My new Time
Travel novel, In the Time of Kings, takes
place in Scotland in 1333. When I sat down to write a story about a man named
Ross Sinclair who has memories of a past life and eventually finds himself reliving
it, I had to decide when to set the story. The events of 1333 were a perfect
backdrop, especially considering that The Bruce Trilogy ends in 1330.
Scotland, by
then, was not only without its visionary King of Scots, Robert the Bruce, but
soon it was also without the strong leadership of James Douglas and Thomas
Randolph. James’s younger brother Sir Archibald Douglas was appointed Guardian
of the Realm.
The Treaty of
Northampton
Toward the
end of Robert the Bruce’s reign, he secured the signing of the Treaty of
Edinburgh-Northampton, effectively ending the war between Scotland and England.
While in it, England acknowledged the independence of Scotland and Robert the
Bruce as its rightful ruler, the treaty was primarily the brainchild of Queen
Isabella and Sir Roger Mortimer. England’s king at that time, Edward III was
just sixteen years old, and still under the influence of his mother. However,
when he rebelled against his mother, Isabella, and her lover, Mortimer, and had
Mortimer executed, it eventually came to light that he was not entirely in
agreement with the terms of the treaty.
In 1329, a
year after signing the treaty and realizing his lifelong dream, Robert the
Bruce died, leaving as his heir a six-year old son, David, who was already wed
to the four-year old Princess Joan, younger sister of King Edward III of
England. Robert had named Thomas Randolph, the Earl of Moray, and Sir James
‘The Good’ Douglas as his son’s guardians. Both were strong and experienced
leaders. The following year, Douglas was tasked with carrying his king’s heart
on crusade to the Holy Land, but before he ever arrived there, he perished at
the Battle of Teba in Spain. Sadly, Randolph also died in 1332.
It was then
that Scotland’s autonomy and its unity began to fall into peril. With a
child-king on the throne and no strong leader, opportunity had presented itself
for Edward Balliol, son of the prior King of Scots, John Balliol. Young Edward
concocted a scheme to once again march on Scotland with the intent of subduing
it by supporting Balliol’s claim to the Scottish crown.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Until later,
Gemi
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