English invasion of Scotland (1400)
English invasion of Scotland of August 1400 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Anglo-Scottish border conflicts | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Kingdom of Scotland | Kingdom of England | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Duke of Rothesay Duke of Albany |
Earl of March | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
~13,000 |
The English invasion of Scotland of August 1400 was the first military campaign undertaken by Henry IV of England after deposing the previous king, his cousin Richard II. Henry IV urgently wanted to defend the Anglo-Scottish border, and to overcome his predecessor's legacy of failed military campaigns.
A large army was assembled slowly and marched into Scotland. Not only was no pitched battle ever attempted, but the king did not try and besiege Scotland's capital, Edinburgh. Henry's army left at the end of the summer after only a brief stay, mostly camped near Leith (near Edinburgh) where it could maintain contact with its supply fleet. The campaign ultimately accomplished little except to further deplete the king's coffers, and is historically notable only for being the last one led by an English king on Scottish soil.
Background
War with Scotland had started under Edward I, [1] cross-border raids and fighting had been the norm in Anglo-Scottish relations since the 1370s, generally in the form of Scottish incursions over the border and English attempts to repel them.[2] The 1399 revolution, which eventually deposed Richard II, created further opportunity for Scotland to regain the land between the River Tweed and the Solway Firth. As Historian Chris Given-Wilson has put it, 'England's confusion was Scotland's opportunity,'[3] and in May 1399 Wark Castle was destroyed by a Scottish raid.[4] The invasion, then, started being planned almost as soon as Henry took the throne.[5]
At least one historian has noted a tradition, by then, of newly crowned kings of England launching military campaigns at the beginning of their reigns. Edward III had done so the same year his reign commenced; Richard II immediately on reaching his majority, and Henry V would do so within three years. These campaigns have been summarised as "enforcing....royal will and testing loyalty towards a newly established regime" as well as for established strategic goals.
Perhaps even more persuasive to Henry than the wishes of his
The campaign
Although Henry had announced his plans at the November 1399 parliament, he did not attempt a winter campaign, but continued to hold quasi-negotiations 'in which he must have felt the Scots were profoundly irritating.'
Although the army was summoned to assemble at York on 24 June, it did not approach Scotland until mid-August. This was due to the gradual arrival of army supplies (in some cases, with much delay — the King's own tents, for example, were not dispatched from
It has been estimated that Henry's army was around 13,000 men,
Henry crossed the border in mid-August.[10] Given-Wilson has noted the care Henry took not to ravage or pillage the countryside on their march through Berwickshire and Lothian. This was in marked contrast to previous expeditions, and Given-Wilson compares it specifically to the 'devastation wreacked' in last such campaign, by Richard II in 1385. This he puts this down to the presence in the English army of the earl of Dunbar, whose lands they were.[19] Brown has suggested the king 'envisaged ... a punitive expedition' with either a confrontation or such a chevauchée that the Scots would be eager to negotiate. In the event, they offered no resistance as the English army marched through Haddington.[20]
However, Henry's army never progressed further than Leith; there the army could keep in physical contact with the supporting fleet.[21] Henry took a personal interest in his convoys, at one point even verbally instructing that two Scottish fishermen fishing in the Firth of Forth were to be paid £2 for their (unspecified) assistance.[18] However, Henry never besieged Edinburgh Castle where the Duke of Rothsay was ensconced.[21] By now, Brown says, Henry's campaign had been reduced to a 'war of words.'[20] By 29 August, the English army had returned to the other side of the border.[21]
Aftermath
John Sadler has described this expedition as 'like so many of its predecessors, fail[ing] to yield any significant results,' neither forcing the Scots onto a battlefield nor making any major territorial gains. Brown too has described the campaign as 'utterly futile.'[4] Sadler has ascribed the Scottish success in part to their reliance on a Fabian strategy to wear out the English whilst avoiding direct confrontation.[17] Henry's lacklustre campaign was condemned by contemporary observers, with Welsh chronicler Adam of Usk saying that the Scots did more damage to the English than had been done to them.[22] Likewise, the Scotichronicon suggested that 'nothing worthy of remembrance was done' by their enemies.[23]
The king had been 'desperately short of money' in February, before the campaign had begun;
References
- ^ Barrow 1965, pp. 99–100.
- ^ Given-Wilson 2016, pp. 166–167.
- ^ Given-Wilson 2016, pp. 166.
- ^ a b Brown1974, p. 40.
- ^ a b c d e f Curry et al. 2010, p. 1387.
- ^ a b Brown & Summerson 2004.
- ^ Given-Wilson 2016, p. 167.
- ^ Brown1974, p. 41.
- ^ a b Smith 2004.
- ^ a b c d e Given-Wilson 2016, p. 168.
- ^ a b Brown1974, p. 42.
- ^ a b Brown1974, p. 48.
- ^ a b c d Brown1974, p. 49.
- ^ Brown1974, p. 51.
- ^ MacDonald 2000, p. 75.
- ^ Brown1974, p. 45.
- ^ a b Sadler 2005, p. 296.
- ^ a b Brown1974, p. 50.
- ^ Given-Wilson 2016, p. 170.
- ^ a b Brown1974, p. 43.
- ^ a b c Given-Wilson 2016, p. 171.
- ^ Given-Wilson 2016, p. 170 n.54. Citing Adam of Usk's Chronicle
- ^ Bower 1987, pp. 36–37.
- ^ a b Brown1974, p. 54.
- ^ Brown1974, p. 44.
- ^ Brown1974, p. 53.
Bibliography
- Barrow, G. W. S. (1965). Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press. OCLC 877690237.
- Bower, W. (1987). Watt, D.E.R. (ed.). Scotichronicon. Vol. 8 (new ed.). Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press. ISBN 9780080345277.
- Brown, A. L. (1974). "The English Campaign in Scotland". In Hearder, H.; Lyon, H. R. (eds.). British Government and Administration: Studies Presented to S. B. Chrimes. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. pp. 40–54. ISBN 0-7083-0538-5.
- Brown, A. L.; Summerson, H. (2004). "Henry IV [known as Henry Bolingbroke] (1367–1413)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2018-05-18. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- Curry, A.; Bell, A. R.; King, A.; Simpkin, D. (2010). "New Regime, New Army? Henry IV's Scottish Expedition of 1400". The English Historical Review. 125: 382–413. OCLC 754650998.
- Given-Wilson, C. (2016). Henry IV. Padstow: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300154191.
- MacDonald, A. J. (2000). Border Bloodshed. East Lothian: Tuckwell Press. ISBN 9781862321069.
- Sadler, J. (2005). Border Fury: England and Scotland at War, 1296–1598. Harlow: Routledge. ISBN 9781138143432.
- Smith, L. (2004). "Glyn Dŵr [Glyndŵr], Owain [Owain ap Gruffudd Fychan, Owen Glendower] (c. 1359–c. 1416)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2018-05-21. Retrieved 21 May 2018.