You have sung well

Following on from yesterday’s post. In 1296 the Bruces supported Edward I’s invasion of Scotland, in the hope that he would put a Bruce on the throne after King John Balliol had been given the Alan Sugar treatment (you’re fired etc).

According to John Fordun, Edward changed his plans due to the influence of Antony Bek, the fighty Bishop of Durham. Fordun recites an exchange between the two:

“If Robert de Bruce were king of Scotland [said Bek], where would Edward, king of England, be? For this Robert is of the noblest stock of all England, and, with him, the kingdom of Scotland is very strong in itself; and, in times gone by, a great deal of mischief has been wrought to the kings of England by those of Scotland.”

Edward answered: “Par le sank Dieu! vous aves bun chante” [“By Christ’s blood” You have sung well. I will change my plans.”]

Fordun has to be taken with a pinch of salt: he was writing much later (1380s) and had little good to say of Edward. Yet his reported dialogue has a touch of veracity, especially Edward’s reply in Norman-French. The Bruce in question was not the victor of Bannockburn, but his grandfather, also known as The Competitor. Edward knew him well: they had fought together against Simon de Montfort in England and in the Holy Land.

Everything we know about the Competitor suggests a devious and forceful character, not the sort of man any king would want for a rival. Yet, If Edward had ignored Bek’s advice and planted the Competitor on the Scottish throne, perhaps things wouldn’t have unravelled quite so spectacularly as they did.