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scotianostra · 2 months

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On 22nd March 1421, Scottish army. under the Earl of Buchan defeated English forces at Bauge in Anjou, France.

Not heard of it? That’s because the history we were taught in school was all anglicized, oh we did get a wee bit about the 100 year war, mainly Agincourt, because the English won that day, or possibly Crecy, another victory for them, Bauge and many other times the English were gubbed are ignored.

Ok you might be wondering why I say a Scottish army, historians all say that the majority of the troops were Scottish soldiers, aye there was a few Frenchmen fighting on “our” side, but this was very much a Scottish victory over an English army.

This all goes down as part of the Auld Alliance, which was signed in 1295 by King John Balliol and Philip IV of France. The Alliance was renewed periodically after that date and by the 1410s it was very much “in play” as Henry V of England initiated the third phase of the Hundred Years War, often known to historians as the Lancastrian War.

In 1418, it was the French Dauphin who called on his Scottish allies for assistance in his efforts to curtail Henry’s depredations after the great battle of Agincourt in 1415. It had to be the Dauphin, or Crown Prince, who sought help from Scotland because the French king, Charles VI, was already showing signs of the mental illness that would eventually see him nicknamed Charles the Mad.

The French aristocracy had split into two factions with many supporting the Duke of Burgundy in his aspirations to take the throne, while many others stayed loyal to the King and the House of Valois, known as the Armagnacs. Increasingly it was the teenaged Dauphin, the future Charles VII, who made all the major decisions for the Valois regime and, faced with the Burgundy alliance with Henry V and the surrender of many of his own forces, he sent for help from Scotland.

The complicating factor at the time was that King James I of Scotland was still a prisoner of the English, albeit that he was part of the royal household of Henry, whom he greatly admired, and he would actually fight with the English army against the French in France in 1420. In charge of Scotland was the Duke of Albany, Robert Stewart, who had become regent when James was first captured by the English in 1406 while en route to France.

There had been no large battles between the Scots and the English since the Battle of Homildon Hill, or Humbleton Hill, in 1402 won by the English, but with England preoccupied with France, Albany no doubt felt it safe to respond positively to Scotland’s oldest ally. By 1419, there was also peace of a sort along the border with England so the Scots could afford to send an army of around 6000 men including men at arms, spearman and archers to serve alongside the remaining French royal army.

Henry V’s of England’s brother, Thomas the Duke of Clarence led 10,000 men south towards the Loire. They set about besieging the castle at Bauge when the Scots were garrisoned, they made contact with them the day before Good Friday. A truce was reached, lasting until Monday, so that the combatants could properly observe the religious occasion of Easter.

The English lifted their siege and withdrew to nearby Beaufort, while the Scots camped at La Lude. However, early in the afternoon of Saturday Scottish scouts reported that the English had broken the truce and were advancing upon them hoping to take them by surprise. The Scots rallied hastily and battle was joined at a bridge which the Duke of Clarence, with banner unfurled for battle, sought to cross. A detachment of a few hundred men under Sir Robert Stewart of Ralston, reinforced by the retinue of Hugh Kennedy, held the bridge and prevented passage long enough for the Earl of Buchan to rally the rest of his army, whereupon they made a fighting retreat to the town where the English archers would be ineffective.

Both armies now joined in a bitter melee that lasted until nightfall. During this time Sir John Carmichael of Douglasdale broke his lance unhorsing the Duke of Clarence; since that day the Carmichael coat of arms displays an armoured hand holding aloft a broken lance in commemoration of the victory. Once on the ground, the Duke was killed by Sir Alexander Buchanan. The English dead included the Lord Roos, Sir John Grey and Gilbert de Umfraville, whose death directly led to the extinction of the male line of that illustrious family, well known to the Scots since the Wars of Independence. The Earl of Somerset and his brother were captured by Laurence Vernon (later elevated to the rank of knight for his conduct), the Earl of Huntingdon was captured by Sir John Sibbald, and Lord Fitz Walter was taken by Henry Cunningham.

On hearing of the Scottish victory, Pope Martin V passed comment by reiterating a common mediaeval saying, that the Scots are well-known as an antidote to the English.

#scotland #scottish #france #england #100 year war

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brookstonalmanac · 9 months

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Events 9.14 (before 1940)

AD 81 – Domitian became Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus. 629 – Emperor Heraclius enters Constantinople in triumph after his victory over the Persian Empire. 786 – "Night of the three Caliphs": Harun al-Rashid becomes the Abbasid caliph upon the death of his brother al-Hadi. Birth of Harun's son al-Ma'mun. 919 – Battle of Islandbridge: High King Niall Glúndub is killed while leading an Irish coalition against the Vikings of Uí Ímair, led by King Sitric Cáech. 1180 – Genpei War: Battle of Ishibashiyama in Japan. 1226 – The first recorded instance of the Catholic practice of perpetual Eucharistic adoration formally begins in Avignon, France. 1402 – Battle of Homildon Hill results in an English victory over Scotland. 1607 – Flight of the Earls from Lough Swilly, Donegal, Ireland. 1682 – Bishop Gore School, one of the oldest schools in Wales, is founded. 1723 – Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena lays down the first stone of Fort Manoel in Malta. 1741 – George Frideric Handel completes his oratorio Messiah. 1752 – The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar, skipping eleven days (the previous day was September 2). 1763 – Seneca warriors defeat British forces at the Battle of Devil's Hole during Pontiac's War. 1782 – American Revolutionary War: Review of the French troops under General Rochambeau by General George Washington at Verplanck's Point, New York. 1791 – The Papal States lose Avignon to Revolutionary France. 1808 – Finnish War: Russians defeat the Swedes at the Battle of Oravais. 1812 – Napoleonic Wars: The French Grande Armée enters Moscow. The Fire of Moscow begins as soon as Russian troops leave the city. 1814 – Battle of Baltimore: The poem Defence of Fort McHenry is written by Francis Scott Key. The poem is later used as the lyrics of The Star-Spangled Banner. 1829 – The Ottoman Empire signs the Treaty of Adrianople with Russia, thus ending the Russo-Turkish War. 1846 – Jang Bahadur and his brothers massacre about 40 members of the Nepalese palace court. 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of South Mountain, part of the Maryland Campaign, is fought. 1901 – U.S. President William McKinley dies after being mortally wounded on September 6 by anarchist Leon Czolgosz and is succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt. 1911 – Russian Premier Pyotr Stolypin is shot by Dmitry Bogrov while attending a performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tale of Tsar Saltan at the Kiev Opera House, in the presence of Tsar Nicholas II. 1914 – HMAS AE1, the Royal Australian Navy's first submarine, is lost at sea with all hands near East New Britain, Papua New Guinea. 1917 – The Russian Empire is formally replaced by the Russian Republic. 1936 – Raoul Villain, who assassinated the French Socialist Jean Jaurès, is himself killed by Spanish Republicans in Ibiza. 1939 – World War II: The Estonian military boards the Polish submarine ORP Orzeł in Tallinn, sparking a diplomatic incident that the Soviet Union will later use to justify the annexation of Estonia.

#Events

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bookloversofbath · 4 years

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War for the Throne: The Battle of Shrewsbury 1403 -::- John Barratt

War for the Throne: The Battle of Shrewsbury 1403 -::- John Barratt lands on the shelves of my shop.

Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2010, (First Edition) Hardback in dust wrapper.

Contains: Black & white photographs; Chronological tables [1]; Glossary;

From the cover: The opening years of the fifteenth century saw one of the most bitterly contested political and military struggles in the history…

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#978-1-848-84028-7 #alnwick castle #battle of shrewsbury #books in the campaign chronicles series #books written by john barratt #britain history #cover art by jon wilkinson #england kings #first edition books #henry iv #homildon hill #owain glyn dwr #pilleth #warkworth castle

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fhithich · 3 years

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The Battle of Homildon Hill

Humbleton Hill, a 298 metre hill overlooking Wooler in the Cheviots.

I just love it when I learn something new out off the blue. The plan was an early start to bag Humbleton Hill, a 298 metre hill overlooking Wooler. On the map, a hill peppered with Gothic letters: a couple of settlements, a fort, a hut circle, and a homestead. Plenty to pique my interest. But I soon came across an information board detailing The Battle of Homildon Hill which took place on 14th…

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#battle #hill

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rcmilitaryhistorytoday-blog · 5 years

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On this day, 19th of August 1388, The Battle of Otterburn: The Scots defeat the English.

The Battle of Otterburn (1388) was fought on a moonlight night between a Scottish force under Sir James Douglas and an English army under Sir Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy. The latter had lost a pennon to the former and resolved to get it back. The battle was a Scottish victory but Douglas was killed and Percy forged his reputation in the best traditions of the age.

Historical Background

The Wars of Scottish Independence, which commenced in 1296, started a period of border instability that would continue until the Union of the Crowns over three hundred years later. On the national level, there was a periodic military conflict between the two nations not least as Scotland had forged a treaty of mutual military assistance with France (the 'Auld Alliance'). Fortunes ebbed and flowed between the two sides but, in the latter half of the fourteenth century, memories were still fresh of the humiliating Scottish defeat at the Battle of Neville's Cross (1346) where King David II had been captured and suffered a long imprisonment in England.

Aside from national manoeuvres, however, there was also a regional dynamic as locals on both sides increasingly took to raiding - the so-called Border Reivers. These individuals used their local knowledge of the wild terrain to plunder both their rivals and those on the other side of the border. To mitigate against this economic plague on the border settlements, both the Scottish and English border regions were divided into three sections each - the Marches - which were allocated to senior magnates to perform a policing role. In Scotland, the eastern March was held jointly by Sir James Douglas, Earl of Douglas and George, Earl of March. For England, the eastern March was held by Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland who had risen in prominence to become the leading noble family in the north due to the support of Richard II.

Rivalry

Regrettably by 1388, the Percy and Douglas families had developed a rivalry which in itself provided the catalyst for more military action in the border region. Their rivalry had been forged in the Wars of Scottish Independence where the Percy family had been closely involved in the conflicts and claimed territories in southern Scotland. The Douglas family also sought control of those territories hence the animosity between the two factions.

Major Raids

The Scottish Marcher Lords had mounted a major raid into England in 1380 combining sea and land forces. Hugely successful, this raid contributed to the general deterioration into open warfare by 1384. Hoping to repeat the success of the previous large-scale raids, in Summer 1388 the Scots launched a coordinated attack on English positions in both the east and west Marches plus Ireland and the Isle of Man. The offensive in the east was led by Sir James Douglas, Earl of Douglas who led his army through Northumberland and into County Durham devastating the country as he went. By mid-August he was heading north and arrived at Newcastle-upon-Tyne where the Earl of Northumberland’s son - Sir Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy - was defending the city.

Hotspur's Pennon

Percy was defending Newcastle on behalf of his father, who as Warden of the (English) East March, had been entrusted with the security and supervision of all castles in the Northumberland. He fought Douglas in either a skirmish or single combat (accounts differ) outside the walls of the city but came off the worse - he was unhorsed and concussed and Douglas captured his pennon, a banner attached to the end of his lance that bore his coat of arms (a blue lion rampant). Mocking Percy, he said he would take it to Scotland and fly it from Dalkeith Castle. Notwithstanding the victory in the dual the Scots, realising the defences of Newcastle were too strong, withdrew back towards the border.

Prelude

The Scots moved back towards Scotland following the line of the modern A696. On the morning of 19 August they set-up a camp one mile west of Otterburn straddling the road and a detachment was sent to capture the castle there. It is probable that Douglas suspected Percy would pursue him and he ordered makeshift defences around his camp. Furthermore, he personally reconnoitred the area to devise a battle plan in the event he was engaged.

Concurrently Percy had indeed resolved to intercept Douglas before he could cross the border. He force marched his army the 30 miles from Newcastle to Otterburn during the course of the 19 August - an impressive achievement although chroniclers suggest a significant portion of his force was mounted.

Numbers

Percy had a force of around 8,000 men consisting of men-at-arms, archers and mounted personnel. His scouts had informed him the enemy numbered as little as 3,000 and on this basis, Percy had opted not to wait for additional forces being raised by the Prince-Bishop of Durham. In fact the Scottish force was significantly larger and only slightly numerically inferior to the overall English army.

The Battle

Accounts differ as to the date on which the battle was fought. The 5 August is cited by most chroniclers but this does not marry with the facts described - there was no moon on 5 August 1388. One chronicler, Jean Froissart, gives the date of 19 August and it seems probably this was accurate.

- Stage 1: Scottish Surprised

Percy arrived at Otterburn around 7pm achieving tactical surprise. The Scots had settled down for the evening and had not expected attack so late in the day. They hastened to arms and, had Percy struck at this time, it is possible he could have overwhelmed the Scots before they were ready. However, he took time forming his men up and devising his plan giving the Scots time to deploy in battle array to the east of their camp.

- Stage 2: English Attack

The English, with the larger force, were confident of victory and Percy dispatched a contingent of troops to flank around the Scots position in order to capture their camp and prevent a retreat. Probably led by Thomas Umfraville (some accounts suggest it was Sir Matthew Redman), they took a significant detour to the north in order to evade detection. Once this manoeuvre was underway the main English force, under Percy himself, commenced a full scale frontal assault on the Scottish position.

- Stage 3: Scottish Attack

The superior numbers of the English initially had success and slowly pushed the Scots back towards their camp. However Douglas, who had carefully reconnoitred the ground earlier in the day, executed a flanking attack - he personally led a large detachment approximately 300 metres to the north of the main road. Aided by the darkness and woodland, this flanking action passed well within the radius of the ongoing English manoeuvre under Umfraville.

- Stage 4: English Capture Camp

Having taken their extended route around the battle, Umfraville's forces finally arrived at the Scottish camp but found it almost deserted. In the darkness, he was unable to make out the action a few hundred metres to the east and, after waiting a period, returned to the English lines probably following the same route with which he had attacked.

- Stage 5: English Defeat

The Scottish flanking manoeuvre, under Douglas, fell upon Percy's right flank. Fierce fighting ensued with Douglas being killed but slowly the English line started to roll up as they were engulfed on two sides by the Scots. The English found themselves disadvantaged on two counts - firstly their longbowmen were unable to see their targets to engage at range and secondly they had marched all day and were exhausted - as the battle rumbled on through the night, fatigue became decisive. Percy and his brother, Ralph, were captured in the fighting and eventually, the English forces used the last hours of darkness to slip away towards Otterburn. As dawn rose the Scots held the field.

Aftermath

Otterburn was a Scottish victory despite the death of Sir James Douglas whose body was located and a standing stone placed to mark the spot where he was killed. An attempt was made to pursue the English but they had not been routed and the Scottish vanguard was mauled with several hundred prisoners taken. Further English reinforcements, brought up by the Prince-Bishop of Durham, encouraged the Scots to withdrew north of the border with their rich prizes - Sir Henry Percy and Ralph Percy plus many of other Knights - who were all ransomed. Despite this defeat though, Percy’s decision to pursue the Scots over a pennon turned him into a national hero. A little over a decade later, he achieved a stunning victory over the Scots at the Battle of Homildon Hill (1402).

Source website: The Battlefields of Britain

#MilitaryHistory MediaevalBattle Battlefield MilitaryHistoryToday

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museumreplicas-blog · 6 years

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During the English-Scottish Wars, the King of England was preoccupied with the Hundred Years’ War in France. The border defense thereby fell largely to the Percy Family of Northumberland. During a border raid, the Scottish leader, Archibald IV, Earl of Douglas, was captured at a battle on Homildon Hill by the Percys, led by the younger Sir Henry "Hotspur" Percy. Henry IV demanded the prisoner so he could collect the ransom himself. This demand, though obeyed, was the seed that began the long Percy Family revolt that ended years later with the Battle of Bramham Moor. Hotspur was considered the greatest knight of the realm and held honor sacred.

#sword #swords #hands and half sword #knight #homildon

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mellamanrachel · 6 years

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you think im showy but im not at all

you think im showy but im not at all by ezmeerose featuring cut loose tops ❤ liked on Polyvore

Cut loose top, €18 / River Island mini short shorts, €13 / Cushnie Et Ochs open back jumpsuit, €1.780 / 18 karat gold jewelry, €1.040 / Armouronline.com | Renaissance Breast Plate / 19th Century Edward Light Harp Lute, €3.835 / Medieval Collectibles, €43 / Sword Of Homildon Hill, €215

#polyvore #art

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cebicfahreta · 6 years

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you think im showy but im not at all by ezmeerose featuring hot pants ❤ liked on Polyvore

Tee shirt, 36 BAM / River Island hot pants, 26 BAM / Cushnie Et Ochs long sleeve romper, 3,485 BAM / Ruby jewelry, 2,050 BAM / Armouronline.com | Renaissance Breast Plate, 980 BAM / 19th Century Edward Light Harp Lute, 7,540 BAM / Medieval Collectibles, 85 BAM / Sword Of Homildon Hill, 425 BAM

#polyvore #art

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scotianostra · 9 months

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September 14th 1402 saw a Scots army led by 4th Earl of Douglas defeated at the Battle of Homildon Hill by English army led by Percy ‘Hotspur’.

A little known battle, one of many between the Douglas Clan and the English Percy’s. Some sources have this down as a “Skirmish” others, like Wiki have the numbers involved as 10,000 Scots against 15,000-20,000 in the English Army, so a bit more than a skirmish, but I’m inclined to think the numbers have been exaggerated in the latter estimates. This had all the ingredients of a classic Border Reiver clash that the Douglas family were famous for.

In August a Scottish raiding force thousands strong under Archibald, Earl of Douglas, crossed the border, penetrated as far as Newcastle and then turned back to cross the Tweed at Coldstream with its plunder. Hotspur moved to intercept and the Scots, determined not to leave their slow-moving stolen cattle behind and make for Scotland at full pelt, camped in an apparently strong position on Homildon Hill.

Eventually the Scots fled, but many were caught and slaughtered, and few got away. Douglas himself was captured, with five arrow wounds in his body and the loss of an eye.

Fortunately for the Scots, Henry IV had problems of his own with internal problems and a Welsh rebellion so the English failed to press home whatever advantage they had gained, the Percy’s were to release the prisoners, within a year they themselves were in open revolt against Henry and many including Douglas decided to join forces with him. Indeed, Douglas fought, at Hotspur’s final fight at the Battle of Shrewsbury, such were the blurred lines back then.

Hotspur was killed and Douglas was again captured. Hotspur’s body was salted and quartered for display at York and other towns. Perhaps this is how this particular Douglas gained the epithet “Tyneman” meaning loser in Scots, although some historians say the moniker was this may be a reference to his great-uncle Sir Archibald Douglas.

The second pic is the ancient Bendor Stone, around this that many of the Scots were killed, it serves as a monument to those that fell.

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scotianostra · 2 years

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September 14th 1402 saw Scots led by 4th Earl of Douglas defeated at the Battle of Homildon Hill by English army led by Percy ‘Hotspur’.

I’m inclined to think the numbers have been exaggerated in the latter estimates. This had all the ingredients of a classic Border Reiver clash.

The Percy’s had thoughtfully recruited Welsh archers, who from a distance took a heavy toll of the mass of men and horses on the hill. Some of the Scots horsemen charged, saying: “Better to die in the mellay than be shot down like deer”. All perished. It has been suggested that Douglas hesitated to signal the advance of his main force, and when he did, it was too little too late. Eventually the Scots fled, but many were caught and slaughtered, and few got away. Douglas himself was captured, with five arrow wounds in his body and the loss of an eye.

Fortunately for the Scots, Henry IV had problems of his own with internal problems and a Welsh rebellion so the English failed to press home what ever advantage they had gained, the Percy’s were to release the prisoners, within a year they themselves were in open revolt against Henry and many including Douglas decided to join forces with him. Indeed, Douglas fought, at Hotspur’s final fight at the Battle of Shrewsbury.

Pics are depictions of the battle, one from the 19th Century the other from Andrew Spratt, the third pic is a Standing Stone at Bendor, this stone is also known as the Battle Stone and is associated with the Battle of Homildon Hill in 1402. It is likely to have been erected in the Bronze Age as a cist of this era was found nearby.

#Scotland #scottish #Battle #northumberland #england #Border Reivers.#history

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brookstonalmanac · 2 years

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Events 9.14

AD 81 – Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus. 629 – Emperor Heraclius enters Constantinople in triumph after his victory over the Persian Empire. 786 – "Night of the three Caliphs": Harun al-Rashid becomes the Abbasid caliph upon the death of his brother al-Hadi. Birth of Harun's son al-Ma'mun. 919 – Battle of Islandbridge: High King Niall Glúndub is killed while leading an Irish coalition against the Vikings of Uí Ímair, led by King Sitric Cáech. 1180 – Genpei War: Battle of Ishibashiyama in Japan. 1226 – The first recorded instance of the Catholic practice of perpetual Eucharistic adoration formally begins in Avignon, France. 1402 – Battle of Homildon Hill results in an English victory over Scotland. 1607 – Flight of the Earls from Lough Swilly, Donegal, Ireland. 1682 – Bishop Gore School, one of the oldest schools in Wales, is founded. 1723 – Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena lays down the first stone of Fort Manoel in Malta. 1741 – George Frideric Handel completes his oratorio Messiah. 1752 – The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar, skipping eleven days (the previous day was September 2). 1763 – Seneca warriors defeat British forces at the Battle of Devil's Hole during Pontiac's War. 1782 – American Revolutionary War: Review of the French troops under General Rochambeau by General George Washington at Verplanck's Point, New York. 1791 – The Papal States lose Avignon to Revolutionary France. 1808 – Finnish War: Russians defeat the Swedes at the Battle of Oravais. 1812 – Napoleonic Wars: The French Grande Armée enters Moscow. The Fire of Moscow begins as soon as Russian troops leave the city. 1814 – Battle of Baltimore: The poem Defence of Fort McHenry is written by Francis Scott Key. The poem is later used as the lyrics of The Star-Spangled Banner. 1829 – The Ottoman Empire signs the Treaty of Adrianople with Russia, thus ending the Russo-Turkish War. 1846 – Jang Bahadur and his brothers massacre about 40 members of the Nepalese palace court. 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of South Mountain, part of the Maryland Campaign, is fought. 1901 – U.S. President William McKinley dies after being mortally wounded on September 6 by anarchist Leon Czolgosz and is succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt. 1911 – Russian Premier Pyotr Stolypin is shot by Dmitry Bogrov while attending a performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tale of Tsar Saltan at the Kiev Opera House, in the presence of Tsar Nicholas II. 1914 – HMAS AE1, the Royal Australian Navy's first submarine, is lost at sea with all hands near East New Britain, Papua New Guinea. 1917 – The Russian Empire is formally replaced by the Russian Republic. 1936 – Raoul Villain, who assassinated the French Socialist Jean Jaurès, is himself killed by Spanish Republicans in Ibiza. 1939 – World War II: The Estonian military boards the Polish submarine ORP Orzeł in Tallinn, sparking a diplomatic incident that the Soviet Union will later use to justify the annexation of Estonia. 1940 – Ip massacre: The Hungarian Army, supported by local Hungarians, kill 158 Romanian civilians in Ip, Sălaj, a village in Northern Transylvania, an act of ethnic cleansing. 1943 – World War II: The Wehrmacht starts a three-day retaliatory operation targeting several Greek villages in the region of Viannos, whose death toll would eventually exceed 500 persons. 1944 – World War II: Maastricht becomes the first Dutch city to be liberated by allied forces. 1948 – The Indian Army captures the city of Aurangabad as part of Operation Polo. 1954 – In a top secret nuclear test, a Soviet Tu-4 bomber drops a 40 kiloton atomic weapon just north of Totskoye village. 1958 – The first two German post-war rockets, designed by the German engineer Ernst Mohr, reach the upper atmosphere. 1960 – The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is founded. 1960 – Congo Crisis: Mobutu Sese Seko seizes power in a military coup, suspending parliament and the constitution. 1975 – The first American saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, is canonized by Pope Paul VI. 1979 – Afghan leader Nur Muhammad Taraki is assassinated upon the order of Hafizullah Amin, who becomes the new General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party. 1982 – President-elect of Lebanon Bachir Gemayel is assassinated. 1984 – Joe Kittinger becomes the first person to fly a gas balloon alone across the Atlantic Ocean. 1985 – Penang Bridge, the longest bridge in Malaysia, connecting the island of Penang to the mainland, opens to traffic. 1989 – The Standard Gravure shooting where Joseph T. Wesbecker, a 47-year-old pressman, killed eight people and injured 12 people at his former workplace, Standard Gravure, before committing suicide. 1992 – The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina declares the breakaway Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia to be illegal. 1993 – Lufthansa Flight 2904, an Airbus A320, crashes into an embankment after overshooting the runway at Okęcie International Airport (now Warsaw Chopin Airport), killing two people. 1994 – The Major League Baseball season is canceled because of a strike. 1997 – Eighty-one killed as five bogies of the Ahmedabad–Howrah Express plunge into a river in Bilaspur district of Madhya Pradesh, India. 1998 – Telecommunications companies MCI Communications and WorldCom complete their $37 billion merger to form MCI WorldCom. 1999 – Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga join the United Nations. 2000 – Microsoft releases Windows Me. 2001 – Historic National Prayer Service held at Washington National Cathedral for victims of the September 11 attacks. A similar service is held in Canada on Parliament Hill, the largest vigil ever held in the nation's capital. 2002 – Total Linhas Aéreas Flight 5561 crashes near Paranapanema, Brazil, killing both pilots on board. 2003 – In a referendum, Estonia approves joining the European Union. 2007 – Financial crisis of 2007–2008: The Northern Rock bank experiences the first bank run in the United Kingdom in 150 years. 2008 – Aeroflot Flight 821, a Boeing 737-500, crashes into a section of the Trans-Siberian Railway while on approach to Perm International Airport, in Perm, Russia, killing all 88 people on board. 2015 – The first observation of gravitational waves is made, announced by the LIGO and Virgo collaborations on 11 February 2016. 2019 – Yemen's Houthi rebels claim responsibility for an attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities.

#Events

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scotianostra · 2 years

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On 22nd March 1421, Scottish army. under the Earl of Buchan defeated English forces at Bauge in Anjou, France.

On hearing of the Scottish victory, Pope Martin V passed comment by reiterating a common mediaeval saying, that the Scots are well-known as an antidote to the English.

#Scotland #scottish #france #english #100 year war #history

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scotianostra · 2 years

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On 24th May 1425 Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany was sentenced to death for treason.

This is a long post, but it ties in with others regarding the Stewart family.

Murdoch’s dad was Robert Stewart the second son of King Robert II, the first monarch of the Stewart line. I’ve touched upon the Albany Stewarts in previous posts regarding King James I, to understand the reason for him standing trial I’ll delve into the background a wee bit.

Robert’s older brother, Robert III, aye he was a Robert too, but born a John, he thought John was an unlucky name so called himself Robert on ascending to the throne.

Anyway Robert III was a bit hopeless as King, before he was even crowned he had been disabled in 1388 by a horse's kick, so that he had been regarded as unfit to govern for his father. He was dominated by his younger brother, the Duke of Albany, and when he tried to rule for himself, 'he who was strong oppressed the weak and the whole kingdom was one den of thieves', according to one of the chroniclers. In 1399, the Scottish Parliament condemned his misrule and appointed his elder son David, Duke of Rothesay to govern for him. Albany, however, imprisoned his nephew and David died in mysterious circumstances in 1402 at Falkland. The King then sent his son, the future King James I to France for his own safety, his luck didn’t change as en route James was taken prisoner by pirates and handed over to the English.

James held prisoner by the English and Albany continued as Regent and de facto ruler of Scotland, he was not interested in bringing James home, enjoying the wealth and all the trappings his position gave him. He refused to pay the ransom the English asked for, while he bossed Scotland until his death in 1420. Having said that, part of the price was the English wanted overlordship of Scotland, something that few Scots were prepared to accept.

To get back to the subject, Murdoch I have to rewind a bit, there had been sporadic war continued during between the two countries, and our subject served in the Scottish Army against the English and was captured at the Battle of Homildon Hill, in 1402, he was held at the Tower of London until 1415. He would have spent some of this captivity with his cousin, the uncrowned James I, when Murdoch’s father agreed a prisoner exchange it wasn’t obviously the King he traded, but his son Murdoch, this must really have stuck in James throat, but of course he was to extract revenge ten years later.

Albany’s death in 1420 passed his title to his son, our man Murdoch Stewart — who was already at the ripe old age of 58.† But the Albany run as permanent Regent was nearing the end of the line and political pressure soon forced Murdoch to sign off on the ransom of the occluded King James. His return in effect put two rival sovereigns in the realm, where both could not long abide together.

In 1420, on his father's death, Murdoch, now aged 58, finally inherited the Dukedom of Albany. He also inherited the Earldom of Fife and the Earldom of Menteith, and at last became Governor of Scotland in his own right. He would hold this position from 1420 to 1424, while King James I was still held captive in England. Few serious attempts appear to have been made by Duke Albany to return James to Scotland, but eventually political pressure compelled Murdoch to agree to a general council.

In August 1423 it was agreed that an embassy should be sent to England to negotiate James's release. A ransom treaty of 60,000 marks (an enormous sum) was agreed at Durham on 28th March 1424, to which James attached his own seal—he and his queen, accompanied by an escort of English and Scottish nobles, proceeded to Melrose Abbey, arriving on 5 April where he met Albany to receive the governor's seal of office. Upon the return of James I to Scotland, Albany lost his position as Regent.

As usual with posts like this some of the dates are different from source to sources and some sources place Murdoch Stewart’s execution on the 24th, we’ll follow the narrative of Patrick Fraser Tytler’s History of Scotland, Volume 3, I love some of the descriptions used by this 19th century historian, and hope you do too, also you might notice the names of two chroniclers of the time, that I too have used at times to draw contemporary sources;

Murdoch, the late governor, with Lord Alexander Stewart, his youngest son, were suddenly arrested, and immediately afterwards twenty-six of the principal nobles and barons shared the same fate. Amongst these were Archibald Earl of Douglas, William Douglas Earl of Angus, George Dunbar Earl of March, William Hay of Errol, constable of Scotland, Scrimgeour, constable of Dundee, Alexander Lindesay, Adam Hepburn of Hailes, Thomas Hay of Yester Herbert Maxwell of Caerlaverock, Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie, Alan Otterburn, secretary of the Duke of Albany, Sir John Montgomery, Sir John Stewart of Dundonald, commonly called the Red Stewart, and thirteen others. During the course of the same year, and a short time previous to this energetic measure, the king had imprisoned Walter, the eldest son of Albany, along with the Earl of Lennox, and Sir Robert Graham, a man of a dark, fierce, and vindictive disposition, who from that moment vowed the most determined revenge, which he lived to execute in the murder of his sovereign. The heir of Albany was shut up in the strong castle of the Bass, belonging to Sir Robert Lauder, a firm friend of the king, whilst Graham and Lennox were committed to Dunbar, and the Duke of Albany himself, confined in the first instance in the castle of St Andrews, and afterwards transferred to that of Caerlaverock. At the same moment the king took possession of the castles of Falkland, and of the fortified palace of Doune, the favourite residence of Albany. Here he found Isabella, the wife of Albany, a daughter of the Earl of Lennox, whom he immediately committed to the castle of Tantallan; and with a success and a rapidity which can only be accounted for by the supposition of the utmost vigour in the execution of his plans, and a strong military power to overawe all opposition, he possessed himself of the strongest fortresses in the country; and after adjourning the parliament, to meet within the space of two months at Stirling, upon the 18th of May, he proceeded to adopt measures for inflicting a speedy and dreadful revenge upon the most powerful of his opponents.

In the palace of Stirling, on the 24th of May, a court was held with great pomp and solemnity for the trial of Walter Stewart, the eldest son of the Duke of Albany. The king, sitting on his throne, clothed with the robes and insignia of majesty, with the sceptre in his hand, and wearing the royal crown, presided as supreme judge of his people. The loss of all record of this trial is peculiarly to be regretted, as the proceeding would have thrown important light upon a most interesting, but unfortunately, most obscure portion of our history. We know only from an ancient chronicle that the heir of Albany was tried for robbery, “de roboria.” The jury was composed of twenty-one of the principal nobles and barons, and it is a remarkable circumstance, that amongst their names which have been preserved, are to be found seven of the twenty-six barons whom the king had seized and imprisoned two months before at Perth, when he arrested Albany and his sons. Amongst these seven, were the three most powerful lords in the body of the Scottish aristocracy — the Earls of Douglas, March, and Angus; the rest were Sir John de Montgomery, Gilbert Hay of Errol the constable, Sir Herbert Herries of Terregles, and Sir Robert Cuningham of Kilmaurs. Others who sat upon this jury we know to have been the assured friends of the king, and members of his privy council. These were, Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar, Sir John Forrester of Corstorfin, Sir Thomas Somerville of Carnwath, and Sir Alexander Levingston of Callendar. It is probably that the seven jurymen above mentioned were persons attached to the party of Albany, and that the intention of the king, in their imprisonment, was to compel them to renounce all idea of supporting him, and to abandon him to his fate. In this result, whatever were the means adopted for its accomplishment, the king succeeded. The trial of Walter Stewart occupied a single day. He was found guilty, and condemned to death. His fate excited a deep feeling of sympathy and compassion in the breasts of the people; for the noble figure and dignified manners of the eldest son of Albany were peculiarly calculated to make him friends amongst the lower classes of the community.

On the following day, Albany himself, with his second son, Alexander, and his father-in-law, the Earl of Lennox, were tried before the same jury. What were the crimes alleged against the Earl of Lennox and Alexander Stewart, it is now impossible to determine; but it may be conjectured, on strong grounds, that the usurpation of the government and the assumption of supreme authority, during the captivity of the king, offences amounting to high treason, constituted the principal charge against Duke Murdoch. His father undoubtedly succeeded to the regency by the determination of the three Estates assembled in parliament, but there is no evidence that any such solemn decision was passed which sanctioned the high station assumed by the son, and if so, every single act of his government was an act of treason, upon which the jury could have no difficulty in pronouncing their verdict. Albany was accordingly found guilty; the same sentence was pronounced upon his son, Alexander Stewart; the Earl of Lennox was next condemned; and these three noble persons were publicly executed on that fatal eminence, before the castle of Stirling, known by the name of the Heading Hill. As the condemnation of Walter Stewart had excited unwonted commiseration amongst the people, the spectacle now afforded was calculated to raise that feeling to a still higher pitch of distress and pity. Albany and his two sons were men of almost gigantic stature, and of so noble a presence, that it was impossible to look upon them without an involuntary feeling of admiration; whilst the venerable appearance and white hairs of Lennox, who had reached his eightieth year, inspired a sentiment of tenderness and pity, which, even if they admitted the justice of the sentence, was apt to raise in the bosom of the spectators a disposition to condemn the rapid and unrelenting severity with which it was carried into execution. Even in their days of pride and usurpation, the family of Albany had been the favourites of the people. Its founder, the regent, courted popularity, and although a usurper, and stained with murders, seems in a great measure to have gained his end. It is impossible, indeed, to reconcile the high eulogium of Fordun and Winton with the dark actions of his life; but it is evident, from the tone of these historians, that the severity of James did not carry along with it the feelings of the people. Yet, looking at the state of things in Scotland, it is easy to understand the object of the king. It was his intention to exhibit to a nation, long accustomed to regard the laws with contempt, and the royal authority as a name of empty menace, a memorable example of stern and inflexible justice, and to convince them that a great change had already taken place in the executive part of the government.

With this view, another dreadful exhibition followed the execution of the family of Albany. James Stewart, the youngest son of this unfortunate person, was the only member of the family who had avoided the arrest of the king, and escaped to the Highlands. Driven to despair, by the ruin which threatened his house, he collected a band of armed freebooters, and, assisted by Finlay, Bishop of Lismore, and Argyle, his father’s chaplain, attacked the burgh of Dumbarton, with a fury which nothing could resist. The king’s uncle, Sir John of Dundonald, called the Red Stewart, was slain, the town sacked and given to the flames, and thirty men murdered, after which the son of Albany returned to his fastnesses in the north. But so hot was the pursuit which was instituted by the royal vengeance, that he, and the ecclesiastical bandit who accompanied him, were dislodged from their retreats, and compelled to fly to Ireland. Five of his accomplices, however, were seized, and their execution, which immediately succeeded that of Albany, was unpardonably cruel and disgusting. They were torn to pieces by wild horses, after which their warm and quivering limbs were suspended upon gibbets; a terrible warning to the people of the punishment which awaited those, who imagined that the fidelity which impelled them to execute the commands of their feudal lord, was superior to the ties which bound them to obey the laws of the country.

In my opinion the brutality the King showed to the Albany Stewarts did little to endear him the the general populace of Scotland, and indeed some of the nobility would probably harbour ill feeling too, this no doubt fueled by others who disliked the King contributed to the conspiracy that would end with the assassination of James I on 20th February 1437.

Pics are the seal of Murdoch Stewart, Stirling castle where the executions took place, and the mans coat of arms.

#Scotland #scottish #the stewarts #political intrigue #royalty #power #history

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scotianostra · 3 years

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September 14th 1402 saw a Scots army led by 4th Earl of Douglas defeated at the Battle of Homildon Hill by English army led by Percy ‘Hotspur’.

Eventually the Scots fled, but many were caught and slaughtered, and few got away. Douglas himself was captured, with five arrow wounds in his body and the loss of an eye.

The second pic is the ancient Bendor Stone, around this that many of the Scots were killed, it serves as a monument to those that fell.

You can find a full run-down of the battle here http://www.battlefieldsofbritain.co.uk/battle_homildon_hill_1402.html

#Scotland #scottish #english #england #Border Reivers.#The Douglas's #history

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scotianostra · 3 years

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On July 25th 1394 James I future King of Scots was born, more than likely at Dunfermline Abbey.

To start with the dates differ on this, while most say July, with no date, another says December 10th. The place he was born is also open to question, Edinburgh has been given, while others say Dunfermline.

he son of Robert III and Annabella Drummond, he had an eventful childhood. In 1402 his elder brother, David, starved to death in prison at Falkland in Fife. In 1406 his father sent James to France for safety.

On the journey to France, the pirates captured the young prince and "sold” him over to Henry IV of England, who imprisoned him and demanded a ransom. Robert III allegedly died from grief over the capture of James. James's uncle, Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany, who became Regent on the death of Robert III, showed no haste in paying for his nephew's release. Albany secured the release of his own son Murdoch, captured at the Battle of Homildon Hill, but not so with James.

So James spent next 18 years James remained a prisoner/hostage in England. Henry IV had the young Scots King educated in Windsor Castle and in secure large country houses near London, so he wasn’t held like a real prisoner. Henry IV died during James’ captivity and he tried to use The Scots King during the 100 year war with France, he thought that the Scots fighting for the French would listen to their King when he ordered them to surrender, at the siege of Melun. The Scots ignored him and after the English seized the town, the French soldiers were treated as prisoners of war, while the Scots were hung for treason.

After the death of James's uncle in 1420, the Scots finally paid the ransom of £40,000, and in 1424 James returned to Scotland to find a country in chaos. He took his bride with him – he had met and fallen in love with Joan Beaufort, a cousin of King Henry VI of England, while imprisoned. He married her in London in February 2, 1423. They would have eight children, including the future James II of Scotland, and Margaret of Scotland, wife of Louis XI of France. Scholars believe that during his captivity James wrote The Kingis Quair, an allegorical romance, one of the earliest major works of Scottish literature.

James was formally crowned King of Scotland at Scone Abbey, Perthshire, on May 2 or 21, 1424. He immediately took strong actions to regain authority and control. In one such action he had the Albany family, who had opposed his actions, executed. The execution of Murdoch, Duke of Albany, and two of Murdoch's sons took place on May 24th, 1425 at Castle Hill, Stirling.

James proceeded to rule Scotland with a firm hand, and achieved numerous financial and legal reforms. For instance, for the purpose of trade with other nations, he made Scots coinage exchangeable for foreign currency only within Scottish borders. He also tried to remodel the Parliament of Scotland along English lines. However, in foreign policy, he renewed the Auld Alliance, a Scottish-French alliance, in 1428.

His actions throughout his reign, though effective, upset many people. During the later years of his reign, they helped to lead to his claim to the throne coming under question.

James I's grandfather, Robert II, had married twice and the awkward circumstances of the first marriage led some to dispute its validity. Conflict broke out between the descendants of the first marriage and the unquestionably legitimate descendants of the second marriage over who had the better right to the Scottish throne.

Matters came to a head on February 21st, 1437, when a group of Scots led by Sir Robert Graham assassinated James at the Blackfriars Monastery in Perth. He attempted to escape his assailants through a sewer. However, days previously, he had had the other end of the drain blocked up because of its connection to the tennis court outside, balls habitually got lost in it.

#Scotland #scottish #Monarchy.#royalty #history #the stewarts

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