Robert Bruce Civil War & Usurping of Scottish Throne Notes
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Robert Bruce Civil War and & Usurping of Scottish Throne European/Scottish Medieval Advanced Higher SQA History notes, well structured and perfect for memorisation. Worked on by notable Scottish historians, with historiography and references included. Easy to include in essays!
Issue 8 – Robert ‘s war England 1310-1323 #1
Notes
Problems in England
-Edward II had no worthy of comparing drive and ability as a military leader than his father
had
- He also faced factionalism within his nobility, much like his grandfather Henry III – Edward
found it difficult to get support from his barons for the Scottish campaigns
-Edward II further angered his nobility by promoting and rewarding a personal favourite
noble Piers Gaveston– possibly Edward II homosexual lover – whom he placed in the notable
position of commander of armies in 1310-11
-The barons instead supported the kings cousin Thomas of Lancaster which restricted
Edwards power.
-This eventually resulted in open revolt, and the murder of Gaveston- this made it impossible
to pursue a united military campaign between 1307 and 1313.
1309-133
-Barrow describes the manor aspects to the success of Bruce and his supporters in this period
such as;
-Maintaining a restoring diplomatic and trading links
-Raiding into the south in England
-Recapturing castles under English control
Maintaining and restoring diplomatic and trading links
Ireland
-Bruce taken refuge there in 1296 and used Irish help to return to Carrick in 1307
-Ireland was also a vital source of metal weapons and food
-Bruce invaded Isle of Man in 1313 to protect Irish shipping route
European trade
-There was an English blockade against Scottish shipping
-despite this, German and Flemish merchants were keen to trade in valuable commodities like
Scottish wool, clearly recorded in 1309 and 1312.
-Relations with Norway also improved with the treaty with Norway in 1312;
-The treaty of Inverness — the document restored normal relations between the two
kingdoms, made restitution for specific grievances that had developed since the previous
treaty, and promised to investigate others. (With Magnus VI of Norway)
European diplomacy
-limited contact until the period after 1314
-The Papacy – from 1308, the Scot’s had ongoing appeal to Pope seeking pardon for the
sacrilege of Dumfries in1306
-England – negotiations for truce took place in 1308-10, 1312 and 1313.
-France- King Robert dealt with envoys, despite friendly contact the Scot’s did not want to
commit to anything while the issue of Scotland was in doubt.
, -Norway- in addition to the treaty of Inverness, several disputes were settled and the Scot’s
agreed to renew payments from an earlier treaty by Alexander III?.
Raids into south of England
-Scot’s consistently raided northern counties of England such as Cumberland and
Northumberland
-It was the only way, the Scot’s thought, to put effective pressure on Edward to recognise
King Robert.
-It also provided valuable funds for the Scottish crown
-method was highly organised with strong raiding parties seizing cattle, corn and money.
-studies in England reveal a collapse in taxes paid to king Edward by the northern counties at
this time, while the community of Northumberland was pay mg £2,000 each time to renew
truces in 1312 and 1313.
-David Cornell argues that the revenue from these raids financed Bruce’s campaign to capture
castles.
Recapturing of castles in English control
-In 1310 Edward II sent Piers Gaveston to Scotland to secure Perth castle, and followed
himself in 1311.
-Bruce however refused to fight battle, and Edwards baronial conflicts force his retreat.
-With a few siege engines, and limited means to pay for long sieges, the Scots had to rely on
luck, surprise, and bold assaults.
-However by 1313 the Scots were capturing even the major strategic castles in Lothian;
-James Douglas captured Roxburgh in 1313 scaling the walls at night
-Thomas Randulf took Edinburgh using a secret approach up the rear face of the rock
-Bruce surprised the French king who witnessed the king wade across moat and lead his men
up the ladders to capture Perth castle.
-At Stirling, Edward Bruce made the truce with Sir Philip Mowbray which challenged King
Edward to relieve the castle by midsummer of 1314
Situation 1314
-King Robert had almost taken every castle in Scotland, and controlled every region.
-He had reliable revenue from this control, as well as the blackmail fees from the raids on
England
-he held several Parliament’s and had renewed diplomatic and trading links in Europe
-He was supported by an army of well trained troops who were accustomed to success
-The army was also led by new breed of generals used to his guerrilla tactics, who were
rewarded with land grants from the forfeited Balliol/Comyn adherents for their loyalty
-Edward could chose either to negotiate, or try a test over strength at Stirling
Battle of Bannockburn 1314
Background
-Edward II must have raised a force he thought could destroy a confident Scottish army
-Robert Bruce must have decided his army was strong enough to risk battle, contrary to the
tactics he employed of evading war in 1310 and 1311.
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