Coordinates: 54.776°N 1.

597°W

Battle of Neville's Cross

The Battle of Neville's Cross took place during the Second War
Battle of Neville's Cross
of Scottish Independence on 17 October 1346, half a mile (800
m) to the west of Durham, England, within sight of Durham Part of the Hundred Years' War and the Second
Cathedral. An invading Scottish army of 12,000 led by King War of Scottish Independence
David II was defeated with heavy losses by an English army of
approximately 6,000–7,000 men led by Lord Neville. The battle
was named after an Anglo-Saxon stone cross on the hill where
the Scots made their stand; after the victory, Neville paid to have
a new cross erected to commemorate the day.

The battle was the result of the invasion of France by England

during the Hundred Years' War. King Philip VI of France
(r. 1328–1350) called on the Scots to fulfil their obligation under
the terms of the Auld Alliance and invade England. David II
obliged and after ravaging much of northern England was taken
by surprise by the English defenders. The ensuing battle ended
with the rout of the Scots, the capture of their king and the death
or capture of most of their leadership. Strategically this freed Battle of Neville's Cross from a 15th-century
significant English resources for the war against France, and the manuscript
English border counties were able to guard against the remaining
Date 17 October 1346
Scottish threat from their own resources. The eventual
ransoming of the Scottish king resulted in a truce that brought Location Neville's Cross, west of Durham,
peace to the border for forty years. England

54.776°N 1.597°W
Result English victory
Contents • Capture of the Scottish King
Background
Belligerents
Prelude
Kingdom of Kingdom of England
Battle
Scotland
Aftermath
Commanders and leaders
In literature
King David II Lord Neville
Notes, citations and sources
Notes John Randolph, Earl Lord Percy
Citations of Moray † William Zouche
Sources Sir William Douglas

Strength
Background 12,000[1]
Casualties and losses
1,000–3,000 killed Few
By 1346 England had been embroiled in the Second War of Many captured
Scottish Independence since 1332 and the Hundred Years' War including King David II
with France since 1337. In January 1343 the French and English
had entered into the Truce of Malestroit, which included
Scotland and was intended to last until 29 September 1346.[2] In
defiance of the truce, hostilities continued on all fronts, although
mostly at a lower level; King David II of Scotland
(r. 1329–1371) led a six-day raid into northern England in
October 1345.[3] Edward III of England (r. 1327–1377) planned
an invasion of northern France in 1346 and King Philip VI of
France sent an appeal to David II to open a northern front.[4]
Philip VI wanted the Scots to divert English troops, supplies and
attention away from the army under Edward III which was
gathering in southern England.[5] The Auld Alliance between
France and Scotland had been renewed in 1326 and was intended
to deter England from attacking either country by the threat that
the other would invade English territory.[6]

In June Philip VI asked David II to attack pre-emptively: "I beg

you, I implore you ... Do for me what I would willingly do for
you in such a crisis and do it as quickly ... as you are able."[5] Location of the battle within England
Edward III landed in Normandy with an army of 15,000 in July.
Philip VI renewed his pleas to David II. As the English had also
committed troops to Gascony, Brittany and Flanders, Philip VI described northern England to David II as "a defenceless void".[7]
David II felt certain that few English troops would be left to defend the rich northern English cities,[8] but when the Scots probed
into northern England they were sharply rebuffed by the local defenders. David II agreed a truce, to last until 29 September, in
order to fully mobilise the Scottish army, which was assembling at Perth.[4] By the time the truce expired, the French had been
decisively beaten at Crécy and the English were besieging Calais. The French were also in difficulty in south west France, where
their front had collapsed, with the major city and provincial capital of Poitiers, 125 miles (201 km) from the border of English
Gascony, falling on 4 October.[9]

Prelude
On 7 October the Scots invaded England with approximately 12,000 men.[1] Many had modern weapons and armour supplied by
France. A small number of French knights marched alongside the Scots. It was described by both Scottish and English chroniclers
of the time, and by modern historians, as the strongest and best equipped Scottish expedition for many years.[9][10] The border
fort of Liddell Peel was stormed and captured after a siege of three days and the garrison massacred. Carlisle was bypassed in
exchange for a large indemnity and the Scottish army moved east, ravaging the countryside as they went. They sacked Hexham
Abbey, taking three days to do so, then advanced to Durham.[11] They arrived outside Durham on 16 October[10] and camped at
Beaurepaire Priory, where the monks offered the Scots £1,000 (£910,000 as of 2019[note 1]) in protection money to be paid on 18
October.[13]

The invasion had been expected by the English for some time; two years earlier the Chancellor of England had told parliament
the Scots were "saying quite openly that they will break the truce as soon as our adversary [France] desires and will march into
England".[3] Once the Scots invaded, an army was quickly mobilised at Richmond in north Yorkshire under the supervision of
William de la Zouche, the Archbishop of York, who was Lord Warden of the Marches. It was not a large army: 3,000–4,000 men
from the northern English counties of Cumberland, Northumberland and Lancashire; it is known that Lancashire contributed
1,200 longbowmen and a small number of lightly armed border cavalry, known as hobelars.[14] Another 3,000 Yorkshiremen
were en route to reinforce the English forces. This was possible because Edward III, when raising his army to invade France, had
exempted the counties north of the River Humber.[15] On 14 October, while the Scots were sacking Hexham Abbey, the
Archbishop decided not to wait for the Yorkshire troops and marched north-west towards Barnard Castle, and then rapidly north-
east to Durham.[16] He was joined en route by the Yorkshire contingent and Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville, took command of
the combined force of 6,000–7,000 men.[17][18]

Battle
The Scots at Beaurepaire only discovered the English army on the morning of 17 October, when they were 6 miles (10 km) away.
Around 500 men under William Douglas stumbled upon them in the morning mist during a raid near Merrington, south of
Durham.[19] The two rear divisions of the English army drove them off with around 300 Scottish casualties.[19] Douglas raced
back to David II's camp, alerting the rest of the army, which stood to arms. The same morning two Benedictine monks arrived
from Durham in an attempt to broker a peace but David II, thinking they were spies, ordered their beheading; the monks escaped
in the confusion.[20]

David II led the Scottish army to the high ground at Neville's Cross, less than
half a mile (800 m) to the west of Durham and within sight of Durham
Cathedral,[21] where he prepared for battle. Both the Scots and the English
arranged themselves in three formations, or battles. On the Scottish side, David
II took control of the second battle, and placed John Randolph, the Earl of
Moray, in charge of the first battle. Patrick Dunbar, the Earl of March, took
command of the third battle.[22] The contemporary sources are not consistent,
but it seems the Scots formed up in their traditional schiltrons, each battle
forming a rectilinear formation. The front ranks were armed with axes and long
The remains of Neville's Cross, on
spears carried by the rear ranks protruded past them. The knights and other men-
Crossgate in Durham
at-arms dismounted and stiffened the formations, usually at the very front. A
screen of archers skirmished to the front, and each flank of the army was
shielded by hobelars and further archers. As the mist lifted, it became clear the Scots were poorly positioned, on broken ground
and with their movement made difficult by ditches and walls. They remembered their defeats at Dupplin Moor and Halidon Hill
and so took a defensive stance, waiting for the English to attack.[23]

The English similarly divided their forces with Henry de Percy, 2nd Baron Percy, commanding their first battle; Neville their
second; and the Archbishop of York their third. Neville remained in overall command.[24] The English were entirely dismounted,
with each battle having men-at-arms in the centre and longbowmen on each flank. The English also took a defensive stance,
knowing they had the superior position and that time was on their side;[23] their morale was high.[18] The resulting stalemate
lasted until the afternoon, when the English sent longbowmen forward to harass the Scottish lines. On the English left, the
Scottish light horse and archers withdrew under the arrow fire and the English were able to shoot into the flank of Moray's
battle.[25] The Earl of Menteith attempted to clear away the English archers with a cavalry charge, but this failed and he was
taken prisoner. The archers succeeded in provoking the Scots into attacking.[26]

Moray's battle led the assault, but the broken terrain and obstacles slowed their advance and made it difficult for them to maintain
formation. The longbowmen were able to fall back behind their men-at-arms. By the time the disorganised battle came to hand-
to-hand combat it was easily dealt with. Seeing their first attack repulsed, and also being harassed by the English archers, the
third and largest Scottish battle, on the Scottish left under the Earl of March and Robert Stewart,[note 2] broke and fled.[26] The
English stood off from the remaining Scots under David II and poured in arrows. The English men-at-arms then attacked and
after fighting described as "ferocious", the Scots attempted unsuccessfully to retreat and were routed.[23] The English men-at-
arms outfought superior numbers of the Scottish foot, while the performance of the English archers was mixed. Most of them
were participating in their first pitched battle, or even their first combat. Many groups of bowmen conspicuously hung back,
while the Lancashire longbowmen received a post-battle bonus of £10 each (£9,100 in 2019 terms).[29]

David II, badly wounded, was captured after he fled the field, while the rest of the Scottish army was pursued by the English long
into the night.[30] More than 50 Scottish barons were killed or captured; Scotland lost almost all its military leadership.[26][31]
The Scottish dead included: the Constable, Lord David de la Hay; the Marischal, Robert de Keith; the Chamberlain, John
Roxburgh; the Chancellor, Lord Thomas Charteris; two earls, John Randolph, Earl of Moray and Maurice de Moravia, Earl of
Strathearn; and Niall Bruce of Carrick, an illegitimate son of Robert the Bruce.[32][33] An unknown number of Scots were taken
prisoner. It is believed that only Scots thought able to pay a ransom were spared, others being slain out of hand.[34] Scottish
nobles who were captured included William Douglas, the "Knight of Liddesdale", their most skilled guerilla fighter, and four
earls.[35]

Scottish chroniclers Andrew of Wyntoun and Walter Bower both wrote that a thousand Scots were killed in the battle,[36] while
the Chronicle of Lanercost said "few English were killed".[37] Modern historians Given-Wilson and Bériac have estimated that
some 3,000 Scotsmen perished and fewer than a hundred were taken prisoner.[38]

Aftermath
Accounts of the time state that after the battle David II was hiding under a bridge
over the River Browney when his reflection was seen in the water by a group of
English soldiers. David II was then taken prisoner by John de Coupland, who
was leading the detachment and who had his teeth knocked out by the King.[39]
During the battle David II was twice shot in the face with arrows. Surgeons
attempted to remove the arrows but the tip of one remained lodged in his face,
rendering him prone to headaches for decades.[40] Edward III ordered David II
to be handed over to him, rewarding Coupland with a knighthood and an annuity
of £500 for life (£460,000 per year in 2019 terms).[41] Despite having fled
without fighting, Robert Stewart was appointed lord guardian to act on David II's Odiham Castle in Hampshire where
behalf in his absence.[10] David II was imprisoned from 1346 to
1357
All the Scottish captives were ordered to London, to the disgust of their captors
who had a legal right to ransom them.[26][42] A significant number of Scottish
prisoners were privately ransomed, their captors subsequently attempting to deny they had been taken, which outraged Edward
III.[43] Edward III refused to ransom any of those who were passed on to him, or release them on parole as was traditional; he
wished to cripple the Scottish capacity to make war for as long as possible, by depriving them of their leaders.[31][44] In at least
some cases he paid considerable sums to their captors to buy out their ransom rights.[45] John Graham, Earl of Menteith, had
previously sworn fealty to Edward III, who considered him guilty of treason. On the King's direct orders he was tried, condemned
and then drawn, hanged, beheaded and quartered.[26]

In early 1347 two English forces made large scale raids deep into Scotland. They met little opposition and devastated much of
southern Scotland.[46] Border raids, often accompanied by devastation of the countryside, and sometimes on a large scale,
continued to be launched by both the Scots and the English. The battle removed the strategic threat to Edward III's rear, and by
1349 the English border counties were able to guard against the remaining Scottish threat from their own resources.[47]

On three separate occasions Edward III offered to release the childless David II for £40,000 (approximately £37,000,000 in 2019
terms) if he would accept one of Edward III's sons as his heir to the Scottish throne. All three offers were refused.[48] Eleven
years after the battle David II was released in exchange for a ransom of 100,000 marks (approximately £61,000,000 in 2019
terms.) The ransom was to be paid over ten years, on 22 June (St. John the Baptist's Day) each year, during which an Anglo-
Scottish truce prohibited any Scottish citizen from bearing arms against Edward III or any of his men.[8] This truce lasted for four
decades and marked the end of the Second War of Scottish Independence.[35]

The Battle of Neville's Cross is named after an old Anglo-Saxon stone cross near Beaurepaire. After the victory, Lord Neville
paid to have a new cross erected to commemorate the day. The Black Rood, venerated as a piece of the True Cross, and
previously belonging to Saint Margaret of Scotland, was taken from David II and donated to the shrine of St Cuthbert in Durham
Cathedral.[49] The site of the battle has been listed as a registered battlefield by Historic England.[50]

In literature
The fate of King David II is recalled in Shakespeare's play Henry V. In Act 1 Scene 3, Henry discusses the Scottish invasion with
the Archbishop of Canterbury. The last lines refer to an earlier play that would have been known to Shakespeare's audience, The
Reign of Edward III. At the end of the play John de Coupland brings the captured David II to Edward III in Calais, where he
meets the Black Prince, who has captured the French King.[51]

Notes, citations and sources

Notes
1. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and
Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. (https://measuringworth.com/data
sets/ukearncpi/) Retrieved 28 October 2018. To give a very rough idea of earning power, an English foot-soldier
could expect to earn £1 in wages in approximately 3 months for, usually seasonal, military service.[12]
2. Robert Stewart was David II's nephew, the heir-apparent, and a future king of Scotland (as Robert II). After the
battle he became Lord Guardian of Scotland, regent for the captured David II.[27][28]

Citations
1. Maxwell 1913, p. 330. 19. Maxwell 1913, p. 336.
2. Sumption 1990, pp. 507–508. 20. Maxwell 1913, p. 337.
3. Sumption 1990, p. 499. 21. Prestwich & Rollason 1998, p. 88.
4. Brown 2004, p. 247. 22. Maxwell 1913, p. 339.
5. Sumption 1990, p. 500. 23. Sumption 1990, pp. 552–553.
6. Crowcroft & Cannon 2015, pp. 379–380. 24. Maxwell 1913, p. 335.
7. Sumption 1990, p. 504. 25. Oman 1998, p. 150.
8. Penman 2004, pp. 157–180. 26. Sumption 1990, p. 553.
9. Sumption 1990, p. 550. 27. Boardman 2006, pp. 3, 40.
10. Wagner 2006, pp. 228–229. 28. Sadler 2013, p. 228.
11. Maxwell 1913, p. 332. 29. Prestwich 1980, p. 267.
12. Gribit 2016, p. 37. 30. Maxwell 1913, p. 341.
13. Sumption 1990, pp. 550–551. 31. Sumption 1999, p. 143.
14. Oman 1998, p. 149, n 1 32. Oman 1998, p. 151.
15. Burne 1999, p. 218. 33. Fraser 1878, p. 15.
16. Sumption 1990, p. 552. 34. King 2002, pp. 269–270.
17. Prestwich & Rollason 1998, p. 143. 35. Given-Wilson & Bériac 2001, p. 809.
18. DeVries 2006, p. 181. 36. Prestwich & Rollason 1998, p. 26.
37. Prestwich & Rollason 1998, p. 140. 45. King 2002, p. 278.
38. Rogers 1998, p. 51. 46. Burne 1999, p. 219.
39. Prestwich & Rollason 1998, p. 146. 47. Sumption 1999, pp. 145–148.
40. King 2002, p. 269. 48. Given-Wilson & Bériac 2001, p. 811.
41. Sumption 1990, p. 554. 49. Prestwich & Rollason 1998, pp. 59–60.
42. King 2002, pp. 281–282. 50. Historic England 1995.
43. King 2002, p. 282. 51. Penman 2004, p. 129.
44. King 2002, p. 281.

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