Battlefields›Bruce's Raids into Durham: Blackmail Extortion, 1315-1318
Medieval

Bruce's Raids into Durham: Blackmail Extortion, 1315-1318

1316
England
Era
Medieval
Battle Type
Campaign
Location
England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Bishopric and community of Durham
VS
Victor
Bruce's raiding captains (forces under James Douglas and Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray)
Outcome
Durham's community repeatedly purchased truces from Scottish raiders with large cash payments (blackmail) rather than face continued destruction; a payment of 800 marks was made in 1314 and 1,600 marks after the June 1315 raid; the policy of buying immunity protected Durham's rents and agricultural income for longer than in other northern counties, but the arrangement eventually broke down with the burning of the bishopric in January 1322.
The Battle

History & Significance

Bruce's Raids into Durham: Blackmail Extortion, 1315-1318 was a medieval campaign, fought in England in 1316. Bruce's raiding captains (forces under James Douglas and Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray) prevailed over Bishopric and community of Durham. Durham's community repeatedly purchased truces from Scottish raiders with large cash payments (blackmail) rather than face continued destruction; a payment of 800 marks was made in 1314 and 1,600 marks after the June 1315 raid; the policy of buying immunity protected Durham's rents and agricultural income for longer than in other northern counties, but the arrangement eventually broke down with the burning of the bishopric in January 1322.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Bruce's Raids into Durham: Blackmail Extortion, 1315-1318 lies on Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation And South Wales Middle Coal Measures Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Moscovian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.

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Everything a full report reveals about Bruce's Raids into Durham: Blackmail Extortion, 1315-1318

This page covers Bruce's Raids into Durham: Blackmail Extortion, 1315-1318. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:

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Monuments
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Battlefields
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Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
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Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Bruce's Raids into Durham: Blackmail Extortion, 1315-1318

The Water Gate
The Water Gate
Scheduled monument · ~0.3 mi

The Water Gate is a medieval fortified gateway structure located in Durham, England, forming part of the town's defensive architecture. Dating to the medieval period, the structure represents an important element of Durham's urban fortifications, controlling access to the settlement via the River…

St Cuthbert's Society, University of Durham / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
Maiden Castle promontory fort
Maiden Castle promontory fort
Scheduled monument · ~0.3 mi

Maiden Castle is a promontory fort located in County Durham, England. The site occupies a naturally defended headland and represents a form of Iron Age defensive settlement, though the precise dating and extent of occupation remain subjects of archaeological study. The fort's physical character i…

Jim Barton / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Prebend's Bridge
Prebend's Bridge
Scheduled monument · ~0.4 mi

Prebend's Bridge is a medieval stone bridge crossing the River Wear in Durham. The bridge dates from the fourteenth century and represents an important example of medieval bridge construction in the North East of England. It takes its name from the prebends, or cathedral clergy, whose lands it se…

PeterGHughes at English Wikipedia / CC BY 2.5 / Wikimedia Commons
Elvet Bridge
Elvet Bridge
Scheduled monument · ~0.4 mi

Elvet Bridge is a medieval bridge spanning the River Wear in Durham, England, first constructed in the twelfth century as a vital crossing for travellers and commerce approaching Durham city from the south. The bridge originally comprised a series of stone arches, though it has undergone substant…

KlausFoehl / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Framwellgate Bridge
Framwellgate Bridge
Scheduled monument · ~0.5 mi

Framwellgate Bridge is a medieval bridge crossing the River Wear in Durham, dating to the twelfth century. The structure comprises a series of stone arches and has been substantially rebuilt and modified over its long history, particularly during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, though i…

Tom Page / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Chapel of St Mary Magdalene
Chapel of St Mary Magdalene
Scheduled monument · ~0.8 mi

Chapel of St Mary Magdalene is a medieval chapel located in Durham, England, designated as a scheduled ancient monument under NHLE list entry 1002338. The chapel dates to the medieval period and represents an important element of Durham's religious infrastructure during the Middle Ages. The struc…

David Hawgood / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Moated site at Low Butterby Farm
Scheduled monument · ~1.5 miles
Aldin Grange (or Bearpark) Bridge
Scheduled monument · ~1.9 miles
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Battles near Bruce's Raids into Durham: Blackmail Extortion, 1315-1318

Northern Rising - Durham Cathedral Occupation 1569
1569
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1650
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Siege of Durham Castle 1069
1069
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