Unit 3 - King John 1292-96 - Weak character essay

Question 1

Intro - context

Answer 1

• death of Alex in 1286 and Margaret in 1290, created great cause
• Balliol and Robert the competitor main choices, guardians asked Ed to arbitrate who chose John based on primogeniture but not proximity of blood
• dificult reign, council of 12 in 1295. Abdicated in July 1296 at Dunbar in retaliation to Treaty with France

Question 2

Inability to stand up to Edward - knowledge

Answer 2

• late December 1292 swear fealty, one week later, renounced terms of Birgham
• Macduff summer 1293 forced to go to Westminster where he was embarrassed - Ed pursued advantage by appointing his own official for earldom of Fife, John’s own fault for favouring friend Fraser over deserved MacDuff
• forcing John to speak at court directly rather than replying through a proxy - example of Edward refusing to speak to John like an equal king
• also encouraged other legal appeals - Ed paid travel for claimants to Westminster
• June 1296, summoned Scots to fight France - 26 magnates summoned to expensive obligations, may wish to avoid this and Scottish nobility had avoided it well recently

Question 3

Inability to stand up to Edward - evaluation, historiography

Answer 3

• Not all his fault as it gave John a weak position, but his handling of the situation exacerbated this.
• Watson - John’s kingship indistinguishable from predecessors, overshadowed by English influence and interference
• Brown - (war with France and legal appeals) though he had inherited a difficult situation, his own handling of affairs had swiftly given Edward the chance to spell out his superiority

Question 4

Lack of experience - knowledge

Answer 4

IMPORTANT
- 4th son, destined for church/clergy role and educated in Durham - anglo-French landholding gave understanding of international relations and where Scotland sat
- no experience running Scottish lands, other Devorgilla took up this role who did not die until late in life
- little military experience, probably clerk for Edward

Question 5

Failure to re-establish royal authority - knowledge

Answer 5

• at least 7 parliaments in his reign, Feb 1293 parliament - Bruces, William Douglas didn’t attend
• Earl of Ross created 3 new sherifdoms - shows blanket support given to friends in North, James Steward, Bruce associated, was one
• James Steward quickly complained of harassment from Balliol men - proves that there wasn’t much unity of allegiance
• Comyns ran most of everyday government, royal justice - often described John Balliol puppet of Comyn’s not Edward
• council of 12 in 1295 - proves incompetence

Question 6

Lack of experience - evaluation, historiography

Answer 6

• Penman - source of John’s problem lay in the fact he remained regular magnate until middle age, not born and bred into kingship making him unprepared
• This is vital as it shows there was an underlying flaw of lack of character and drive which led to such a pitiful campaign

Question 7

Failure to re-establish royal authority - evaluation, historiography

Answer 7

• Penman - John middle aged man with little enthusiasm to travel his kingdom and exert authority
• Proof of his weak character, outwith pressure from Edward he failed to organise systems to hold control in his own country

Question 8

Intro - line of argument and historiography

Answer 8

order of importance
- lack of experience
- inability to stand up to Edward
- couldn’t re-establish royal authority
- Penman argues lack of experience, Watson argues inability to stand up to Edward, Brown argues John weakness