CHAP. 10. maining royal forces, and took prisoners the king and his brother. From Nicholas de the acknowledged military skill and bravery of Nicholas de Segrave, it may Segrave. be fairly concluded, that the flight of him and his Londoners was a stratagem to draw off prince Edward from the general engagement. At the battle of Evesham, Nicholas was severely wounded and made prisoner. His estates were confiscated, and bestowed upon Edmund, the king's son, but claiming afterwards the benefit of the terms obtained by the barons on the surrender of Kenilworth, he was permitted to make composition for his possessions. He held, at that time, in this county, Bretby, Rosliston and Cotes. When prince Edward prepared for his expedition to the Holy Land, Nicholas de Segrave solicited and obtained leave to accompany him ; and on that prince's return to England as king Edward I. he stood high in his monarch's estimation. During the first expedition into Wales, Nicholas de Segrave commanded a division of the royal army; and was present at the taking of Rhudlan castle. In the 9th year of the reign of Edward, John, the eldest son of Nicholas de Segrave, was taken prisoner in Scotland, where he had accompanied Sir Hugh de Plessets, whose daughter Christiana he had married. The king immediately ordered a grant of one thousand pounds towards the ransom of this young man, in acknowledgment of the services both of him and his father. Nicholas and his son attended the king in his great expedition for the conquest of Wales.

William de
Audley.

Ralph de
Pipard.

Edward I.

William de Audley, or Alditheley, held large possessions in Cheshire, Staffordshire and the marches of Wales. In this county, he is said, by some writers, to have held Markeaton and Mackworth near Derby: manors, that were certainly in the possession of Thomas de Tuchet, who lived in the reign of Edward II. and espoused Joan, one of the co-heiresses of Nicholas lord Audley, of Haleigh, who was nephew of the William here mentioned. This William de Audley accompanied the king in the Welsh expedition and was slain in one of the earliest engagements.

Ralph de Pipard had, in the first year of the reign of Edward I. been found heir to Robert Fitz Ralph, of Thurvaston in the county of Derby. He was personally in the Welsh expedition, and was subsequently appointed governor of Bolsover and Hareston castles in this county.

These were the principal persons of baronial rank, at that period conenters Wales. nected with Derbyshire, who attended king Edward in the subjugation of Wales. On the entrance of that monarch with his army into the northern provinces of the principality, Llewellyn retired to the passes of mount Snowdon, and took up a position so excellently defended by nature, that Edward found it impracticable to attack him. Relying upon the numbers and intrepidity of his troops, the English monarch invested the mountain, established military posts at the most convenient situations, and leaving the army under the command of Roger Mortimer, retired to the castle of Rhudlan in Flintshire, where he awaited the result. A bridge of boats had been constructed across the Menai, opposite to Bangor, by the English, in order to maintain a communication with the isle of Anglesea, and the command of this bridge was entrusted to lord Latimer with a body of English forces, and to Lucas de Thoni, who commanded some troops from Gascony: these did not altogether exceed three hundred men. In the

middle of a dark night, the bridge was attacked by the Welsh, who had CHAP. 10. been stationed for that purpose in the woods near Bangor. The conflict Conflict on was severe, and the storminess of the night assisted the assailants. The the Menai. forces appointed for the defence of the bridge were either slain or drowned, and the Welsh, remaining masters of the communication, were joined by a large re-enforcement of their countrymen from Anglesea, with whom they marched through passes of extreme difficulty, conveying provisions from the plains to the mountainous station of Llewellyn. This may be said to have been an unfortunate victory for the Cambrian prince, who, surrounded by his bards, heard it celebrated as a presage of the complete overthrow of the English invaders of his dominions. He assembled his men, and rushing precipitately down the sides of the mountain, attacked the camp of Mortimer. The English forces were speedily assembled, and Llewellyn's although the combat was long and sometimes doubtful, the Welsh were at length completely defeated and Llewellyn was slain on the field of battle. With this prince terminated the independence which this remnant of the ancient Britons had for so many centuries maintained. Every province submitted to the arms of Edward, and Wales was declared, by a parliament assembled for that express purpose, to be indissolubly united to the crown of England. During the next year, Edward held his court at the castle of Caernarvon, with his queen, who was at that time pregnant. On Birth of her delivery, he convened a meeting of the Welsh nobility and clergy; and, presenting to them the new-born infant, he proclaimed the child prince of Wales, and called him Edward of Caernarvon.

descent from

Snowdon.

Edward of
Caernarvon.

visits the

Wales having been thus subdued, and the disorders produced by the unstable government of the two former reigns remedied by just and vigorous enactments, Edward passed over to his continental dominions, having Edward left the regency of his kingdom in the hands of his cousin, the younger Continent. Edmund, earl of Cornwall, assisted by the earl of Pembroke, to which title the family of De Valence had succeeded. The king remained in France until the August of 1289. Soon after his return he entered upon that investigation of the rights of the aspirants to the crown of Scotland, which, with whatever views he may have commenced it, was undoubtedly the source of a resolute purpose to unite to the crown of England the realm of Scotland, in the same manner as he had already made Wales a portion of this kingdom.

Scotland.

Margaret, an infant princess of Norway, was the last descendant of a Affairs of long line of Scottish sovereigns, and, consequently, in her centred the rights of the crown of that kingdom. Edward was her great-uncle, his sister, Margaret, having been married to Alexander, king of Scotland, who had by her two sons and a daughter, also named Margaret, who married Eric, king of Norway, in the year 1281. The two sons of Alexander died early in life, and his daughter also died soon after the birth of her infant. Edward immediately formed the plan of uniting the two great divisions of the island under one crown, and persuaded the estates of Scotland to agree to the marriage of the infant Margaret of Norway with his son Edward, who was then scarcely five years old. On the strength of this agreement, he proceeded so far as to appoint the bishop of Durham as one of the regents

Affairs of

Scotland.

CHAP. 10. who were to rule that realm in the name of the two infants; but unfortunately for his plan, Margaret of Norway died at the Orkney islands, in her passage from the land of her birth to that of which she was the acknowledged queen.

Claimants of

Scotland.

When this intelligence arrived, numerous claimants to the crown of the crown of Scotland appeared: among whom John Baliol and Robert Bruce were the most distinguished. One of the most illustrious of the ancestors of Bruce has been noticed in our account of the battle of the Standard. Baliol was closely connected with the county of Derby: he had the custody of the Peak, with the honour of Peverel: he possessed the manors of Lenton, Hollington and Cresswell, and had three times, during the reign of Henry III. been sheriff of the counties of Derby and Nottingham. Among the other claimants, we may also consider John Hastings, one of the ancestors of the marquess of Hastings, and William de Ros, an illustrious maternal ancestor of the dukes of Rutland, entitled to our notice on this occasion; and the relative value of their claims will be seen in the following genealogical tablet.

John the Scot, Earl Margaret.-Alan, of Gal- Isabella. Robert Bruce. Ada.-R. Hastings.

of Huntingdon and

Chester, died S. P.
in 1244; poisoned

by his wife, Helena,

or Avisa, daughter
of Llewellyn, Prince
of Wales.

way.

Robert Bruce,-Isabel of John Hastings,
claimant.
Glouces- claimant.

ter.

Robert, King of Scotland.

Christiana, mar. Earl of Albe- Devorguilla. John Baliol. Marjory, died S. P.-John Comyn, marle; died in 1219, S. P.

claimant.

John Comyn did not claim the crown in right of his deceased wife (as has been asserted) but on account of his lineal descent from Donald VII. of Scotland.

Scotland a
Crown

fief of the

of

In Scotland itself the nation was divided between the rights of Baliol CHAP. 10. and Bruce, and a civil war appeared inevitable when Edward offered himself as mediator. A meeting of the states of Scotland, in consequence of his invitation and appointment, took place at Norham on the 10th of May, 1291. At this assembly the whole number of claimants were present, and were prevailed upon to acknowledge that Scotland was a fief of the English crown, and to swear fealty to him as their liege lord. The kingdom of Scotland was likewise delivered absolutely into the hands of Edward, to hold in trust for the claimants, and he accordingly sent his own governors with troops to take possession of the royal castles. When we reflect that all the principal claimants were English barons, this submission to the sovereign they were accustomed to obey does not imply that abject earnestness to secure the favour of the royal umpire of which some historians have accused them.

England.

de

The sovereignty of Scotland having been thus confided to Edward, he Baliol deferred the examination of the several claims of the candidates to the folclared king of Scotland. lowing August, when the states were again to meet at Berwick. The decision, after a deliberation of several months, was in favour of Baliol, and he renewed his oath of fealty to the king of England, who immediately took measures to secure to him the tranquil possession of the throne of Scotland. The Scottish historians, and among the rest Dr. Robertson, accuse Baliol of base obsequiousness to the views of the English monarch, but we think with much injustice. The family of Baliol had been remarkable for their loyalty during the baronial confederacies, and this John Baliol is not to be condemned for not suddenly refusing to show his respect for a prince in whose dominions he then held territories little inferior in actual revenue to the kingdom he was appointed to govern. Baliol was not insensible to the duties of his new station, but his talents were not equal to the extraordinary circumstances in which he was placed. When he perceived that Edward had endeavoured to make him the tool of his own sovereignty over Scotland, he made a struggle for independence, and in that struggle he was crushed without mercy.

irritates the

Scots.

It cannot be denied, that as soon as Baliol was seated upon the throne Edward of Scotland, Edward lost no real opportunities, and devised many fictitious pretences, to make him understand that he was rather his viceroy in that realm than the sovereign of that country in his own right. He listened to every complaint that was brought against Baliol by those whom that unhappy monarch had chanced to offend in the exercise of his legitimate authority; and for trifling circumstances connected with Baliol's estates in England, which would have remained unnoticed had he continued an English baron, the king of Scotland was summoned to answer before an English parliament. The Scots were irritated at this treatment of their king, and it may be easily believed that Edward would have more securely established the supremacy which he had been at so much pains to get acknowledged, had he not so ostensibly and so insultingly exercised it. Some disputes having arisen between France and England, Baliol sent ambassadors privately to Philip, king of France, requesting his aid, and proposing a marriage between his son and the niece of the French king. This ne

Edward invades Scotland.

Battle of

Dunbar.

CHAP. 10. gociation came to the knowledge of Edward, who instantly marched with a large army into Scotland; took Berwick by assault and laid siege to Dunbar. The Scottish nation, which had at first reluctantly obeyed a sovereign whom they had regarded as the lieutenant of the king of England, no sooner saw him actively engaged in asserting the independence of the Scottish crown, than they flocked voluntarily to his standard. Some French troops had also arrived to his assistance, and Baliol, at the head of an army, more numerous than disciplined, appeared in the plains before Dunbar, to dispute with his former sovereign and general, the independence of the throne he had received at his hands. It is reported that the agitation of Baliol on this occasion was extreme, and that he would even then have entered into negociation with the man whom he had revered as a sovereign and loved as a friend; and whose former kindnesses were still stronger in his memory, than the many humiliations with which Edward had so amply repaid himself for those kindnesses. But the Scots had nothing to remember but insults, and their chieftains were eager for the battle. Both armies fought with intrepidity, but the military skill was entirely on the side of the English king, whose vigilance was ever the companion of his valour. The Scottish army was completely defeated, with the loss of little less than twenty thousand men. The consequence of this victory was, to Edward, the taking of Dunbar, Roxborough, Edinborough, Sterling and Perth. At Kincarden, Baliol appeared before his conqueror with a white wand instead of a sceptre in his hand, and surrendered to him the kingdom of Scotland, after having held it for little more than three years. Baliol was sent to England, and for some time confined in the tower of London. After some years he was permitted to retire to Oxford, where his father, who was strongly attached to the literature of that period, had laid the foundation of the college, which is still known by his name. There, after his short but severe experience of the troubles of a crown, the dethroned king of Scotland, with his mother Devorguilla, who still survived, occupied themselves in fulfilling the intentions of the founder. While the college was erecting they heard lectures in a hired mansion, which stood near Canditch, and finding that too small, they purchased a mansion, since called St. Mary's hall, where they established a society, intended at first to be temporary, but which was afterwards chartered both by the princess and her son. As for Edward, he, in the meantime, made himself master of Scotland. The crown and sceptre were removed to Westminster, and with them the famous stone of Scone, which had been used since the reign of Keneth II. as the inauguration throne of the kings of that country.

Baliol in
England.

Affairs in
Guienne.

Whilst Edward was thus engaged in seizing the crown of Scotland, without either conciliating or completely subjugating the people of that country to his government, some circumstances of a very different nature called his attention to France. The seamen of England and of France bore an enmity towards each other, and for some time carried on a sort of piratical warfare without the interference of the government of either country. This continued until the French merchants, having lost some valuable cargoes, laid their complaints before king Philip, who instantly summoned Edward, as a peer of France, to appear at the French court in