The Second War of Scottish Independence broke out in 1332, when Edward Balliol led an English-backed invasion of Scotland. Balliol, the son of former Scottish king John Balliol, was attempting to make good his claim to the Scottish throne. He was opposed by Scots loyal to the occupant of the throne, eight-year-old David II. At the Battle of Dupplin Moor Balliol's force defeated a Scottish army ten times their size and Balliol was crowned king. Within three months David's partisans had regrouped and forced Balliol out of Scotland. He appealed to the English king, Edward III, who invaded Scotland in 1333 and besieged the important trading town of Berwick. A large Scottish army attempted to relieve it but was heavily defeated at the Battle of Halidon Hill. Balliol established his authority over most of Scotland, ceded to England the eight counties of south-east Scotland and did homage to Edward for the rest of the country as a fief.
As allies of Scotland via the Auld Alliance, the French were unhappy about an English expansion into Scotland and so covertly supported and financed David's loyalists. Balliol's allies fell out among themselves and he lost control of most of Scotland again by late 1334. In early 1335, the French attempted to broker a peace. However, the Scots were unable to agree on a position and Edward prevaricated while building a large army. He invaded in July and again overran most of Scotland. Tensions with France increased. Further French-sponsored peace talks failed in 1336; in May 1337, King Philip VI of France engineered a clear break between France and England, starting the Hundred Years' War. The Anglo-Scottish war became a subsidiary theatre of this larger Anglo-French war. Edward sent what troops he could spare to Scotland, in spite of which the English slowly lost ground in Scotland as they were forced to focus on the French theatre. Achieving his majority, David returned to Scotland from France in 1341; by 1342, the English had been cleared from north of the border.
In 1346, Edward led a large English army through northern France, sacking Caen, heavily defeating the French at Crécy and besieging Calais. In response to Philip's urgent requests, David invaded England believing most of its previous defenders were in France. He was surprised by a smaller but nonetheless sizable English force, which crushed the Scots at the Battle of Neville's Cross and captured David. This, and the resulting factional politics in Scotland, prevented further large-scale Scottish attacks. A concentration on France similarly kept the English quiescent, while possible terms for David's release were discussed at length. In late 1355, a large Scottish raid into England, in breach of truce, provoked another invasion from Edward in early 1356. The English devastated Lothian but winter storms scattered their supply ships and they retreated. The following year the Treaty of Berwick was signed, which ended the war; the English dropped their claim of suzerainty, while the Scots acknowledged a vague English overlordship. A cash ransom was negotiated for David's release: 100,000 marks, to be paid over ten years. The treaty prohibited any Scottish citizen from bearing arms against Edward III or any of his men until the sum was paid in full and the English were supposed to stop attacking Scotland. This effectively ended the war, and while intermittent fighting continued, the truce was broadly observed for forty years.
Background
The First War of Scottish Independence between England and Scotland began in March 1296, when Edward I of England (r. 1272–1307) stormed and sacked the Scottish border town of Berwick as a prelude to his invasion of Scotland. The Scottish king, John I (r. 1292–1296), was captured by the English and forced to abdicate. Subsequent events went less well for the English and by 1323 Robert Bruce (r. 1306–1329) was securely on the Scottish throne and had carried out several major raids deep into England, leading to the signing in May of a 13-year truce. Despite this, Scottish raids continued, as did English piracy against Scottish shipping. After the newly crowned 14-year-old King Edward III was nearly captured by the Scots in the English disaster at Stanhope Park in 1327, his regents, his mother Isabella of France and her lover Roger Mortimer, were forced to the negotiating table. They agreed to the Treaty of Northampton with Bruce in 1328, recognising him as king of an independent Scotland and ending the war after 32 years. To further seal the peace, Robert's very young son and heir David married Joan, the likewise youthful sister of Edward.
The treaty was widely resented in England and commonly known as the turpis pax, "the shameful peace". The 15-year-old Edward was forced into signing the treaty by his regents and was never reconciled to it. Some Scottish nobles, refusing to swear fealty to Bruce, were disinherited and left Scotland to join forces with Edward Balliol, the eldest son of King John. Robert Bruce died in 1329 and his heir was 5-year-old David II (r. 1329–1371). In 1330, Edward seized Mortimer and had him executed, confined his mother, and established his personal rule.
English aggression
English invasion of Scotland, 1332
In 1331, under the leadership of Edward Balliol and Henry Beaumont, Earl of Buchan, the disinherited Scottish nobles gathered in Yorkshire to plot an invasion of Scotland. Edward III was aware of the scheme and officially forbade it. The reality was different, as he was happy to cause trouble for his northern neighbour. He prohibited Balliol from invading overland from England, but overlooked his forces sailing for Scotland from Yorkshire ports on 31 July 1332. David II's regent, with the title of guardian of Scotland, was an experienced old soldier, Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray. Moray was aware of the situation and was waiting for Balliol and Beaumont, but died ten days before they sailed.
Balliol landed in Fife on 6 August with a predominately English force of some 2,000 men. There he immediately encountered fierce Scottish opposition, which he overcame at the Battle of Kinghorn. Five days later he met the 15,000–40,000 strong Scottish army under the new guardian Donald, Earl of Mar, 2 miles (3 km) south of the Scottish capital, Perth. The invaders crossed the River Earn at night via an unguarded ford and took up a strong defensive position. Next morning, in the Battle of Dupplin Moor, the Scots raced to attack the English, disorganising their own formations. Unable to break the line of English men-at-arms, the Scots became trapped in a valley with fresh forces arriving from the rear pressing them forward and giving them no room to manoeuvre, or even to use their weapons. English longbowmen fired into both Scottish flanks. Many Scots died of suffocation or were trampled underfoot. Eventually they broke and the English men-at-arms mounted and pursued the fugitives until nightfall. Thousands of Scots died, including Mar and much of the nobility of the realm, and Perth fell.
This marked the start of the Second War of Scottish Independence. On 24 September 1332 Balliol was crowned king of Scotland at Scone, the traditional place of coronation for Scottish monarchs. Almost immediately, Balliol granted Edward Scottish estates to a value of £2,000, which included "the town, castle and county of Berwick". Balliol's support within Scotland was limited and he was subject to constant military challenge; for example, on 7 October David's partisans recaptured Perth and destroyed its walls. On 16 December, less than three months after his coronation, Balliol was ambushed by supporters of David II at the Battle of Annan. He fled to England half-dressed and riding bareback. He appealed to Edward for assistance, who dropped all pretence of neutrality, recognised Balliol as king of Scotland and made ready for war.
English invasion of Scotland, 1333
Although the idea of returning to war against Scotland did not have universal appeal among the English, Edward III gave Balliol his backing. The Scots launched minor raids into Cumberland, which achieved little. Edward invaded Scotland, claiming that this was a response to the raids. His chosen target was Berwick, on the Anglo-Scottish border astride the main invasion and trade route in either direction. According to a contemporary chronicle, Berwick was "so populous and of such trade that it might justly be called another Alexandria, whose riches were the sea and the waters its walls". It was the most successful trading town in Scotland; the duty on wool which passed through it was the Scottish Crown's largest single source of income. Edward hoped the possibility of losing it would draw the Scots into a set-piece battle, which he believed he would win. During centuries of war between the two nations, battles had been rare as the Scots preferred guerrilla tactics and border raids into England. Berwick was one of the few targets which might bring the Scots to battle as, in the words of the historian Clifford Rogers, "abandoning it was almost unthinkable".
Balliol opened the siege of Berwick in late March 1333, and was joined by Edward with the main English army on 9 May. Berwick was well defended, well garrisoned and well stocked with provisions and materiel, but the English pressed the siege hard and by the end of June attacks by land and sea had brought Berwick to a state of ruin and the garrison close to exhaustion. A truce was arranged on 15 July, whereby the Scots promised to surrender if not relieved by sunset on 19 July. By this time the Scottish army under the third Scottish guardian within a year, Sir Archibald Douglas, had crossed the border and was devastating north-east England, but Edward ignored this. Douglas felt his only option was to engage the English in battle.
Douglas ordered an attack. To engage the English, the Scots had to advance downhill, cross a large area of marshy ground and climb the northern slope of Halidon Hill. The Lanercost Chronicle reports:
. . . the Scots who marched in the front were so wounded in the face and blinded by the multitude of English arrows that they could not help themselves, and soon began to turn their faces away from the blows of the arrows and fall.
The Scots suffered many casualties and the lower reaches of the hill were littered with dead and wounded. The survivors continued upwards, through the arrows "as thick as motes in a sun beam", according to an unnamed contemporary quoted by Ranald Nicholson, and on to the waiting spears. The Scottish army broke, the camp followers made off with the horses and the fugitives were pursued by the mounted English knights. The Scottish casualties numbered in thousands, including Douglas and five earls dead on the field. Scots who surrendered were killed on Edward's orders and some drowned as they fled into the sea. English casualties were reported as fourteen, some chronicles give a lower figure of seven. About a hundred Scots who had been taken prisoner were beheaded the next morning, 20 July. This was the date that Berwick's truce expired, and it surrendered.
Scottish resurgence, 1334
In May 1334 David fled Scotland, taking refuge in France at the invitation of its king, Philip VI. On 19 June Balliol did homage to Edward for Scotland, after formally ceding to England the eight counties of south-east Scotland. Balliol ruled the truncated Scottish state from Perth and attempted to put down the remaining resistance. The invaders' common goal was seemingly attained, with David's partisans holding only five fortifications in all of Scotland. But Balliol's allies fell out among themselves, which in turn encouraged David's supporters. Balliol's divided allies proved easier targets and were captured, forced out of Scotland or switched sides. The French, unhappy about an English expansion into Scotland, covertly supported and financed the Bruce loyalists, although from when is unclear. Balliol retreated to Berwick where he persuaded Edward to spend the winter of 1334–1335 in Roxburgh. Both led excursions into the surrounding western lowlands, destroying the property of friend and foe alike, but found no Scottish troops, while more of Balliol's former supporters defected to the Bruce faction. The leading pro-Bruce nobles formally appealed to Philip for military assistance.
French involvement
Since the Norman Conquest of 1066, English monarchs had held titles and lands within France, the possession of which made them vassals of the kings of France. The status of the English king's French fiefs was a major source of conflict between the two monarchies throughout the Middle Ages. French monarchs systematically sought to check the growth of English power, stripping away lands as the opportunity arose. Over the centuries, English holdings in France had varied in size, but by 1334 only Gascony in south-western France and Ponthieu in northern France were left. Gascony was important to Edward; the duty levied by the English Crown on wine from there was more than all other customs duties combined and by far the largest source of state income. In 1320, Edward, in his capacity as Duke of Aquitaine, paid homage to Philip for Gascony.
France already had an alliance with Scotland: a mutual defence pact signed in 1295 and renewed in 1326 known as the "Auld Alliance". It was intended to deter England from attacking either country by the threat that the other would in turn invade English territory. In 1331, after six years of often acrimonious negotiations, Edward and Philip had settled most of the differences between them in a formal agreement. Once this was in place Philip had begun arrangements for a crusade to the Holy Land, for which he would need at least English acquiescence and ideally active support.
In early 1335, Philip sent an ambassador to England, who met Edward in Newcastle on 18 February and questioned the basis of Edward's aggression against Scotland. Edward prevaricated but permitted the ambassador to attempt to negotiate a peaceful settlement. A truce was agreed, to last until mid-1335. The senior Scottish nobility fell out and could not agree on a position for the peace negotiations, while Edward seems to have been happy to use the episode as an opportunity to rebuild his finances and reassemble an army.
English invasion of Scotland, 1335–1336
During the spring of 1335 Edward assembled an army of more than 13,000 men on the Scottish border, the largest force he ever led against the Scots, timing his invasion to the expiration of the truce. Aware of his plans, Bruce loyalists were also preparing for war, setting aside their personal differences and evacuating the Central Lowlands in preparation for invasion. In July Edward led part of his force north from Carlisle to Glasgow. There he joined up with the balance, who had marched from Berwick under Balliol, at the end of the month. The Scots followed a scorched earth policy of offering no resistance and both English armies devastated everything in their paths. The combined force marched north to occupy the Scottish capital, Perth. It continued to loot and devastate widely, in the hope of forcing the Scots to battle.