Crossing the Border : a study of the Scottish military offensives against England c.1369-c.1403
Scottish military offensives against England from 1369 were largely the product of governmental policy, and involved the participation of much of the political community of the realm. They were launched with careful timing, taking account of international developments and domestic problems in England. In the reign of Robert II they involved close co-operation with France and succeeded militarily, enabling the Scots to regain English-occupied lands in southern Scotland and achieve diplomatic gains. Military success encouraged the Scots to the point where they were willing to engage in attacks on England beyond the ambition of their French allies. Diplomatic gains, however, fell well short of forcing English recognition of Scottish independence. Hopes of achieving this aim by military means were ended in the reign of Robert III when the Scots were heavily defeated in 1402. English hopes of reconquest were similarly dashed in 1403 when victory in the north brought only severe political unrest. Relations between the realms were never to be so consistently conflictual again. War was not fought, however, with only political objectives in mind or other 'rational' factors such as the quest for financial gain. The
Macdonald, Alastair J.
Scotland ; Great Britain
Crossing the Border : a study of the Scottish military offensives against England c.1369-c.1403. Scottish military offensives against England from 1369 were largely the product of governmental policy, and involved the participation of much of the political community of the realm. They were launched with careful timing, taking account of international developments and domestic problems in England. In the reign of Robert II they involved close co-operation with France and succeeded militarily, enabling the Scots to regain English-occupied lands in southern Scotland and achieve diplomatic gains. Military success encouraged the Scots to the point where they were willing to engage in attacks on England beyond the ambition of their French allies. Diplomatic gains, however, fell well short of forcing English recognition of Scottish independence. Hopes of achieving this aim by military means were ended in the reign of Robert III when the Scots were heavily defeated in 1402. English hopes of reconquest were similarly dashed in 1403 when victory in the north brought only severe political unrest. Relations between the realms were never to be so consistently conflictual again. War was not fought, however, with only political objectives in mind or other 'rational' factors such as the quest for financial gain. The
border study scottish military offensive england scottish military offensive england largely product governmental policy involve participation much political_community realm launch careful timing take_account international development domestic problem england reign involve close co_operation france succeed militarily enable scots regain english occupied land southern_scotland achieve diplomatic gain military success encourage scots point willing engage attack england beyond ambition french ally diplomatic gain however fell well short force english recognition scottish independence achieve_aim military mean end_reign iii scots heavily defeat english hop similarly victory north bring severe political unrest relations realms never consistently conflictual again war fought however political objective mind rational factor quest financial gain