This study examines the political ambitions and influences of the Balliol dynasty in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in Scotland, England and France. The generally accepted opinion in previous historiography was that John (II), king of Scots from 1292 to 1296, and Edward Balliol (d. 1364) were politically weak men and unsuccessful kings. In a reassessment of the patriarch of the family, John (I) (d.1268), the Balliols are revealed as committed English lords and loyal servants of the kings of England, underlining how the family has been unfairly judged for centuries by both chroniclers and historians, who have assessed them as Scottish kings rather than as English lords.

Despite the forfeiture of the Balliol estates in England and Scotland in 1926, John (II) and Edward retained close relationships with the successive English kings and used these connections to fuel their political ambitions. Their kingships illustrate their desires to recover some influence in English politics which the family had enjoyed in the mid-thirteenth century. This re-evaluation of the Balliols highlights their relationship with the English crown.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Plates
• List of Maps
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• Genealogical Tables
• Introduction: The Political Ambitions and Influences of the Balliol Dynasty, c. 1210–1364
• Chapter One The ‘Treasured Pile’
  • The English Lands
  • The French Lordships
  • The Lordship of Galloway
  • The Balliols’ Huntingdon Inheritance in Scotland
  • The Huntingdon Estates in England
  • The Childless Heirs
  • Hugh Balliol (c. 1238–71)
  • Alexander Balliol (c. 1243–78)
• Chapter Two ‘A Knight and Man of Great Power and Authority’
  • John (I) and the Early Disputes with the Bishops of Durham, 1229–50
  • Sheriff of Cumberland, 1248–55
  • The Guardianship, 1251–55
  • The Barons’ War
  • Balliol’s Final Years in Service, 1267–68
• Chapter Three ‘He who shall be king . . .’
  • The Process of Norham and the Great Cause, 1291–92
• Chapter Four Loyalty, Opposition and Government, 1292–95
  • Loyalty to the Balliol Regime
  • King John’s Government
• Chapter Five ‘A Lamb among Wolves’
  • The Council of Twelve and Alleged Removal of King John
  • Balliol’s Downfall and the Wars of Independence
• Chapter Six ‘Tuyme Tabart he was callit eftirwart’
  • English Custody: July 1296 – July 1299
  • Papal Custody: July 1299 – summer 1301
  • Balliol’s final exile: Picardy, 1302–14
• Chapter Seven ‘Crounede Kyng of that Lande’
  • The Death of John (II) and the Crossroads for Edward Balliol
  • The Disinherited and Plans for Invasion
• Chapter Eight Loyalty, Opposition and Campaigns, 1332–40
  • Loyalty to the Second Balliol Regime
  • The Anglo-Balliol Campaigns, 1332–40
• Chapter Nine The ‘Pseudo-king of Scotland’
  • The Cession of the Kingdom and the Final Years
• Conclusion The Legacy of the Balliol Dynasty
• Appendix A Selected Extensions of the Balliol/Bailleul Family
• Appendix B Selected Documents for John (I) Balliol
• Appendix C Selected Documents for John (II) Balliol
  • Pre-Kingship Documents for John (II) Balliol
  • Acta of King John Balliol
  • Charters and Documents after King John’s Abdication
• Appendix D Selected Documents for Edward Balliol
  • Pre-Kingship Documents, 1307–32
  • Acta of King Edward Balliol
  • Charters and Documents after King Edward’s Abdication
• Appendix E Edward Balliol’s English Payments, 1296–1363
• Bibliography
• Index