Treaty of Berwick (1357)
The Berwick Treaty was an agreement between England and Scotland . In the agreement, sealed on October 3, 1357 in the border town of Berwick , the two kingdoms agreed the release of the Scottish King David II, who was in English captivity . A large ransom was agreed for the release, and a truce was to apply until it was paid in full. Although the Berwick Treaty was not a peace treaty, it effectively ended the Second Scottish War of Independence .
prehistory
Capture of the Scottish King and high demands by the English
The Scottish King David II was captured by the English at the Battle of Neville's Cross in 1346 . Robert Steward took over the government as Guardian instead of the King . In April 1348 a four-person Scottish delegation reached London to negotiate the release of the king. The English King Edward III. demanded both a large ransom and political concessions for his release. These included an homage to the Scottish king, participation of the Scottish king in the war against France , participation of the Scottish king in English parliaments and thus the recognition of the sovereignty of the English king, succession of the English king in the event of a childless death of the previously childless Scottish king, return of Land to the so-called disinherited and transfer of Scottish castles as security for the fulfillment of the English demands. In March 1348 the English parliament even demanded that the Scottish king should not be released under any circumstances. Edward III ignored this request, but subsequently negotiated with the Scots in secret and through intermediaries such as Ralph Neville . Even Edward Balliol , that of Edward III. and the disinherited Scottish counter-king, supported, interfered in the negotiations. Balliol negotiated with Scottish barons to strengthen his claim to the throne and was understandably strongly against the release of his adversary David II.
Long negotiations
In 1350 David II turned to Pope Clement VI. The Pope should the French King Philip VI. move that the French should demand the release of the Scottish king as a prerequisite for an armistice in the war with England. The Pope passed this request on to the French king, but he ignored it. In 1350, William Douglas of Liddesdale , who had also been taken prisoner, was probably allowed to travel to Scotland to meet the Scottish magnate's claim by Edward III. after delivering a ransom of £ 40,000. In addition, the English king insisted on his demand that he would be the heir to a childless death of David II. This demand threatened Scottish independence, but David II hoped that acceptance of this demand would further reduce the ransom and soften further demands of the English king. Since David II was still young, he also expected that he could have children and thus heirs himself. A possible succession to the throne of the English king destroyed the hope of Robert Steward, the guardian and nephew of the king, who, according to an agreement made in 1318, was the heir to the throne of the Scottish king. The negotiations on the release of David II therefore dragged on. Before February 1352, David II was allowed to travel to Scotland himself. In a parliament he tried in vain to induce his barons to accept the English demands. He then returned as agreed before June 22, 1352 as a prisoner in the Tower of London . Edward III. thereupon softened his political demands, among other things he suggested that Scotland should fall to one of his younger sons if David II died childless. With this succession, Scotland would remain an empire of its own. Then the English king reduced his political demands even further, and after further negotiations on July 13, 1354, Scottish and English negotiators signed a letter of intent in Berwick, according to which David II was to be released in exchange for the payment of a ransom of 90,000 marks (the equivalent of £ 60,000) . The sum was to be paid in nine annual installments, and the Scots were to hold twenty high-ranking hostages to secure the payment. In addition, a ten-year armistice should apply. The English king had already made preparations that David II would be handed over to a Scottish delegation in Newcastle in October 1354 , but then the Scots apparently let the final negotiations fail. Instead, they bet on a turning point in the war between England and France. Indeed, a small French force reached Scotland in 1355. Together with the French, some Scottish magnates conquered Berwick at the end of 1355. The English king then led an army north, whereupon the Scots vacated the city in January 1356. The English king then led an unsuccessful but destructive advance to Haddington . The Scots responded with new raids into northern England. When there was now the danger of another destructive border war between England and Scotland, the English heir to the throne Edward of Woodstock defeated the French King John in October 1356 at the Battle of Poitiers and took him prisoner. With this, the hopes of the Scots to achieve the release of their king with the support of France finally vanished. On January 17, 1357, a council led by Robert Steward appointed the members of a legation that should lead new negotiations about the release of David II.
New negotiations in 1357 and conclusion of contract in Berwick
The Scottish legation reached London in May 1357. The result of their negotiations was discussed before September 26, 1357 in a new council meeting in Edinburgh . Then six envoys were appointed to conduct the final negotiations at Berwick. On September 28, 1357 David II was brought to Berwick, where on October 3 the agreement on his release was sealed. After that, Scotland should pay a total of 100,000 marks ransom, which should be paid in ten annual installments from midsummer 1358. David II was supposed to be released immediately after the contract was signed, but the Scots had to hold twenty high-ranking hostages to secure payment of the ransom. The hostages should be treated chivalrously, but bear the cost of being held hostage themselves. The hostages were allowed to be exchanged from time to time. A truce should apply until the ransom has been paid in full. If Scotland were to default on paying the ransom, then David II would have to return to English captivity. In addition, the Scots were threatened with severe ecclesiastical sanctions if they breached a contract . The English king renounced further political demands, as he had recognized that the Scots would hardly accept them. After the agreement was sealed, David II was released on October 7, 1357 after almost eleven years in captivity. On November 6, 1357, a Scottish Parliament met in Scone recognized the treaty. For the first time, representatives of all three estates , prelates, magnates and representatives of the cities were represented at this parliament .
consequences
The Berwick treaty only included a truce. Queen Johanna of Scotland traveled to her brother, the English king, for peace talks, and in February 1359 David II himself traveled to London for new negotiations. These negotiations on a peace treaty were unsuccessful. The Scots then re-established contact with France in 1359. After a new English campaign in France, the latter had to conclude the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360 and thus a long-term armistice with England. Nevertheless, after 1360, the Scots stopped paying the ransom installments. In 1365 there were new negotiations with England, whereupon a new armistice, limited to February 1370, was agreed. The Scots had to agree to an increase in the ransom by a third to £ 100,000 on May 20, 1365. For this, the ransom was to be paid in annual installments of only £ 4,000 from February 2, 1366. When the four-year armistice agreed in 1365 threatened to expire in 1370, new negotiations ensued. In these 1369 the Scots managed to reduce the amount of the ransom still to be paid to 56,000 marks. This again meant a reduction in the total by a third from £ 100,000 to 100,000 marks. The remaining sum was now to be paid in fourteen annual installments of 4,000 marks each. When David II died on February 22, 1371, only about half of the originally agreed ransom had been paid. The new King Robert II, the former Guardian, concluded the Treaty of Vincennes with France on October 28, 1371 , in which he affirmed the alliance against England. Then, however, he agreed to an extension of the armistice with England until 1384 and the payment of the ransom in annual installments of 4,000 marks. After the death of Edward III. In 1377 the Scots again paid half of the agreed ransom rate with 2,000 marks, after which they finally stopped the installment payments. This left 24,000 marks of the ransom unpaid. Due to the troubled domestic political situation during the reign of Richard II , the English government initially took no further measures. As early as 1378, a new, long-lasting border war began in the Scottish Borders with mutual raids . When the armistice finally expired on February 2, 1384, open hostilities broke out again, but the English no longer made a serious attempt to conquer Scotland. The conflicts between England and Scotland lasted with interruptions until the 16th century.
Individual evidence
- ↑ AAM Duncan: Honi soit qui mal y pense. David II and Edward III, 1346-52 . In: The Scottish Historical Review ; 67 (1988), p. 115.
- ^ Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The later Middle Ages . Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, p. 156.
- ↑ AAM Duncan: Honi soit qui mal y pense. David II and Edward III, 1346-52 . In: The Scottish Historical Review ; 67 (1988), p. 122.
- ↑ AAM Duncan: Honi soit qui mal y pense. David II and Edward III, 1346-52 . In: The Scottish Historical Review ; 67 (1988), p. 121.
- ^ Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The later Middle Ages . Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, p. 158.
- ↑ AAM Duncan: Honi soit qui mal y pense. David II and Edward III, 1346-52 . In: The Scottish Historical Review ; 67 (1988), p. 136.
- ↑ AAM Duncan: Honi soit qui mal y pense. David II and Edward III, 1346-52 . In: The Scottish Historical Review ; 67: 138 (1988).
- ^ Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The later Middle Ages . Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, p. 163.
- ↑ The Scotish Parliament - Past and Present. Retrieved December 4, 2019 .
- ^ Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The later Middle Ages . Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, p. 167.
- ^ Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The later Middle Ages . Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, p. 172.
- ^ Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The later Middle Ages . Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, p. 195.