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Background

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The First War of Scottish Independence between England and Scotland began in March 1296, when Edward I of England (r. 1272–1307) stormed and sacked the Scottish border town of Berwick as a prelude to his invasion of Scotland.[1] After 30 years of warfare that followed, the newly-crowned 14-year-old King Edward III was nearly captured in the English disaster at Stanhope Park. This brought his regents, Isabella of France and Roger Mortimer, to the negotiating table. They agreed to the Treaty of Northampton with Robert Bruce (r. 1306–1329) in 1328 but this treaty was widely resented in England and commonly known as turpis pax, "the cowards' peace". Some Scottish nobles refused to swear fealty to Bruce and were disinherited; they left Scotland to join forces with Edward Balliol, son of King John I of Scotland (r. 1292–1296),[2] whom Edward I had deposed in 1296.[3]

Robert Bruce died in 1329; his heir was his 5-year-old son, David II (r. 1329–1371). In 1331 Balliol and Henry Beaumont, 4th Earl of Buchan, one of the exiled Scottish nobles, gathered in Yorkshire and plotted an invasion of Scotland. Edward III insisted that Balliol not invade Scotland overland from England, but turned a blind eye to his forces sailing for Scotland from Yorkshire ports on 31 July 1332.[4][5] Five days after landing in Fife, Balliol's force of some 1,500 men met the Scottish army of 15,000–40,000 men. The Scots were crushed at the Battle of Dupplin Moor, with thousands of casualties, including much of the nobility of the realm. Balliol was crowned king of Scotland at Scone – the traditional place of coronation for Scottish monarchs[6] – on 24 September 1332.[3]

Balliol's support within Scotland was limited and his supporters fell out among themselves. In December Balliol was ambushed by supporters of David II at the Battle of Annan a few months after his coronation. He fled to England half-dressed and riding bareback and appealed to Edward III for assistance.[7][8] Edward III dropped all pretence of neutrality, recognised Balliol as king of Scotland and made ready for war.[9]

Infantry in late-medieval armour fighting and dying
A 19th-century view of the Scottish charge at Halidon Hill

Balliol, in command of the disinherited Scottish lords and some English magnates, crossed the border on 10 March.[10] He marched through Roxburghshire, burning and pillaging as he went and capturing Oxnam. He reached the important Scottish border town of Berwick in late March and cut it off by land. Edward III's navy had already isolated it by sea.[11] Edward arrived at Berwick with the main English army on 9 May.[12] Aware that they were in a hopeless situation the Scottish garrison formally agreed to surrender on 20 July if were not relieved by then.[13] Archibald Douglas was guardian of the realm for the underage David and assembled a large army north of the border.[14][15] As a matter of national pride Douglas would have to come to the relief of Berwick.[14] The English army is estimated to have been less than 10,000 strong – outnumbered approximately two-to-one by the Scots.[16]

On 19 July the Scots approached the English on Halidon Hill – a small rise of some 600 feet (180 metres), 2 miles (3.2 km) to the north-west of Berwick.[17][14] To engage the English, the Scots had to advance downhill, cross a large area of marshy ground and then reascend.[18][19] The Battle of Dupplin Moor the previous year had shown how vulnerable the Scots were to arrows. The prudent course of action would have been to withdraw and wait for a better opportunity to fight, but this would guarantee the loss of Berwick.[14][20] Douglas ordered an attack. The Scots suffered many casualties to English longbows with the arrows "as thick as motes in a sun beam", according to a contemporary. The survivors pressed on uphill and on to the waiting spears.[21] There the Scottish army broke. The camp followers made off with the horses and the fugitives were pursued by mounted English knights. The Scottish casualties numbered in thousands, including Douglas and five earls dead on the field.[14] Scots who surrendered were killed on Edward's orders and some drowned as they fled into the sea.[22] English casualties were reported as either fourteen or seven.[23][24] The next day was when Berwick's truce expired, and the town and the castle surrendered as agreed.[14][25]

Invasion of 1333

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An outline map of Scotland and northern England coloured to show the lands ceded by Baliol to Edward III
Territory ceded to England by Edward Balliol[note 1]
  Scottish territory not claimed by England
  ceded Scottish territory
  England

Notes, citations and sources

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Notes

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  1. ^ Based on Sumption.[26]

Citations

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  1. ^ Barrow 1965, pp. 99–100.
  2. ^ Weir 2006, p. 314.
  3. ^ a b Nicholson 1961, p. 19.
  4. ^ Sumption 1990, pp. 124, 126.
  5. ^ DeVries 1996, p. 116.
  6. ^ Rodwell 2013, p. 25.
  7. ^ Wyntourn 1907, p. 395.
  8. ^ Maxwell 1913, pp. 274–275.
  9. ^ Sumption 1990, p. 12.
  10. ^ Nicholson 1961, p. 21.
  11. ^ Nicholson 1961, p. 22.
  12. ^ Maxwell 1913, pp. 278–279.
  13. ^ Ormrod 2008.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Sumption 1990, p. 130.
  15. ^ Nicholson 1961, p. 29.
  16. ^ Ormrod 2012, p. 159.
  17. ^ Nicholson 1961, pp. 32–33.
  18. ^ Stock 1888, pp. 54–55.
  19. ^ Nicholson 1961, p. 36.
  20. ^ Stock 1888, p. 54.
  21. ^ Nicholson 1961, p. 39.
  22. ^ Nicholson 1961, p. 41.
  23. ^ Strickland & Hardy 2011, p. 188.
  24. ^ Nicholson 1961, p. 42.
  25. ^ Tuck 2002, p. 148.
  26. ^ Sumption 1990, p. 131.

Sources

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  • Barrow, Geoffrey Wallis Steuart (1965). Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. OCLC 655056131.
  • DeVries, Kelly (1996). Infantry Warfare in the Early Fourteenth Century : Discipline, Tactics, and Technology. Woodbridge, Suffolk; Rochester, NY: Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 978-0-85115-571-5.
  • King, Andy (2002). "According to the Custom Used in French and Scottish Wars: Prisoners and Casualties on the Scottish Marches in the Fourteenth Century". Journal of Medieval History. XXVIII (3): 263–290. doi:10.1016/S0048-721X(02)00057-X. ISSN 0304-4181. S2CID 159873083.
  • Maxwell, Herbert (1913). The Chronicle of Lanercost, 1272–1346. Glasgow: J. Maclehose. OCLC 27639133.
  • Nicholson, Ranald (1961). "The Siege of Berwick, 1333". The Scottish Historical Review. XXXX (129): 19–42. JSTOR 25526630. OCLC 664601468.
  • Nicholson, Ranald (1974). Scotland: The Later Middle Ages. University of Edinburgh History of Scotland. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. ISBN 978-0-05002-038-8.
  • Oman, Charles (1998) [1924]. A History of the Art of War in the Middle Ages: 1278–1485 A.D. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 978-1-85367-332-0.
  • Ormrod, Mark (2008). "War in Scotland, 1332–1336". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8519. Retrieved 6 December 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  • Ormrod, Mark (2012). Edward III. Yale Medieval Monarchs series. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11910-7.
  • Prestwich, Michael (2003). The Three Edwards: War and State in England, 1272–1377 (2nd ed.). London; New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-30309-5.
  • Rodwell, Warwick (2013). The Coronation Chair and Stone of Scone: History, Archaeology and Conservation. Oxford: Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1-78297-153-5.
  • Stock, John (1888). Berwick-upon-Tweed. The history of the town and guild. London: E Stock. OCLC 657093471.
  • Strickland, Matthew; Hardy, Robert (2011). The Great Warbow: From Hastings to the Mary Rose. Somerset: J. H. Haynes & Co. ISBN 978-0-85733-090-1.
  • Sumption, Jonathan (1990). Trial by Battle. The Hundred Years' War. Vol. I. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-57120-095-5.
  • Tuck, Anthony (2002). "A Medieval Tax Haven: Berwick upon Tweed and the English Crown, 1333–1461". In Britnel, Richard; Hatcher, John (eds.). Progress and Problems in Medieval England: Essays in Honour of Edward Miller. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 148–167. ISBN 978-0-52152-273-1.
  • Weir, Alison (2006). Queen Isabella: Treachery, Adultery, and Murder in Medieval England. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-34545-320-4. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  • Wyntourn, Andrew (1907). Amours, François Joseph (ed.). The Original Chronicle of Scotland. Vol. II. Edinburgh: Blackwood. OCLC 61938371.
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