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New information on the Guardians’ appointment in 1286 and on Wallace’s rising in 1297.
Professor Dauvit Broun, Principal Investigator
This information is from "The Breaking of Britain" website.................... http://www.breakingofbritain.ac.uk/
The Breaking of Britain is a collaborative project, funded by the AHRC, between the University of Glasgow, Lancaster University, the University of Edinburgh, and King’s College London (including the Department of Digital Humanities). The project is concerned with the period which extends from the failure of Alexander II’s short-lived revival of a Scoto-Northumbrian realm in 1216–17 to the formal abolition of cross-border landholding by Robert I in November 1314, following his victory at Bannockburn.
The project builds on the work of another project funded by the AHRC, The Paradox of Medieval Scotland (PoMS), and will extend the PoMS database to 1314. It will also be linked to a new database, recording interactions between the Crown and people in the three northern counties of England from 1216 to 1307. The project will also study border chronicles as a source both for medieval perceptions of identity and fields of medieval historical interest.
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In the Feature for August a new Latin chronicle comprising origin-legend, king-list, genealogy and an account of events year-by-year was introduced and attention drawn to its final element, an account of the years 1285 to 1327. It was explained that, although most of its material is also found, sometimes word for word, in larger chronicles (Gesta Annalia and Bower’s Scotichronicon), it nonetheless has some nuggets of information that are not otherwise known. In this Feature we will look at two examples which contribute something new to our understanding of Wallace’s role in the rising in 1297 against English occupation following Edward I’s conquest the previous year, and, first, a new perspective on the government of Scotland following Alexander III’s sudden death in 1286 with only a young granddaughter in Norway as his heir. For the sake of convenience I will refer to the new chronicle as the ‘Schøyen chronicle’, in recognition of the fact that it survives only in a manuscript in the Schøyen collection, Oslo.[1]
The appointment of guardians in 1286
In Gesta Annalia (copied by Bower) we are told that, following the death of Alexander III on 19 March, a parliament was called at Scone, where six guardians were appointed to form the government of the kingdom. These were: two earls (Duncan, earl of Fife, and Alexander Comyn, earl of Buchan and justiciar—although Gesta Annalia and Bower wrongly call him John), two bishops (William Fraser of St Andrews and Robert Wishart of Glasgow), and two barons (James Stewart and John Comyn of Badenoch).[2] As far as Gesta Annalia is concerned, there was also a pleasing symmetry in the fact that three were from north of the Forth (Alexander Comyn, Bishop Fraser and Earl Duncan), and three from south of the Forth (Bishop Wishart, James Stewart and John Comyn). This geographical balance has been accepted as what was intended at the time, with three having special responsibility for north of the Forth, and three for south of the Forth.[3] Documents, however, were issued in the name of all six guardians: the earliest, dated 25 September 1286, concerns ownership of a pasture in Panmure, Angus.[4] It is curious, if only three of them were responsible for north of the Forth, that such a routine document should be issued in the name of them all. The fact that they evidently acted together as a governing council raises a question about their number, especially if English example (which Scots are bound to have been aware of) is considered. When governing councils were established in England in 1258 and 1264, care was taken to ensure that there was an odd number in order to ensure that there would be a majority when a contentious issue arose.[5] The same might be expected, at least when the guardians were initially appointed.
For the complete article just go to the link http://www.breakingofbritain.ac.uk/b...ising-in-1297/
Professor Dauvit Broun, Principal Investigator
This information is from "The Breaking of Britain" website.................... http://www.breakingofbritain.ac.uk/
The Breaking of Britain is a collaborative project, funded by the AHRC, between the University of Glasgow, Lancaster University, the University of Edinburgh, and King’s College London (including the Department of Digital Humanities). The project is concerned with the period which extends from the failure of Alexander II’s short-lived revival of a Scoto-Northumbrian realm in 1216–17 to the formal abolition of cross-border landholding by Robert I in November 1314, following his victory at Bannockburn.
The project builds on the work of another project funded by the AHRC, The Paradox of Medieval Scotland (PoMS), and will extend the PoMS database to 1314. It will also be linked to a new database, recording interactions between the Crown and people in the three northern counties of England from 1216 to 1307. The project will also study border chronicles as a source both for medieval perceptions of identity and fields of medieval historical interest.
**********************************
In the Feature for August a new Latin chronicle comprising origin-legend, king-list, genealogy and an account of events year-by-year was introduced and attention drawn to its final element, an account of the years 1285 to 1327. It was explained that, although most of its material is also found, sometimes word for word, in larger chronicles (Gesta Annalia and Bower’s Scotichronicon), it nonetheless has some nuggets of information that are not otherwise known. In this Feature we will look at two examples which contribute something new to our understanding of Wallace’s role in the rising in 1297 against English occupation following Edward I’s conquest the previous year, and, first, a new perspective on the government of Scotland following Alexander III’s sudden death in 1286 with only a young granddaughter in Norway as his heir. For the sake of convenience I will refer to the new chronicle as the ‘Schøyen chronicle’, in recognition of the fact that it survives only in a manuscript in the Schøyen collection, Oslo.[1]
The appointment of guardians in 1286
In Gesta Annalia (copied by Bower) we are told that, following the death of Alexander III on 19 March, a parliament was called at Scone, where six guardians were appointed to form the government of the kingdom. These were: two earls (Duncan, earl of Fife, and Alexander Comyn, earl of Buchan and justiciar—although Gesta Annalia and Bower wrongly call him John), two bishops (William Fraser of St Andrews and Robert Wishart of Glasgow), and two barons (James Stewart and John Comyn of Badenoch).[2] As far as Gesta Annalia is concerned, there was also a pleasing symmetry in the fact that three were from north of the Forth (Alexander Comyn, Bishop Fraser and Earl Duncan), and three from south of the Forth (Bishop Wishart, James Stewart and John Comyn). This geographical balance has been accepted as what was intended at the time, with three having special responsibility for north of the Forth, and three for south of the Forth.[3] Documents, however, were issued in the name of all six guardians: the earliest, dated 25 September 1286, concerns ownership of a pasture in Panmure, Angus.[4] It is curious, if only three of them were responsible for north of the Forth, that such a routine document should be issued in the name of them all. The fact that they evidently acted together as a governing council raises a question about their number, especially if English example (which Scots are bound to have been aware of) is considered. When governing councils were established in England in 1258 and 1264, care was taken to ensure that there was an odd number in order to ensure that there would be a majority when a contentious issue arose.[5] The same might be expected, at least when the guardians were initially appointed.
For the complete article just go to the link http://www.breakingofbritain.ac.uk/b...ising-in-1297/