Siege of Berwick (1333): Difference between revisions

Capture of Berwick
Part of the Second War of Scottish Independence
Date March – 20 July 1333 Location Berwick-Upon-Tweed 55°46′16″N 2°00′23″W / 55.7710°N 2.0064°W / 55.7710; -2.0064 Result Engish victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Scotland	Kingdom of England
Commanders and leaders
Sir Alexander Seton Sir William Keith	King Edward III
Strength
Unknown	9,000[1]
Casualties and losses
Entire garrison captured	Very few

The Capture of Berwick occurred in 1333 when the Scottish-held town of Berwick-upon-Tweed was captured by an English army commanded by King Edward III after a siege of four months. The year before, Edward Balliol had seized the Scottish crown, surreptitiously supported by Edward III. He was shortly expelled from the kingdom by a popular uprising. Edward III used this as a casus belli and launched a large scale assault on Scotland. The immediate target was the strategically important border town of Berwick.

An advance force laid siege to the town in March. Edward and the main English army joined them in May and pressed the attack. A large Scottish army advanced to relieve the town. After unsuccessfully manoeuvring for position, and knowing that Berwick was on the verge of surrender, the Scots felt compelled to attack the English at Halidon Hill on 19 July. They suffered a crushing defeat. Berwick surrendered on terms the next day. Balliol was reinstalled as king of Scotland after ceding a large part of his territory to Edward III and agreeing to do homage for the balance.

The First War of Scottish Independence between England and Scotland had been grinding on for over thirty years. The English disaster of the Battle of Stanhope Park, where the newly-crowned 14-year-old Edward III was nearly captured, brought his regents, Isabella and Roger Mortimer, to the negotiating table. They agreed to the Treaty of Northampton with Robert the Bruce in 1328, but because this treaty was widely resented in England and commonly known as turpis pax, "the cowards' peace". A number of Scots nobles refused to swear fealty to Bruce and so were disinherited. They left Scotland to join forces with Edward Balliol, son of King John I of Scotland.^[2][3]

Robert the Bruce died in 1329; his heir was 5-year-old David II. In 1331, under the leadership of Edward Balliol and Henry Beaumont, 4th Earl of Buchan, the disinherited nobles gathered in Yorkshire and plotted an invasion of Scotland. Edward III was aware of the scheme and officially forbade it, in March 1332 writing to his northern officials that anyone plotting an invasion of Scotland was to be arrested. The reality was different, Edward being happy to cause trouble for his northern neighbour. He insisted that Balliol not invade Scotland overland from England but turned a blind eye to his forces sailing for Scotland from Yorkshire ports on 31 July 1332. The Scots were aware of the situation and were waiting for Balliol. David II's regent was an experienced old soldier, Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray. Unfortunately for the Scots, he died 10 days before Balliol sailed.^[4]

Five days after landing in Fife, Balliol's force of some 2,000 men met the Scottish army of 12–15,000. The Scots were crushed at the Battle of Dupplin Moor. Thousands of Scots died, including virtually the entire nobility of the realm. Building on this success Balliol was crowned King of Scotland.^[5] However, his support was limited, and within six months had collapsed. He was ambushed at Annan a few months later by supporters of David II. Balliol fled to England half-dressed and riding bareback and appealed to King Edward for assistance.^[6][7] Edward dropped all pretence of neutrality, recognised Balliol as King of Scotland and made ready for war.^[8]

Berwick-upon-Tweed occupied a strategic position on the Anglo-Scottish border astride the main invasion and trade route in either direction. It had been sold to the Scots by Richard I of England 140 years before in order to raise funds for his crusade.^[9] It was captured by Edward I in 1296, the first significant action of the First War of Scottish Independence, and retaken by treachery in 1318, the last Scottish stronghold to be retaken from the English. Berwick was a prosperous town; according to William Edington, a bishop and chancellor of England, Berwick was "so populous and of such commercial importance that it might rightly be called another Alexandria, whose riches were the sea and the water its walls".^[10] During centuries of war between the two nations its strategic value and relative wealth led to a succession of raids, sieges and takeovers.^[11]

At the beginning of 1333 the atmosphere on the border was tense. England was openly preparing for war. In Scotland Archibald Douglas, brother of the "Good" Sir James Douglas and now Guardian of the Realm for the underage David, made arrangements for the defence of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Weapons and supplies were gathered, and Sir Alexander Seton was appointed governor and entrusted with the defence of the town.^[12] These preparations were all complete by the time Balliol crossed into Roxburghshire on 10 March in command of a detachment of the English army. Besides the disinherited lords he was accompanied by a number of English magnates. He advanced quickly towards Berwick, which was placed under siege.^[12]

Edward arrived at Berwick in person with the main English army in early May,^[13] after leaving Queen Philippa in the safety of Bamburgh Castle 15 miles (24 km) south of Berwick. Balliol had been at Berwick for some six weeks, and had been able to place the town under close siege. Trenches had been dug, the water supply cut, all communication with the hinterland ended and the town had been cut off by sea. Douglas's inactivity contrasts sharply with Robert Bruce's swift response to the siege of 1319. Douglas seems to have spent the time gathering a national army, rather than using the troops he already had in diversionary raids. With the arrival of the Edward the attack on Berwick began in earnest. Catapults and trebuchets were used to great effect. Seton carried out a spirited defence; but by the end of June, under repeated attack by land and sea, the town was in a state of ruin and the garrison was close to exhaustion. Seton requested a short truce, which was granted but only on the condition that he surrender if not relieved by 11 July. Alexander's son, Thomas Seton, who had been captured while leading a sortie by the garrison, was to be a hostage to the agreement.^[12][14]

Guardian of the Realm Archibald Douglas was now faced with exactly the same situation that England had been before Bannockburn: as a matter of national pride he would have to come to the relief of Berwick, just as Edward II had come to the relief of Stirling Castle in 1314. The army the Guardian had spent so much time gathering was now compelled to take to the field, with all initiative lost. Douglas entered England on 11 July, the last day of Seton's truce. He advanced eastwards to the little port of Tweedmouth, which was destroyed in sight of the English army: Edward did not move. A small party of Scots led by Sir William Keith managed with some difficulty to make their way across the ruins of the old bridge to the northern bank of the Tweed and then force their way through to the town. Douglas chose to consider this as a technical relief and sent messages to Edward calling on him to depart. This was accompanied with the threat that if he failed to do so the Scots army would continue south and devastate England. Again Edward did not move, rather, as the town had not surrendered by the agreed date, he considered this to be a breach of the agreement and hanged Thomas Seton before the walls of the town.^[12] Edward's determination had the desired effect. To save the lives of those who remained Keith, who had taken over the command of the town from Seton, concluded a fresh truce, promising to surrender if not relieved by Tuesday 20 July.^[14][12]

Douglas marched south to Bamburgh, perhaps hoping for a repeat of the events that led in former years to the Battle of Myton. However, whatever concerns the King had for his queen he knew that Bamburgh was strong and could easily withstand a siege. The Scots, moreover, did not have the time to construct the kind of equipment that would be necessary to take the fortress by assault. The Scots devastated the countryside, but Edward ignored this. He positioned the English army on Halidon Hill, a small rise of some 600 feet (180 m), 2 miles (3.2 km) to the north-west of Berwick, which gives an excellent view of the town and surrounding countryside. From this vantage point he was able to dominate the approaches to the beleaguered port. Crossing the Tweed to the west of the English position, the Scottish army reached the town of Duns on 18 July. On the following day it approached Halidon Hill from the north-west, ready to give battle on ground chosen by Edward. It was a catastrophic decision.^[12]

In order to engage the English the Scots would have to advance downhill, cross a large area of marshy ground, and then climb up the northern slope of Halidon Hill. Although the Scots spearmen had proved their worth against cavalry at Stirling Bridge and Bannockburn, the battles of Dupplin Moor and Falkirk had shown how vulnerable they were to arrows. The prudent course of action would have been to withdraw and wait for a better opportunity to fight; but this would mean the automatic loss of Berwick.^[12]

Douglas ordered an attack. The Lanercost Chronicle reports:

...the Scots who marched in the front were so wounded in the face and blinded by the multitude of English arrows that they could not help themselves, and soon began to turn their faces away from the blows of the arrows and fall.^[15]

Casualties were heavy, with the lower reaches of the hill littered with dead or wounded. The survivors continued upwards, through the arrows and on to the waiting spears. The Scottish army broke. The camp followers made off with the horses and the fleeing Scots were pursued by the mounted English knights. Their casualties were numbered in thousands, including Douglas and five earls dead on the field.^[12] Any Scots who surrendered were put to death on Edward's orders. English casualties were reported as 14.^[16][12]

The next day, 20 July, Berwick's second truce expired. Sir William Keith capitulated and surrendered the town on terms.^[12][17]

Immediately after the town's capitulation, Edward appointed Henry de Percy, 2nd Baron Percy as Constable, with Sir Thomas Grey of Heaton, father of the chronicler Thomas Grey, as his deputy.^[18] Considering his part done and short of money he then left for the south. Balliol ruled a truncated Scotland from Perth, from where he put down the remaining resistance. On 19 June 1344 Balliol did homage to Edward for Scotland, after formally ceding to England the eight counties of south-east Scotland.^[19] Sir Alexander Seton in turn did homage to Balliol.^[20]

• Wars of Scottish Independence
• Second War of Scottish Independence

• Anonimalle Chronicle, 1333-81, ed. V. H. Galbraith, 1927.
• Bower, Walter, Scotichronicon, ed. D. E. R. Watt, 1987-96.
• Brut, or the Chronicles of England, ed. F. W. D. Brie, 1906.
• Capgrave, John, The Book of the Illustrious Henries, ed. F. Hingeston, 1858.
• Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland, ed. J. Bain, 1857.
• Fordun, John, Chronicles of the Scottish Nation, ed. W. F. Skene, 1872.
• Gray, Thomas, Scalicronica, ed. H. Maxwell, 1913.
• Wyntoun, Andrew, The Original Chronicle of Scotland, ed. F. J. Amours, 1907.