Scottish Wars of Independence Flashcards
The succession problem following alexander’s death
Alexander’s death in march 1286 was sudden and unexpected, which meant the scots were not prepared.
Alexander’s children had already died so there was no direct male heir to the throne.
Yolande was not pregnant, so there was no possible new heir.
Alexander’s only surviving heir was his very young granddaughter.
There were many problems with Margaret maid of Norway.
The scottish response to alexander’s death - the treaty of birgham
In april 1286 great council met at scone and appointed six guardians to govern scotland.
Each of the guardians swore an oath to protect the rights of princess margaret.
The guardians asked edward I of england for his support as he was the brother in law of alexander III and the grand uncle of princess margaret - edward was now involved in scottish affairs.
Edward agreed to help but only if the guardians would accept a marriage between princess margaret and his son edward the prince of wales.
In 1920 the treaty of birgham was signed to seal the marriage.
It said, prince edward of england was to marry margaret maid of norway, scotland was to remain an independent country, scottish parliaments could only be held outside of scotland
The death of margaret maid of norway
In august 1290 the eight year old maid of norway left norway for scotland but became sick and died on the way to orkney.
There was now no surviving blood relative and scotland was in danger of spiraling into civil war.
King edward ordered his officials to begin a search for any documents that might prove that he had the right to claim to be overlord of scotland.
There was a danger of civil war as families such as the comyns and the bruces began to gather their armies in support of their claims.
The scottish appeal to edward I of england
To prevent bloodshed and destruction the bishop of st andrews wrote to edward I asking him to help choose a new king.
The scots needed an independent judge to help them decide who should be king.
Edward was seen as a wise king and an expert on legal matters and had not tried to take advantage of scotlands difficulties.
He was a powerful king and the claimants would accept his judgement.
The great cause
The great cause was the name given to the court case held to decide the king of scotland.
Edward demanded that the claimants to the scottish throne meet him at norham castle on the english side of the river tweed.
When the scots arrived at castle norham they found edward waiting with a large army.
Edward demanded that all claimants for the throne had to accept him as the overlord of scotland.
Scottish castles were to be placed under english control and edward promised they would be handed back to the new king.
The guardians of scotland had to resign and were replaced men chosen by king edward.
Bruce versus balliol
Edward decided that only two competitors had a strong claim based on royal decent - john balliol and robert bruce.
Both balliol and bruce were descended from david earl of huntington. balliol was the grandson of david’s oldest daughter. bruce was the son of david’s youngest daughter.
Edward’s judgement was based on primogeniture rather than proximity.
The reign of john balliol
John balliol as king was supported by the comyn family but was hated by the bruce family.
He did not have the support of the other competitors from the great cause.
Edward as overlord of scotland
Edward summoned him to newcastle in december to do homage for a second time, which was humiliating.
Edward allowed scots to complain against balliol in the english court and did not treat balliol like a king.
Balliol’s agreement that the treaty of birgham no longer applied meant edward could challenge scotland’s independence.
Edward forced john to accept an englishman as his chancellor which humiliated him even more.
Balliol as required to attend court in england, reducing his authority in scotland.
The anglo-french war and the franco-scottish treaty
In 1294 england went to war with france and edward demanded soldiers and knights from scotland to fight in his army.
He also forced welshmen to fight for him and his provoked an uprising in wales.
The scottish parliament forced balliol to refuse edward’s demand to send soldiers to france.
John balliol declared that he would no longer do homage to edward and in 1295 the scots made an alliance with france against england.
The scots army led by john comyn invaded northern england and began to attack castles and towns.
The bruce family organised the defence of carlisle against the scots.
The subjugation of scotland
In 1296 edward marched north with a large army determined to punish the scots. he ignored the scottish army that was attacking his northern towns and crossed the border unopposed at berwick, the largest and wealthiest burgh in scotland.
King john led a scots force to dunbar. his army was no match for the english who had many more soldiers and knights, better weapons and more experience. the scots army mistook english manoeuvres as a retreat and charged by mistake. the army was crushed and balliol fled from the battlefield.
Edward marched his army to elgin, further north than any english army had been before. every important town and castle surrendered to edward without a fight and noblemen were forced to swear loyalty to edward.
Edward had removed the royal crown and the stone of destiny on which scottish kings were crowned. this would make it difficult for the scots to make a new king in the future. hundreds of official documents and legal records were also taken to london.
Englishmen were appointed to govern scotland - john de warrenne was placed in overall command; hugh cressingham was appointed treasurer and william ormsby chief justiciar.
Many scottish nobles held lands in england and quickly submitted to king edward. they swore an oath swore an oath of loyalty to him and signed the ‘ragman roll’ as edward demanded.
The reasons for and the progress of his rebellion
The scots were forced to pay heavy taxes and edward was still demanding that scots should fight in his war against france.
Scots resentment of their english rulers began to turn into open revolt.
Many nobles secretly encouraged resistance to english rule - john comyn, james the steward and the bishop of glasgow were suspected by the english.
The success of local revolts by leaders such as william wallace and murray encouraged more scots to defy english rule and attack english soldiers and officials.
Nobles including robert bruce rebelled in the west but eventually surrendered at irvine.
By the summer of 1297, scots were in open rebellion and many noblemen were renouncing their oaths of loyalty to edward. the english simply did not have enough soldiers and lost control of most of scotland.
William wallace
Wallace refused to swear an oath of loyalty to edward and did not sign the ragman roll.
He was declared an outlaw and in may 1297 he killed sir william hazelrig the english sheriff of lanark who was responsible for the death of his wife.
Wallace went on to lead a growing band of followers attacking the english where and when they could.
William wallace and the battle of stirling bridge
In the summer of 1297 the earl of surrey, john de warrene assembled army of some 12,000 men ready march north to crush the treacherous scots.
The english chose to cross the narrow bridge over the forth rather than wade over at the ford point. they did not listen to advice to cross at a ford further upstream.
The scots attacked when only half of the english had crossed and split their army in two.
The english knights who crossed the bridge were trapped on a small area of marshy land.
Wallace sent troops to attack the english on the other side of the river and they fled in panic.
The english commander the earl of surrey fled the battlefield and hugh de cressingham was killed.
The battle of falkirk
The english army was running short of food and supplies when news arrived that the scottish army had been sighted at the torwood near falkirk. unable to avoid the english, wallaces prepared his mean as best he could for battle.
Wallaces positioned his army on a hill with a small loch in front, and trees behind. the scots army of mostly spearmen was arranged into four schiltrons with spears pointing outwards.
The battle opened when the english cavalry charged. they circled the small loch some to the west and some to the east. the scottish cavalry panicked and deserted without putting up a fight.
The english then attacked the archers between the schiltrons, killing almost all of them, including their commander sir john the stewart. the scots schiltrons were now separated and open to attack.
There were not enough replacement to move out from the center; the english cavalry charged into the gaps and slaughtered the scots, killing thousands. wallace was forced to retreat into torwood forest.
Although edward won an important victory at falkirk he was not able to complete the conquest of scotland. he was forced to return to england, as he did not have enough food and other supplies for a long campaign.
The impact of the defeat at falkirk
After his defeat at the battle of falkirk wallace resigned from his position as guardian.
When edward I returned to england robert bruce and john comyn were appointed as guardians.
Wallace left scotland for europe where it is known that he visited france and possibly rome to seek support for scottish independence.
Bruce and comyn were enemies and could not work together; bruce resigned and was replace by bishop lamberton. in 1302 bruce submitted to king edward.
In may 1303 king edward crossed the border with his army. he arranged supplies to be brought by sea and massive siege engines were built to attack and pull down the walls of castles.
By the winter of 1303 large areas of scotland fell to the english. edward spent the winter months in dunfermline before resuming his attack in february.
