In 1327, Robert the Bruce and the 'Good'
Sir James of
Douglas frustrated attempts by a young Edward III to force the Scots
into a pitched battle.
On the night of 3–4 August, Douglas led a
night attack on the English camp. Douglas reached Edward III's tent
which was collapsed with him inside and nearly captured the English
king. Several hundred English were killed. The English were forced to
keep constant improved watch after this. On the night of 6–7 August, the
Scottish army quietly broke camp and headed back toward Scotland. The
English did not pursue.
Sir James was accompanied by his younger
brother, Archibald.
With part of the campaign being fought on
Stanhope Park, this is sometimes referred to as the Battle of Stanhope
Park.
The young English king returned to England in
disgrace. This forced the treaty of Northampton in which England
formally recognised Robert Bruce as King of Scots and Scotland as a
free country.
Notes:
The
Treaty of
Edinburgh–Northampton was a peace treaty, signed in 1328 between the
Kingdoms of England and Scotland. It brought an end to the First
War of
Scottish Independence.
After the Weardale campaign, the Dowager
Queen Isabella, and Earl Mortimer of March, governing England on behalf
of the underage Edward III of England, began to consider peace as the
only remaining option. In October 1327 they sent envoys to Scotland to
open negotiations. On 1 March 1328, at a Parliament at York, Edward III
issued letters patent which set out the core of the agreement. On 17
March, the negotiations ended and a formal treaty was signed in the
King's Chamber of the Abbey of Holyrood, Edinburgh. The Treaty was
ratified by the English Parliament at Northampton on 3 May.
Isabel and Mortimer agreed in the treaty that they, in the name of King
Edward III, renounced all pretensions to sovereignty over Scotland.
Joanna, the six-year-old sister of Edward III, was promised in marriage
to the four-year-old David, the son of Robert Bruce, and the marriage
duly took place on 17 July the same year. In the quitclaim of Edward III
of 1 March 1328 preceding the treaty Edward endorsed that the
Anglo–Scottish border would be maintained as it was in the reign of
Alexander III of Scotland and that Scotland, so defined, "shall belong
to our dearest ally and friend, the magnificent prince, Lord Robert, by
God's grace illustrious King of Scotland, and to his heirs and
successors, separate in all things from the kingdom of England, whole,
free, and undisturbed in perpetuity, without any kind of subjection,
service, claim or demand." In return, the Scots would pay £100,000
sterling to England, which was raised by a special peace levy.
As
part of the treaty, Edward III agreed to return the Stone of Destiny to
Scotland. This was not in the treaty, but was part of a concurrent
agreement, and Edward III issued a royal writ 4 months later, on 1 July,
addressed to the Abbot of Westminster, which acknowledged this agreement
and ordered the Stone be taken to his mother — it was not.
The
treaty lasted only five years. It was unpopular with many English
nobles, who viewed it as humiliating. In 1333 it was overturned by
Edward III, after he had begun his personal reign, and the Second War of
Scottish Independence continued until a lasting peace was established in
1357.
See also:
• The Wars of
Scottish Independence
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