The Day Scotland Won Its Freedom

For a number of decades, starting sometime after the Battle of Hastings in 1066, until the early 1300's, Scotland was essentially under English domination, although it had its own quasi-independent monarch. But it was clear that the English were in control, and this did not sit well with the Scottish. Historian William Weir tells of the battle which was the final major step toward self-sovereignty for the Scots:

Riding into battle that June day in 1314, Robert the Bruce's gilded and jeweled crown gleamed brightly in the Scottish mid-summer sunlight. The burly monarch reached up, adjusted the crown, and thrust it more firmly down over his leathern helmet. Kings did not normally wear their crowns into battle, but the Scottish king was making a statement.

Wearing the crown - the symbol of sovereignty - into battle against the English was indeed a statement. Lasting two days, the Battle of Bannockburn is a high point in Scottish history.

Not one to choose a sturdy warhorse, the king sat astride a diminutive palfrey, a pony-sized steed favored by royalty and high-ranking nobles for its smooth and easy gait. He guided the frisky animal back and forth before the assembled Scottish spearmen, archers, and men-at-arms, exhorting them to battle. He knew his force would be badly outnumbered, but he appealed to their patriotism and bravery.

The enemy, the English soldiers, were led by their king, Edward II. Despite their greater numbers, they would be defeated, and it would be the worst defeat of the English military since 1066.

A fourteenth-century mounted king might ordinarily remain in the rear, guiding the movement of troops. Robert rode ahead of the formation, clearly exposed, as an example. He carried neither sword nor spear, only a battleaxe.

Early in the battle, Robert swung his axe down on the head of an English knight, Henry de Bohun, so hard that it split both helmet and skull evenly in two. Robert's axe-handle broke from the power of the blow. The Scottish troops were cheered, seeing their king fight so successfully.

To the English force massing opposite him, across the sun-hardened marshland of Bannockburn, he was sending a message, too. Friend and foe alike were being notified that after a series of English invasions of the highland nation, and some ignominious defeats, the thirty-nine-year-old Scottish monarch was defiantly drawing a line in the sand. Here the War for Scottish Independence would be fought, and the outcome would rest in his hands. The message was clear: Robert the Bruce was back, both as an inspiration and a target.

We do not have very accurate numbers about the two-day battle. The Scottish arrived with between five and ten thousand troops; estimate of their dead range from 400 to 4,000. The English with between 13,700 and 25,000 men; of them, between 4,700 and 11,700 died. It is clear, however, that by the end of the battle, the Scots had taken a big step toward independence.