First War of Scottish Independence

Background and the Great Cause

By the late thirteenth century, the Kingdom of Scotland spanned the northern portion of Great Britain, as well as the Isle of Man and the Hebrides, which had been recovered from Norway. The kingdom was largely mountainous and sparsely populated, with arable agriculture concentrated along the eastern lowlands and southern river valleys near the English frontier. Most of the estimated population of roughly 500,000 lived in this southern region, where the primary burghs were established.^[3] The southern inhabitants spoke Early Scots, a northern dialect of English, in contrast to the Gaelic spoken across the Highlands and western islands. Many prominent Scottish noble families held lands on both sides of the Anglo-Scottish border and maintained ties with the English aristocracy. English monarchs had asserted claims of feudal overlordship over Scottish kings since at least 1071, when Malcolm III paid homage to William the Conqueror.

The Succession Crisis of 1286–1290

Under King Alexander III, Scotland experienced a prolonged era of internal peace and economic prosperity.^[4][5] Alexander's marriage to Margaret of England produced three children: Margaret, who married King Eric II of Norway; Alexander; and David. David died in childhood in 1281, Queen Margaret died in 1283, and Prince Alexander died at age twenty in 1284.^[6] Alexander III secured recognition from the Scottish estates of his infant granddaughter, Margaret, known as the Maid of Norway, as his heir presumptive. In an effort to produce a male heir, the forty-four-year-old king married Yolande of Dreux four months before his death.^[6][7][8] On 19 March 1286, Alexander III died in an accident while riding his horse in the dark near the Firth of Forth.^[7][8][9] In the Vietnamese edition, his death is recorded as occurring during the night of 18 March 1286.^[10]

With the Maid of Norway residing in Scandinavia, a regency government of six Guardians was established to govern Scotland.^[11][12] Edward I of England was engaged in Gascony but initiated negotiations that led to the Treaty of Birgham in July 1290, which arranged the betrothal of Margaret to his infant son, Edward of Caernarvon. The treaty specified that Scotland would remain an autonomous, separate kingdom with its own laws, liberties, and customs. In the autumn of 1290, Margaret sailed from Norway to Scotland, but fell ill on the voyage and died in Orkney. The English edition dates her death to 26 September 1290, while the Vietnamese edition states that she died on 26 November 1290.^[12][13] Her death brought the direct royal line of Dunkeld to an end, precipitating a dynastic vacancy.^[14][15]

The Great Cause and the Accession of John Balliol

With Scotland on the brink of civil conflict between aristocratic factions, the Guardians requested King Edward I of England to arbitrate the succession.^[16][17] Edward agreed, but demanded that all competitors and the Scottish magnates acknowledge him as Lord Paramount of Scotland. Faced with an assembly backed by English troops at Norham in May and June 1291, the claimants and leading lords conceded to Edward's feudal supremacy and surrendered the royal castles to his custody.^[17][18] Fourteen claimants presented genealogical arguments before a feudal tribunal convened at Berwick-upon-Tweed, a legal contest known as the Great Cause.^[14][17] The principal competitors were John Balliol, Lord of Galloway, and Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale, both descendants of David, Earl of Huntingdon, the brother of King William the Lion.

On 17 November 1292, Edward I delivered his judgment at Berwick in favour of John Balliol, whose claim was grounded in primogeniture through Huntingdon's eldest daughter Margaret, whereas Bruce argued proximity of blood through the second daughter Isabel.^[19][20] Balliol was crowned King of Scots at Scone on 30 November 1292.^[20] On 26 December 1292, Balliol performed formal homage to Edward I at Newcastle upon Tyne.^[1] Edward proceeded to treat Scotland as a subordinate territory, hearing legal appeals against Balliol's judgments in the English Parliament, and summoning the Scottish king to London as a common plaintiff.^[20][21] In 1294, Edward demanded military service and taxation from Balliol and eighteen Scottish magnates for his war against King Philip IV of France in Gascony.^[22][23]

The Conquest of Scotland in 1296

The First War of Scottish Independence developed within a wider European context encompassing the Anglo-French Gascon War and the Franco-Flemish War, during which Philip IV of France and Edward I of England competed for diplomatic partners in Scotland and Flanders.^[1][24] The Scottish political leadership sought relief from English feudal demands, laying the groundwork for armed conflict.

The Outbreak of War and the Franco-Scottish Alliance

In 1295, the Scottish magnates stripped Balliol of executive power, transferring control of the kingdom to a council of twelve nobles and prelates.^[22] Scottish clergymen noted that Pope Celestine V had absolved the Scottish lords of oaths of fealty sworn to Edward in 1291 on the grounds that they had been made under coercion.^[22] In July 1295, Scottish envoys travelled to Paris and concluded a treaty of mutual assistance with Philip IV on 23 October 1295, establishing the alliance known as the Auld Alliance.^[23][25] The treaty obligated Scotland to invade northern England if English forces sailed for France. A Scottish parliament at Stirling ratified the treaty on 23 February 1296.^[25] When Edward demanded that the border castles of Berwick, Roxburgh, and Jedburgh be placed in English hands until the French war ended, the Scots rejected the demand.^[26]

Edward had summoned his feudal host to assemble at Newcastle upon Tyne on 1 March 1296.^[25] The Scots ordered their own army to muster at Caddonlea near Selkirk on 11 March 1296.^[25] The English host held structural advantages: English magnates fielded contingents of armored knights, supported by archers and paid infantry, whereas the Scottish host consisted primarily of lightly equipped spear levies, few archers, and limited cavalry, reliant on plundered supplies.^[27] Scottish noble allegiances were split. While the Earl of Buchan defended Annandale, Nicholas de Soulis held Liddesdale, James the Stewart held Roxburgh, and William Douglas defended Berwick, other lords adhered to Edward, including Robert de Brus of Annandale, his son the Earl of Carrick, and the Earls of Dunbar and Angus.^[27][28][29] Sir Robert de Ros of Wark switched sides to the Scots out of affection for a Scottish woman and captured his castle with Scottish assistance.^[28]

The Invasion of Cumberland and the Sack of Berwick

Hostilities began on Easter Monday, 26 March 1296, when a Scottish army led by seven earls and John Comyn of Badenoch crossed the Solway Firth from Annandale and burned settlements in Arthuret.^[28] The Scots advanced to Carlisle, which was defended by Robert de Brus of Annandale. Lacking siege engines, the Scots failed to breach the walls and withdrew on 28 March after an assault.^[28] In early April, Scottish raiding columns entered Northumberland and Cumberland, burning settlements and religious houses, including Hexham Priory.^[30]

Edward crossed the River Tweed near Coldstream on 28 March 1296 and reached Berwick-upon-Tweed on 30 March.^[30] The Scottish garrison under William Douglas rejected summons to yield. English naval forces suffered initial losses, but English land forces breached the low defenses, resulting in the sack of the town.^[30] The English massacred the town's inhabitants.^[29][30] The garrison of Berwick Castle surrendered soon afterwards and, except for its commander Douglas, was allowed to leave freely.^[30] Edward refortified Berwick with an earthen rampart and established the town as the administrative centre of English-occupied Scotland.^[29][30]

The Battle of Dunbar and the Capitulation of the Scots

In April 1296, English forces under John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey, moved against Dunbar.^[29] The main Scottish army met Warenne's force at Dunbar on 27 April.^[29] Misinterpreting English cavalry redeployments in a valley near Spott Burn as a disorderly retreat, the Scots abandoned their high ground. Warenne charged the disorganized Scottish foot soldiers, scattering them rapidly in the Battle of Dunbar.^[29] On 28 April, Edward arrived with the English main army, and the garrison of Dunbar Castle surrendered. Three Scottish earls and over a hundred barons and knights were taken prisoner.^[31]

The defeat at Dunbar shattered Scottish armed resistance. James the Stewart surrendered Roxburgh Castle without further fighting.^[29][32] Edinburgh Castle fell after a five-day siege, and the garrison of Stirling Castle abandoned their posts before the arrival of the English vanguard.^[31][32] Balliol and the Comyns fled north toward Perth. English forces occupied central Scotland without encountering organised opposition, securing the towns of Perth, Dundee, and Aberdeen.^[29][32]

The Deposition of Balliol and the Royal Progress

By midsummer 1296, Balliol sent envoys offering unconditional surrender. On 2 July, at Kincardine Castle, Balliol signed a confession acknowledging his rebellion against Edward I.^[33] On 7 July, in the churchyard of Stracathro, he formally renounced the treaty with France.^[34] On 10 July, at Brechin Castle, Balliol surrendered his kingdom to Bishop Antony Bek of Durham, Edward's representative.^[34] In a ceremony of humiliation, Balliol was stripped of his royal vestments, his crown, and the heraldic blazon of his coat, earning the Scottish moniker 'Toom Tabard' (Empty Coat).^[34][35] Balliol was transferred under escort to England and confined in the Tower of London, before being moved to milder custody in Hertfordshire.^[36]

Edward conducted an armed expedition throughout northern Scotland to consolidate authority, a march chronicled as covering twenty-one weeks.^[37][38] Advancing north across Deeside, he halted in Aberdeen, then moved through Kintore, Fyvie, Banff, and Cullen to the River Spey. On 26 July 1296, he reached Elgin, the northernmost limit of his march.^[37] Detachments led by John Hastings and John de Cantilupe were dispatched to receive the submission of Badenoch. Edward returned south by way of Kildrummy and reached Berwick before 22 August.^[37] Robert de Brus of Annandale approached Edward to ask if the Scottish crown would now be granted to the Bruce family, but Edward sharply rejected the request.^[37]

The Administrative Settlement and the Ragman Roll

At a parliament convened at Berwick on 28 August 1296, Edward instituted a formal government for Scotland, treating the realm as a forfeited feudal dependency rather than an independent kingdom.^[37][38][39] He appointed John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, as royal lieutenant, Hugh de Cressingham as treasurer, Walter of Amersham as chancellor, and William de Ormesby as justiciar.^[37][40] English sheriffs and constables were assigned to royal castles and administrative districts across the realm.^[37] Scottish regalia and ancient public archives were carried away to England.^[38][41] Edward had the Stone of Scone removed from Scone Abbey and taken to Westminster Abbey, where it was incorporated into the Coronation Chair.^[38][41]

Over 1,800 Scottish landholders, prelates, and burgh representatives swore oaths of fealty to Edward at Berwick and before royal commissioners across the country, their seals recorded in parchment rolls known as the Ragman Roll.^[42][43] Prominent prisoners taken at Dunbar, including John Comyn of Badenoch, were interned in English castles or restricted south of the River Trent.^[36] Regarding the Scottish problem as settled, Edward turned to the war with France, for which he had to overcome an opposition among his nobles in England.^[44] He returned to England with his army on 17 September 1296.^[40] Warenne departed his post due to ill health, residing on his Yorkshire estates and leaving administrative power in the hands of Cressingham.^[44]

The Rising of William Wallace and Andrew Moray

English occupation generated widespread resentment across Scotland in early 1297, caused by severe taxation, forced requisitions of grain and wool, and conscription orders to fight in Flanders.^[45][46] Cressingham collected more than £5,188 in Scottish revenue for the English treasury by late May 1297.^[47] Civil disruptions broke out across multiple provinces, culminating in coordinated regional revolts led by members of the lesser nobility.^[1][46][48]

Unrest in the Highlands and Moray's Northern Rebellion

Initial unrest erupted in Argyll, Galloway, and Aberdeenshire in the spring of 1297.^[49] In the north, Andrew de Moray, son of Sir Andrew de Moray of Petty, led the rebellion. Both Morays had been taken prisoner at Dunbar in April 1296. The younger Moray was imprisoned in Chester Castle on the Welsh border, from which he escaped in the winter of 1296–1297.^[1][31][50] Returning to the family stronghold at Avoch on the Moray Firth, Moray raised his banner in the name of King John Balliol in May 1297.^[1] Rallying local burgesses and freeholders, he carried out guerrilla strikes against English strongholds. Late in May, Moray ambushed Sir William Fitz Warin, the constable of Urquhart Castle, and laid siege to the fortress.^[31] The Countess of Ross, whose husband Edward I was holding in the Tower of London, urged Fitz Warin to surrender but did not join Moray.^[31] Fitz Warin did not accept her advice, the attack failed, and Moray had to withdraw.^[31][51][52]

Moray's subsequent operations swept the north. He seized the castles of Inverness, Elgin, and Banff, eliminating English control between the Spey and the Dee.^[49][50] In June 1297, Edward released northern Scottish lords from custody, including John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, Bishop Henry Cheyne of Aberdeen, and Gartnait of Mar, ordering them to suppress Moray's insurrection.^[53] When the royal expedition confronted Moray on the banks of the River Spey at Enzie in July 1297, the two forces refrained from battle; Bishop Cheyne reported that Moray had retired into impassable woods and bogs where cavalry could not operate.^[53][54] Cressingham warned Edward on 5 August that the released lords could not be trusted to act against their countrymen.^[55]

The Outbreak in Lanark and the Raid on Scone

In southern Scotland, William Wallace, the son of a minor knight from Elderslie and a vassal of James the Stewart, began armed resistance in May 1297.^[1][46][48] At Lanark, Wallace attacked the English garrison and killed the English sheriff, Sir William Haselrig.^[1][49] Men rallied to Wallace, including Sir William Douglas, the former constable of Berwick.^[1][49] Wallace received the public support of Robert Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow, and William Lamberton, Chancellor of Glasgow, which provided legitimacy to the rebel movement.^[1][48][56]

In early June 1297, Wallace and Douglas executed a raid against Scone, the administrative seat where William de Ormesby, the English Justiciar of Scotland, was holding court.^[1][49] Ormesby escaped capture, but the Scots seized the treasury and scattered his retinue.^[1][49] Simultaneously, Wallace's associates burned English shipping at Aberdeen. Aristocratic figures joined the insurrection, including James the Stewart, Sir Alexander Lindsay, and Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, who renounced his allegiance to Edward after being ordered to attack Douglas's castle in Lanarkshire.^[1][49]

The Capitulation of Irvine and the Union of Forces

Confronted by expanding resistance, Edward dispatched Sir Henry Percy and Sir Robert Clifford with a mounted host of northern English levies into southwest Scotland.^[1][57][58] In late June 1297, Percy and Clifford marched through Annandale to Ayr.^[57] In July, the English force confronted the aristocratic rebel army commanded by James the Stewart, Robert Wishart, and Robert Bruce at Irvine.^[1][57] Divided by internal disputes and unwilling to face the English cavalry, the Scottish lords opened negotiations, resulting in the Capitulation of Irvine on 7 July 1297.^[1][57] Douglas was imprisoned in Berwick, while Bruce, Stewart, and Wishart offered hostages and signed submissions that stalled military operations for weeks.^[1][57]

The capitulation of the magnates left Wallace and Moray unimpeded. Wallace retired to the Forest of Selkirk, where he recruited commoners and lesser landholders into structured infantry formations.^[1][59] In August, Wallace advanced across the River Tay to besiege Dundee Castle, while Moray consolidated control over the northeast.^[59] By late August 1297, Wallace and Moray united their forces north of the River Forth, taking up position on the Ochil Hills overlooking Stirling Bridge.^[1][60]

The Battle of Stirling Bridge

In late August 1297, Warenne and Cressingham advanced north with an English host numbering around 300 to 1,000 armored cavalry and 8,000 to 10,000 infantry, including Welsh bowmen.^[60] Warenne aimed to cut communications between northern and southern Scotland by holding the crossing of the Forth at Stirling.^[61] The bridge there was so narrow that even two mounted men could barely cross side by side.^[62] The Scots drew up 6,000 men at Abbey Craig, half a mile from the English vanguard.^[63]

On 11 September 1297, Warenne rejected the advice of Richard Lundie and followed Cressingham's counsel to cross the river at once.^[62] When roughly a third of the English force, including several hundred heavy cavalry and around 2,000 foot soldiers, had crossed, the Scottish spearmen formed schiltrons and descended on the bridgehead.^[1] The Scots seized control of the northern end of the bridge, trapping the English vanguard in an oxbow loop of the river. The congested English cavalry could not deploy, and the wooden bridge gave way under the weight of advancing reinforcements.^[1]

The trapped English vanguard was slaughtered or driven into the river. Sir Hugh de Cressingham was killed, and Scottish soldiers flayed his body, distributing pieces of his hide as war trophies.^[1][61] The English on the other side of the river then fled the battlefield.^[1]

The Aftermath of Stirling and the Fate of Moray

Scottish losses at Stirling Bridge were light, but Andrew de Moray sustained severe wounds from which he never recovered.^[1][61] Andrew Moray may have been killed in the battle or wounded.^[64] The proceedings of an inquest held at Berwick in October 1300 into the fate of his uncle, Sir William Moray of Bothwell, stated that Andrew Moray had been killed at Stirling fighting against the king.^[64] Letters issued in October and November 1297, including a commercial letter to Lübeck and Hamburg dated 11 October 1297 from Haddington and a protection granted to Hexham Priory on 7 November 1297, were issued jointly in the names of Andrew de Moray and William Wallace as leaders of the Scottish host.^[1] The chronicler Walter of Guisborough held that the letters bearing Moray's name proved nothing.^[65] Wallace may have kept issuing documents in the dead Moray's name, because Moray had been his link to the Scottish nobility, until he was knighted and appointed Guardian some time before March 1298.^[65] Most historians conclude that Moray died of his wounds in late autumn 1297.^[61]

Following the victory, the castles of Dundee and Stirling surrendered.^[45][66] Wallace moved to reestablish administrative functions in the name of King John Balliol.^[1][67] Trade and diplomatic ties were reopened with continental ports, as evidenced by the Lübeck letter welcoming German merchants to free Scottish commerce.^[1] Wallace had further troops raised systematically throughout the liberated kingdom, in part by compulsion.^[68]

Wallace's Guardianship and the Invasion of Northern England

In October and November 1297, Wallace led a large-scale retaliatory invasion of northern England.^[1][66][69] Crossing the Tweed, the Scots laid waste to the countryside of Northumberland, driving populations into the fortifications of Newcastle upon Tyne. Moving westward through Cumberland, the Scots pillaged lands as far as Cockermouth before circling back through Durham and burning an estimated seven hundred settlements.^[1][69] Unchecked plundering was accompanied by harsh treatment of civilians and clergy, until winter storms and severe snowfall forced the Scots to retire with their booty in late November.^[69][70]

In December 1297, English commanders executed counter-raids; Clifford burned ten villages in Annandale, while Warenne relieved the garrisons of Roxburgh and Berwick.^[70] In March 1298, Wallace was knighted, reportedly by a leading earl, and declared sole Guardian of the Kingdom of Scotland acting in the name of the exiled King John.^[1][66][71] Scottish barons who had been captured at Dunbar and forced to serve in Edward's army in Flanders, including the Earl of Atholl and John Comyn of Badenoch, deserted the English king, returned to Scotland, and pledged their service to the Guardian.^[72]

The Falkirk Campaign and the Defeat of Wallace

In January 1298, Philip IV of France concluded a truce with Edward I that excluded Scotland, freeing the English king to deal with his northern border.^[1] Edward returned from Flanders in March 1298, assembled his government at York, and gathered an army of roughly 2,000 armored horsemen and 12,000 foot soldiers, primarily Welsh archers.^[73][74] Advancing north in July, an English vanguard under Antony Bek captured Dirleton Castle after supply ships arrived by sea.^[75] Short on provisions, the English host was plagued by unrest and mutiny among the Welsh infantry near Edinburgh.^[75] In July, the English learned that the Scottish army was close by, near Falkirk.

On 22 July 1298, the two armies met at the Battle of Falkirk.^[1][74][76] Wallace's army, which was smaller than the English army, was drawn up in a defensive position.^[1] Most of the Scottish magnates fled as the Scottish defeat became apparent. Edward brought forward his Welsh longbowmen and crossbowmen, who showered the stationary Scottish schiltrons with arrows, shattering their cohesion before the English heavy cavalry charged the gaps. Wallace was able to escape.^[1]

Edward advanced only briefly into Fife with his hunger-weakened army and then turned against Ayr Castle, which Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, now again on the Scottish side, had burned. By 25 September 1298, Edward was at Carlisle, without having been able to occupy Scotland again.^{[1][74][76][77]} Falkirk discredited Wallace's military command among the Scottish magnates; he resigned the guardianship in late 1298 and traveled to the continent to pursue diplomatic support in Paris and Rome.^[1][77][78]

The Guardianship and the Continuation of Resistance

At Carlisle on 25 September 1298, Edward declared the estates of many Scottish nobles forfeited, granting them to English magnates and driving the Scottish aristocracy to continue resistance.^[79] Following Wallace's resignation, the government of the realm was assumed jointly by Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, and John Comyn, younger of Badenoch, who were later joined by William Lamberton, Bishop of St Andrews, as a moderating third Guardian.^{[1][77][78][80]}

The Joint Guardianship and Internal Dissension

Except for castles in the southeast such as Berwick, Edinburgh, and Roxburgh, most of Scotland remained under the control of the Guardians, who reestablished an administrative apparatus.^[74][77] Supported by Bishop Lamberton and Bishop David Moray of Moray, Comyn and Bruce launched operations against English garrisons.^[81] In the summer of 1299, a planned raid on Roxburgh was aborted due to the strength of the English garrison, but the Guardians occupied the Forest of Selkirk, persuaded Sir Simon Fraser to defect from Edward, and laid siege to Stirling Castle.^[82] Edward issued summons for a campaign in June 1299, but baronial opposition in England prevented a northern march, and the starving English garrison at Stirling surrendered in late 1299.^[83]

Severe friction broke out between the Bruce and Comyn factions. At a council meeting held in the Forest of Selkirk in August 1299, Comyn seized Bruce by the throat during an altercation over Wallace's continental property and political authority.^[80][84] Bishop Lamberton was appointed third Guardian to balance the factions.^[80][85] Between November 1299 and May 1300, Bruce resigned as Guardian.^[86] At a Scottish parliament at Rutherglen on 10 May 1300, Sir Ingram de Umfraville was chosen to replace Bruce as joint Guardian alongside Comyn and Lamberton.^[87]

Papal and French Diplomatic Intervention

In April 1299, King Philip IV received the Scottish envoys, the Abbot of Jedburgh and Sir John Wishart of the Carse, and assured them that he had not forgotten the alliance of 1295, but he gave them no direct military support.^[70] Diplomatic pressure from Philip and Pope Boniface VIII induced Edward to release John Balliol from the Tower into papal custody in July 1299; Balliol was transferred to the papal nuncio and permitted to live on his family estates at Bailleul in Picardy.^[1][88] On 27 June 1299, Boniface VIII issued the papal bull Scimus, Fili, asserting that Scotland belonged of ancient right to the Roman Church, condemning Edward's invasions, and demanding that England desist from military assaults.^{[1][78][88][89]}

Edward ignored the papal instructions. Archbishop Robert Winchelsey of Canterbury traveled north to deliver the bull personally to Edward at Sweetheart Abbey in Galloway in August 1300.^[89] In response, a parliament convened at Lincoln in January 1301 drafted the Barons' Letter to the Pope, repudiating papal temporal jurisdiction over Scotland and asserting that the Scottish kingdom was an English fief from antiquity.^[89] Scottish proctors at Rome, led by Master Baldred Bisset, submitted legal pleadings demonstrating the independence of the Scottish kingdom.^[22][89]

The Campaign of 1300 and the Siege of Caerlaverock

In July 1300, Edward I conducted his fifth Scottish campaign, entering Annandale and Galloway with an army that is among the best documented of the period.^[90] Summons issued in December 1299 requested feudal service from English magnates, producing 40 knights and 366 serjeants serving without pay, accompanied by 850 paid household troops.^[91][92] Welsh levies were excused, and although 16,000 foot soldiers were demanded, only 9,000 infantry appeared at Carlisle.^[90][93] The cavalry was organized into four squadrons commanded by the Earl of Lincoln, Earl Warenne, King Edward himself and the heir to the throne, Edward, who was young and inexperienced and was supported by the experienced soldier John de St John.^[90]

The campaign was recorded in the heraldic poem the Song of Caerlaverock.^[90] On 10 July, the English army invested Caerlaverock Castle, a stronghold held by sixty men, which surrendered after bombardment by siege engines.^[1][90] A portion of the garrison was hanged, while the constable and eleven others were imprisoned at Newcastle.^[94][95] Edward marched toward Kirkcudbright, where he rejected peace proposals presented by Bishop Thomas of Dalton, as well as demands from Comyn and the Earl of Buchan for Balliol's restoration.^[96]

On 8 August 1300, a skirmish occurred on the River Cree, where Scottish forces attacked English foraging detachments.^[97] An advance led by the Earl of Hereford pushed the Scots into adjacent peat bogs, but the English heavy cavalry was immobilized by the wet ground and heavy rain.^[97][98] Sir Robert Keith, the Scottish Marischal, and Robert Baird of Strathaven were captured, but the main Scottish force escaped.^[97][98] The English army ran short of food and many foot soldiers deserted, and Edward returned to Carlisle.^[98] In October Edward advanced with a small force to Dumfries, and he returned to Carlisle in early November.^[88] On 31 October 1300, probably at Dumfries, he agreed a truce with the Scots lasting until 21 May 1301.^[1][88][98]

The Campaign of 1301 and the Two-Pronged Advance

In early 1301, Umfraville, Comyn, and Lamberton resigned as Guardians, and Sir John de Soules was chosen sole Guardian.^[1][99] Soules, who was unconnected to the Bruce or Comyn factions, governed strictly in the name of King John Balliol, coordinating administrative affairs with Bishop Lamberton.^[1][99] In July 1301, Edward launched a two-pronged invasion designed to trap Scottish resistance in the southwest.^{[1][100][101]} The eastern army, led by the king, marched from Berwick, while the western army, commanded by the Prince of Wales, assembled at Carlisle with 300 men-at-arms, Welsh levies, and an Irish contingent under Justiciar John Wogan, John FitzThomas, and Peter de Bermingham.^[1][101]

The Prince of Wales advanced up Nithsdale and captured Bruce's stronghold of Turnberry Castle before 2 September 1301.^[1][102] Soules and Umfraville operated a guerrilla defense, avoiding pitched battle, launching an assault against Lochmaben on 7–8 September, and menacing the prince's communications.^[1][103] The king occupied Selkirk and Peebles, entered Glasgow on 23 August, and captured Bothwell Castle before 24 September.^{[1][102][103]} Instead of turning north to join the king's army, the prince withdrew via Loch Ryan to Carlisle.^[104] The two English armies later met to winter at Linlithgow.^[1][102] On 26 January 1302, under French diplomatic pressure, Edward agreed to the Truce of Newcastle, which suspended hostilities until 30 November 1302.^[1][104]

The Defection of Robert Bruce and the Truce of Newcastle

Before 16 February 1302, Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, submitted to Edward I, yielding to Sir John de St John at Annan.^[105] Bruce had grown alienated from the Guardianship, which was dominated by his Comyn rivals and dedicated to restoring Balliol.^[1][105] Rumours circulated that Balliol would land with a French force, which would jeopardize the Bruce family's hereditary claims to the crown and their estates in Annandale and Carrick.^[1][105] Furthermore, his elderly father, the 6th Lord of Annandale, advocated reconciliation with Edward to preserve their Anglo-Scottish estates.^[1] Soon after his submission, Bruce married Elizabeth de Burgh, daughter of Richard de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster, an English ally.^[106] Other Scottish nobles, including Sir Alexander Abernethy, likewise submitted to Edward during this period.^[106]

Bruce's compliance with Edward was not absolute. In March 1302, he wrote to the monks of Melrose Abbey, stating that he would never again summon them to serve in his feudal levy unless it was for the general defense of the realm in a national army.^[1] Despite Bruce's defection, the Scottish resistance maintained its diplomatic mission in Paris, where Soules, Bishop Lamberton, the Earl of Buchan, and James the Stewart sought continued French military assistance.^[1][107]

The Battle of Roslin and the Treaty of Paris

In July 1302, French forces suffered a severe defeat at the Battle of the Golden Spurs (Courtrai) against Flemish communal militias.^[78][107] Philip IV then concentrated his efforts entirely on the war with Flanders and almost completely gave up his support for the Scots.^[1][78][107] Boniface VIII shifted his diplomatic alignment toward Edward, rebuking the Bishop of Glasgow in 1302 for perpetuating rebellion and urging the Scottish clergy to seek reconciliation with the English Crown.^[108]

When the Truce of Newcastle expired in November 1302, Edward postponed a full campaign until spring, but instructed his lieutenant, Sir John Segrave, to conduct mounted sweeps west of Edinburgh.^[109] On 24 February 1303, Scottish forces led by John Comyn and Sir Simon Fraser made a night march and ambushed Segrave's divided force at the Battle of Roslin.^[109] Segrave was wounded and captured, and Ralph Manton, an English clerk, was killed.^[109] A second English brigade under Robert Neville of Raby arrived soon afterwards and freed Segrave, preventing a Scottish triumph.^[109] In May 1303, however, Philip IV concluded the Treaty of Paris with Edward I, making peace without including any provisions for the Scots.^[1][78][110]

The Campaign of 1303–1304 and the Capitulation of Strathord

Faced with continued Scottish resistance, Edward planned a large campaign into Scotland for May 1303.^[111] His army included Aymer de Valence and the Earl of Ulster, who led an Irish contingent, as well as other English and Scottish magnates.^[112] Robert Bruce reinforced it with a strong force from south-west Scotland.^{[111][112][113]} To avoid delays at Stirling, Edward transported prefabricated pontoon bridges from Lynn by sea and crossed the Firth of Forth directly into Fife.^[113] Advancing through Perth, Dundee, Montrose, Brechin, and Aberdeen, the English king marched to Kinloss Abbey on the Moray Firth, which he reached on 14 September 1303, the northernmost point reached by an English army during the conflict.^[110][112] Comyn carried out raiding actions in southern Scotland, but could not engage Edward's host.^[114] Edward wintered at Dunfermline Abbey, while the Prince of Wales established his headquarters at Perth.^[110][112]

In February 1304, an English chevauchée led by Segrave, Clifford, and Latimer, assisted by Robert Bruce, routed Fraser and Wallace at Happrew near Peebles.^[110][115] Cut off from French aid and facing continued English operations in the spring, Comyn initiated negotiations with Valence and Percy at Strathord near Perth.^[116] On 9 February 1304, Comyn and the Scottish leaders formally submitted.^[1][117] Edward granted lenient terms: Scottish prisoners were to be ransomed, no general disinheritances were to occur, and the ancient laws and liberties of Scotland from the reign of Alexander III were preserved, subject to baronial advice.^{[1][116][117]} Exiles and financial penalties were imposed, but landholders recovered their estates. William Wallace, Simon Fraser, and John de Soules were specifically excluded from the amnesty.^[1][117]

The Siege of Stirling Castle and the Ordinances of 1305

Stirling Castle, commanded by Sir William Oliphant, held out against English surrender demands.^[118] In May 1304, Edward began the siege of Stirling Castle.^[117][118] After three months of bombardment by siege engines, the garrison surrendered at the end of July.^[117][118] After a day of bombardment, the fifty surviving defenders surrendered unconditionally, and Oliphant was imprisoned in the Tower of London.

While serving Edward during the siege, Robert Bruce formed an alliance with Bishop William Lamberton. On 11 June 1304, the two men signed a mutual defense pact binding them in friendship against all enemies, with a forfeiture penalty of £10,000 for non-compliance, indicating their covert preparations to claim the throne upon Edward's death.^{[1][119][120]} In September 1305, the English parliament at Westminster issued the Ordinances for the government of Scotland.^[121][122] Ten Scottish representatives, including two bishops, two abbots, two earls, and four barons, met with the English council to establish administrative rules.^{[121][122][123]} John of Brittany was appointed royal lieutenant, William of Bevercotes became chancellor, and John Sandale was named chamberlain.^[121] Four pairs of justiciars, each made up of one Englishman and one Scot, were appointed, and a Scottish council of twenty-two members, including the Earl of Buchan and Bruce, was set up to advise the lieutenant.^{[121][124][125]}

The Capture and Execution of William Wallace

William Wallace remained at large, refusing to swear fealty to Edward I.^[1][118] Edward decreed that exiles such as Stewart, Soules, and Umfraville would not be pardoned until Wallace was captured.^[117] On 3 August 1305, Wallace was captured at Robroyston near Glasgow by retainers of Sir John Menteith, the Scottish keeper of Dumbarton Castle.^[78][126] Transported to London with his feet bound beneath his horse, Wallace was brought to Westminster Hall on 23 August 1305.^[78][126]

Wallace was convicted of treason, murder, and sacrilege, and condemned to death.^[78][126] He was dragged behind horses to the Elms at Smithfield, hanged, cut down while alive, emasculated, disembowelled, and decapitated; his entrails were burned before him, and his torso was quartered.^[78][126] His severed head was set on a spike on London Bridge, while his four quarters were publicly displayed at Newcastle upon Tyne, Berwick, Stirling, and Perth as a warning against further insurrection.^[126]

The Rebellion of Robert the Bruce

Following Wallace's execution, Scotland appeared pacified under the 1305 administrative settlement. However, the succession issue remained unresolved among the Scottish magnates. Robert Bruce, who had succeeded his father as 7th Lord of Annandale and Earl of Carrick in 1304, held vast estates in both Scotland and England, and retained his family's royal ambitions.^{[1][127][128][129]}

The Killing of John Comyn at Dumfries

In late 1305, Bruce entered secret negotiations with his primary rival for the crown, John Comyn, younger of Badenoch, who held close ties to the Balliol faction and had broad support in northern and central Scotland.^[1][130] Bruce proposed an understanding under which Comyn would support Bruce's claim to the throne and receive Bruce's lands as compensation, or the other way round.^[1] Comyn reportedly revealed the conspiracy to Edward I, and Bruce, who was at the English court at the time, was forewarned and fled back to Scotland.^[1] According to one legend, it was Ralph de Monthermer, Earl of Hertford, who warned him.^[130][131] Historical research notes that no English parliament sat at that time and Bruce was likely in southern Scotland throughout the winter.^[131]

On 10 February 1306, Bruce and Comyn met in the church of the Greyfriars Friary in Dumfries.^[1][130] Accounts differ on whether Bruce accused Comyn of treachery or proposed an alliance that Comyn refused; an altercation erupted before the high altar, and Bruce stabbed him with a dagger.^{[1][129][130][132]} According to the Scotichronicon, Bruce emerged and informed his attendants, Roger de Kirkpatrick and John Lindsay, that he had struck Comyn; Kirkpatrick responded 'I mak siccar' (I will make sure) and returned inside to finish the killing.^[1] The Italian and Ukrainian editions date this killing to 6 February 1306.^[1] Because the killing was committed in a consecrated church, Pope Clement V subsequently pronounced a sentence of excommunication against Bruce and his associates.^{[1][132][133]}

The Coronation at Scone

Realizing that Comyn's death made compromise impossible, Bruce seized the castles of Dumfries and Ayr.^[1][134] He rode to Glasgow, where Bishop Robert Wishart absolved him from sin, granted him vestments hidden from the English, and called upon the Scottish clergy to support him.^[1][134] Bruce proceeded to Scone Abbey, where he was crowned King of Scots on 25 March 1306 by Bishop William Lamberton.^{[1][133][135]} On 27 March, a second ceremony was performed by Isabella MacDuff, Countess of Buchan, exercising the hereditary right of the MacDuff Earls of Fife to inaugurate Scottish kings, in place of her young brother Duncan, who was an English ward.^[133]

Bruce's uprising received backing from Bishop David Moray, Abbot Maurice of Inchaffray, and the Earls of Atholl, Lennox, and Menteith.^[135] However, the powerful Comyn kinship, including the Earl of Buchan and John Macdougall of Lorne, allied with Edward I to crush the new king.^[136][137] In Lothian, where English control was firmly rooted, few landowners supported Bruce, and the Earls of Ross, Sutherland, Caithness, and Dunbar stood with the English Crown.^[136]

Methven, Dalry, and the Flight of Bruce

Edward appointed Aymer de Valence as his lieutenant in Scotland with authority to raise the Dragon Banner, signaling total war without quarter.^[138][139] Edward ordered an army to muster at Carlisle on 8 July 1306.^[140] Valence established his headquarters at Perth. On 19 June 1306, Valence launched a surprise dawn attack against Bruce's encamped army at the Battle of Methven, routing the Scots and capturing key commanders.^[139] Bishops Wishart and Lamberton were captured at Cupar and sent to English prisons in irons, escaping execution solely due to their clerical status.

Bruce fled into the Grampian Mountains with a small retinue. In July or August 1306, his force was intercepted at Dalry in Strathfillan by John Macdougall of Lorne, a Comyn ally.^[139][141] The Scots were routed, and Bruce disbanded his followers. He sent his wife Elizabeth, daughter Marjorie, sisters Christian and Mary, and the Countess of Buchan under the escort of his brother Neil Bruce and the Earl of Atholl to Kildrummy Castle, while he fled through Breadalbane to Kintyre and Dunaverty Castle, eventually escaping by boat into the Hebrides or the coast of Ulster.^{[139][141][142]}

English Reprisals and the Persecution of the Bruce Family

Edward I enacted harsh retribution against Bruce's followers.^{[139][143][144][145]} The Prince of Wales besieged and captured Kildrummy Castle in September 1306.^[143] Neil Bruce and other defenders were tried at Berwick and executed by hanging, drawing, and quartering.^[144] The royal women fled north to the sanctuary of St Duthac at Tain, but were captured by William, Earl of Ross, and handed over to the English.^[142] John of Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl, was hanged in London on a gallows thirty feet higher than normal to mark his royal lineage, becoming the first earl executed in England in 230 years.^[144]

Sir Simon Fraser was executed at Smithfield, and Bruce's brothers-in-law, Sir Christopher Seton and John Seton, were executed at Dumfries and Newcastle.^[144] Queen Elizabeth was placed under house arrest in Holderness, and Marjorie Bruce was sent to a convent in Yorkshire.^[144] Mary Bruce and Isabella MacDuff were suspended in open timber cages hung from the battlements of Roxburgh and Berwick castles, exposed to public ridicule and winter weather for four years.^[144] Edward wintered at Lanercost Priory, in poor health.^[146]

The Return to Scotland and the Battle of Loudoun Hill

In February 1307, Bruce returned to Scotland with assistance from Christina of Mar and the MacDonalds of Islay.^[147] A southern landing at Loch Ryan by his brothers Thomas and Alexander Bruce, accompanied by an Irish chieftain, was routed by Dungal Macdowell, who sent both brothers to Carlisle where they were executed.^[148] Meanwhile, James Douglas and Robert Boyd landed on Arran, where they seized equipment and supplies that John Hastings had sent to reinforce Brodick Castle, and Bruce joined them there before they crossed together to Carrick.^[149] Bruce launched a night attack against the English garrison occupying his castle at Turnberry, then retired to the hills of Galloway.^[149]

In April 1307, Bruce ambushed an English cavalry detachment under Clifford in Glen Trool, using the boggy terrain to roll boulders down the hillside.^[150] In May, Bruce took up a position on the slopes of Loudoun Hill in Ayrshire.^[150][151] On 10 May 1307, Aymer de Valence attacked, but the English horsemen were impaled on Scottish spears, and the English force broke in retreat.^[150][151] Three days later, Bruce defeated an English contingent led by the Earl of Gloucester, driving them into the fortifications of Ayr.^[150]

The Death of Edward I and the Retreat of Edward II

On learning of Valence's defeat, Edward I took personal command of a new army.^[151][152] Suffering from dysentery, the sixty-eight-year-old king rode north from Carlisle, but collapsed and died at Burgh by Sands on 7 July 1307.^[152][153] His son succeeded him as King Edward II.^[153][154] Edward II received homage from pro-English Scottish lords at Dumfries and led a brief advance into Cumnock in Ayrshire, before abandoning operations and returning to England in September 1307.^{[154][155][156]} He replaced Valence as lieutenant with John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond, who acted far less energetically than Valence, so that the pressure on Bruce eased.^[156][157]

The Reconquest of Scotland

With the withdrawal of the English royal army, Robert I shifted his military focus toward crushing his domestic enemies. The period from 1308 to 1314 saw the piecemeal reduction of English garrisons and the destruction of the Comyn faction's regional authority across northern and western Scotland.^{[158][159][160]}

The Northern Campaign and the Harrying of Buchan

In late 1307, Bruce marched through the Great Glen into the central Highlands.^[158] In November, he compelled Inverlochy Castle to surrender and concluded a temporary truce with William, Earl of Ross.^[158] Turning into Aberdeenshire, Bruce fell severely ill, but recovered to confront John Comyn, Earl of Buchan. On 23 May 1308, Bruce routed Buchan's army at the Battle of Inverurie (Barra).^[158][160] To eliminate the Comyn territorial base, Bruce ordered the Harrying of Buchan, burning crops, slaughtering cattle, destroying residences, and leveling Comyn strongholds.^[158] Buchan fled to England, ending his family's dominance over northeastern Scotland.^[158]

Bruce moved quickly through Moray, receiving the submission of the population and capturing the royal castles of Elgin, Forres, Nairn, Inverness, Urquhart, and Tarradale.^[161] Aberdeen Castle was captured in the summer of 1308, giving Bruce access to maritime trade.^[160][162] Threatening Ross from the east while Lachlan MacRuaridh menaced Skye, Bruce compelled the Earl of Ross to submit at Auldearn on 31 October 1308.^[161][163] Bruce pardoned Ross and restored his lands, gaining an ally in the far north.^[163]

The Campaigns in Argyll and Galloway

In August 1308, Bruce turned against the Macdougalls of Argyll.^[158] Anticipating the trap, Bruce sent James Douglas with a detachment of archers to scale the slopes above the Macdougalls. When the ambush was sprung, Douglas attacked from the rear, breaking the Macdougalls in the Battle of the Pass of Brander.^[158] Bruce captured Dunstaffnage Castle, compelling Alexander of Argyll to surrender, while John of Lorne fled by galley to England.^[158][164]

In the southwest, Edward Bruce and Donald of Islay invaded Galloway in June 1308.^[165] On 29 June, they defeated the local levies under Donald McCan along the River Dee, burned the Macdowell castle on the Isle of Hestan, and expelled pro-English landholders.^[165] Edward Bruce could not take the English-held castles of Lochmaben, Caerlaverock, Dumfries, Dalswinton, Tibbers, Loch Doon and Ayr, which stayed in English hands under Ingram de Umfraville and John de St John, and he probably took the last English strongholds in south-west Scotland only in 1313.^[166]

The Parliament of St Andrews and Administrative Restoration

By the autumn of 1308, Bruce's administration began issuing royal charters, signaling normalisation of royal government.^[167] Magnates rallied to him, including James the Stewart, Thomas Randolph (Bruce's nephew, who had been captured by Douglas and switched allegiances), and John Menteith.^[167] On 16–17 March 1309, Robert I convened his first parliament at St Andrews.^[160][168] The assembly confirmed Robert as the lawful successor to Alexander III, rejected John Balliol's title as illegitimate, and sent formal correspondence to Philip IV of France to reopen diplomatic relations.^[160][168] In 1310, the Scottish clergy issued a declaration recognizing Robert's royal authority, counteracting his ongoing papal excommunication.^[169]

English Baronial Conflict and the Campaign of 1310–1311

Edward II was hindered by political conflict with an English baronial faction led by Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, centered on the influence of royal favorite Piers Gaveston and royal expenditure.^{[160][170][171]} Summons for Scottish campaigns in 1308 and 1309 were aborted, leaving English garrisons to arrange local truces.^{[172][173][174]} In June 1310, pro-English Scottish lords led by Alexander Abernethy warned Edward at Westminster that English authority in Scotland was near collapse.^[175] Edward ordered a general muster at Berwick for 8 September 1310.^[175]

The 1310 expedition suffered from a boycott by leading English earls, including Lancaster, Pembroke, Hereford, and Warwick, who remained in the south as Lords Ordainer to reform the royal administration.^[175][176] Lancaster sent only four knights and four serjeants.^[177] Edward marched into Scotland with roughly 1,700 cavalry and 4,000 foot, primarily Welsh levies.^[175][178] Advancing through Roxburgh, Selkirk, Biggar, and Glasgow to Linlithgow, the English encountered burned fields and empty towns.^[178] Robert avoided battle, maintaining guerrilla warfare. Edward returned to Berwick in November 1310, remaining there until July 1311 without achieving results.^{[160][177][179]} In September 1311, the English Ordainers issued the Ordinances of 1311, requiring parliament's consent for the king to wage war or leave the realm.^[180]

The Devastation of Northern England and the Blackmail System

In August 1311, Robert I launched retaliatory mounted raids across the border into Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmorland, returning for a second incursion in September.^[160][181] Unlike Wallace's undisciplined plundering, Bruce employed systematic blackmail, known as black rent, demanding large payments to spare communities from fire and slaughter.^{[160][182][183]} In August 1312, Bruce burned Hexham and Corbridge and attacked Durham during market day.^[184] Because Bishop Richard Kellaw was away at a royal council, some local landowners negotiated with Bruce himself at Hexham on 16 August 1312 and bought a truce lasting until midsummer 1313 for 2,000 merks.^[184] Northumberland paid £2,000 each year in 1311 and 1312, sums exceeding the county's total annual tax yields to the English Crown.^[184][185] Between 1311 and 1323, northern English communities paid an estimated £20,000 in ransoms to the Scots.^[183][186]

Maritime Warfare, Commerce, and the Treaty of Inverness

By 1310, Scottish merchants resumed sea trade with Ireland, importing grain, iron, and continental weaponry.^[187] Control of the Irish Sea became contested. In 1311, Edward appointed John Macdougall of Lorne as admiral of an English fleet based at Dublin to raid Argyll and recover the Isle of Man, which changed hands repeatedly until coming under sustained Scottish control in 1317.^[188][189] Scotland also restored trade through North Sea routes to Flanders and Hanseatic ports like Stralsund and Hamburg, exporting wool in exchange for war materiel.^[190] In October 1312, Robert I negotiated the Treaty of Inverness with King Håkon V of Norway, confirming the 1266 Treaty of Perth and settling maritime disputes in the northern isles.^[191]

The Recapture of the Scottish Strongholds, 1312–1314

The money extracted from northern England financed sustained sieges of the remaining English-held castles in Scotland.^[192] Perth fell on 8 January 1313 when Bruce led his men through the water-filled moat at night, scaling the walls with rope ladders.^[160][193] In February 1313, Dungal Macdowell surrendered Dumfries Castle, followed by the collapse of garrisons at Buittle, Dalswinton, and Lochmaben.^[160] Linlithgow was taken in September 1313 when a local farmer, William Bunnock, jammed a wagon of hay under the portcullis, allowing concealed men to rush the gates.^[194] Bruce ordered every captured fortress razed to prevent the English from regarrisoning them.^[151][162]

On 20 February 1314, Sir James Douglas captured Roxburgh Castle in a night assault on Shrove Tuesday, scaling the walls with rope ladders while the garrison was feasting.^[160][195] In March 1314, Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, took Edinburgh Castle when thirty men guided by William Francis scaled the castle rock at night.^[160][195] By the spring of 1314, only Berwick and Stirling remained in English hands.^[160][196]

The Battle of Bannockburn

In Lent 1314, Edward Bruce laid siege to Stirling Castle, the last major English stronghold in northern Scotland.^[196] The English constable, Sir Philip de Mowbray, negotiated an agreement promising to surrender the castle if it was not relieved by an English army within three leagues of the walls before the feast of St John the Baptist, 24 June 1314.^[196] Edward II accepted the challenge and mounted a military expedition to relieve the fortress.^{[196][197][198]}

The Compact at Stirling and the Opposing Armies

Edward II summoned his host to muster at Berwick on 19 May 1314, demanding 17,000 foot from England, 3,000 from Wales, and 4,000 from Ireland under the Earl of Ulster, supported by several thousand cavalry.^[197][199] The Russian edition reports that Edward's army numbered 3,000 knights and 22,000 infantry.^[198] Many barons were now willing to support a campaign in Scotland, and the Earl of Pembroke was appointed lieutenant and commander in Scotland until the king himself arrived.^[197] The Scottish host under Robert I was outnumbered by the English and less well equipped.^[198] Bruce organized his infantry into three principal schiltrons commanded by himself, Edward Bruce, and Thomas Randolph.

The First Day of Combat: 23 June 1314

On 23 June 1314, the English host advanced toward the Bannock Burn south of Stirling.^[198][200] In an initial skirmish, Sir Henry de Bohun, an English knight, charged King Robert, who was mounted on a small pony. Bruce sidestepped the lance and split Bohun's helmet and skull with a battleaxe. Demoralized, the English crossed the Bannock Burn at night, encamping on cramped ground between the burn and the River Forth.

The Rout of the English Army: 24 June 1314

The Scottish spearmen drove the massed English forces back into the wetlands.^[198] The English infantry was pressed into the streams of the Bannock Burn and the Forth, where thousands drowned or were crushed underfoot.^[198] Edward II himself escaped only with great difficulty.^{[198][201][202]}

The Aftermath and the Cambuskenneth Forfeitures

Bannockburn secured Bruce's authority in Scotland.^{[1][202][203]} Sir Philip de Mowbray surrendered Stirling Castle and joined Bruce.^[203] Prominent English prisoners, including the Earl of Hereford, were exchanged in October 1314 for Queen Elizabeth, Marjorie Bruce, Mary Bruce, and Bishop Wishart.^[204] On 6 November 1314, a Scottish parliament convened at Cambuskenneth Abbey passed an act declaring that all landowners who failed to swear fealty to King Robert by that date were disinherited, consolidating estates in the hands of the Crown and its loyal supporters.^[205]

The Irish Campaign and Border Warfare

Despite Bannockburn, Edward II refused to recognize Robert I as king or acknowledge Scottish independence, ensuring the continuation of the war.^[206][207] The Scots resumed their raids on northern England.^[208] In May 1315 they also opened a new front in Ireland.^[189][209]

The Scottish Invasion of Ireland

In May 1315, a Scottish fleet landed an army of 6,000 men under Edward Bruce and Thomas Randolph at Larne in Ulster.^[189][209] King Robert pursued a pan-Gaelic alliance, seeking to eliminate Anglo-Irish reinforcements and provisions from reaching England, and to install Edward Bruce as High King of Ireland.^[189][210] Allied with Donal mac Brian O'Neill, King of Tyrone, Edward Bruce defeated the Anglo-Irish lords of Ulster, stormed Dundalk, and was inaugurated as High King near Carrickfergus in early June 1316.^[211] In November 1315, Edward Bruce defeated Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, at the Battle of Kells. Carrickfergus Castle fell to the Scots in August 1316 after a long siege.^[211]

Famine and the Defeat at Faughart

The European Great Famine of 1315–1317 devastated both armies and local communities across Ireland.^[211] King Robert joined his brother in January 1317 with reinforcements, marching to Limerick, but starvation and disease forced the Scots to retreat to Ulster.^[211] King Robert returned to Scotland in May 1317.^[211] On 14 October 1318, Edward Bruce encountered an Anglo-Irish force under John de Bermingham at the Battle of Faughart near Dundalk.^[189][211] Edward Bruce was killed, his army shattered, and his severed limbs distributed across Ireland.^[189][211] English forces retook Carrickfergus in December 1318, bringing the Scottish enterprise in Ireland to an end.^[211]

Border Clashes and the Recapture of Berwick

Scottish raiding columns mounted operations throughout northern England.^[207][212] Moving on small horses called hobelars, lightly armored Scots carried out deep incursions into Yorkshire and Lancashire, reaching as far as Furness in 1316.^[212][213] At Skaithmuir in March 1316, Douglas wiped out an English foraging party from Berwick, killing Raymond de Calhau.^[214][215] In early April 1318, Scottish forces under Douglas and Randolph retook Berwick through a surprise assault assisted by an English burgess inside the town.^[216] Soon after, the Scots took Harbottle, Wark, and Mitford castles, devastating Yorkshire and burning Knaresborough.^[217][218]

Papal Envoys and the Declaration of Arbroath

Elected in 1316, Pope John XXII aligned with England, desiring a European peace to launch a crusade.^[219] In 1317, he sent Cardinals Gauscelin de Jean and Luca Fieschi to publish a truce, but Robert refused to receive their papal bulls because they did not address him as King of Scots.^[220][221] On 1 September 1317, the cardinals were ambushed and robbed near Durham by Gilbert Middleton, an English knight.^[222] On 6 April 1320, a Scottish baronage council at Arbroath Abbey issued the Declaration of Arbroath to Pope John XXII.^[223] Drafted by Chancellor Bernard of Linton, the document declared Scotland's ancient independence, proclaimed Robert I its rightful ruler, and stated that should Robert ever submit to English rule, the barons would expel him and elect another king.^[223]

The Final English Offensives and the Truce of Bishopsthorpe

Internal divisions continued to obstruct English military efforts, while Scottish raids destabilized northern England. A brief period of English royal unity against Berwick in 1319 ended in military defeat and led to renewed truces.^[224][225]

The Siege of Berwick and the Battle of Myton

In September 1319, Edward II and Thomas of Lancaster joined forces to besiege Berwick, which was defended by Walter Stewart.^[224] To relieve the fortress, Douglas and Randolph launched a diversionary raid into Yorkshire, advancing toward York to capture Queen Isabella.^[224] On 12 September 1319, an improvised English militia led by Archbishop William Melton was routed by the Scots at the Battle of Myton on the River Swale, an engagement known as the Chapter of Myton because of the large number of clerics killed.^[183][224] Hearing of the defeat, Lancaster withdrew his forces from Berwick, possibly to protect his estates, forcing Edward to lift the siege on 17 September.^[224] On 22 December 1319, Edward signed a two-year truce.^[183][225]

The Despenser War and the Battle of Boroughbridge

In 1321, civil war broke out in England between Edward II and his marcher barons, known as the Despenser War.^[226] Lancaster entered secret negotiations with Douglas and Randolph for Scottish military support.^[227] In March 1322, Sir Andrew Harclay, Sheriff of Cumberland, intercepted Lancaster at the Battle of Boroughbridge, capturing him.^[228] Lancaster was convicted of treason for negotiating with the Scots and beheaded at Pontefract Castle.^[228]

The Campaign of 1322 and the Battle of Byland

Emboldened by Lancaster's defeat, Edward II prepared a major campaign for August 1322.^[229] In July, Robert preempted the English by raiding Lancashire, burning Preston and Lancaster.^[229] In August, Edward advanced to Leith near Edinburgh, but Robert had stripped the country of cattle and food.^[230] Dysentery broke out in the English camp, forcing a retreat after three weeks.^[231] The Scots followed closely behind. On 14 October 1322, Robert caught Edward's army at the Battle of Old Byland near Rievaulx Abbey.^[231] The Scots charged up a steep ridge, routing the English vanguard under the Earl of Richmond.^[231] Edward escaped to York, leaving behind his personal baggage, plate, and royal treasure, while Queen Isabella fled from Tynemouth Priory by boat.^[231]

The Treason of Andrew Harclay and the Truce of Bishopsthorpe

Andrew Harclay, recently created Earl of Carlisle, met Robert at Lochmaben in January 1323 and, hoping that Edward would approve it, signed a private treaty acknowledging Robert as King of Scots.^[232] Edward denounced the pact, arrested Harclay, and had him executed as a traitor at Carlisle on 3 March 1323.^[232] Nevertheless, Edward was compelled to seek peace. On 30 May 1323, at the palace of Bishopsthorpe near York, English and Scottish commissioners concluded a thirteen-year truce scheduled to run until 12 June 1336.^[233][234]

The Weardale Campaign and the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton

The Truce of Bishopsthorpe provided a temporary pause, but left the sovereignty question unsettled. Negotiations in 1324 broke down over Scottish demands for English renunciation of overlordship and the return of the Stone of Scone.^[235] In April 1326, Robert I renewed the Franco-Scottish alliance with Charles IV through the Treaty of Corbeil.^[235]

The Treaty of Corbeil and the Overthrow of Edward II

In the autumn of 1326, Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer invaded England, leading to the collapse of Edward II's government.^[234][236] Edward II was captured in Wales, forced to abdicate in January 1327, and later murdered at Berkeley Castle.^[234][237] Fourteen-year-old Edward III was crowned at Westminster on 1 February 1327, with royal authority wielded by Isabella and Mortimer.^[234][237] On the coronation day, Scottish forces launched a surprise attack against Norham Castle; Robert perhaps no longer felt bound by the 1323 truce after the king's deposition.^[237]

The Weardale Campaign of 1327

In June 1327, a Scottish army of 20,000 light horsemen under Randolph and Douglas invaded northern England, ravaging Weardale.^[234] Edward III and Mortimer advanced from Durham with a large army including Hainault mercenaries, but could not force the mobile Scots to fight.^[234] The Scots occupied a strong defensive position across the River Wear at Stanhope Park. On the night of 3–4 August 1327, James Douglas led two hundred cavalry in a night raid into the English camp, cutting tent ropes and reaching the royal pavilion, where Edward III narrowly escaped capture.^[234] In the end, Douglas escaped the English pursuit.^[234]

Later that month, King Robert invaded Northumberland, besieging Norham, Wark, and Bamburgh castles and announcing that he intended to annex the county.^[238] Financially exhausted by the failed Weardale campaign, the English government recognized that continuing the war was untenable and opened formal peace negotiations in October 1327.^{[2][234][238]}

The Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton and Terms of Peace

Negotiations conducted at Edinburgh in early 1328 resulted in a final peace treaty, signed by King Robert at Holyrood Abbey on 17 March 1328 and ratified by the English Parliament at Northampton on 4 May 1328, known as the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton.^[1][2][239] England renounced all claims of feudal overlordship over Scotland, recognizing Robert I and his heirs as sovereign monarchs of an independent Scottish kingdom.^[1][2][239] The Anglo-Scottish border was restored to its alignment under Alexander III.^[239] To cement the alliance, a dynastic marriage was arranged between Robert's four-year-old son, Prince David, and Edward III's six-year-old sister, Joan of the Tower, which took place at Berwick in July 1328.^[239] Scotland agreed to pay an indemnity of £20,000 in three annual installments to compensate for border damages.^[239]

Aftermath and the Disinherited

The treaty concluded thirty-two years of warfare, but proved unpopular in England, where critics termed it the 'Turpis Pax' (Shameful Peace).^[2][240] Discontent contributed to the coup in October 1330 in which Edward III seized personal power, executing Roger Mortimer and placing Isabella under confinement.^[240] Robert I died at Cardross on 7 June 1329 and was succeeded by his five-year-old son, David II, with Thomas Randolph serving as Guardian. The peace left unresolved the grievances of the 'Disinherited', a faction of Anglo-Scottish lords who had lost their Scottish estates through loyalty to England or the Comyn faction, led by Edward Balliol (son of King John) and Henry de Beaumont.^[240] In 1332, with covert backing from Edward III, the Disinherited invaded Scotland by sea, initiating the Second War of Scottish Independence.^[240]

Cultural Legacy and Historiography

Many Scottish folk songs and ballads are devoted to the war with England.^[241][242] In the late fourteenth century, John Barbour composed the epic poem The Brus, which chronicled the deeds of Robert I and James Douglas. In the fifteenth century, Blind Harry composed The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace, which became a foundational text of Scottish patriotic tradition.^[241] In 1794, Robert Burns published 'Scots Wha Hae', written as Bruce's address to his troops at Bannockburn, and in 1815 Sir Walter Scott published The Lord of the Isles.^[241][242] The war has served as the subject of numerous cinematic works, including Mel Gibson's Braveheart (1995), Bob Carruthers' The Bruce (1996), David Mackenzie's Outlaw King (2018), and Richard Gray's Robert the Bruce (2019).

References

1. "Scotland's History: The Wars of Independence". BBC.; "The Scottish Wars of Independence, 1286–1328". Education Scotland. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013.
2. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 549.
3. Брайант А. Эпоха рыцарства в истории Англии СПб.: Издательская группа «Евразия», 2001. С. 155.
4. Dunfermline, Visit. "The Tragic Death of King Alexander III". www.visitdunfermline.com. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
5. (Medieval Gaelic: Alaxandair mac Alaxandair; Modern Gaelic: Alasdair mac Alasdair)
6. Федосов Д. Г. Рождённая в битвах. Шотландия до конца XIV века. СПб.—М.: Евразия, ИД Клио, 2014. С. 136.
7. Мак-Кензи А. Рождение Шотландии. СПб.: Евразия, 2003. С. 306—307.
8. Брайант А. Эпоха рыцарства в истории Англии СПб.: Издательская группа «Евразия», 2001. С. 129—130.
9. "The death of Alexander III - Succession problem - National 5 History Revision". BBC Bitesize. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
10. Oram, Kings & Queens of Scotland, pp.89-90
11. "Margaret, Maid of Norway". BBC Bitesize. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
12. Oram, Kings & Queens of Scotland, p.93
13. International, Hektoen (5 September 2023). "The mysterious death of Margaret, child queen of Scotland". Hektoen International. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
14. "The Competitors - Succession problem - National 5 History Revision". BBC Bitesize. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
15. Duncan A. A. M. Margaret [called the Maid of Norway] (1282/3–1290) // Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (англ.).
16. "King Edward I: England's Warrior King". HistoryNet. 12 June 2006. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
17. Федосов Д. Г. Рождённая в битвах. Шотландия до конца XIV века. СПб.—М.: Евразия, ИД Клио, 2014. С. 138—142.
18. Брайант А. Эпоха рыцарства в истории Англии СПб.: Издательская группа «Евразия», 2001. С. 130—135.
19. "The Great Cause and Edward's choice - Succession problem - National 4 History Revision". BBC Bitesize. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
20. Брайант А. Эпоха рыцарства в истории Англии СПб.: Издательская группа «Евразия», 2001. С. 136—139.
21. "Edward as overlord of Scotland - Balliol and Edward I - National 5 History Revision". BBC Bitesize. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
22. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 163.
23. Федосов Д. Г. Рождённая в битвах. Шотландия до конца XIV века. СПб.—М.: Евразия, ИД Клио, 2014. С. 143—147.
24. McNamee, Colm. (2012). The wars of the Bruces: Scotland, England and Ireland 1306 - 1328. John Donald ISBN 978-0-85976-653-1. (kontsulta data: 2025-10-12).
25. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 96.
26. Michael Prestwich: Edward I. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3, S. 374.
27. Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The Later Middle Ages (The Edinburgh History of Scotland, Vol. II.) Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, ISBN 0-05-002038-2, S. 49.
28. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 99.
29. Брайант А. Эпоха рыцарства в истории Англии СПб.: Издательская группа «Евразия», 2001. С. 145—147.
30. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 100.
31. Calendar of Documents, ed. J.Bain, vol.2, no.742, pp.176-8.
32. Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3, S. 473.
33. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 103.
34. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 102.
35. "John Balliol's rule and Edward's overlordship - John Balliol and Edward I - Higher History Revision". BBC Bitesize. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
36. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 104.
37. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 106.
38. Брайант А. Эпоха рыцарства в истории Англии СПб.: Издательская группа «Евразия», 2001. С. 147—148.
39. Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The Later Middle Ages (The Edinburgh History of Scotland, Vol. II.) Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, ISBN 0-05-002038-2, S. 52.
40. Calendar of Documents, ed.J.Bain, vol.2, no.871, p.229.
41. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 102–103.
42. "The subjugation of Scotland - John Balliol and Edward I - Higher History Revision". BBC Bitesize. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
43. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 108.
44. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 110.
45. Documents Illustrative of Scotland, ed. Rev.J.Stevenson, vol.2, CCCCXXIX, pp.167-9.
46. Брайант А. Эпоха рыцарства в истории Англии СПб.: Издательская группа «Евразия», 2001. С. 153—154.
47. Prestwich, Edward I, p.476.
48. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 114–115.
49. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 117–118.
50. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 121.
51. Calendar of Documents, ed. J.Bain, vol.2, no.922, p.239.
52. Lúc đó nhà vua trên danh nghĩa của Scotland là John đang bị giam ở tháp London
53. Barron, Scottish War of Independence, p.50.
54. Documents Illustrative of Scotland, ed. Rev.J.Stevenson, vol.2, CCCCLVII, pp.211-3.
55. Documents Illustrative of Scotland, ed.Rev.J.Stevenson, vol.2, CCCCLXVII, pp.225-7.
56. Cheney, David M. "Bishop Robert Wishart". Catholic-Hierarchy.org (angol nyelven). Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Hozzáférés: 2026. február 19.
57. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 119.
58. "Robert de Clifford, 1st Lord Clifford". ThePeerage.com. Hozzáférés: 2026. január 13.
59. Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The Later Middle Ages (The Edinburgh History of Scotland, Vol. II.) Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, ISBN 0-05-002038-2, S. 55.
60. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 123.
61. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 126.
62. Trận cầu Stirling, 1297, Lịch sử Scotland, BBC
63. Reid, Stuart. Battles of the Scottish Lowlands, Battlefield Britain. Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2004
64. Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland, ed. J. Bain, vol.2, no.1178, p.300
65. Taylor, 'Fighting for the Lion' in History Scotland, September 2005.
66. Брайант А. Эпоха рыцарства в истории Англии СПб.: Издательская группа «Евразия», 2001. С. 157—158.
67. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 127.
68. Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The Later Middle Ages (The Edinburgh History of Scotland, Vol. II.) Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, ISBN 0-05-002038-2, S. 56.
69. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 130.
70. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 135.
71. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 136.
72. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 137.
73. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 139.
74. Брайант А. Эпоха рыцарства в истории Англии СПб.: Издательская группа «Евразия», 2001. С. 160—168.
75. Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3, S. 480.
76. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 147.
77. Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The Later Middle Ages (The Edinburgh History of Scotland, Vol. II.) Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, ISBN 0-05-002038-2, S. 58.
78. Федосов Д. Г. Рождённая в битвах. Шотландия до конца XIV века. СПб.—М.: Евразия, ИД Клио, 2014. С. 156—161.
79. John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, S. 8.
80. Michael Brown: The wars of Scotland, 1214–1371. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2004, ISBN 0-7486-1237-8, S. 189.
81. Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots. Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5, S. 60.
82. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 151.
83. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 155.
84. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 150.
85. "Bishop L. Ambertn" (angol nyelven). Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Hozzáférés: 2026. február 8.
86. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 156.
87. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 157.
88. Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3, S. 490.
89. Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The Later Middle Ages (The Edinburgh History of Scotland, Vol. II.) Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, ISBN 0-05-002038-2, S. 60.
90. Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3, S. 487.
91. Prestwich, Michael (1997). Edward I. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 484–486. ISBN 978-0-300-14665-3. OCLC 890476967.
92. Christopher, Candy. "An Exercise in Frustration: The Scottish Campaign of Edward I, 1300." Durhan, 1999. pp. 20, 26.
93. "Republic of Letters", Volume 4, p. 10.
94. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 83.
95. Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3, S. 489.
96. Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The Later Middle Ages (The Edinburgh History of Scotland, Vol. II.) Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, ISBN 0-05-002038-2, S. 59.
97. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 84.
98. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 160.
99. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 161.
100. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 170.
101. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 88–90
102. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 90.
103. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 171.
104. Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3, S. 494.
105. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 172.
106. Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots. Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5, S. 72.
107. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 177.
108. Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3, S. 497.
109. Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots. Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5, S. 75.
110. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 179.
111. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 91.
112. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 94.
113. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 93.
114. Michael Brown: The wars of Scotland, 1214–1371. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2004, ISBN 0-7486-1237-8, S. 195.
115. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 201.
116. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 182.
117. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 183.
118. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 95.
119. Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots. Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5, S. 79.
120. The Scottish Wars of Independence, 1286-1328, su Education Scotland (archiviato dall'url originale il 4 ottobre 2013).
121. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 190.
122. Брайант А. Эпоха рыцарства в истории Англии СПб.: Издательская группа «Евразия», 2001. С. 171.
123. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 189.
124. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 191.
125. Федосов Д. Г. Рождённая в битвах. Шотландия до конца XIV века. СПб.—М.: Евразия, ИД Клио, 2014. С. 161—162.
126. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 193.
127. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 200.
128. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 211.
129. Федосов Д. Г. Рождённая в битвах. Шотландия до конца XIV века. СПб.—М.: Евразия, ИД Клио, 2014. С. 162—163.
130. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 206.
131. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 198.
132. Брайант А. Эпоха рыцарства в истории Англии СПб.: Издательская группа «Евразия», 2001. С. 174.
133. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 208.
134. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 210.
135. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 213.
136. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 220.
137. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 225.
138. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 214–215.
139. Федосов Д. Г. Рождённая в битвах. Шотландия до конца XIV века. СПб.—М.: Евразия, ИД Клио, 2014. С. 163—165.
140. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 109.
141. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 227.
142. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 238.
143. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 113.
144. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 230.
145. Брайант А. Эпоха рыцарства в истории Англии СПб.: Издательская группа «Евразия», 2001. С. 174—176.
146. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 116.
147. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 242.
148. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 240.
149. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 241.
150. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 244.
151. Брайант А. Эпоха рыцарства в истории Англии СПб.: Издательская группа «Евразия», 2001. С. 176—177.
152. Федосов Д. Г. Рождённая в битвах. Шотландия до конца XIV века. СПб.—М.: Евразия, ИД Клио, 2014. С. 166—167.
153. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 123.
154. Брайант А. Эпоха рыцарства в истории Англии СПб.: Издательская группа «Евразия», 2001. С. 179.
155. John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, S. 72.
156. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 128.
157. "John de Bretagne, 3rd Earl of Richmond". ThePeerage.com. Hozzáférés: 2026. január 13.
158. Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots. Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5, S. 107.
159. Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots. Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5, S. 106.
160. Брайант А. Эпоха рыцарства в истории Англии СПб.: Издательская группа «Евразия», 2001. С. 179—191.
161. Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The Later Middle Ages (The Edinburgh History of Scotland, Vol. II.) Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, ISBN 0-05-002038-2, S. 77–78.
162. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 259–260.
163. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 251.
164. Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The Later Middle Ages (The Edinburgh History of Scotland, Vol. II.) Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, ISBN 0-05-002038-2, S. 79–80.
165. Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The Later Middle Ages (The Edinburgh History of Scotland, Vol. II.) Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, ISBN 0-05-002038-2, S. 78–79.
166. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 259.
167. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 260.
168. Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The Later Middle Ages (The Edinburgh History of Scotland, Vol. II.) Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, ISBN 0-05-002038-2, S. 82.
169. Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The Later Middle Ages (The Edinburgh History of Scotland, Vol. II.) Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, ISBN 0-05-002038-2, S. 71.
170. John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, S. 89.
171. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 160.
172. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 151.
173. Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots. Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5, S. 110.
174. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 163.
175. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 168.
176. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 169.
177. John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, S. 114.
178. Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots. Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5, S. 121.
179. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 170.
180. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 177.
181. Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots. Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5, S. 123.
182. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 283.
183. Федосов Д. Г. Рождённая в битвах. Шотландия до конца XIV века. СПб.—М.: Евразия, ИД Клио, 2014. С. 173—175.
184. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 282.
185. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 281.
186. John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, S. 162.
187. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 279.
188. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 280.
189. Phillips S. Edward II. New Haven, US and London, UK: Yale University Press, 2011. P. 248; 253—258.
190. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 284–285.
191. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 287.
192. Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots. Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5, S. 127.
193. Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The Later Middle Ages (The Edinburgh History of Scotland, Vol. II.) Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, ISBN 0-05-002038-2, S. 84.
194. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 276.
195. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 224.
196. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 223.
197. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 226.
198. Брайант А. Эпоха рыцарства в истории Англии СПб.: Издательская группа «Евразия», 2001. С. 191—197.
199. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 259.
200. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 236.
201. Федосов Д. Г. Рождённая в битвах. Шотландия до конца XIV века. СПб.—М.: Евразия, ИД Клио, 2014. С. 171—174.
202. Haines R. King Edward II: His Life, his Reign and its Aftermath, 1284—1330. Montreal, Canada and Kingston, Canada: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2003. P. 259.
203. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 237.
204. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 240.
205. Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The Later Middle Ages (The Edinburgh History of Scotland, Vol. II.) Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, ISBN 0-05-002038-2, S. 92.
206. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 332.
207. Брайант А. Эпоха рыцарства в истории Англии СПб.: Издательская группа «Евразия», 2001. С. 201—202.
208. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 249.
209. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 248.
210. Michael Brown: The wars of Scotland, 1214–1371. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2004, ISBN 0-7486-1237-8, S. 212.
211. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 339.
212. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 337.
213. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 280–281.
214. Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots. Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5, S. 169.
215. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 340.
216. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 313.
217. John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307-1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, S. 218.
218. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 341–342.
219. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 336.
220. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 287.
221. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 263.
222. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 299.
223. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 370.
224. Geoffrey W. S. Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, S. 342.
225. Alison Weir: Isabella. She-Wolf of France, Queen of England. London, Pimlico 2006, ISBN 0-7126-4194-7, S. 123.
226. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 373, Fußnote 277.
227. John Robert Maddicott: Thomas of Lancaster, 1307–1322. A Study in the Reign of Edward II. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, S. 303.
228. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 405.
229. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 426.
230. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 427.
231. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 430.
232. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 434.
233. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 435.
234. Джонс Д. Плантагенеты. Короли и королевы, создавшие Англию. М.: Альпина Нон-фикшн, 2021. С. 473.
235. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 458–459.
236. Alison Weir: Isabella. She-Wolf of France, Queen of England. Pimlico, London 2006, ISBN 0-7126-4194-7, S. 200–201.
237. Ranald Nicholson: Edward III and the Scots. The formative Years of a Military Career. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1965, S. 15.
238. Seymour Phillips: Edward II. New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7, S. 546.
239. Джонс Д. Плантагенеты. Короли и королевы, создавшие Англию. М.: Альпина Нон-фикшн, 2021. С. 473—474.
240. Брайант А. Эпоха рыцарства в истории Англии СПб.: Издательская группа «Евразия», 2001. С. 249—250.
241. Todd W., Bowden A. Sir Walter Scott: A Bibliographical History 1796‒1832. New Castle, Delaware, 1998. P. 346—350.
242. Роберт Бёрнс. Стихотворения. М.: Радуга, 1982. Комментарии Л. М. Аринштейн. С. 640.