Great Raid of 1322
Who Fought
History & Significance
The Great Raid of 1322 was a major raid carried out by Robert the Bruce, during the First Scottish War of Independence, on Northern England between 30 September and 2 November 1322, resulting in the Battle of Old Byland. Numerous raids began by attacking the area around Carlisle, Holm Cultram Abbey and Northumberland, then eventually crossed over into North Yorkshire, resulting in property being burned and destroyed, valuables from the wealthy and abbeys being stolen, and some residents and livestock being captured and taken back to Scotland.
After the death of Thomas of Lancaster whom Scotland supported as a means to cripple the English in their war against the Scottish during the Despenser War, the Scots in 1322 raided deeper into Northern England to gain his inheritance, reaching as far south as Chorley in Lancashire and the East Riding. They even raided the suburbs of York. A few abbeys, settlements and towns in the path of the raiders, such as Richmond, were spared by bribing them off, however most were not so fortunate. Following the raid, a truce between King Edward II and Robert the Bruce was signed at Bishopthorpe in 1323.
The ground they fought on
The site of Great Raid of 1322 lies on Corallian Group, bedrock that formed in the Oxfordian. The rock here is limestone, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.
Perhaps the most striking detail of the Great Raid of 1322 is the sheer audacity of its geographical reach. Scottish raiders, operating under Robert the Bruce, pushed so deep into England that they appeared at the very suburbs of York itself, a city that stood as one of the great centres of English royal administration in the north. That a Scottish raiding force should reach the gates of York and terrorise its outskirts was a humiliation of the first order for Edward II, whose court at the time was in the vicinity, and it underscored just how dramatically the balance of power in the Anglo-Scottish conflict had shifted by the early fourteenth century.
Frequently Asked Questions
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