2 - The Scots and the First Barons' War

Summary

The French, the Scots and the Welsh

The flight of men like the Briouzes and Lacys from King John's court instigated protective bonds between the French, English and other lords at the fringe of English power particularly in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Many of the families who rebelled against the king after 1210 were related to the Briouze and Lacy kin group and they were joined by a number of men who had found John's style of rule overbearing and unjust. Moreover, the Lacy and Briouze connections in Ireland, Wales and Scotland had a direct impact on Scottish and Welsh relations with France. William de Briouze and Hugh de Lacy reached French soil and maintained negotiations with King John's most powerful enemy, King Philip Augustus of France, thereby laying the foundation for foreign aid to rebel movements against John between 1212 and 1217. This aid proved to be a formidable threat to Plantagenet rule and nearly led to the establishment of a Capetian Anglo-French empire in which England would have become part of France.

Although King William of Scotland, after having spent the majority of his reign attempting to regain Northumberland from the crown of England, did not capitalise on King John's vulnerability, his son and successor initially did. After 1214 King Alexander II of Scotland and Llywelyn ap Iorwerth of Gwynedd, John's son-in-law, united with men on both sides of the Channel in the interest of asserting their independence from the English crown. These alliances were founded on earlier relationships between the kingdoms, but the Scottish administration, unlike the Welsh, was still heavily influenced by more recent immigration of French men to the Scottish court, which strengthened communication with France. The impact that the Lacy-Briouze affair had on the Scottish relationship with England was discussed in the previous chapter.