This week – 3 August 1291

‘The Great Cause’, the judicial process set up to determine the successor to the vacant Scottish throne following the death of the Maid of Norway in 1290, began. Thirteen men would claim rights to the throne, though only two men – John Balliol and Robert Bruce (‘the Competitor’) – were serious contenders. The Great Cause ended more than a year later, when judgement was given in favour of Balliol on 17 November 1292.