Homage, overlordship and the consequences of peace: The treaties of Norham (1209, 1212), Anglo-Scottish relations, and the 'Scottish clause' in Magna Carta revisited

This article re-examines the relationships between the kings of the English and the Scots during the period 1209-15 following the discovery of the main text of the Treaty of Norham in 1209 by David Carpenter. The treaty informs us that one outcome of the peace made in 1209 between William, king of Scots, and John, king of the English, was contra the readings of over a generation of Scottish historians, to put William's heir, the future Alexander II, under the direct overlordship of John, with the aim of subordinating Alexander's kingdom to John when the former came of age. This was a period when rulers were doing interesting things with the ritual of homage, and Alexander's anticipatory homage should be understood in the context not only of John's overlordship but in how it supported William's own interests. This transforms our understanding of the political options available to William, king of Scots, towards the end of his long reign and, in so doing, highlights further the wrangling which occurred in the first two weeks of June 1215 as John attempted to preserve several key gains he had made over the king of Scots in the years before the baronial rebellion against him. In so doing, it moves discussion of overlordship out of the simple paradigm of (English dominance), stressing instead the value of secular lordship protection to the structuring of medieval politics.