Scottish Wars

The Scottish Wars of Sovereignty (1297-13) were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland mainly in the Scottish mainland for control over the Scottish crown. The wars had several theaters, with all of them focusing on the British Isles where the actual fighting took place. However, several other major European powers became involved in the war. The war had several consequences: the devastation of several British regions, the rise of infantry as a prominent military element, and confirmed  Scottish national independence. Although England managed to several times reestablish sovereignty over the highly contested region, by the wars end the Scots had obtained  de facto  independence from the English crown.

Perhaps the most widely felt consequence of the conflict were the widespread devastation of Scotland and other regions primarily in Northern England, brought about by the complete collapse of law and order and the mass destruction of crops by the warring armies, which further destabilized politics in the highly turbulent region. By the wars end, several regions of Scotland and England had turned into near war-zones, with constant raids and attacks by the rival factions. After decades of near constant fighting, the war was ended in the Treaty of York, with English King Edward II officially accepting Scottish independence. However, intermittent border fighting would continue until the Second Scottish War decades later.

Origins of the War & Prelude
The origins of the conflict can be traced by to the Norman Conquest of 1066. Following Williams ascension to the throne of England and the Battle of Hastings, the multiple Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England became unified under his crown and experienced an era of near unabated expansion into the previously independent British kingdoms, and after a series of military campaigns in 1092 much of Wales had bent knee to William. A Norman invasion of Scotland itself in 1072 threatened to completely overwhelm Scotland, but King David I, preferring partial independence to complete Norman sovereignty, David I agreed to pay homage to the Normans and even gave his son Malcolm as a hostage. Satisfied, the Normans left the Scots undisturbed for two centuries, although many Scots opposed David I's decision.

What followed the agreement of 1072 were two hundred years of economic and cultural growth in Scotland itself. A steady flow of migrating Normans led to the eventual construction of stone castles in Scotland and the introduction of the feudal system into Scotland, which, although stabilizing the formally Scottish political clan system, decentralized the royal House of Dunkelds power, as the king relied more and more on noble hedgemony to issue decrees and to raise armies. Content with their steady influence in the region, the Normans left the Scots virtually independent.

However, this 'golden age,' came to an end with the death of Alexander III, the last Dunkeld king. Without a male heir, a succession crisis threatened to destabilize the Scottish court. After several months of crisis, according to the Treaty of Salisbury, the Guardians of Scotland recognized Margaret Sverre as the Queen Regent. Many Scottish nobles refused to recognize Margaret, who would be the first female monarch in Scotland. Furthermore, she was fiercely anti-English, hoping to sever all economic and political ties with the influencial English crown. In England, King Edward I had attempted to maintain dominance in the region. However, Margarets ascension threatened his ambitions, and in 1292 she died, some suspected of assassination. A second succession crisis began, and with civil war looming, Edward I intervened and in 1292 declared John Balloil, Margarets second cousin, as king. Invited to arbitrate the claims by the Scottish Magnates, Edward I forced Balloil to recognize and strengthen connections with England, endangering Scottish independence. Although many Scottish nobles protested the agreement, they were afraid of Englands military might and accepted Edward I's declaration. Although the nobles attempted to persuade their subjects of the legitimacy of the agreement, many were oppossed to any further English influence, and a number of rebellions flared up in the Highlands in the following years, the most prominent led by William Jamieson in the spring of 1297. The resulting rebellions spread and began to resemble a serious threat to English-influence.

The war can be divided into three major phases, each separated by a short interim peace: the Highland revolts, the Scottish Protectorate, and the Establishment of the Crown. By the end of the final phase, but factions were tired of the constant conflict and reached an official long torm ceasefire.

Highland Revolts
Although rebellion had been brewing in Scotland for several years due to the weakness of King John, it was only in the spring of 1297 that a full-blown rebellion began. Following the arrival of several English garrisons into the Highlands to enforce the Succession Treaty of 1292, the Scots reacted violently. A number of clan-wide rebellions rose up between 1296-1297, primarily centered in the Highlands. The first major rising, led by Andrew Morray near Inverness, was put down in the Battle of Dunbar and the rebellion disintegrated in its aftermath. However, Morray managed to escape and small-scale fighting took place in the Highlands for some time before a second major rising began in the Highlands led by William Jamieson. Within months, the rebellion had gained the initiative as it defeated and captured a cluster of English garrisons. With Edward I in France, the weaker Edward II was forced to ask the loyalist highland clans for help in putting down the growing revolt, promising Malcolm McKenzie of Clan McKenzie the right to plunder and rape in the regions they captured. However, the McKenzies were defeated at Dingwall in October and the English stronghold of Inverness was besieged.

In the face of these series of defeats, the English nobles faced a crisis. With Edward I combatting the French in Normandy, Edward II lacked sufficent strength to defeat the rebellion. Appealing to the powerful Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, Edward II gave him victors rights to captured regions and began gathering an army. Joined by loyalist Scots, the army ventured into the Highlands in November, but was decisively defeated by Jamieson in the Battle of the Passes and retreated south, where they sparsely manned the remaining English forts below the Great Glen. Gaining support from his victory at the Passes, Jamieson gained the allegiance and support of several Lowland nobles, most importantly Angus Douglas. His army bolstered, the rebel forces marched from the Highlands in the spring of 1298 facing little resistance from the defeated English. By June, Edinburgh had been captured and the remaining Scottish nobles declared their allegiance to Jamieson. With the rebellion now national and his main Northern Army defeated, King Edward I, who had returned from France hearing of the rebellion, faced a precarious situation, as a peace agreement may encourage dissent within the Noble Houses and in the freshly conquered Wales, which still harbored heavy anti-English sentiment. However, facing an enemy heavily reinforced and with his Norman territories threatened by the French, Edward I was forced in 1299 to accept the Peace of Dumfries, recognizing at least partial Scottish independence.

Despite this victory, the Scottish nobles were still divided and failed to unify into a single legislative and military body with the capability to continue a war with England. Realizing that Edward I would exploit this weakness, in winter of 1299 Jamieson staged a coup against the nobles in Edinburgh, seizing the nobles and forcing them to recognize the Christmas Accord, which declared Jamieson as the Lord-Protector and giving him supreme political and military authority over the entire region. Most Scots, tired of the nobles constant bickering, accepted this coup and even celebrated it. The establishment of the Protectorate would begin the second phase of the conflict.

The Protectorate
Conflict flared up again soon after Jamieson's coup, and in spring of 1300, Edward I recognized the threat posed by the newly formed Protectorate. Sending his son with the reformed Army of the North, Edward I hoped to reestablish complete control over Scotland, hoping to depose Jamieson. However, the army faced troubles and was decisively defeated in the Battle of the Tweed.

The string of defeats had taken its toll on Edward I and the English nobility, and despite Edwards insistence that the Scots would be defeated an invasion of Northumbria in summer of 1300 served to undermine his position. Edward I control over his noble hedgemony collapsed, and in July, Edmund Mortimer, Earl of York, whos son had been captured by the Scots in the Battle of the Passes, declared his intention to depose Edward I, as he had familial connections too the Plantagenet line through his mother. Although allying themselves with the Scots, the rebellious English army, bolstered by Welsh support, was unable to link up with their Scottish allies due to Edward I's presence around York, where he disrupted communication between the allies and oppossed any Scottish advance across the Ouse, as a joint Scottish-Mortimer army would be disasterous. The beleagured rebel army was defeated in the Battle of Shrewsbury and Edmund Mortimer was killed, defeating the rebellion and reestablising Edwards control over the English nobility. Jamieson and his invading Scots were forced to retreat due to their newfound isolation, and withdrew into Scotland.

However, Edward I had been discussing terms with the Scottish nobility, and John Balloil had arrived in Aberdeen over the summer, with the hopes to instigating a revolt against Jamieson that would trap him and his forces between the English to the south and the Royalist Scots to the north. But the plan failed due to Jamieson's extensive spy network, and in late fall he launched an offensive against the underprepared Royalists, undermining their support and defeating the short-lived revolt in the Sack of Aberdeen. John was killed but his son John II had managed to escape with their remaining entourage to the Isle of Mann, an English held island off the western coast of Scotland. Despite steadfast English funds and support from Edward I, the island was invaded by Jamieson the next spring and the rebellion all but destroyed, with the island itself being ravaged in the infamous Scourging of Mann.

But Jamieson's persistent campaigning had dried out Scottish coffers, and while away on Mann the Scottish nobles schemed once again. In the summer and winter of 1300, a number of highly secretive meetings were staged between the Scottish clans of Fraser, Campbell, and Hamilton and repersentatives of Edward I. These meetings eventually culiminated in the Accord of Lanark, in which the coalition of Scottish Lowland clans agreed to rebel against the Protactorate with English support. Although the Accord included many different factors, in stressed three key points:

Article One: Following the defeat of the Protractorate, all rebellious nobles be evicted from their estates and replaced by English nobles. This article was included by Edward I to encourage English migration into Scotland, as he hoped to, "breed," the Scots out and eventually annex the region.

Article Two: Following the defeat of the Protractorate, independent Scottish sovierngty by accepted by England so long as a stable royal bloodline is established.

Article Three: Both economic and political links with England be strengthened, and all Scottish markets be officialy opened to English involvement. This was also designed by Edward so that England could gain an economic stranglehold on Scotland, as that would make annexation smoother and meet less resistence.

In the spring following the Accord, Jamieson and his army arrived back from Mann, hoping to tighten their grip on the countries noble class. However, in late spring a Royalist army was gathered in the Lowlands. Initially, Jamieson believed the rumors to be false. However, the rumors were confirmed when a large English army led by Edward himself crossed the southern border, Sacking Dumfries and moving north to link with the Royalist Scots. With a joint Anglo-Royalist Army having the potential to trap him and his remaining loyalists around Edinburgh, Jamieson planned to link up with his son Malcolms small army in the Lowlands and then destroy the Royalist army before they could meet up with Edwards invasion force. However, Malcolms force was intercepted at Jedburgh by a traitorous Douglas army. Before he could withdraw back to Edinburgh Jamieson and his remaining loyalists were trapped at Bothwell by the Anglo-Royalist army and destroyed, with Jamieson himself being killed. The short-lived Protectorate was all but destroyed.

Establishment of the Crown
In the aftermath of the Battle of Bothwell, the Protractorate cause collapsed. Although Andrew Morray had survived the battle and had fled into the Highlands, he recieved little support from the war-weary clans and retreated to Eilean Donam, a formidable stone castles, where he was besieged until his surrender in May of 1301. The remaining Protractorate nobles surrendered, and were granted amnesty on the grounds that they evicted their estates, a central article of the Lanark Accord.

In a series of meetings in Edinburgh, after fierce debate, John II of the House of Balloil was elected King by Edward I. Although many nobles rejected this decision, the prescense of a large English army in Edinburgh deterred any action. Edward had good reason to choose John II as the king: he had just born a son and could establish a stable bloodline, and he owed the English allegiance due too their persistent support during his attempted invasions. However, the decision was highly unpopular among the Scottish nobles, who believed Edward I had violated the Accord of Lanark.

A year of relative peace began in the aftermath of John II's ascension, although it was intermittently interrupted by minor rebellions, most of which resulted from dissent over the First Article of the Lanark Accord, which angered by nobles. The largest of these rebellions, under Frances McDonald, was fiercely put down in the Battle of Thornhill. Despite the political peace, the effects of the war had caused a basic breakdown in law and order and due too the weakness of the newborn Balloil dynasty this continued.

Even though Andrew Morray was capture din the Siege of Eilean Donam, the Clan Douglas decided to begin a revolt and depose the Balloil's. An alliance with Robert the Bruce, a Scottish noble who was cousins with John II was forged, as Robert had a legitimate claim to the throne, while the Douglas' could raise an army over 10,000-strong in a short period. However, John II somehow heard of the brewing revolt and in the infamous Black Dinner murdered Angus Douglas and his retainers, although Bruce somehow managed to escape into the Highlands. Bruce initially had only limited support from the Highland clans, but a marriage to Margaret of the Clan Mackay brought him much needed allies, and for all of 1302 Bruce waged a guerrilla war against the Balloil's, punctuated by constant Royalist-led counter-raiding. Bruce's raids, while minor, spread news of his cause and he began to meet with considerable support. Several times the Balloil's appealed too Edward I for aid in putting down the growing revolt, and it was only in 1303 that Edward I responded by gathering an English army at the border, prepared to intervene if the royal seat was threatened. However, Edward I died of influenza that spring and the army disintegrated as a succession crisis threatened the coronation of his son Edward II. Realizing the English were too weak to intervene, that summer Robert led his army south, destroying the remaining Royalist forces at Bellshill. The Royalist cause was destroyed in the battle and Roberts army swept through Scotland, gaining support and capturing Edinburgh. On November 9th, 1303, he was crowned Robert I, King of Scotland.

In the resulting months, Robert led his armies on a series of successful campaigns, strengthening his hold on the Lowlands and capturing the English castles of Selkirk and Coldstream. Edward I, having resolved the crisis, attempted to raise a fifth Northern Army to counterattack, but a decade of war had tired the English nobles and in the spring of 1304 the two factions met at Newcastle, agreeing on the Treaty of Newcastle.

The War Ends
However, Johns son Richard Balloil had escaped the massacre at Aberdeen, and he fled with his remaining retainers to the Isle of Mann, an English-held island off of Scotlands western coast, where Richard hoped to fortify the isle and launch raids on Scotlands coast from their. However, recognizing the threat, Jamieson gathered an army and invaded the Isle. In the infamous Scourging of Mann, the island was ravaged, with hundreds of farms burned and numerous townships and villages sacked. By the wars end, the isles population had dropped by 50%, a testament to the brutallity used by the Scots to destroy the Balloi cause.

But the brutal Scottish tactics had profound effects on Scottish politics, and in Jamiesons absence dissent had fostered among the already rebellious Scottish nobles due to Jamiesons increasingly tyrannical behavior. Jamiesons failed invasion of Northumbria had broken the government coffers and destabilized the delicate Scottish economy, but Jamieson ignored these problems, instead focusing on the war with England. So, after a long winter and a series of famine outbreaks in the Highlands due to the destruction of crops in the war, a coalition of Scottish nobles met with Edward I at the Isle of Skye and on May 1st, announced their intention to rebel and overthrow Jamieson and his military junta. Within weeks, the Fraser, Sutherland, Stewart, and Ferguson clans all joined the coalition, isolating Jamieson and his sole remaining allies around Edinburgh. In late May, a large English army crossed the lightly-defended border to aid in the rebellion, and advanced through the Lowlands to link with the Scottish noble army. On June 2nd, the city of Berwick was sacked by the English, and as many as 10,000 men, women, and children were massacered during the sack.

Facing annihilation, Jamieson decided his best move would be to march north with his loyalists and unite with his sons small army which had been stationed on the Northern frontier. Jamieson hoped to meet his sons army near Aberdeen before counter-attacking and destroying the rebel nobles before they could be joined by their English allies. However, Jamiesons son Walter was intercepted at Invergarry by a Clan Sutherland force they mistaking believed to be loyal, and Walter and his army were destroyed. Before he could retreat to the safety of Edinburgh, Jamieson was then surrounded by the joint Anglo-Scottish army at Dunlain. In a hard fought battle, Jamiesons army was massacred and Jamieson was killed, betrayed by Angus Douglas. Within the following weeks, the remaining loyalists surrendered and Edinburgh was captured.