[MR] Wikipedia: Treaty of York, 1237
Garth Groff via Atlantia
atlantia at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
Sun Sep 25 03:05:36 PDT 2016
Noble Friends,
On this date in 1237, Henry III of England and Alexander II of Scotland
signed the Treaty of York. This often-overlooked agreement established
what is still the border between Scotland and England, except for the
unresolved control of the Debatable Lands, and the later conquests of
Berwick-upon-Tweed which changed hands regularly:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_York .
What is often missed by historians, but is in the treaty, is that
Alexander offered homage and fealty to Henry, usually taken by the
English to mean that any King of Scots was a vassal of England. This
certainly wasn't lost on Edward I, and was a justification of his
invasion and subjugation of Scotland beginning in 1296. Of course, he
was an arch-conquer monkey and didn't need any much justification for
beating up on Scotland.
Berwick-upon-Tweed, an important border city, changed hands 12 times
during the wars between Scotland and England. When Edward I captured
Berwick during his conquest of Scotland, he had most of the inhabitants
massacred, including women, children and clergymen, and resettled the
town with Englishmen. In 1482, Richard Duke of Gloucester (later to be
Richard III, the Car-Park King) took Berwick for the last time, and it
has remained English ever since:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berwick-upon-Tweed .
The Debatable Lands were a 60-square mile section along the western end
of the border which neither Scotland nor England could control:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debatable_Lands . The area was ruled by
various Anglo-Scottish chiefs who defied both governments. The Debatable
Lands were one of several important lairs used by the infamous Border
Reivers of the 16th century:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Reivers . These included
Armstrongs, Grahams, Elliots, Irvings, Bells, Nixons and others, many
being the worst malefactors along the border. The region was more or
less pacified after 1603 by James VI & I when he became king of both
countries.
Yours Aye,
Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge
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