From the National Archives
Document of the Month - June
The Treaty ofEdinburgh, 1328
It took some years for the claims laid
out in the Declaration of Arbroath (See April's Document of
the Month) to come into effect.
From 1321 to 1324 peace talks between
Scotland and England were held on several occasions, but
foundered on English refusals to recognise Robert Bruce as
king and to give up claims of suzerainty over the Scots.
However, there were some brighter
times for the Scots during these years.
In 1323 a thirteen-year truce was agreed
between England and Scotland and in 1324 Pope John XXII at
last recognised Bruce as king.
In the same year an heir to the throne
of Scotland was born and in 1326 Scotland and France
renewed their alliance. Edward II of England was deposed in
1327 and a few months later a Scottish force raided into
the north of England and almost captured the young Edward
III.
The intensity of subsequent Scottish raids
on Northumberland forced the English into negotiation, and
talks started in autumn 1327.
Bruce had the satisfaction of seeing
peace concluded on Scottish soil in March 1328, by the
treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton.
The original of this treaty is kept by the
National Archives of Scotland and is reproduced as June's
Document of the Month.
The terms of this treaty, written in
French and in which Bruce is given his due title as King of
Scots, include peace between the two countries and to set
the seal on this, provision was made for the marriage of
Bruce's son and heir, David, to Edward's sister Joan.
Under the peace settlement Bruce
agreed to pay England £20,000.
Although this was a large sum for a small
country, the Scots obviously thought it worth paying for
the recognition of their independence and the cessation of
war. The exchequer rolls of Scotland, also held by the
National Archives of Scotland, record the contributions for
the special peace levy paid from all over Scotland in 1328
to cover this sum.
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