PrøvGOLD- Free

Scotland's greatest victory

BBC History UK|September 2023
The image of plucky warriors sending a cocksure English army into flight has secured Bannockburn's status in the annals of Scottish history. Helen Carr chronicles the 1314 clash that transformed the balance of power between two warring nations
- Helen Carr
Scotland's greatest victory

In June 1314 a great army rumbled forwards, parallel to the river Forth, following the old Roman road that led north across the war-ravaged Anglo-Scottish border. The king of England, Edward II, rode at the head of an army of around 18,000 infantry and 2,000 heavy cavalry horses. A baggage train allegedly 20 miles long groaned under the weight of arms, plate, food and wine and the administrative paraphernalia associated with the management of the crown, including England's Great Seal. The army was marching to relieve Stirling Castle, an English-held bastion 40 miles north-west of Edinburgh that was under siege by Edward Bruce, brother of the self-proclaimed king of the Scots, Robert.

Edward II was a king in a hurry. Should the Scots capture Stirling, he would lose access to the north of Scotland and with it, his grip on the land his father, Edward I, the self-styled 'Hammer of the Scots', had conquered at the outbreak of war in 1296. And so he had mustered an army in Berwickon-Tweed, the English administrative centre in the north, and marched in haste. The knight Sir Thomas Gray rode towards Stirling that day and 40 years later his son (also Sir Thomas Gray) would record his father's account of the battle in his book Scalacronica.

As the English marched north, Robert the Bruce prepared for combat. He allocated commanding roles to loyal soldiers such as James Douglas, otherwise known as Black Douglas (possibly for his black hair but most likely for the fact that he'd raided, torched and pillaged his way across the northern frontier). Together they trained 5,000-6,000 infantry to use spears as offensive weapons in 'schiltrons' - hedgehog formations of razor-sharp steel that would push forward into attack against oncoming cavalry. These became the greatest weapon of the Wars of Scottish Independence, a fighting machine that could destroy a cavalry army.

Denne historien er fra September 2023-utgaven av BBC History UK.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9500+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra September 2023-utgaven av BBC History UK.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9500+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA BBC HISTORY UKSe alt
Painting on the precipice
BBC History UK

Painting on the precipice

Hans Holbein’s masterwork The Ambassadors is an exquisite portrait of two 16th-century diplomats. But it is also crammed with symbols and hidden messages. Tracy Borman deciphers the clues that betray the turbulence of a fateful year

time-read
7 mins  |
June 2025
BBC History UK

A doctrine of self-control

FERN RIDDELL gives a cautious welcome to an exploration of American attitudes down the years towards both sex work and female sex workers

time-read
2 mins  |
June 2025
Samba schools used the carnival to foreground overlooked histories
BBC History UK

Samba schools used the carnival to foreground overlooked histories

I WAS RECENTLY IN RIO DE JANEIRO, IN A warehouse on the outskirts of the city, admiring some of the brightly coloured floats that had featured in this year's world-famous carnival. Each spring, just before the start of Lent, hundreds of thousands of people attend the parades in the city's Sambadrome stadium and enjoy watching the floats.

time-read
2 mins  |
June 2025
Victorian jelly
BBC History UK

Victorian jelly

ELEANOR BARNETT explores the surprisingly long history of quivering, colourful dessert popular with children

time-read
3 mins  |
June 2025
BBC History UK

Diplomatic mission

RICHARD TOYE salutes an exploration of the relationship between the ‘Big Three’ Allied leaders

time-read
2 mins  |
June 2025
Who says what and why they say it
BBC History UK

Who says what and why they say it

DAVID RUNCIMAN is impressed by an exploration of how arguments over free speech are often rooted in a desire to close down dialogue

time-read
4 mins  |
June 2025
"Africans have been starved of historical figures from their own lands that they can look up to"
BBC History UK

"Africans have been starved of historical figures from their own lands that they can look up to"

PAULA AKPAN speaks to Danny Bird about powerful African woman leaders and the complexities of interrogating historical narratives, colonial biases and these women's own flaws

time-read
10 mins  |
June 2025
Harry Price
BBC History UK

Harry Price

Harry Price was a British ghost-hunter, psychic researcher and author who achieved fame through his investigations into paranormal phenomena and for exposing fraudulent mediums.

time-read
2 mins  |
June 2025
Few works of 20th-century art have such a distinguished list of past owners
BBC History UK

Few works of 20th-century art have such a distinguished list of past owners

A POSTWAR BABY BOOMER AND A LATE SIXTIES student, in my adult life I naturally grew up optimistic. I believed in progress.

time-read
3 mins  |
June 2025
The feel of truth
BBC History UK

The feel of truth

JOSEPH E USCINSKI enjoys an account of a fake report that supposedly exposed a huge conspiracy to wage war in support of the American economy

time-read
2 mins  |
June 2025

Vi bruker informasjonskapsler for å tilby og forbedre tjenestene våre. Ved å bruke nettstedet vårt samtykker du til informasjonskapsler. Finn ut mer