Vassals: the Balliols of Scotland

As anyone whose watched Game of Thrones knows, there are great houses and lesser houses, the heads of lesser houses becoming bannermen or vassals of those higher up the social rank.  This is classic feudal hierarchy.  Everyone owed fealty, which ranged from simple pledges of loyalty to required levies of knights and men-at-arms, monetary tribute and almost anything else, to someone else.  Even kings such as the Plantagenets of England often owed fealty to other kings for lands that lay within the domains of those royal families.  Add in the competing claims to thrones and other titles, often based on complex of descent and the friction only deepened. 

When Alexander III, the last ruler of the House of Dunkeld died without heirs in 1290, the Scottish crown was up for grabs.  A period of interregnum ensued while various claimants jockeyed for backing to become the next King of Scots.  The main contenders, the Bruces and the Balliols, both claimed Dunkeld descent through various female descendants of the late royal house.  Ironically, the Plantagenets also had a horse in that raise.  Henry II's grandmother, Matilda of Scotland, was a Dunkeld princess.  Edward I preferred to remain neutral while providing tacit support to the Balliol family.  The reason, while both the Balliols and Bruces held extensive lands in England for which they owed Edward fealty, the Balliols had a more vested interest and could be counted on to be loyal.  Thus, Edward could hope to control Scottish affairs through a vassal king, rather than having to spend the blood and treasure to fight for it.

The Balliol family hailed from Bailleul in Picardy, in what is now France.  They came to England during the reign of William II, or William Rufus in the 11th century and soon began to accumulate estates and vassals of their own.  John Balliol, the father of the Scottish King, even founded a college at Oxford, Balliol College, that's still in existence.  John married a Scottish noblewoman, Devorgilla of Galloway, whose father Alan of Galloway was a son of David, Earl of Huntington, brother of William I of Scotland.  This gave John's son, John, Jr., a viable claim to the throne of Scotland, as well as an extensive inheritance in England.  The Bruces claimed descent from David I of Scotland.  The nobles of Scotland lined up, not so much on who had the greater claim by descent, but on each noble's willingness to be under English control.  Many of the nobles of Scotland also held land in England, or in Capet or Plantagenet France and had their own tangled ties of fealty to sort out.

John Balliol claimed the Scottish throne in 1292, all the while promising fealty to King Edward I.  Once on the throne, he made the mistake of concluding an alliance with France, a traditional ally of Scotland.  Furious, Edward invaded Scotland in 1296 and John had to abdicate.  The Scottish coat of arms was torn from the surcoat he wore over his arm, leaving him only with the Balliol arms, which had a blank field.  This gave rise to the derisive nickname Toom Tabard or Empty Coat.  While John had time to regret his transgressions in the Tower, he was later allowed to go into exile in France, provided he stay there.

John's son, Edward Balliol, didn't fair much better.  He, too, tried to rule Scotland from 1332-1338 in opposition to Bruce's son, David II.   He tried several times to maintain a viable rule in Scotland, but ultimately surrendered his claim to Edward III in exchange for a pension.  He died in 1364 and lies buried today under a post office in Doncaster, England.  His cousin married into the Coucy family, which later married into the Bourbon family that later came to rule France and then Spain.  Today the Balliol claim to Scotland rests with the Bourbons, who no doubt won't be exercising it any time soon.