Battle of Burton Bridge (1322)
Who Fought
Contrariants: Up to 3,000 men
History & Significance
The Battle of Burton Bridge was fought between Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster and his cousin King Edward II of England during the Despenser War, from 7 to 10 March 1322. Edward's army was proceeding northwards to engage Lancaster, having defeated his Marcher Lord allies in Wales. Lancaster fortified the bridge at Burton upon Trent, an important crossing of the River Trent, in an attempt to prevent the King from proceeding. Edward arrived at nearby Cauldwell on 7 March 1322 and intended to use the ford at Walton-on-Trent to cross the river and outflank Lancaster. Edward was delayed for three days by floodwaters, during which time some of his force was deployed opposite Lancaster's men at the bridge.
On 10 March 1322 Edward's main force crossed the river at Walton and proceeded to the south side of Burton. Lancaster moved his men outside the town, intending to face the King in open battle, but withdrew northwards when he saw that he was heavily outnumbered. Lancaster was pursued closely by the King's men and eventually captured at the Battle of Boroughbridge; he was later executed on the King's orders. Lancaster's defeat removed the immediate threat to Edward's rule, but the King continued to prove unpopular with his barons, and in 1327 was forced to abdicate the throne in favour of his son Edward III.
Thomas, Earl of Lancaster had long been an enemy of the King, alienated by his practice of promoting young favourites (and alleged lovers) such as Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall, who had at one stage been made regent in Edward's absence. Lancaster further demonstrated his disapproval of the King by his refusal to assist Edward in his Scottish campaigns, including the decisive defeat at the Battle of Bannockburn. The resulting raids by the Scottish on Northern England forced Edward to concede to demands from his barons for the kingdom to be governed by a council led by the Earl and to submit to the restrictions on royal power laid out in the Ordinances of 1311. Shortly afterwards Lancaster captured and executed Gaveston after an attack upon Scarborough Castle. The new baronial council demonstrated itself no more suited to rule than the King by failing to prevent the loss of Berwick-upon-Tweed to the Scots in 1318.
Edward continued to alienate the Barons by promoting young men such as Hugh Despenser the Younger, a known enemy of Lancaster's. In 1318 Lancaster met with Archbishop of Dublin Alexander de Bicknor and two bishops at Horninglow, now a suburb of Burton upon Trent, in initial negotiations that resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Leake, an attempt to reconcile the King and his barons. However such co-operation was short-lived as Despenser's continued rise threatened the holdings of the Welsh Marcher Lords and in 1321 Lancaster joined them in an outright rebellion against Edward.
The ground they fought on
The site of Battle of Burton Bridge (1322) lies on Triassic Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Triassic. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.
Frequently Asked Questions
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- Battle of Burton Bridge · Wikidata
- Battle of Burton Bridge (1322) · Wikipedia