As part of the campaign that would culminate in Scotland's decisive victory at Bannockburn, English forces under Edward II moved toward Stirling Castle in early May 1314 to break the siege laid by Robert the Bruce's brother. The relief expedition, one of the largest English armies ever assembled, would be routed within weeks by a smaller Scottish force, a catastrophe that secured Scottish independence for a generation.
Stirling Castle, the strategic key to central Scotland, had been besieged by Edward Bruce, brother of King Robert the Bruce, who agreed to a truce: if the castle were not relieved by English forces by midsummer 1314, it would surrender. This deadline forced Edward II's hand, compelling him to march an enormous army north from England, gathering perhaps 15,000 to 20,000 men, including thousands of heavy cavalry and Welsh longbowmen.
The march itself, beginning in early May, was a logistical strain, moving slowly through hostile territory with a baggage train stretching for miles. Robert the Bruce, commanding a far smaller Scottish force of spearmen organized into tight schiltrons, chose the ground near the Bannock Burn to meet them.
The resulting battle on June 23-24, 1314, became Scotland's greatest military triumph, a humiliation for English chivalry and a turning point that effectively guaranteed Scottish independence would not be crushed by force, though formal recognition took another fourteen years.
Key people: Edward II, Robert the Bruce