Auld Alliance
Formation | 23 October 1295 |
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Founded at | Paris |
Dissolved | 15 July 1560 |
Purpose | Defence pact |
Membership | Kingdom of Scotland Kingdom of France |
Official language | French Scots Scottish Gaelic |
History of Scotland |
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The Auld Alliance (Scots for "Old Alliance")[1][2] was an alliance between the kingdoms of Scotland and France against England made in 1295. The Scots word auld, meaning old, has become a partly affectionate term for the long-lasting association between the two countries. Although the alliance was never formally revoked, it is considered by some to have ended with the signing of the Treaty of Edinburgh in 1560.[3]
The alliance played a significant role in the relations among Scotland, France and England. The alliance was renewed by all the
The alliance began with the treaty signed by John Balliol and Philip IV of France in 1295 against Edward I of England. The terms of the treaty stipulated that if either country were attacked by England, the other country would invade English territory. The 1513 Battle of Flodden, where the Scots invaded England in response to the English campaign against France, was one such occasion. Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, negotiated the renewal of the alliance in 1326. The alliance played an important role in the Wars of Scottish Independence, the Hundred Years' War, the War of the League of Cambrai, and the Rough Wooing.
History
Birth of the Auld Alliance
The dynastic turmoil caused by the death in 1290 of Scotland's seven-year-old queen, Margaret, the Maid of Norway, left the covetous Edward I of England with an opportunity to assert his authority over Scotland. In response, the Council of Twelve, which had taken over the government of Scotland temporarily, sought alliances wherever they could be found. Philip IV declared England's possession of Gascony forfeit in 1294, bringing France and England close to war. Alliance with France was a clear course for Scotland to take. In October 1295, a Scottish embassy to France agreed to the Treaty of Paris,[6] which was signed on 23 October.[7]
As with all subsequent renewals of what became the Auld Alliance, the treaty favoured France. The French were required to do no more than continue their struggle against the English in Gascony. The cost of any war between Scotland and England was to be borne entirely by the Scots. Nevertheless, Scotland, as remote and impoverished as it was, was now aligned to a major European power. Even if they were more symbolic than actual, the benefits of the alliance mattered greatly to Scotland.[8]
In the short term, however, the treaty proved to be no protection against Edward, whose swift and devastating invasion of Scotland in 1296 all but eradicated its independence. Furthermore, the cessation of hostilities between England and France in 1299, followed by the treaty of "perpetual peace and friendship," allowed Edward to devote all of his attention and forces to attacking the Scots. In the end, Scotland owed its eventual survival to the military acumen and inspiration of Robert the Bruce and the mistakes of Edward II, rather than to its bond with France.[citation needed] In 1326, Robert the Bruce sent Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray to negotiate renewal of the alliance with the Treaty of Corbeil. The motive for this renewal was precautionary: neither realm seemed to have much to fear from England at the time.
Hundred Years War
However, this changed after 1332, when
In June and again in July 1346, King Philip of France wrote desperate letters to King David begging him to attack England, hoping to draw off the looming English attack in France. In light of this, the Scots planned a
In March 1355, John II of France commanded Sire Eugene de Garancières to lead a force of sixty knights and their retinues, probably a force of about two hundred men, to Scotland to join the Scots in an attack on northern English strongholds. The Scots did not agree to make the attack until the receipt of the promised payment of 40,000 mouton d’or, which was distributed to the chief leaders of the Scots. They then marched to the vicinity of Norham Castle, where Sir William Ramsay lured the defenders of the castle out by driving away their herds of cattle. He then led the English into an ambush by William, Lord of Douglas and the French. The English were defeated, and Thomas Grey (chronicler) was taken prisoner, to be held for a substantial ransom. They then withdrew to Scotland in order to make an approach by sea and land on the beach of Berwick-upon-Tweed. They made an escalade attack on the walls. Although taking the city, they failed to take Berwick Castle. Robert II of Scotland, presently Earl of Strathern and heir to the throne of Scotland, made his only venture south of the English border to order them to withdraw back to Scotland. The French force then returned home.[11]
Some Scottish knights continued, during truces, to go to France to aid their allies.
The accession of pro-French
However, necessity had driven the two kingdoms together and the need to resist aggressive new Lancastrian kings kept the alliance together in the 15th century. In 1418, with France on the brink of surrendering to the forces of Henry V, the Dauphin, Charles VII, called on his Scottish allies for help. Between 1419 and 1424, as many as 15,000 Scottish troops were sent to France.[16][17]
French and Scottish forces together won against the English at the
In 1429, Scots came to the aid of
Wars of the Roses
The aftermath of the
The true reasoning for the alliance's existence is to fight against the English, not end up aiding one side in their enemy's own civil war. Their reason being was that the Yorkist had sided with the
Reformation and decline
The alliance underwent a dramatic revival when it was formally reviewed in 1512 and again in 1517 and 1548. Scotland still suffered badly following the death of James IV and most of his nobles at Flodden in 1513. Periodic Anglo-French and Anglo-Scottish conflict throughout the sixteenth century continued, but the certainties that had driven the Auld Alliance were disappearing. As Protestantism gained ground in Scotland, more and more people favoured closer links with England than with France.[8]
In 1558, the alliance between the two kingdoms was revived with the marriage of
After the treaty of Edinburgh
The Auld Alliance still lived on with the
Wider influence
The Auld Alliance extended into the lives of the Scottish population in a number of ways, affecting
Legacy
In a speech which he delivered in Edinburgh in June 1942, Charles de Gaulle described the alliance between Scotland and France as "the oldest alliance in the world". He also declared that:[22]
In every combat where for five centuries the destiny of France was at stake, there were always men of Scotland to fight side by side with men of France, and what Frenchmen feel is that no people has ever been more generous than yours with its friendship.
In 1995, celebrations were held in both countries marking the 700th anniversary of the beginning of the alliance.[5]
After extensive research, British historian Siobhan Talbott concluded that the Auld Alliance had never been formally revoked and that it endured and thrived long after the Acts of Union in 1707 and the Entente Cordiale of 1904.[23][24]
See also
- Duke of Aubigny
- Duke of Lennox
- Foreign alliances of France
- France–United Kingdom relations
- Treaty of Edinburgh, 1560, brought a century of peace among Scotland, France and England
- Tudor period, English responses
References
Citations
- Scottish Gaelic: An Seann-chaidreachas
- ^ "FR01 – Auld Alliance". www.scottishdiasporatapestry.org. Archived from the original on 16 July 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
- ^ Tanner, Roland, "Franco-Scottish Alliance," in The Oxford Companion to British History . Oxford University Press, 2009. pp. 390–91.
- ^ S2CID 159885209. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
- ^ JSTOR 24424506.
- ^ Tanner, Roland. Franco-Scottish Alliance, in The Oxford Companion to British History. Oxford University Press, 2009.
- ^ "BBC – 23 October in Scottish History". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ^ a b c d Cussans, Thomas. "Kings and Queens of the British Isles". The Times Books, 2002, p.65.
- ^ Penman, Michael (2004). David II. East Linton, Scotland: Tuckwell Press Ltd. p. 52-54, 71.
- ^ Penman, Michael (2004). David II. East Linton, Scotland: Tuckwell Press Ltd. p. 124-125.
- ^ Penman, Michael (2004). David II. East Linton, Scotland: Tuckwell Press Ltd. p. 182-183.
- ^ Brown, Michael (1998). The Black Douglases. East Linton, Scotland: Tuckwell Press Ltd. p. 46.
- ^ Brown, Michael (1999). The Black Douglases. East Lothian, Scotland: Tuckwell Press. p. 54-56.
- ^ Michel, vol i, pp. 71–72
- ^ McNamee, Colm. "The Wars of the Bruces: Scotland, England and Ireland". Tuckwell Press, 1996
- ^ Balfour Paul. Scots Peerage, vol iii, p. 167
- ^ Balfour Paul.Scots Peerage, vol. ii p. 264
- from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
- ^ Macloed, Morag. France: the 'Auld Alliance' in The Oxford Companion to Scottish History. Oxford University Press, 2001.
- ^ ISBN 1-84596-021-1.
- ^ "Influences Francaises dans le Droit Ecossais". heinonline.org. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
- ^ de Gaulle, Charles (1960). Mémoires de guerre: L'appel, 1940–1942. Université de l'État de Pennsylvanie: Plon.
- ^ "In a paper Dr Siobhan Talbott has argued the Franco-Scottish Auld Alliance of 1295 survived centuries of enmity and war between Britain and France – even after the Act of Union was signed in 1707". Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
- ^ "Beyond "The Antiseptic Realm of Theoretical Economic Models": New Perspectives on Franco-Scottish Commerce and the Auld Alliance in the Long Seventeenth Century". www.academia.edu. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
Sources
- Michel, F. X. (1862). Les Écossais en France, les Français en Écosse (in French). London: Trübner & Company. Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.
Further reading
- James Higgins, "Scotland's Stewart Monarchs".
- ISBN 1-86232-145-0
- Pollock, M. A. Scotland, England and France After the Loss of Normandy, 1204–1296: 'Auld Amitie' (Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2015)
- Talbott, Siobhan. An alliance ended? Franco-Scottish commercial relations, 1560–1713 (PhD Dissertation, University of St Andrews, 2011)