Competitors For The Crown of Scotland

Competitors For The Crown Of Scotland

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, Maid of Norway, the granddaughter of the Scottish King. In 1290 the Guardians of Scotland, who had been appointed to govern the realm during the young Queen's 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". The intent, clearly, was to keep Scotland as an independent entity.

In early October the young Queen Margaret died in Orkney on her way to Scotland, leaving Scotland without an undisputed successor to the throne. The Guardians called upon Edward I of England to decide between various competitors for the Scottish throne in a process known as the Great Cause. One of the strongest claimants, John Balliol, lord of Galloway, forged an alliance with the powerful Antony Bek, Bishop of Durham, 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 Margaret's 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. Scotland looked to be headed for civil war.