Maybe there was some method to the madness. Oh Hello, what was that, thought Henry? Heavily armoured cavalry horses, check. Riding out randomly across the hills of this freezing Bannockburn place, what was the point? They weren’t going to suddenly stumble across the Scottish army through luck, were they… Do you know who would not have taken this shhhhh…shenanigans? Edward I, old Long Shanks would have had the lot of them strung up and they’d of paid for their own rope. He had been sent forward as part of a scouting party to spy on the Scottish army. Ignore anything in the film Braveheart about Robert the Bruce. The leader of the vanguard is a Henry de Bohun. He lacks the military prowess of his father, the ability to read men or any form of leadership. Edward II is seven years into his reign and is keen to demonstrate he is not a monarch to be messed with. Our story focuses on the Battle of Bannockburn fought in 1314 between the English and Robert the Bruce of the Scottish people. ![]() His son Edward II, who seemed like quite a nice chap, wasn’t actually a great King.) This was the year before Edward “Longshanks” I died, leaving behind a huge power vacuum. (If immediately upon hearing this date your heart rate began racing you would be right. So here we go, quick fact file, quick opinion, dramatic text. I do not particularly enjoy writing this section which is probably a good barometer as to whether or not you enjoy reading it, however, I do appreciate that for some sort of context it can be useful. Sometimes, I will advise what the famous person’s parents did (spoiler: because I nearly always write about monarchs their parents are usually King and Queen). I will then usually give some of my thoughts on the period/background before drifting off into a dramatic narrative. I provide the year the monarch was born (not really a year any of us can place or relate to). I highlight to us all where the man was born (typically somewhere none of us have heard of). This is typically the part of a post where I provide some of the solid background facts to the famous person we are looking at. Today though we are going to talk about Robert the Bruce and his conflict with Henry de Bohun. There was also Sir William of Marshall who unceremoniously unseated Richard the Lionheart. Richard III made a last ditch charge when all was lost directly on Henry VII at The Battle of Bosworth, it certainly isn’t impossible they actually crossed swords. There are a couple of examples and near misses. It seems unlikely if they went toe to toe with their opposite number and triumphed, that they would be shy about it. Kings did not tend to be shy when encouraging Historians to write about their brave deeds. It could be it happened more often and simply wasn’t recorded, but I doubt it. But the odds are astronomically small of two rival leaders actually meeting on the battlefield to make it almost impossible. On occasion, their heavily armed super guards cause routs. ![]() Yes, they roam around towards the back with their retinue of armed guards and standard bearers. They are just too important to risk dying. It is fairly unusual, even in the period of medieval kings, to hear about Kings engaging in one-to-one combat with a leader of a rival army.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |