This week – 13 January 1294

John Balliol wrote to John le Romeyn, archbishop of York, complaining about the election of Thomas of Kirkcudbright to the see of Whithorn. Balliol claimed that Thomas had been improperly elected to the bishopric by ‘certain promises and simony’ and that the prior and canons of Whithorn, who had the right of electing the bishop of the see, had been bribed. This was directed at the Bruce faction, as Thomas had been a clerk of Robert Bruce (d.1295), grandfather of King Robert Bruce and one of the competitors for the throne of Scotland in 1292. It was an example of the opposition John faced as king and of the conflicts between different factions in the realm.