King David's Ransom

During the Battle of Neville's Cross, when King David II of Scotland heeded France's request to attack England as part of their Auld Alliance, David realized things were going ill for him. Although the Scots had the greater numbers, and the belief was that the English army was fully engaged on the continent in the Hundred Years War, England had left its northern forces behind, precisely because Edward III didn't trust Scotland.

David had dismounted to fight, and his location on the battlefield had become unclear. He had taken two arrows to his face, and attempted to hide from the enemy. Contemporary accounts state that he hid under a bridge over the River Browney. A group of English soldiers near the bridge saw him reflected in the water of the river and moved to capture him. He fought back and knocked out two teeth of John de Coupland, who took him prisoner.

David was held prisoner from 1346 to 1357. First he was brought to Bamburgh Castle, where surgeons tried to remove the arrows. The tip of one could not be removed and was the cause of headaches for the rest of his life. (John Bradmore would have been useful here, but he was still a child. He was then taken to London and put in the Tower. When Edward III returned from France, David was transferred to Windsor Castle. Finally, David and his household were put in Odiham Castle (its ruins are pictured above). Captivity for a king was generally comfortable, but in 1355 he was forbidden any contact with his family, which may have accelerated negotiations for his ransom (Edward was always looking for more money for his wars).

On 3 October 1357, a treaty was signed that gave 10,000 marks each year for ten years as ransom. He returned to Scotland with an English mistress, Katherine Mortimer. (David had married Edward III's sister, Joan of the Tower, in 1328 when she was seven and he was four. They had no children. She died in 1362.) Mortimer was killed in 1360 by men hired by the Earl of Angus. David had another mistress, Margaret Drummond, whom he married in 1364. (Then he took another mistress, Agnes Dunbar.)

This ransom plan worked for a few years, but the Scottish nobles could not raise 10,000 marks in 1363, and David went to London to try to re-negotiate a settlement. He offered to leave Scotland to Edward or one of his many sons in David's will. In 1364 Scotland's Parliament rejected a proposal for Edward's son Lionel of Antwerp to become the next king. David kept talking to Edward, prolonging the consequences of non-payment (which would mean going back into captivity).

David died on 22 February 1371, aged 46. He was buried quickly in the nearest likely place, in Holyrood Abbey. He wished to be buried near his parents in Dunfermline, but his successor, Robert II, wanted to "conclude" David's reign as quickly as possible to begin his own.

Now, the transition above between paragraphs two and three was hardly a transition at all: it would appear that from his capture to his captivity just "happened" in a flash. It wasn't that easy, and John de Coupland almost got in trouble for it. When the dust settled, however, de Coupland made out extremely well. I'll explain his almost fall but steady rise tomorrow.

The Battle of Neville's Cross

Scotland's relationship with England has always been an issue on the island of Great Britain. They were "friendly enemies," since England would have loved to possess the entirety of the island. Sometimes it pursued this aim through warfare, sometimes through supporting or installing a king of Scotland that would be loyal to England's king. For its part, Scotland sometimes could not help but invade southward to gain real estate and resources, or simply go to war against England to assert its independence.

To that end, there were over the years what are called the wars of Scottish Independence. They were successful in that Scotland managed to maintain its independence from England. During the Second War of Scottish Independence, which took place between the years 1332 and 1357, one of the battles was fought at Neville's Cross, right next to Durham England.

The catalyst for this particular battle was not any particular incident of aggression between the countries. Scotland had made a treaty with France in 1295 called "the Auld Alliance" against their common antagonist, England. France was fighting England in the Hundred Years War, and called on Scotland to help based on the treaty. England was currently invading France, and Scotland's attack could either weaken England for a later counter-invasion by France or cause England to pull troops away from France.

As it turns out, it did neither. Scotland's army of 10-12,000 was led by King David II. They were met by Ralph, Lord Neville with about 6-7000 men. The Scots were soundly defeated and David captured. His ransoming effort also created a truce between the two countries that lasted four decades.

How did the superior numbers lose the battle? France convinced the Scots that they would have an easy time of it with the English army on the continent, but the English had plenty of soldiers at home who were more experienced. The Scottish army had a few noblemen on horseback, but the majority were on foot and had swords and daggers and shields. They had a few archers. The English had more archers with longbows and rained arrows on the Scots until the fighting got closer, and more plate armor.

Before being stopped at Neville's Cross (so-called because of an Anglo-Saxon stone cross at the location), the Scots did do damage to the countryside. They destroyed a castle called the Peel of Liddell and plundered the Great Priory of Hexham. They would have sacked Carlisle, but the city offered them money to leave them alone.

During the battle, King David had dismounted to fight on foot. At one point he decided to hide. I want to talk about his discovery, capture, and ransom next. See you tomorrow.

Holyrood Abbey

In 1127, while King David of Scotland was hunting in the forests east of Edinburgh, his horse was startled by a hart and bucked; David was thrown from the horse, and the hart charged at him, antlers first. David threw up his hands to grasp the antlers, when suddenly a shining cross appeared between the antlers, causing the beast to pause and saving the king's life.

The day happened to be the Feast of the Cross, celebrating the finding of the True Cross by Saint Helena. David decided to found an abbey the following year on the spot, which he named Holyrood ("holy + cross"). In its church was a reliquary with a piece of the True Cross that David's mother, Saint Margaret, brought from Waltham Abbey (supposed burial place of Harold). (In 1346 this relic fell into the hands of the English after the Battle of Neville's Cross.)

It was originally occupied by Canons Regular from Merton Priory. (At about this time, Thomas Becket [born c.1120] was starting as a student at Merton.) The place became an important location for councils. The papal legates to Scotland would have councils there. When David's grandson, William the Lion, was captured at the Battle of Alnwick (not the same one where David's father was killed), the nobles met at Holyrood to discuss his ransom. Scotland's parliament met there several times between 1256 and 1410. Robert the Bruce also held a parliament there.

After the mid-1400s, the kings of Scotland began using it as a residence while at Edinburgh. In the second half of the 1500s, parts of it were in such a state of disrepair that they need to be closed down, demolished, and completely rebuilt. Evidence of the ruins shows that the original structure was not built to the same standards as the rest of Europe. The aisle vaults had thin flagstones and the vertical pieces were constructed with, let's say, less attention to straight lines than we would like to see in a building that had tons of stone suspended over your head. In 1686, James VII established a Jesuit College there. A year later the abbey was converted to a Roman Catholic Chapel. Its use became increasingly religious again, taking interest in it out of public interest. Without royal attention, the fabric began to decay more. The roof collapsed in 1768 and was never replaced. Proposals to rebuild and restore have never come to fruition, but the ruins (see illustration) continue to be a tourist destination.

Tomorrow, let's jump ahead in time to the Battle of Neville's Cross, part of the Second Scottish War of Independence, that lost the piece of the True Cross.