Edward I, The Hammer of the Scots.
Edward regarded the Scottish action as based on false grounds!
As a result, his fury would know no bounds!
Edward marched north, sending word to King John to meet him at the border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed in order to apologise for his gross impertinence. When John declined to oblige, Edward destroyed the town causing immense slaughter. Such was Edward’s anger, that all were to be put to the sword.
‘King John refused to meet King Edward on the appointed day!
For this insult the local population would have to pay!’
Edward then proceeded into the Scottish Lowlands, efficiently and swiftly eradicating any resistance to his progress. King John, a poor general, was no match for ‘Longshanks’ and by July he had surrendered to Edward.
If anyone thought that Edward would be magnanimous in victory they were in for a rude shock.
A victory so very sweet, I will tour Scotland and the defeated I will meet!
Yes, dear Scots, you I will greet, and all will grovel dejectedly at my feet!
The English king was in a particularly vengeful mood and although he accepted the surrender, he felt it appropriate that King John be ritually humiliated. Edward decided to subject John to a really quite degrading ordeal. When John appeared before Edward at Montrose he ordered that the insignia of the Lion of Scotland be ripped from John’s robes as a symbol of his ignominious submission.
The Lion of Scotland.
This is how King John received the humiliating nickname, ‘Toom Tabard’ (empty coat). The Scottish king, who only minutes earlier he had been wearing the finest of clothing, was left standing in rags in front of the assembled nobility. He was then packed off to be imprisoned in the Tower of London.
But for Edward, this humiliation was not enough!
He was hell-bent on cutting up really rough!
The barons, who had rebelled, were also to be taught a lesson. In August, Edward ordered them to attend a Scottish parliament that he decided to convene.
‘Where? In some great Scottish fortress, or important landmark, regarded as such since days of yore?
No, it was to be held in the now destroyed town of Berwick where the Scottish nobility were to swear fealty to him. As they filed into the empty ruins of this only recently thriving, vibrant town, the barons must have been filled with immense shame. The sight of the bloated bodies lying across the area of the town, would have constituted a depressing sight to these proud Scottish nobles. The stench of the thousands of corpses filling the air would have grieviously assaulted their nostrils. Edward, of course, observed the proceedings with grim satisfaction, resolute in the righteousness of his actions.
King Edward made a victory tour of Scotland with a great display of force. He traversed glens, gleefully parading his power before the defeated Scots, but that was still not enough.
Edward now seized the royal Scottish stone at Scone!
He took it back to Westminster and placed it under the English throne!
The Stone of Scone had been part of the coronation ceremony for Scottish monarchs for centuries, and as such was a vital symbol of Scottish autonomy. Edward had it placed under a new specially designed English throne on which most monarchs would be crowned at Westminster. By doing so Edward was saying that the king of England was the overlord of the people of Scotland.
‘In other words, rubbing their noses in it!
Well, more than just a little bit!’
This, to say the least, caused huge resentment north of the border.
The throne built by Edward with a space for the Stone of Scone underneath.
Edward had left Scotland in the hands of three English nobles, seemingly confident that Scotland had been pacified. This confidence would soon prove to be misplaced.