IN THE SHADOW OF NEVILLE’S CROSS (1346-57)

There is no doubt that the Scottish battlefield defeat outside Durham in 1346 cast a long shadow. Many leading Scottish figures had been killed in the battle, robbing the kingdom of military leadership in the years to follow. Many others were captured. Edward III, changing his policy from previous years, ordered that all prisoners should be handed over to him in return for compensation from the crown for lost ransoms. While many Scots did make their way to London for lengthy captivity, some Englishmen were less inclined to hand over their prisoners, and instead negotiated a ransom with them for their release. Edward III spent the next several years prosecuting those Englishmen who had behaved in this way, but the king largely achieved what he had intended. He held prominent bargaining chips in relation to his ongoing plans for Scotland. And chief amongst these was King David II himself. Still nursing his wounds from Neville’s Cross, the king who had personally ruled in Scotland for only five years following his return from France would spend the following eleven years being shuttled from one English place of captivity to another. The question was what would happen to his kingdom in his absence.

King Edward of Scotland returns

The Balliol/English response to their battlefield success was not necessarily immediate. There may have been some time for reflection in the wake of what was a quite psychologically damaging invasion of the English north, although one that was mitigated by their battlefield victory. Moreover, events had to work around Edward III’s itinerary as he remained in France in the aftermath of his victory at Crécy to oversee the siege of Calais. Indeed, the king would not return to England again until October 1347. English border commanders may have pushed a little into Scotland, and this would account for the surrender of the castles of Roxburgh and Hermitage in the weeks following the battle. But larger operations awaited the involvement of the king in their planning. Edward III summoned a council to meet in December 1346 at Westminster to discuss what should be done next and to prepare the following phase of the war