Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Battle of Bannockburn

Starting point is 00:00:00 In June of 1314, Scottish forces under the command of Robert the Bruce squared off against an English army led by King Edward II. The battle was the culmination of years of English intervention in Scotland after a succession crisis. Despite being vastly outnumbered, the Scots won the day, earned their independence, and firmly established Robert the Bruce as King of Scotland. Learn more about the Battle of Bannockburn and its role in Scottish history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night. And how it shaped the world now.

Starting point is 00:00:59 Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. Before you can understand the Battle of Bannockburn, you need to understand the political situation in Scotland and England in the years before the battle took. place. Scotland and England had shared the island of Great Britain for centuries, but despite being neighbors, they had very different histories. Before the Roman invasion, both England and Scotland were populated by Celtic peoples. After the Roman invasion, life in England changed dramatically. England became the Roman province of Britannia, and it came under the heavy cultural influence of Rome. Many people from Rome and around the Roman Empire ended up migrating to Britain. However, the Romans never conquered Scotland, and it wasn't for a lack of trying, but they eventually gave up as it was

Starting point is 00:01:50 too difficult and the train was too rugged. They simply built some walls spanning the width of the island and tried to keep the Scots at arm's length. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, invaders from Denmark and Germany settled in England, most famously the Angles and Saxons, from which England gets its name. These Germanic invaders left most of Scotland alone, with the exception of some low-lying areas in southern Scotland. As England evolved and grew, there certainly were battles between England and Scotland, but there were mostly border skirmishes or clashes over land in the south of Scotland and the north of England. There was a 15-year period in the 12th century, where Scotland was legally a vassal of England,

Starting point is 00:02:32 but that was mainly due to William I of Scotland being held captive by Henry II of England. However, that story is for another episode. Everything changed, however, in the late 13th century. For the purposes of this episode, there were two major events, the first of which was the ascension to power of King Edward I of England in 1272. Edward was an expansionist. Between 1277 and 1283, he conquered Wales and absorbed it into the British crown. With Wales under his control, there was only one part of the island of Great Britain that wasn't under his rule, Scotland.

Starting point is 00:03:09 Edward's big opportunity with Scotland took place on March 19, 1286, when King Alexander the 3rd of Scotland died. His only heir was his granddaughter, Margaret, made of Norway. Margaret was the daughter of Eric II of Norway and Margaret of Scotland, the daughter of Alexander III, and when she ascended to the Scottish throne, she was only three years old. Margaret of Scotland had died in childbirth when Margaret made of Norway was born, had she been alive, then she would have been the heir to the Scottish throne. The decision was made for Margaret, the new three-year-old queen, to remain in Norway for the time being because of her age. However, while she was there, she was betrothed to the five-year-old

Starting point is 00:03:53 Edward of Carnarvon, the heir to the English throne. And just as an aside, had this union actually taken place, the Scottish and English crowns would have been united over 300 years earlier before they actually were. Because she was too young to rule, and wasn't even in Scotland, a small group known as the Guardians of Scotland were elected to serve as regents. Finally, in 1290, when she was seven years old, she was sent to Scotland to be formally crowned as queen. However, along the way, while she was in the Orkney Islands, the young queen died. To be honest, there's been a great deal of debate amongst historians as to if Margaret was in fact an actual queen because she was never crowned. This created a huge problem for Scotland because there was no other clear air to the

Starting point is 00:04:42 Scottish throne. Because nature abhors a vacuum, claimants started coming forward to be the new king. No fewer than 13 people came forward with a claim to the Scottish throne. The best two claims to the throne, however, tied their claim to William I, the grandfather of Alexander III. The two were John Balliol and Robert DeBrews. There was concern that a civil war was going to break out, so the Guardians asked Edward of England to be an arbitrator to determine who should be king. Edward saw this as a golden opportunity to get his hooks into Scotland. When he was asked to arbitrate, he insisted on concessions.

Starting point is 00:05:22 He wanted to return Scotland to being a vassal of England like it was under Henry II. Edward wasn't given exactly what he wanted, but most of the Guardian did in fact recognize Edward as their lord. Ultimately, Edward presided over a group of 104 auditors that were to select a new king. Twenty-four were appointed by Edward, and 40 each by John Balliol and Robert DeBruce, who was also known to history as Robert the competitor. In 1292, the auditors finally selected on John Balliol as king based solely on claims of primogenitor. John Balliol was not a very good king, and he was known as the Emperiod. decode. After only four years in 1296, he abdicated under pressure from Edward. Edward then used this

Starting point is 00:06:09 opportunity to invade Scotland, which began the first Scottish War of Independence. If you've ever seen the movie Braveheart, it was set in this period. In fact, the name, the first Scottish War of Independence, was actually applied retroactively after the American Revolution. Despite having no king during the period, there was widespread resistance to English rule, even though many of the Scottish nobles had personally pledged their loyalty to Edward. The Scottish resistance had some success, such as the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297, but also some major defeat such as the Battle of Falkirk in 1298. However, as the war dragged on, two people ended up vying for the Scottish throne, Robert the Bruce, the grandson of one of the two previous major claimants to the Scottish throne,

Starting point is 00:06:56 Robert the competitor, and John Common. In February 1306, John Common was murdered, by Robert de Bruce, and the next month, Robert the Bruce was crowned King of Scotland. After a loss at the Battle of Methven later in 1306, Robert the Bruce had to go into hiding for a year. One of the things that brought him out of hiding was the death of Edward I in July 1307. Edward II, his son, was now on the throne of England, and he was not the leader that his father was. Robert the Bruce continued to increase his power over the next several years, winning several decisive victories. In 1313, Robert finally made an ultimatum to all of the Scottish nobles to pledge their loyalty to him or to forfeit their lands. This resulted in Edward II invading Scotland with the largest army ever to do so.

Starting point is 00:07:47 Over 25,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry entered Scotland to put an end to the rule of Robert and also to break the siege of Stirling Castle. Things came to a head on June 13th, 1314, when the English army under Edward II met the Scottish forces under Robert de Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn. Strangely enough, historians aren't sure exactly where the Battle of Bannock Burn took place. They know the general area where the battle was fought, somewhere near Stirling Castle, but they don't know the exact spot. The Scots were vastly outnumbered. In comparison to the combined 27,000 English infantry and cavalry, the Scots had only 6,000 footmen. For the English, the battle was an opportunity to end the resistance to English rule in Scotland. And for the Scots, it was a chance to break free of England and for Robert the Bruce to legitimize his rule through a victory on the battlefield.

Starting point is 00:08:46 In addition to sheer numbers, the English had the premier weapon of the day, heavy cavalry. The battle began on June 23rd, which was rare for this area because the battle ended up lasting two days. On the first day, an English knight named Henry Dubon charged Robert the Bruce when he saw him on the field. Robert counterattacked by riding up to him and splitting his head open with an axe. It was a rare instance of a medieval king engaging in one-on-one combat. On the second day, the defection of a Scottish lord in service to England named Alexander Seton, turn the tide for the Scots. He brought Robert the Bruce information about the English army, including how low morale had fallen. When the sun came up, a large contingent of Scottish soldiers

Starting point is 00:09:34 walked out from their fortified positions in the forest with their pikes. This confused Edward because before they marched across the field, they all knelt down. Edward assumed that this meant that they were about to surrender to him. However, that was not the case. They were simply praying. The English and up losing one of their best commanders, the Earl of Gloucester. After being accused of cowardice by the king, he led a small contingent of cavalry into the Scottish lines and was immediately cut down. The rest of the English cavalry couldn't maneuver freely because of the wet conditions on the ground and the position of the Scots. And likewise, the English archers were neutralized because they couldn't fire at the enemy without a high risk of hitting their own men. Eventually, the English

Starting point is 00:10:18 knights saw the writing on the wall and forcefully had to evacuate Edward II. Their first goal was to get to Sterling Castle, but they were turned away by the leader of the English garrison in the castle, who was about to turn the castle over to the Scots because the English couldn't break the siege. The end result was the English army trying to flee approximately 90 miles or 140 kilometers to the border of England. The fleeing English soldiers were picked off by Scottish soldiers as well as Scottish people living in the countryside as they passed through. The result of the battle was incredibly lopsided. Historians estimate that the Scots lost only about 100 men, only two of which were knights.

Starting point is 00:10:59 The English, however, suffered staggering losses. As many as 11,000 infantry were killed during the retreat and an additional 700 mounted knights. 500 knights were captured and held for ransom. The Battle of Bannockburn was a resounding success for the Scottish. It gave the Scottish de facto independence and eliminated English involvement in Scotland. And it also solidified the rule and legitimacy of Robert the Bruce as King of Scotland. While the Battle of Bannockburn eliminated English meddling in Scotland, the English wouldn't formally recognize Scottish independence for another 15 years. Scottish raids into Northern England and Ireland made a treaty and recognition of Scotland a high priority. In 1327, Edward II was deposed in favor of his son Edward III.

Starting point is 00:11:49 And in 1328, under pressure from English nobles, Edward III signed the treaty of Edinburgh, Northampton, which finally recognized full independence for Scotland and removed all English claims. The Battle of Bannockburg went on to become one of the most important moments in Scottish history. Culturally, it's become a symbol of national pride and freedom for Scotland. It celebrated in Scottish folklore and literature, including the patriotic song, Scott's Wah-Haye by Robert Burns, which imagines Robert the Bruce addressing his troops at Bannockburn. But perhaps most importantly, the Battle of Bannockburn was one of the most pivotal moments in the history of Great Britain. If the battle had gone the other way, the last 700 years of British history would have

Starting point is 00:12:33 looked very different. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Ben Long and Cameron Kiefer. Today's review comes from listener DPK-1267 over on Apple Podcasts in the United States. They write, Please read this on an episode. I love this podcast. Please read this on the podcast episode. Also, how many languages can you hold a conversation in just curious?

Starting point is 00:13:01 Also, do you take vacations every once in a while, or are you always traveling? Well, thanks, DPK-1267. I can realistically only hold a meaningful conversation in English, although I know a smattering of other languages such that I could order food or get a hotel room. I haven't taken a real vacation since I started this podcast. I've gone to some business conferences and I did take a few days to see the most recent eclipse,

Starting point is 00:13:26 but that's about it. Also, I'm not traveling full time anymore. That ended with the pandemic. Now I spend most of my time working on this podcast. Remember, if you leave a review or send me a boostogram, you two can have it right on the show.

Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Battle of Bannockburn

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