The Brief Reign of Edward Baliol

Scotland's Forgotten King

Edward Baliol is one of the more enigmatic figures in Scottish history—an English-backed monarch whose crown never truly fit. Often remembered as a puppet king, his reign, brief and troubled, is a telling episode of Scotland's long struggle for sovereignty during the Wars of Independence. Born to John Baliol, the deposed King of Scots, Edward’s claim to the throne was rooted in bloodline, but his pathway to the crown was carved not by Scottish swords, but by English ones.