Edward I's sack of Berwick in 1296 opened the Wars of Scottish Independence. The town — then the richest in Scotland — was taken by storm and its population massacred. Yorkshire levies formed a substantial part of Edward's army; the north of England provided the bulk of the manpower for the Scottish wars. The destruction of Berwick's merchant community had economic repercussions throughout northern England, disrupting the trade networks that connected Yorkshire wool to Scottish and continental markets.
Reports of 17,000 civilians massacred (likely exaggerated); garrison killed
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
Research a location near Northumberland