Bannockburn 1314: A New History

A history of the most celebrated battle between Scotland and England in which a mere 7,000 followers of Robert the Bruce defeated more than 15,000 of Edward II’s troops. The battle of Bannockburn, fought over two days on the 23 and 24 June in 1314 by a small river crossing in Stirling, was a decisive victory for Robert the Bruce in the Scottish Wars of Independence against the English. It was the greatest defeat the English would suffer throughout the middle ages, and a huge personal humiliation for King Edward II. Chris Brown’s startling new history recreates the campaign and battle from the perspectives of both the Scots and English. Only now, through an in-depth investigation of the contemporary narrative sources as well as the administrative records, and through a new look at the terrain where the battle was fought, can we come to firmer conclusions on what exactly happened, and why. The author’s conclusions rewrite the history books.

Bannockburn 1314 is a history of the most celebrated battle between Scotland and England, in which a mere 7,000 followers of Robert the Bruce defeated more than 15,000 of Edward II’s troops. The Battle of Bannockburn, fought over two days on June 23 and 24, 1314 by a small river crossing just south of Stirling, was a decisive victory for Robert, and secured for Scotland de facto independence from England. It was the greatest defeat the English would suffer throughout the Middle Ages, and a huge personal humiliation for Edward. Chris Brown’s account recreates the campaign from the perspectives of both the Scots and English. Through an in-depth investigation of contemporary narrative sources as well as administrative records, and with a fresh look at the terrain where the battle was fought, he is able to come to firmer conclusions as to exactly what happened, and why, and thereby to rewrite the traditional history of the battle.

Chris Brown is an acknowledged expert on medieval Scottish history. he has written seven books on the subject, including Scottish battlefields, Knights of the Scottish Wars of Independence, Robert the Bruce: A Life Chronicled and the Second Scottish War of Independence. He lives in Fife.