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Inauguration of Independent Linguists Meet
At the inaugural meeting of Independent Linguists Meet held on 6th June 2025, I presented the following presentation on my origins and developments as a linguist, which has been uploaded to YouTube and Vimeo:
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Inauguration of Independent Linguists Meet
At the inaugural meeting of Independent Linguists Meet held on 6th June 2025, I presented the following presentation on my origins and developments as a linguist, which has been uploaded to YouTube and Vimeo .
Room with a view.
January 20th 1356 saw Edward Balliol surrender his claim to the Scottish throne to Edward III in exchange for an English pension.
Edward Balliol was born around 1283, the son of the deposed King John of Scotland and Isabella de Warenne, daughter of John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey and his wife Alice de Lusignan, who was the maternal half-sister of King Henry III of England. Edward married Marguerite de Taranto, the daughter of Philip I, Prince of Taranto (d. 1332) they had no issue and the marriage was later annulled.
When his father was forced to abdicate by King Edward I of England in 1296, the younger Balliol was imprisoned with him in England. John Balliol died in exile in France in 1314, Edward Balliol then in France, was recalled to England by Edward II in 1324.
On the death of the great Robert the Bruce, his four year old son, David II, succeeded to the Scottish throne. The Regency passed to the two men the Bruce had entrusted with the guardianship of his young son, Sir James Douglas and Thomas Randolph. Douglas died shortly after in a skirmish in Spain and Randolph soon followed him to the grave.
lThe Regency then passed to the Robert's the Bruce's nephew, Donald, Earl of Mar. Edward Balliol still harboured dreams that he would one day occupy the Scottish throne, a position he considered to be his by right of birth. He received support from Edward III of England and landing on the coast of Fife he proceeded toward Perth. Mar met them in a bloody battle at Dupplin Moor and was killed in the action.
Edward Balliol was duly crowned Edward, King of Scots at Scone Abbey, but Sir Andrew Murray, appointed Guardian of Scotland by nobles loyal to the memory of Robert the Bruce ambushed him at Annan and drove him back into England. The regency during the minority of the young David Bruce was taken by another Douglas, Archibald, the brother of the previous Earl. Edward III now gave further support to Balliol, he declared the Treaty of Northampton null and void due to border reiving and marched on Berwick.
The Scots met the English invaders at the The Battle of Halidon Hill, where they suffered total defeat. Berwick was forced to surrender after a long siege and Balliol was restored to the Scottish throne. The young King David was promptly sent to France for his greater safety. Balliol paid homage to Edward III for his kingdom, destroying the Scots independence that Robert the Bruce had fought so long for.
Following the English victory at Halidon Hill the town of Berwick and the lands of the Borders and Lothian were ceded to Edward III by Edward Balliol. This ensured that warfare between the two countries would continue as the Scots fought to regain their lands. The young King David was sent to France for safety, where Phillip VI lodged him at Chateau Gaillard.
For twelve years thereafter, anarchy reigned in Scotland. When Edward III declared war on France, Phillip VI sent David Bruce back to Scotland in the hope of creating a diversion. David II entered Edinburgh in triumph, while Balliol fled to England leaving the throne open to his adversary.
After the defeat and capture of David II at the Battle of Neville's Cross on 17 October 1346, Balliol again invaded Scotland, leading an uprising in Galloway, but had no realistic hope of occupying the Scottish throne again. On 20th January, 1356 he surrendered his claim to the Scottish throne to Edward III, in exchange for an English pension. Edward Balliol died in 1367 at Wheatley, Doncaster, Yorkshire.
On 17th November 1292 John Balliol was awarded the Scottish Crown.
After Margaret, Maid of Norway had died in Orkney in 1290 Edward I was given the job of choosing Scotland's ruler, thirteen competitors put their names forward, and nine of the thirteen made the acknowledgement required by Edward. They also agreed that possession of the lands and castles of Scotland should be given to him so that he could pass them on to the rightful king, when the choice had been made. Hastings, all of whom were descendants of the three daughters of David, Earl of Huntingdon, grandson of David I.
After a further period for deliberation, Edward I awarded the crown to John Balliol, the descendant of the Earl's eldest daughter, in Berwick in 1292. In law, however, Robert Bruce's claim was equally good because, although he was descended from the second daughter, he was a generation nearer David I (as his grandson).
Balliol swore fealty to Edward I and on 26th December paid homage to him at Newcastle-upon-Tyne for the Kingdom of Scotland. When it became clear Edward I regarded Scotland as a vassal state, the Scots Nobles resisted and with Balliol agreed the "Auld Alliance" with France. On 5 April 1296 he renounced his fealty to Edward I, who marched north and defeated the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar. Balliol surrendered to Edward I on 10 July and his nickname "Toom Tabard" came from the removal of heraldic insignia from his coat to mark his submission. He was released in 1299 and retired to his French estate at Bailleul where he died in 1313.
What may surprise some people is the fact that Edward himself had a claim to the throne but did now pursue it, if you follow the line from Malcolm III and Queen (St) Margarets daughter Edith (Matilda) who married Henry I of England, I covered Matilda
Robert the Bruce
Robert I of Scotland, better known as Robert the Bruce, reigned as King of Scotland from 1306 to 1329 CE. For his role in achieving independence from England, Robert the Bruce has long been regarded as a national hero and one of Scotland's greatest ever monarchs.
Robert succeeded John Balliol (r. 1292-1296 CE) but only after a tumultuous decade of side-switching and military ups and downs against English armies led by Edward I of England (r. 1272-1307 CE) and those of rival Scottish barons. A grand victory over the English at Bannockburn in 1314 CE cemented Robert's claim to be the rightful king of Scotland and his skilful diplomacy brought recognition of Scotland's full independence both from the Pope and Edward III of England (r. 1327-1377 CE). Robert was succeeded by his son David II of Scotland (r. 1329-1371 CE).
Early Life
Robert (VIII) the Bruce was born on 11 July 1274 CE at Turnberry Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland. His father was Robert (VII) the Bruce (d. 1304 CE) and his mother was Marjorie, Countess of Carrick. The Bruce family had been the lords of Annandale since the 1120s CE, and they claimed descent from Earl David, younger brother of William I of Scotland (r. 1165-1214 CE). Robert spent a period of his youth in either the Western Isles or Ulster. As the family had estates and properties in England, so, too, he spent time in Carlisle Castle and London. In 1292 CE Robert inherited the earldom of Carrick.
Around 1295 CE Robert married Isabel of Mar (d. c. 1296 CE), daughter of Donald, earl of Mar, and then, in 1302 CE, Elizabeth de Burgh (d. 1327 CE), the daughter of Richard de Burgh, earl of Ulster. With Isabel, Robert had a daughter Marjorie (b. c. 1295 CE) and with Elizabeth, he had two daughters - Matilda and Margaret - and two sons - David (b. 1324 CE) and John (possibly the twin of David but he died as a child).
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On December 25th in the year 1319 a two year truce between Scotland and England began.
This little known peace treaty is often overlooked, probably due to the Bruce’s government issuing the Declaration of Arbroath the following year.
After Bannockburn King Edward II of England never forgot his humiliation, and he threatened war against Scotland. The Bruce got there first, raiding south as far as York in a bid to capture prisoners to be held for ransom. Edward also had his troubles at home with a trebellion.
The King was also talking to some of the great Northern lords and it looked as if they would do a separate deal with the Bruce to stop him destroying their land. Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, was one of the rebel barons but paid for it with his life after the Battle of Boroughbridge was won by forces loyal to Edward.
Encouraged by ending the civil war in England, Edward came north with a great army, but Bruce deployed the same tactics he had used prior to Bannockburn, destroying anything that could be of use to the English, who were forced to retreat when famine and disease broke out.
In September 1319 The Bruce won a decisive battle at Myton in Yorkshire
Earlier that year Edward II had moved an army North and laid siege to Berwick in an attempt to recapture it from the Scots. In response the army of several thousand Scots, commanded by the Earl of Moray and the Good Sir James Douglas, bypassed the Northern town and marched through the north of England torching all in their path. Their secret objective lay in Edward’s court at York; where they hoped to abduct Edward II’s wife, the 21 year old Queen, Isabella. On September 20th 1319 they neared York and The Battle of Myton ensued.
The outcome of this unequal contest was never in doubt. Formed up according to their custom in a single division, the Scots uttered together a tremendous shout to terrify the English, the Highland charge began racing towards the men from York, who straightaway began to take to their heels at the sound.
The York contingent was an odd mixture of men thrown together to meet the emergency, including priests and monks losses were reported of 3,000, among them Nicholas Flemyng the city mayor.
For Edward II, already at odds with many English nobles, it was another disaster. Meanwhile the victorious Scottish army retreated back across the border into Scotland carrying their ill-gotten gains and prisoners.
Afterwards Edward was forced to raise the siege of Berwick and ultimately agreed to a two year truce.
On November 17th 1292 John Balliol acceded to Scottish throne.
The Balliol dynasty has received, for the most part, a brief mention in Scottish history, but it has remained merely peripheral in the shadows of the Bruce dynasty and the equally powerful Comyn family.
So who were the Balliols?
At the turn of the last millennium, the 10 hundreds, the medieval Balliol family that played such an important part in the history of Scotland, lived in Bailleul-en-Vimeu in Picardie near Armentieres (Somme), from whence the name Balliol derives, and where they owned estates and castles. Their main castle (no longer in existence), was in the Bois de Bailleul south of Bailleul-en-Vimeu, and now part of the Chateau Coquerel estate.
Their ties to England began when they were granted land in England after the landing of William the Conqueror, whom they had supported in his quest for the English throne. Please don't hold that against Balliol, the Bruces also owned large estates in England.
The original land grants to the Balliols were in Northumberland and they subsequently made their principal base in England at Barnard Castle, built by Barnard de Balliol, where its imposing ruins survive at the Teesdale town of Barnard Castle near Durham, as seen in the first picture. Bernard de Balliol, who was born in Picardie in 1105, was the first of his family to receive lands in the lowlands of Scotland. This was at the time King David Ist distributed large estates in Scotland to his Anglo-Norman Friends, such as the de Brus (the Bruce family), Fitz-Alan (which became the Stewart Clan) de Bailleul (the Balliol family) de Comines (the Comyn family) and many others who thus became landowners on both sides of the border.
The Balliol's were an influentual family, and the marriage of John de Balliol to Devorguilla in 1233, brought together two substantial families. She was a direct descendant of David I, King of Scotland, and daughter of Lord Allan de Galloway, it was through Devorguilla that John Balliol's claim to the Scottish throne arose.
In 1290, Queen Margaret , Maid of Norway died leaving a disputed succession in Scotland which led to the first interregnum (a situation with no King). There were thirteen different claimants to the Scottish throne, among whom was John Balliol who designated himself as "Heir to the Kingdom of Scotland". As well as David I the Balliol claim had connections to Kings Malcolm IV and William I the Lion.
His main rivals for the throne were Robert de Bruce (father of king Robert the Bruce I), and John Comyn. Edward claimed the right to intercede as feudal lord of the Scottish Kings through their Anglo-Norman roots and arbitrated between the claimants. Edward, after a years discussions with his court accepted Balliol's claim, and on November 17th 1292, John Balliol became King of Scotland and acceded to the Scottish throne at Scone Abbey, Perthshire.
Balliol did homage to Edward as his Lord, but most other Scot's resisted Edward's demands for military service and Bailliol was unable to unite his people, and became rebellious. In June 1294 Edward demanded military aid from Scotland for his projected war in Gascony. The Scottish reaction was to conclude a treaty of mutual aid with the French. In January 1296 the Scots under Balliol raided northern England. Edward reacted quickly; he took Berwick on March 30th , Castle after Castle fell, and in the Battle of Dunbar, Balliol was defeated. John resigned his kingdom to Edward at Montrose. He was stripped of his arms and knightly dignity in a ceremony which later earned him the name of "Toom Tabbard" or Turncoat. He was forced to abdicate, leading to the second interregnum and was imprisoned in the Tower of London for treason, along with his supporters, John, Earl of Athol, John Comyn, and Sir John de Montieth. Balliol's ruin was complete and final, It involved the confiscation of his estates, excommunication and eventually exile.
Edward removed the Stone of Destiny, on which the Scottish kings were crowned, and took it to England where, until recently, it was kept under the throne in Westminster Abbey.
Meanwhile William Wallace, in the name of Balliol, continued his campaign against the English and incited a rebellion in 1297, defeated the English army at Stirling Bridge, and harassed England's northern counties. The next year Edward defeated Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk but encountered continued resistance until Wallaces' capture in 1304. He had been betrayed by de Monteith, to earn his freedom from the Tower and to become the Earl of Lennox for this betrayal. 5
After three years imprisonment Balliol was eventually released from the Tower in 1299 on the intercession of the Pope, and was banished to France in exile. He died at the Chateau Galliard in France in 1313 and is thought to be buried in the Church of St Waast, Normandy. A John de Bailleul is interred in the church of St. Waast at Bailleul-sur-Eaune. This may or may not be the Scottish King.
There is much more detail about The Balliol's here http://earthfriendarts.tripod.com/Baliol.htm
