Siege of Berwick (1296)
Background
The Siege of Berwick was the first significant battle of the First War of Scottish Independence. King Alexander III of Scotland had died in 1286. In September 1290, Margaret, Maid of Norway, granddaughter and heir of King Alexander, died at age seven. There were several claimants to the Scottish throne. King Alexander was married to Margaret of England, the sister of King Edward I of England, and Edward was asked to conduct the proceedings to choose a new King of Scotland.
On November 30th, 1292, John Balliol, a descendant of King David I, was chosen to be king and inaugurated at Scone. King Edward I tried to control Scotland as a feudal vassal state and demanded the Scots support England in his war against France.
The Scots responded by forming an alliance with France against England and launching a failed attack on Carlisle in Northern England. After the failed attack by seven Scottish Earls: Athol, Buchan, Lennox, Mar, Menteith, Ross, and Strathhearn, the English under Edward I began the initial conquest of Scotland.
On March 28th, 1296, the English crossed the River Tweed and stayed the night at the Priory of Coldstream in Scotland. From there, they marched on to the town of Berwick. Edward also had a naval force anchored in the River Tweed.
Berwick was Scotland's largest trading port and one of the most populated towns. It had a castle consisting of a ditch, a rampart wall, a wooden barricade, and fortified walls surrounding the town of Berwick.
Battle
King Edward offered the town and garrison in the castle terms of surrender and waited for a response. Sir William Douglas commanded the regiment at Berwick Castle. Robert de Clifford, 1st Baron Clifford, led the Englishmen.
While Edward waited for the town to surrender, he used the time to knight some English troops, as was the custom. As the English lined up to be knighted with the banners flying, Edward's Navy saw this, thought it was a sign to attack, and moved toward Berwick in their ships. Some boats ran aground and got stuck in the sand, and the people of Berwick set fire to those ships.
When Edward saw the ships on fire, he ordered his army to attack. Instead of a normal attack, they approached the town gate, flying banners of the Scottish King John Balliol. The townsfolk thought reinforcements had arrived from the north, and they opened the gate.
The English troops, under Robert de Clifford, entered the city, taking no quarter and killed soldiers as well as any townsfolk they encountered.
Thousands of people were slaughtered. It is said that blood ran in the streets so deep that it could have turned the water wheel on a mill. Some townsfolk sought refuge inside the churches, but the English entered the churches and killed them as well, then plundered the churches. The slaughter lasted two days, with estimates of between 4,000 and 17,000 people in Berwick being killed.
Sir William Douglas put up a strong resistance, but it could not match the English, and he surrendered Berwick Castle with the agreement that the garrison be spared. The garrison was allowed to march out of the castle with their arms, but Douglas was taken prisoner, and the last of his estates in Essex was forfeited.
Aftermath
King Edward I's brutal sacking of Berwick was meant to show Scotland what the English were capable of, hoping the rest of Scotland would submit. It had the opposite effect, causing a sense of Patriotism in Scotland and a rallying call against the English.
Sir William Douglas was held prisoner in the Hog's Tower of Berwick Castle and stayed there until he appended his seal to the Ragman Roll, swearing a new oath of fealty to Edward. His lands in Scotland were restored to him, but not his lands in England.
Berwick was rebuilt by the English and remained a strategic town on the eastern border between England and Scotland. It would change hands at least thirteen more times in its history; today, it is part of England.
The First War of Scottish Independence had begun ...
