The Sacking of Berwick

With Scotland firmly at his feet, Edward resumed his role of umpire for the succession to the Scottish crown, and in the great hall of Berwick Castle on 17th November 1292 he declared :

'Bruce shall take nothing in the competition with Balliol, and John Balliol shall have seisin [possession] of this kingdom of Scotland' but he was careful to add 'This judgement shall not impair my claim on the prperty of Scotland'.

So Balliol, a tractable vassal, was crowned at Scone on St Andrews Day 1292. Although the most important castles were then nominally surrendered to him, they were still occupied by their Anglo-Norman governors and garrisons.

Edward lost no time in humiliating Balliol, compelling him to appear in English courts as a defendant in various cases brought by his own subjects. Appearing at an English parliament in 1293 to answer an appeal about lands in Fife, Balliol lst his patience, whereupon he was judged guilty of contempt of court and the three principal towns and castles of Scotland with their royal jurisdiction were forfeited to Edward. With the country at the mercy of Edward's men, there were frequent skirmishes between English

John Balliol and his wife

soldiers and bands of Scots. In one of these, a Scottish Knight, Sir Malcolm Wallace, was killed by an English Knight named Fenwick. An epic poem, written by Blind Harry in the 15th century but based on contemporaneous document sent to Pope Boniface, tells of the Scot fighting on his kness after his sinews had been severed. Malcolm Wallace's violent death was to imbue his son, William, with a hatred of the English.

		In desperation, Balliol appealed to the French, but in 1295 Edward being well aware of the conspiracy and the active resistence of the Scots, decided t teach them all a lesson they would never forget. With a force of 5000 cavalry and 30,000 infantry, on 30th March 1296 he marched to sack Berwick, then the richest city in Scotland but virtually undefended. Some 17,000 men, women and children - almost the total population - were butchered. When Flemish merchants in a buliding called the Red House tried to defend it on behalf of their hosts, the building was fired and all 30 people inside burnt to death. Only the well defended castle was spared, whereuon the commander, Sir William Douglas, promptly obtained terms from Edward. The sack of Berwick was a calculated act of terrorism by Edward to subdue the Scots.
The sacking of Berwick

Balliol sent a prelate to Edward to deliver his renunciation of his alligiance and fealty and then took up arms. A battle ensued at Dunbar on 27th April 1296 where 10,000 Scots perished, many Scottish nobles fleeing the field when the battle went against them. It was during this time that the coronation stone of Scotland, the Stone of Destiny, was taken from Scone to Westminster. In July 1297, Balliol resigned his throne, his humiliation was compounded by Edward ripping the Royal insignia from his tabard. For three years he lived a reasonably comfortable life, despite some of it being spent in the Tower of London, before being sent into exile in France, never to return.