Bruce is already engaged in a full-scale…
June 1306 CE
Bruce is already engaged in a full-scale civil war with the family and friends of John Comyn.
The coronation in March had given him some legitimacy; but overall the position is very uncertain.
His wife, Elizabeth de Burgh, the daughter of the Earl of Ulster, and now queen of Scots, is reported to have said 'It seems to me we are but a summer king and queen whom children crown in their sport'.
Valence moves quickly, and by the middle of summer he has made his base at Perth, where he is joined by many of the supporters of John Comyn.
King Robert comes from the west, ready to meet his foe in battle.
He is prepared to observe on this occasion the gentlemanly conventions of feudal warfare, while the English adopt less orthodox tactics.
Valence is invited to leave the walls of Perth and join Bruce in battle, but he declines.
The king, perhaps believing that Valence's refusal to accept his challenge is a sign of weakness, retires only a few miles to nearby Methven, where he makes camp for the night.
Before dawn on June 19, his little army is taken by surprise and almost destroyed, because Bruce had accepted Valence at his word and failed to take the precaution of placing pickets around the camp.
His entire army is routed.
Bishops William de Lamberton of St Andrews and Robert Wishart of Glasgow are quickly seized and taken south, and incarcerated in an English dungeon, saved only from execution by their clerical orders.
Bruce barely escapes and flees with a few followers.
Locations
People
Groups
Topics
Commodities
Subjects
Regions
North Europe
View →Subregions
