d was a
Norman baron, Guy or Guido de Baliol, who held the fiefs of Bailleul,
Dampierre, Harcourt and Vinoy in Normandy. Coming to England with William
the Conqueror, he received lands in the north of England from William II.,
and his son, or grandson, Bernard or Barnard de Baliol, built a fortress in
Durham called Castle Barnard, around which the town of Barnard Castle grew.
The first burgesses probably obtained their privileges from him. Bernard
fought for King Stephen during the civil war, was present at the battle of
the Standard in August 1138, and was taken prisoner at the battle of
Lincoln in February 1141. The date of his death is uncertain. Dugdale only
believes in the existence of one Bernard de Baliol, but it seems more
probable that the Bernard de Baliol referred to after 1167 was a son of the
elder Bernard, and not the same individual. If so the younger Bernard was
one of the northern barons who raised the siege of Alnwick, and took
William the Lion, king of Scotland, prisoner in July 1174. He also
confirmed the privileges granted by his father to the burgesses of Barnard
Castle, and was succeeded by his son Eustace. Practically nothing is known
of Eustace, or of his son Hugh who succeeded about 1215. Hugh's son and
successor, John de Baliol, who increased his wealth and position by a
marriage with Dervorguila (d. 1290), daughter of Alan, earl of Galloway, is
said to have possessed thirty knights' fees in England and one half of the
lands in Galloway. He was one of the regents of Scotland during the
minority of Alexander III., but in 1255 was deprived of this office and his
lands forfeited for treason. He then appeared in England fighting for Henry
III. against Simon de Montfort, and was taken prisoner at the battle of
Lewes in 1264. About 1263 he established several scholarships at Oxford,
and after his death in 1269 his widow founded the college which bears the
name of the family. He left four sons, three of whom died without issue,
and in 1278 his lands came to his son, John de Baliol (_q.v._), who was
king of Scotland from 1292 to 1296, and who died in Normandy in 1315.
John's eldest son by his marriage with Isabel, daughter of John de Warenne,
earl of Surrey, was Edward de Baliol who shared his father's captivity in
England in 1296. Subsequently crossing over to France, he appears to have
lived mainly on his lands in Normandy until 1324, when he was invited to
England by King Edward II., who hoped to brin