![]() They all wished for a lawful monarch, preferably a king but if unavoidable a queen. I was fascinated to discover that the political concept upon which all the Guardians, including Wallace, based their actions was that of the community of the realm or kingdom of Scotland. It came as something of a shock to find that they were cast in the same mould. This involved looking at the documents associated with Wallace or issued by him, and this in turn led me to the documents, mostly edited by Joseph Stevenson, produced by the guardianship established at the death of Alexander III. In those days University College London used to provide ‘lunch hour lectures’ across the entire spectrum of knowledge. The other source was my discovery, almost by chance, of the constitutionality of William Wallace. A book on Bruce would make a suitable companion. After consulting the directors, Maurice accepted my offer – perhaps he was attracted because Eyre and Spottiswoode were at the time publishing their highly successful series on the English monarchs. Flattering as this was, I had to refuse, but in order not to seem ungrateful I put forward the idea of a book on Robert Bruce and the Scotland of his time. In the later 1950s the publisher Maurice Temple Smith, in charge of the substantial history list for Eyre and Spottiswoode, invited me to produce a book about late medieval Europe. ![]() ![]() The inspiration for this book came from two very different sources. ![]()
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