John V Edward

The reign of King John

Learning Objective
To examine and analyse the
relationship between King John
Balliol of Scotland and Edward I of
England

Starter
What do you think the
Scots were hoping for
with John Balliol?
Write down three
things that you think
the Scots would have
wanted from their
new king

Freedom
to act as
he wanted
An end to
Scottish
disunity
Freedom
from
interferenc
e from
Edward

Key Points
John only reigned for 4 years
Edward decided to exercise his power as overlord
which John had agreed to
This annoyed many scots and would eventually force
John to rebel against Edward
Scotland was not united and some, including Robert
Bruce joined Edward and fought against John
Berwick was captured and the Scots were defeated.
John was taken prisoner
Ultimately it led to Edward deciding to rule Scotland
by himself

When King John agreed that Edward would be the overlord, nobody
was quite sure what it meant. Edward knew that Scotland wanted to
maintain their independence because they had made such a point in
the Treaty of Birgham (1290). Edward said that this was a marriage
treaty and as no marriage had taken place, he could ignore it.
Edward started to give orders to John although sometimes he
ignored the king and gave orders to the Scottish Nobles instead
which many saw as an insult to the Scottish King. John was also
forced to take part in ceremonies in England which emphasised how
powerful Edward was and his overlordship of Scotland but humiliated
the king of the Scots.
Edward began to hear appeals from the Scottish courts which
angered many as they said that only the King of Scotland was
allowed to hear such appeals. This was also something mentioned in
the Treaty of Birgham. Eventually John was persuaded by his nobles
to complain to Edward but Edward got angry and John apologised to
him.
Finally, Edward decided that King John and the Scottish nobles
should support him in the war he was about to start with the French.
They had no quarrel with the French and had never sailed abroad to
fight a war. This was the final straw...

Make a list of all

the complaints
that the Scots
had against
Edward I

Individual Work
Copy and complete
this table ...
Complaint

Why Edward was

wrong

Why Edward was

right

Scotland had a king He was overlord and

Giving orders to the and he should be
therefore saw John
nobles not the king the one ordering the Balliol as little more
nobles about
than a noble

Complaint

Why Edward was wrong

Why Edward was right

Giving orders to the

nobles not the king

Scotland had a king and he

should be the one ordering the
nobles about

He was overlord and therefore

saw John Balliol as little more
than a noble

Humiliating John in
English Ceremonies

John had agreed that Edward

As a king, John should be
was his overlord and this meant
treated with respect and dignity
that he had to obey him

Hearing Appeals

The Treaty of Brigham said that

this was wrong

Edward said that the Treaty of

Birgham was a marriage treaty.
There had been no marriage so
he could ignore it

War with the French

The Scots had no quarrel with

the French and they had never
gone to war with anyone
overseas

As overlord, Edward was entitled

to ask for support from any
noble in his lands

Individual Work
How fully does source A explain the
reasons why the Scots nobles were so
angry with Edward I?
MacDuff felt that King John was biased in a court case
which he had judged, so he appealed to the King of
England. King John was summoned to the English Kings
Parliament. King John went there where he had to put up
with insults and rudeness about being king of Scots.
He came home absolutely humiliated. Soon afterwards,
King Edward demanded that King John join him with
other Scottish nobles in his war against France
Source A was written by a Scotsman at the time of the
events it describes

Feedback

What did you come up with?

Facts have different

values: some are much
more important than
others. Write three facts
about what we have
learned today. Where
would you place them on
the monopoly board based
on their importance?