An Outline of the Relations between England and Scotland (500-1707) eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 218 pages of information about An Outline of the Relations between England and Scotland (500-1707).

An Outline of the Relations between England and Scotland (500-1707) eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 218 pages of information about An Outline of the Relations between England and Scotland (500-1707).

The year 1461 saw Edward IV placed on his uneasy throne, and a boy of ten years reigning over the turbulent kingdom of Scotland.  The Scots had regained Roxburgh a few days after the death of King James, and they followed up their success by the capture of Wark.  But a greater triumph was in store.  When Margaret of Anjou, after rescuing her husband, Henry VI, at the second battle of St. Albans, in February, 1461, met, in March, the great disaster of Towton, she fled with Henry to Scotland, where she had been received when preparing for the expedition which had proved so unfortunate.  On her second visit she brought with her the surrender of Berwick, which, in April, 1461, became once more a Scots town, and was represented in the Parliament which met in 1469.  In gratitude for the gift, the Scots made an invasion of England in June, 1461, and besieged Carlisle, but were forced to retire without having afforded any real assistance to the Lancastrian cause.  There was now a division of opinion in Scotland with regard to supporting the Lancastrian cause.  The policy of the late king was maintained by the great Bishop Kennedy, who himself entertained Henry VI in the Castle of St. Andrews.  But the queen-mother, Mary of Gueldres, was a niece of the Duke of Burgundy, and was, through his influence, persuaded to go over to the side of the White Rose.  While Edward IV remained on unfriendly terms with Louis XI of France, Kennedy had not much difficulty in resisting the Yorkist proclivities of the queen-mother, and in keeping Scotland loyal to the Red Rose.  They were able to render their allies but little assistance, and their opposition gave the astute Edward IV an opportunity of intrigue.  John of the Isles took advantage of the minority of James III to break the peace into which he had been brought by James II, and the exiled Earl of Douglas concluded an agreement between the Lord of the Isles and the King of England.  But when, in October, 1463, Edward IV came to terms with Louis XI, Bishop Kennedy was willing to join Mary of Gueldres in deserting the doomed House of Lancaster.  Mary did not live to see the success of her policy; but peace was made for a period of fifteen years, and Scotland had no share in the brief Lancastrian restoration of 1470.  The threatening relations between England and France nearly led to a rupture in 1473, but the result was only to strengthen the agreement, and it was arranged that the infant heir of James III should marry the Princess Cecilia, Edward’s daughter.  In 1479-80, when the French were again alarmed by the diplomacy of Edward IV, we find an outbreak of hostilities, the precise cause of which is somewhat obscure.  It is certain that Edward made no effort to preserve the peace, and he sent, in 1481, a fleet to attack the towns on the Firth of Forth, in revenge for a border raid for which James had attempted to apologize.  Edward was unable to secure the services of his old ally, the Lord of the Isles, who had been again brought into

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An Outline of the Relations between England and Scotland (500-1707) from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.