David II invaded northern England in October 1346 while Edward III was fighting at Crecy in France — acting on the treaty obligation to France and hoping to exploit English absence. Instead he met a well-organised English force near Durham assembled by English magnates who had stayed home. The Scottish army was routed and David II was captured — wounded by arrows, hiding under a bridge (according to tradition). He spent the next eleven years as a prisoner in England. The ransom negotiations nearly bankrupted Scotland.
Thousands of Scots killed; David II and many nobles captured
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