The Scottish Wars of Independence In 1286, Alexander III, King of Scots, died when he fell off a cliff at Kinghorn in Fife as he rode to see his wife on a stormy March night. The successor to the Scottish throne was his granddaughter Margaret, a sickly three year old girl who was the daughter of the King of Norway and Alexander's late daughter, also named Margaret. All of Alexander's other children having pre-deceased their father, the Earls and other great magnates accepted young Margaret as the heir to the throne and arrangements were made to bring her to Scotland. In the meantime several Guardians were appointed to govern the realm in the Queen's absence. Discussions were held with Edward I of England to prevent any instability. Edward was very generous and kind, and after much diplomacy, a Treaty was signed whereby the new Queen was to marry Edward's own son, also Edward. Had this Treaty ever taken effect who knows what would have happened to both England and Scotland. In any event, Margaret died in Orkney, never seeing her kingdom. After her death, Edward brought out his claims of overlordship of Scotland. This was based on a trawl through the records of every monastic house in England. He used the Treaty of Falaise (where William the Lion had signed away Scotland) despite the fact that it had been canceled by the Quit-claim of Canterbury. Not to be outdone by minor details, Edward persauded every claimant to the throne to swear fealty to him for the realm of Scotland. So, the situation is this: Margaret's death had left 13 claimants to the throne, although only three were worth looking at. Bruce, Balliol and Count Florence. This last claim was important as Florence claimed that Alexander had signed a paper whereby the succession went through him in the event of Alexander dying leaving no heirs. Unfortunately, he was unable to find the paper despite a lengthy adjournment. So we are left with the Bruce and Balliol claims. Bruce claimed through the second daughter of David Earl of Huntingdon, while Balliol claimed through the elder daughter of the same man. Bruce argued that he was closer in line as he was the son of the second daughter while Balliol was only the grandson of the elder daughter. In the event, after much legal argument, the stronger claim won, that of Balliol. He was undoubtedly the rightful claimant to the throne whether or not he would make a good King. Next Links: Famous Scot: Alexander III on GOTC Famous Scot: Robert the Bruce on GOTC Robert the Bruce's Heart on GOTC Robert the Bruce Murders John Comyn on GOTC Famous Scot: William Wallace on GOTC Sword of William Wallace on GOTC Death of William Wallace on GOTC