Siege of Wark on Tweed Castle

Background

King William I of England died in September of 1087. His eldest son, Robert Curthose, became Duke of Normandy. His second son, Richard, had died earlier in a hunting accident in the New Forest. His third son, William Rufus, became King of England. The fourth son, Henry, received money.

On August 2nd, 1100, William II (William Rufus) was hunting in the New Forest. An arrow from one of his own men pierced his lung and killed him. Whether it was an accident or an assassination was debated, but William was gone.

His brother Henry quickly seized the English throne before his older brother Robert, the Duke of Normandy, could act. After taking the throne, Henry promised to correct many of William's unpopular policies. He then married Matilda of Scotland. Together, they had two children: Empress Matilda and William Adelin, heir to the throne.

In 1120, William Adelin sailed on the White Ship from Barfleur to England. When the ship sank, nearly 300 people drowned, including William. As a result, with his only legitimate son now dead, Henry I decided that his daughter, Matilda, would become Queen and rule England upon his death.

When Henry died in 1135, his nephew, Stephen of Blois, claimed the throne. Stephen's mother, Adela, was William the Conqueror's daughter. Matilda and her husband, Geoffrey (V) of Anjou, were in Anjou at the time, supporting rebels against the royal army. Geoffrey, an Angevin whose county bordered Normandy, was unpopular with the Anglo-Norman elite. Both Stephen and Empress Matilda were determined to rule England. This sparked a period of instability and conflict that later came to be known as "The Anarchy."

King David I of Scotland, Matilda's uncle, maintained good relations with Henry I and fully supported her as heir. When Stephen seized the throne, David seized Cumberland and Northumberland in northern England.

In February 1136, David signed a treaty granting him lands in Cumberland in exchange for relinquishing Northumberland. The treaty also recognized Henry, his son, as lord of Huntingdon, and David, in turn, agreed to pay homage to Stephen as King of England.

The peace ended in 1137. David raided England to coordinate with Matilda's supporters' rebellions in the south. Scots besieged Wark for three weeks from January 10th, 1138, and raided towns in Northumberland before retreating to Scotland, driven back by the English under Count Waleran. Stephen then raided into Lothian, but abruptly returned to England.

After Easter of 1138, a series of rebellions broke out against Stephen in western England. Robert de Gloucester was among the rebels. He renounced his fealty to Stephen and now supported Matilda. Another defector, Eustace FitzJohn, reached King David as he was raiding northern England. Eustace's brother, William FitzJohn, joined Robert of Gloucester. Matilda sent a letter to King David, seeking his support. On April 8th, 1138, David began to move into Northumberland. He intended to devastate the coastland down to County Durham.

Battle

In May 1138, David began besieging Wark on Tweed Castle. Its garrison had raided Scottish supply lines. Walter Espec had strengthened the castle around 1136, making it a strategic border stronghold on the River Tweed in Northumberland. At the siege's start, the Scots used battering rams and siege engines against the defenses, suffering heavy casualties. David left to seek a more decisive victory, leaving two barons, including Eustace FitzJohn, to continue the siege as he marched south to find Stephen.

David bypassed Durham and entered Yorkshire, where they were defeated at Northallerton in the Battle of the Standard. The Scots then went to Carlisle and, by late September, met the papal legate Alberic, Bishop of Ostia, who negotiated a truce between Scotland and England. The Scots agreed to return all women taken in the campaign and not to attack England again before November 11th, 1139.

The siege of Wark Castle continued, as it was excluded from the truce. David returned to find townsmen bolstering the garrison, and the Scottish siege engines were destroyed during a garrison sally.

David continued to besiege the castle and tried to starve the defenders. In November, the abbot of Rievaulx intervened to negotiate the surrender of the castle, after which the garrison was allowed to leave honorably with their weapons.

Aftermath

David now controlled Wark Castle, which was partially slighted to make it indefensible. After a short siege, he gained Norham Castle. He then took control of Alnwick Castle, which Eustace FitzJohn handed to the Scots. David was now in a strong position, despite the loss at the Battle of the Standard.

David held onto Northumberland and Cumberland, then integrated them into Scotland and made Carlisle the seat of his government.

The Siege of Wark marked a turning point in warfare. There was now a heavy reliance on castle sieges instead of open-pitched battles. Starvation and blockades proved more decisive than storming strong fortifications.