Topic summary
Great Cause
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Competitors for the Crown of Scotland.
Background
Margaret died on 26 September 1290 in Orkney on her way to Scotland, leaving the throne vacant. The Guardians called upon her fiancé's father, Edward I of England, to conduct a court in which 104 auditors would choose from among the various claimants of the Scottish throne in a process known as the Great Cause (Scottish Gaelic: An t-Adhbhar Mòr). One of the strongest claimants, John Balliol, Lord of Galloway, forged an alliance with the powerful Antony Bek, Bishop of Durham, the representative of Edward I in Scotland, and began styling himself 'heir of Scotland', while another, Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale, turned up at the site of Margaret's supposed inauguration with a force of soldiers amidst rumours that his friends the Earl of Mar and the Earl of Atholl were also raising their forces. Scotland looked to be headed for civil war.