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Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton |
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2006) |
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The Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton was a peace treaty, signed in 1328 between the Kingdoms of England and Scotland. It brought an end to the First War of Scottish Independence, which had begun with the English invasion of Scotland in 1296. The treaty was signed in Edinburgh by Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, on 17 March 1328, and was ratified by the English Parliament at Northampton on 1 May. The document was written in French, and is held by the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh.1
The terms of the treaty stipulated that, in exchange for £20,000 sterling, the English Crown would recognise:
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The cause of the Wars of Scottish Independence was ultimately the uncertainty over the succession of the Scottish crown following the death of Alexander III in 1286. Edward I of England initially supported the claim of John Balliol, who was crowned King of Scots in 1292, but eventually pressed his own claim to sovereignty over Scotland. After Balliol's removal and exile, Robert the Bruce broke from the English camp and took up his own rival claim to the crown, by leading a resistance to Edward. Robert declared himself King, after killing his chief rival and cousin, and was crowned in 1306. He decisively defeated the English, under Edward II, at Bannockburn in 1314.
Peace talks were held by the two nations between 1321 and 1324. Little progress was made, as the English refused to recognise Robert the Bruce as King of Scots, although a truce was agreed in 1323, to last thirteen years.1 Edward II claimed he adhered to this truce, but he allowed English privateers to attack Flemish vessels trading with Scotland. For example, privateers seized the Flemish vessel Pelarym, worth £2,000, and massacred all the Scots on board.citation needed Robert the Bruce demanded justice, but in vain, and so he renewed the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France, which was concluded 26 April 1326, at Corbeil. In 1327, the Scots invaded northern England and defeated the English at Stanhope in Weardale in County Durham. Before this Bruce invaded Ulster in Ireland.
After the failure of the Weardale campaign, the Dowager Queen Isabella, and Earl Mortimer of March, governing England on behalf of the underage Edward III of England, began to consider peace as the only remaining option. In October 1327 they sent envoys to Scotland to open negotiations. On 1 March 1328, at a Parliament at York, Edward III issued letters patent which set out the core of the agreement. On 17 March, the negotiations ended and a formal treaty was signed in the King's Chamber of the Abbey of Holyrood, Edinburgh. The Treaty was ratified by the English Parliament at Northampton on 3 May.2
Isabel and Mortimer agreed in the treaty that they, in the name of King Edward III, "renounced all pretensions to sovereignty"citation needed over Scotland. Joanna, the six-year-old sister of Edward III, was promised in marriage to the four-year-old David, the son of Robert Bruce, and the marriage duly took place on 17 July the same year. In the quitclaim of Edward III of 1328, the treaty is mentioned.clarification needed It was also agreed that the Anglo–Scottish border would be maintained as it was in the reign of Alexander III of Scotland. The Treaty concludes that Scotland, so defined, "shall remain for ever to the eminent prince Lord Robert, by the grace of God the illustrious king of Scots, our ally and dearest friend, and to his heirs and successors, divided in all things from the realm of England, entire, free, and quit, without any subjection, servitude, claim, or demand."citation needed In return, the Scots would pay £20,000 sterling to England, which was raised by a special peace levy.1
It is sometimes claimed that as part of the treaty, Edward III agreed to return the Stone of Destiny to Scotland. This was part of a concurrent agreement, and Edward III issued a royal writ on 1 July, addressed to the Abbot of Westminster, which acknowledged this agreement and ordered the Stone be taken to his mother — it was not. However, the Stone is not mentioned in the Treaty.
The treaty lasted only five years. It was unpopular with many English nobles, who viewed it as humiliating. In 1333 it was overturned by Edward III, after he had begun his personal reign, and the Second War of Scottish Independence continued until a lasting peace was established in 1357.
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