Battle of Roslin 1303
Who Fought
Scottish force led by John Comyn and Sir Simon Fraser (approximately 8,000 men); English reconnaissance party under Lord John Segrave advancing in three divisions
History & Significance
Year 1303 (MCCCIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.
January 17 – A major earthquake strikes Byzantium and Constantinople (now Istanbul in Turkey). Byzantine Emperor Michael IX Palaiologos spreads the word that the former Patriarch of the Eastern Church, Athanasius I had given him a warning about the imminent wrath of God against the city.
January 21 – John XII is forced to resign as Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church after the January 17 earthquake.
January 28 – In India, the siege of Chittorgarh, capital of the Medapata Kingdom (now in the state of Rajasthan), begins as the Sultan of Delhi, Alauddin Khalji, seeks to acquire the territory of the Medapata Emperor, Ratnasimha.
February 24 – Battle of Roslin: Scottish forces (some 8,000 men) led by John Comyn III "the Red" and Simon Fraser ambush and defeat an English scouting party under John Segrave at Roslin. During the battle, the Scots attack the English camp, capturing Segrave and several other nobles. But a second English brigade manages to rescue Segrave in a pitched battle. Later, the English army is again defeated, according to sources they lose between 28,000 and 30,000 men.
March 17 – Joan II of the Anscarids becomes the Countess and ruler of Burgundy, a free state within the Holy Roman Empire (now the département of Jura in France), upon the death of her father Otto IV.
April 4 – Battle of Arques: Flemish forces (some 10,000 men) led by William of Jülich ("the Younger") defeats a French army at Arques in Flanders. During the battle, the French cavalry (1,600 men) tries to break the Flemish infantry militia formations, but to no avail. Finally, the French withdraw to Saint-Omer, leaving 300 dead behind. Later, William receives a warm reception in Bruges as a liberator in May.
April 20 – Pope Boniface VIII founds the University of Rome with the papal bull In Supremae praeminentia Dignitatis, as a Studium for ecclesiastical studies under his control, making it the first pontifical university.
April 22 – Battle of Marj al-Saffar: Egyptian Mamluk forces (some 20,000 men) under Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad defeat a Mongol army and their Armenian allies led by Qutlugh-Shah, on the plain of Marj al-Saffar. After the battle, Egyptian forces enters Damascus and chases the Mongols as far as Al-Qaryatayn in Syria. Al-Nasir returns to Cairo in triumph through the Bab al-Nasr ("Victory Gate") with chained prisoners of war.
May 16 – King Edward I of England assembles 7,500 troops at Roxburgh to prepare for a resumption of his campaign against the Kingdom of Scotland, to begin after concluding peace between England and France. In advance of the invasion, Edward orders that three pre-fabricated pontoon bridges be built and transported, in a fleet of 27 ships. After crossing into Scotland, Edward and his soldiers burns hamlet and towns, granges and granaries. Meanwhile, Richard Óg de Burgh, "the Red Earl" with forces from Ireland capture the castles of Rothesay and Inverkip.
The ground they fought on
The site of Battle of Roslin 1303 lies on Clackmannan Group, bedrock that formed in the Westphalian. The rock here is sedimentary rock cycles, clackmannan group type.
Scottish historian John of Fordun captured the spirit of the night assault in vivid terms, writing that John Comyn and Simon Fraser, wishing to steal a march rather than have one stolen upon them, came briskly through from Biggar to Rosslyn in a single night with chosen men who chose death before unworthy subjection to the English nation, and all of a sudden fell fearlessly upon the enemy, in a struggle he declared so desperate that the stoutness of knightly prowess shone forth so brightly as had never before been seen.
- English paymaster Manton killed; English losses claimed at between 28,000 and 30,000 men according to sources, though these figures were considered serious exaggerations by later historians
This battlefield is listed on the Register of Historic Battlefields — a national designation identifying Britain's most significant battle sites for protection and further research. Reference: HES BTL37.
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