The story of a king and a rebel
The Tower of London was built by kings
was lived in by kings
and built to protect kings
But it has also kept kings as prisoners
and one such prisoner was a king of Scotland
For most of the 13th century
England and Scotland were on friendly terms
In 1274, King Alexander was a guest of honour
when the new English King, Edward I, was crowned
However, just a few years later, King Alexander met with a nasty accident.
Riding through a storm he came dangerously close to the edge of a cliff.
In the confusuion of the storm his horse lost it's footing
and Alexander plunged to his death
Unfortunately for Scotland, the only surviving member of his family was his granddaughter the Maid of Norway
Still more disaster was to strike, as she died of a fever whilst crossing the North Sea to Scotland.
So who was to rule in Scotland now?
There were three powerful Scottish nobleman who were good candidates.
But only one of them could be king.
The Scottish lords weren't sure how, or who indeed to choose
After much thought they decided to ask for help, and so a message was sent to the King of England
King Edward I, whose nickname was Longshanks
due to his height and long legs
was known to be a strong intelligent king
and they hope he could help them to make the right choice
King Edward looked at the names on the list, a list of possible kings of Scotland
John Comyn, Robert Bruse, John Balliol
Which one should he choose?
At last, he decided upon John Balliol
Edward was convinced that not only would John be a good king, but also that he was most likely to
rule Scotland in a way that the English king wanted.
So John Balliol was crowned King of Scotland
and for a few years the two countries lived happily side by side.
However, after a while, King John began to have his own ideas of how to rule
and this displeased King Edward
Furious, King Edward declared war and the two countries came to blows at Dunbar in Scotland in 1296.
The battle was fierce and the Scots fought well
but the English won the day and King John was captured
As a prisoner of war, John Balliol had to be treated with a respect due to a king
and a king, would not be kept in a dark smelly cell
or chained to the wall like other prisoners
No, he was kept in the Salt Tower
In rooms fit for a king
And he wasn't there alone
He was allowed to bring servants
In fact, over twenty of them
There were two squires, a barber, a chaplin, and his own tailor.
He even had his own pack of hunting dogs, and King Edward allowed him to go over 20 miles away to hunt
The distance meant that the King granted him yet another privilige
He let him stay out over night
To do this King John had to leave a pledge-man behind as security
a member of his household who would be held prisoner if the king didn't come back
But he always did
For the next three years the King of Scotland would be kept in the Tower of London
until at last King Edward agreed he could leave
But he wasn't allowed to go home
instead he would go to France to live in excile for the rest of his life
With John Balliol a prisoner in the Tower,
King Edward declared that he now ruled in Scotland
However the Scots were not happy
the very next year they rose up under William Wallace
and defeated the English army at Sterling Bridge
they were fighting for their independence.
King Edward declared Wallace a rebel and a traitor
and the following year led his army north in person
and won the battle at Falkirk
King Edward however could not capture William Wallace
Wallace fled and disappeared for seven years
In the end he was caught by men from his own country who handed him to the English king
He was brought to the Tower of London
and kept in the Brick Tower before standing trial
He was found guilty of treason
and sentenced to be hanged until nearly dead
his insides drawn out, and his dead body cut into four pieces.
His head was covered in tar, and place on a spike on London Bridge
A nasty gruesome death for a traiter
carried out in the hope that no one would commit the same crimes
Unfortunately for King Edward, it did'nt stop the Scots rising up against him
and he spent the rest of his life sending armies to fight them
In 1307, he died near the Scottish boarder, campaigning to keep control of Scotland