Between the middle of May and the end of August 1296, during the course of a
royal progress through the kingdom of Scots, via an eastern coastal route, having
militarily asserted his authority over the leading nobles of Scotland, Edward I
received into his peace the prelates, earls, barons, nobles and the communities of
the realm of Scotland. Over 1500 individuals performed fealty, with those who
held their lands in capite (that is, ‘in chief’, immediately of the Crown) doing
homage as well. Fealty was performed either individually or in groups, and the
acts were recorded in over 180 deeds, in the form of letters patent written in
French, with each individual or community attaching their own seal. Of these
original deeds, about seventy are extant, preserved in the records of the
exchequer, collection E 39, ‘Scottish Documents’, at The National Archives in Kew
