For over three centuries, England and Scotland were locked in a brutal cycle of conflict that reshaped the history of the British Isles. Known as the Anglo-Scottish Wars (1296–1603), this struggle stretched across the Middle Ages and the early modern era, lasting longer than the more famous Hundred Years’ War. Yet, despite its incredible length and devastating impact, this war is rarely remembered today.
In this video, we dive deep into the hidden history of these wars: from Edward I’s invasion of Scotland in 1296 and the legendary stand of William Wallace at Stirling Bridge, to Robert the Bruce’s victory at Bannockburn, the capture of David II at Neville’s Cross, and the destructive campaigns of the sixteenth century known as the Rough Wooing, which saw entire towns like Haddington besieged for over a year.
We explore how medieval armies fought with knights in armor, longbowmen, spearmen, and mercenaries, and how warfare slowly shifted with the arrival of gunpowder weapons and artillery. The borderlands became a zone of constant raiding, where the Border Reivers terrorized villages, stole cattle, and turned survival into a daily struggle. Life for medieval soldiers and peasants alike was marked by hunger, disease, and endless rebuilding after each wave of destruction.
The wars were fueled not only by territorial ambitions but also by the wider web of feudal politics and the famous Auld Alliance between Scotland and France, which pulled both kingdoms into the orbit of European conflicts. For ordinary people, however, the experience was far from the grand ideals of knightly chivalry. Instead, they lived under the shadow of sieges, armored combat, and shifting loyalties that spanned generations.
When Elizabeth I of England died in 1603, the Scottish king James VI inherited the English crown, uniting both kingdoms under one monarch as James I of England. The wars that had raged since the thirteenth century finally came to an end, not with a dramatic battlefield victory, but through dynastic succession.
This forgotten war of nearly 300 years reveals a side of medieval Europe that is often overlooked: not a single heroic climax, but centuries of attritional warfare, border skirmishes, castle sieges, and the daily fight for survival. It shows how deeply war was woven into the lives of medieval soldiers, knights, and ordinary villagers, shaping the culture and history of England and Scotland in ways that still echo today
In this video, we explore a forgotten medieval conflict that dragged on for nearly 300 years. From 1296 to603, England and Scotland fought through invasions, raids, and endless sieges. Unlike other famous wars, this one had no single ending, but it shaped generations and left deep scars on both nations. Number one, the first sparks. In 1296, Edward I of England, pushed north into a Scotland, weakened by a succession crisis and fragmented loyalties, and the decision set off a chain of violence that would ripple for centuries. Beric upon Tweed fell first. Town walls were broken, trade halted, and the message was clear. English authority would be enforced at the border and beyond. The removal of the stone of destiny from Scone Abbey to Westminster carried heavy symbolism, turning a sacred emblem of Scottish kingship into a trophy of conquest. Resistance formed quickly, but not as parade ground battles at first. It grew from ambushes on river crossings, night strikes on supply trains, and sudden raids against garrisons. William Wallace became the sharp edge of that approach, using speed, local knowledge, and timing to offset shortages of armor and horses. At Sterling Bridge in 1297, terrain did more than numbers. A narrow crossing, marshy ground, and disciplined coordination allowed a smaller Scottish force to hit an advancing column in pieces, breaking it before the full army could deploy. Success, though, brought retaliation. At Falerk in 1298, English longbow bowman shattered dense Scottish spearman formations and the pendulum swung back. Wallace’s capture and execution in 1305 was meant to end the revolt by example, but it left a vacuum that Robert Bruce filled the next year. Crowned in 1306, Bruce faced immediate hardship. defeats in the open, pressure from strongholds loyal to England, and the constant problem of feeding and paying fighters who were more tenants than professionals. He adjusted by leaning on small mobile groups, avoiding setpiece clashes unless ground and momentum were on his side. Castle by castle, often by siege or stealth rather than storming walls straight on, he chipped away at garrisons and cut the lines that held them. The culmination came in 1314 at Banickburn. English heavy cavalry, powerful on firm ground, met soft, broken terrain and prepared Scottish formations. Shiltran’s tight ranks of spearmen held their shape, while English riders lost cohesion in the marshy approaches and the press of men. The defeat forced a reassessment in London and widened diplomatic space for Edinburgh. Within Scotland, Bruce consolidated authority, balancing rewards to allies with pressure on waverers, and the conflict shifted toward negotiation. The Treaty of Edinburgh, Northampton in 1328 acknowledged Scottish independence and the legitimacy of Bruce’s line. Yet, nothing about the political geography had changed enough to guarantee quiet. The frontier still cut across kinship networks and trade routes. Fortified places still dotted the marches, and both crowns retained memories of gains and losses. The pattern of invasion and reprisal had been set, and the first hard lesson was learned. Neither side could impose a quick final solution when terrain, resources, and society all favored a slow, grinding war. Number two, the Second War and the Nightly Age. The uneasy peace achieved in 1328 quickly collapsed and by 1332 conflict returned with full force. Edward Balol, son of the former Scottish king John Balol, landed in Scotland with the backing of Edward III of England and a coalition of disinherited nobles eager to reclaim lost lands. This invasion opened the second war of Scottish independence, a campaign that exposed the realities of medieval warfare in its most familiar form. Knights in full armor leading charges, cavalry crashing together in open fields, and longbomen breaking formations from a distance. The decisive elements of the battlefield often came down to timing and terrain. At Dublin Moore in 1332, English and bal forces demonstrated the lethal potential of coordinated longbowow volleys, tearing apart densely packed Scottish shieldrons before armored infantry moved in. This battle revealed a pattern repeated in later encounters where heavy cavalry could not dominate without support from ranged troops. The Scottish side was far from passive. Resistance was fueled not only by local loyalties, but also by the old alliance with France, which ensured that England fought on two fronts and could not fully concentrate on subduing its northern neighbor. Scottish commanders adapted by using smaller, flexible units, striking supply lines, and exploiting knowledge of local landscapes to offset English resources. Warfare here was not a single sweeping campaign, but a grinding contest of endurance where castles became pivots of control and sieges often mattered more than open battles. Garrison duty was brutal. Soldiers endured disease, hunger, and constant threat of sudden assault, and fortified strongholds frequently changed hands multiple times within a decade. For the ordinary soldier, life in this war was far from the romantic image of knights and shining armor. True knights did spend years training in horsemanship, swordsmanship, and the use of heavy armor. But they formed only a fraction of the armies. Most fighters were peasants summoned by feudal obligation. Arriving with little more than spears, axes, or farm tools reforged for combat. They marched long distances with scant provisions, camped in harsh weather, and often scavenged from the land to survive. Nights were cold, disease spread easily in encampments, and many campaigns ended with soldiers more exhausted than victorious. Even knights themselves faced constant challenges. Armor was heavy, battles rarely glamorous, and wounds often turned fatal due to infection. The war dragged on through alternating victories and setbacks. Bale briefly took the throne but struggled to secure lasting support while the Scottish crown though weakened held on through resilience and alliances by the Treaty of Beric in 1357 after years of battles, raids, and sieges. Scotland’s independence was reaffirmed. Yet the cost was immense. The Scottish king David II had been captured at the Battle of Neville’s Cross in 1346 and released only after an enormous ransom was agreed, burdening the realm for decades. The treaty ended this phase formally, but in practice, the frontier remained unstable. Crossber raids continued, and fortified towers along the marches remained garrisons of tension. The Second War revealed the enduring patterns of medieval conflict. nightly warfare tempered by the rise of infantry and archery, the dominance of fortified strongholds, and the grim reality that for most participants, the war was less about honor and more about survival. It also cemented the understanding that England and Scotland were locked in a cycle of rivalry, that treaties could pause but never truly end. Number three, border wars and everyday survival. For nearly two centuries after the second war of independence, the Anglo Scottish borderlands