward soon found himself in need of more money. Instead of calling another parliament, he tried to secure funds by making private arrangements with the merchants and the church for aid. On the papal throne at this time sat Boniface VIII, an aged and unbending Italian, who clung to the principles of Gregory VII and Innocent III without realizing that it would be most inexpedient to make them practical issues. In 1296 Boniface issued a famous bull, the Clericis laicos, in which the old claims to supe- The bull riority were restated, and the clergy forbidden to Clericis contribute money on the king's demand. The bull had its effect: when a new parliament was called later in the year to vote taxes, the archbishop of Canterbury resisted and the church did not contribute. In reply the king withdrew the protection of his courts from the clergy, thus virtually outlawing the entire clerical order. An agreement was soon reached, however, according to which the clergy were to give voluntary gifts but not pay taxes. These "gifts" were as 1 Review secs. 54-55, 86. Papacy and church taxation. 1296. laicos. sessed by church councils called convocations that were summoned whenever the king called a parliament. Of these convocations there were two, one for each of the two provinces, Canterbury and York. This arrangement was the rule for more than two centuries. The clergy withdrew permanently from parliament. The bishops and many of the abbots continued to hold membership, but they sat as lords, not as representatives of the church. 127. The Rebellion of William Wallace.1 The conquest of Scotland had been marked by much unnecessary severity and cruelty, and Edward's commissioners showed little tact in administering the government. Aroused by these wrongs, the Scotch nation revolted. William Wallace, a Scotchman of Wallace's gentle though not noble blood, led the rising. The rising. aristocracy held aloof from the movement; but the national church, which feared subjection to the archbishop of Canterbury, aided the revolt. At Stirling Wallace's ragged followers routed an English army (1297). Wallace Stirling. 1297. now carried the war into England and ravaged the northern shires. Edward hurried back from France and took command in person. At Falkirk Wallace suffered a disastrous defeat and his influence began to wane; some years later he fell into the hands of the English government and was executed as a traitor. Falkirk. 1298. The rebellion continued for six years after the battle of Falkirk, but when the second conquest was completed, Edward Scotland annexed to England. 1304-1305. at once proceeded to annex Scotland to England. It was his intention to retain Scotch laws and institutions as far as practicable, but the parliament at Westminster was to be made up of representatives from both kingdoms. It is interesting to note that the final union of England and Scotland four centuries later followed the lines laid down by Edward I (1305). 128. The Rebellion of Robert Bruce. It was now fifteen years since Edward had been invited to intervene in the matter 1 Gardiner, 221-222; Innes, I, 148-152. THE REBELLION OF ROBERT BRUCE 143 of the Scotch succession. During these years much had occurred to sow hatred for the English king in Scottish hearts. There was, however, no leader around whom the northern magnates were willing to rally. But the next year the leader appeared in Robert Bruce, the young grandson of the aged Bruce who had claimed the throne in 1291. In 1306 Bruce took up the sword and demanded the crown. He was young, strong, aggressive, and persistent, a chief with something of the heroic in his make-up. But even with a leader like Bruce the Scotch were slow to rally. The nobles were distrustful and jealous of the young pretender; he had several times broken his oath to King Edward; he had slain a fellow-claimant; his following was therefore small. Only one national force, the Scotch church, continued to favor revolt. Robert Bruce. Bruce was formally crowned king, but so weak was his support that he soon found himself a fugitive in his own kingdom. The strongholds of Scotland were in English hands, but the garrisons were so small that, in their efforts to reduce them, 1 Innes, I, 152-155. |