[MR] Wikipedia: Scotland-England Treaty of York 1237

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends, Especially Fellow Scots:

On this date in 1237 Alexander II, King of Scots, and Henry III, King of
England, signed the Treaty of York. This accord, later largely ignored by
the English, and usually dismissed as insignificant by historians,
established the legal border between the two realms. That border remains
much as the treaty specified, except for the area around
Berwick-upon-Tweed. This town changed hands frequently until finally being
captured by Richard of Gloucester for England in 1482.

Alexander and Henry generally enjoyed cordial relations, as Alexander was
married to Henry's sister Joan. The treaty settled title and feudal rights
to certain territories in Northumberland held by Alexander, who was Henry's
vassal for those lands. Alexander made homage to Henry *de praedictis
terris, *"from the aforesaid countries". What this means isn't clear to
this writer, as it could be interpreted just to apply to the Northumbrian
lands, or it could mean that Alexander was Henry's vassal in all things.
That certainly was the way England saw things later, at least when it
suited them and could be used to justify their attempts to conquer Scotland.

So why was there always so much trouble between Scotland and England? Well,
in the days when "might made right", larger countries often picked on
smaller and weaker neighbors. Given the general social and royal
instability in Scotland, meddling or outright conquest was often a
temptation for English kings (especially for Edward I, and later Henry
VIII). Given that Scotland and France entered a 1295 mutual defense treaty,
The Auld Alliance, there was often trouble with Scotland during England's
perpetual wars with France. We also have to take into account the warlike
and avaricious nature of some Scots, who frequently raided across the
border for personal gain, especially during the lawless 16th century in the
time of the Border Reivers (let's not forget there were also English
reivers who raided into Scotland).

Some measure of peace was finally established by James VI of Scotland and
Elizabeth I of England. Both countries were by then Protestant, and saw the
wisdom of mutual peace in the face of continental Catholic hostility.
James, being in line for the English throne also had the good sense not to
provoke his cousin, and so as James I of England ended up with all the
marbles.

You can read about the treaty at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_York .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆