Balliol Coat of Arms
One of the most powerful families in Scotland, the Balliols took
their name from Bailleul in Northern France and were invited to
Scotland and given lands by King David I. At the end of the
13th Century, Scotland was without a King and Edward I of England
was asked to decide between powerful claimants to the throne
(including the father of Robert the Bruce). He chose John
Balliol, who was allied with the equally powerful Comyn
family. In return for this King John was asked to pay homage
to and raise troops for the English monarch's war in France.
He was in effect meant to act as a puppet king with Edward as his
feudal overlord. Due to this he is often seen as a weak king,
but John did not surrender his rule to Edward and rebelled against
English dominance, only to be defeated and humiliated by having his
coat of arms - then the Royal one, the Lion Rampant, ripped from
his clothes. He was then known as 'toom tabard' which means
'empty coat'. Edward then assumed control over Scotland,
triggering the events now known as 'The Scottish Wars of
Independence'. William Wallace remained loyal to King John
and his rebellion was in the name of the now exiled King, which is
possibly why no mention of Wallace appears in Scottish chronicles
written by courtiers of Robert the Bruce.
The Balliols probably held the Kilmarnock Estate around 1300,
but Bruce gave it to one of his commanders, Robert Boyd, in
1316.
Like many early coats of arms, that of the Balliols is very
plain. As time progressed and all the simple designs such as
this were used up and knights had to find more and more complicated
designs.
Object no :
EAFB008n
Collection :
Creator :
Manpower Services Scheme
Place of Production :
Kilmarnock
Dimensions :
NA
Materials :
NA
Location :
NA
Accession number :
NA
Copyright :
East Ayrshire Council