Declaration of Arbroath: Difference between revisions

By 1314 only [[Edinburgh]], [[Berwick-upon-Tweed]], [[Roxburgh]], and [[Stirling]] remained in English hands. In June 1314 the [[Battle of Bannockburn]] had secured Robert Bruce's position as King of Scots; Stirling, the [[Central Belt]], and much of [[Lothian]] came under Robert's control while the defeated [[Edward II of England|Edward II]]'s power on escaping to England via Berwick weakened under the sway of his cousin [[Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster|Henry, Earl of Lancaster]].<ref name=":3" /> King Robert was thus able to consolidate his power, and sent his brother [[Edward Bruce]] to claim the [[Kingdom of Ireland]] in 1315 with an army landed in [[Ulster]] the previous year with the help of Gaelic lords from the [[Lord of the Isles|Isles]].<ref name=":3" /> Edward Bruce died in 1318 without achieving success, but the Scots campaigns in Ireland and in northern England were intended to press for the recognition of Robert's crown by King Edward.<ref name=":3" /> At the same time, it undermined the [[House of Plantagenet|House of Plantagenet's]] claims to overlordship of the British Isles and halted the Plantagenets' effort to absorb Scotland as had been done in Ireland and Wales. Thus were the Scots nobles confident in their letters to Pope John of the distinct and independent nature of Scotland's kingdom; the ''Declaration of Arbroath'' was one such. According to historian [[David Crouch (historian)|David Crouch]], "The two nations were mutually hostile kingdoms and peoples, and the ancient idea of Britain as an informal empire of peoples under the English king's presidency was entirely dead."<ref name=":4" />

 

 

The ''Declaration'' made a number of points: that Edward I of England had unjustly attacked Scotland and perpetrated atrocities; that Robert the Bruce had delivered the Scottish nation from this peril; and, most controversially, that the independence of Scotland was the prerogative of the Scottish people, rather than the King of Scots.