It was Scotland that was destined to be on the receiving end of Edward's deadly power games, which began, as always, by converting accidents into opportunities. The accident was the death in 1290 of the last surviving direct heir to Alexander III, King of Scotland. With her gone, the Scottish nobles were lining up for the throne. Someone was needed to judge the contestants. Well, guess who? The strongest claimants led the two most powerful family factions in Scotland - the Bruces and the Comyn-Balliol alliance. They hated each other. Both were determined to have their man made King, and if they pushed their rival claims fully, their conflict would cause civil war across all of Scotland. Edward came north to decide which of the two rivals would be King. The competitors met him on either side of the River Tweed, near a place called Norham.


苏格兰注定将成为爱德华权力游戏的攻击目标。这一次，一如既往，他成功地将意外事件转化为了扩张的机会。这个意外事件就是1290年，苏格兰国王亚历山大三世，最后一位直系继承人的死亡。随着她的去世，苏格兰贵族们纷纷开始觊觎王位，必须有人对王位继承进行裁决，来猜猜是谁吧。最有力的两个竞争者，领导着苏格兰最强大的两个族系，布鲁斯家族和康明-贝列尔家族联盟，他们彼此仇视，都野心勃勃地要将王位收入囊中。一旦他们的冲突升级，将会导致苏格兰全境范围的内战。爱德华来到北方裁决，王位的归属，他在特威德河两岸分别会见了冲突双方，会面地点在诺勒姆附近。