"trump card" to be played only in special circumstances, and these
appeared now to have arisen. The death of the Maid of Norway had
deprived him of his right to interfere in the affairs of Scotland, and
had destroyed his hopes of a marriage alliance. It seemed to him that
all hope of carrying out his Scottish policy had vanished, unless he
could take advantage of the helpless condition of the country to obtain
a full and final recognition of a claim which had been denied for
exactly a hundred years. At first it seemed as if the scheme were to
prove satisfactory. The Norman nobles who claimed the throne declared,
after some hesitation, their willingness to acknowledge Edward's claim
to be lord paramount, and the English king was therefore arbiter of the
situation. He now obtained what he had asked in vain in the preceding
year--the delivery into English hands of all Scottish strongholds (June,
1291). Edward delayed his decision till the 17th November, 1292, when,
after much disputation regarding legal precedents, and many
consultations with Scottish commissioners and the English Parliament, he
finally adjudged the crown to John Balliol. It cannot be argued that the
decision was unfair; but Edward was fortunate in finding that the
candidate whose hereditary claim was strongest was also the man most
fitted to occupy the position of a vassal king. The new monarch made a
full and indisputable acknowledgment of his position as Edward's liege,
and the great seal of the kingdom of Scotland was publicly destroyed in
token of the position of vassalage in which the country now stood. Of
what followed it is difficult to speak with any certainty. Balliol
occupied the throne for three and a half years, and was engaged, during
the whole of that period, in disputes with his superior. The details
need not detain us. Edward claimed to be final judge in all Scottish
cases; he summoned Balliol to his court to plead against one of the
Scottish king's own vassals, and to receive instructions with regard to
the raising of money for Edward's needs. It may fairly be said that