1314 - Post Bannockburn

[Gandalfus]

Under pressure from the Baronial opposition that has been the hallmark of his reign, Edward II led the greatest host since the time of his father into Scotland to confront the Bruce pretender that has sought to make the Crown of Scots his own. After originally allowing Bruce to despoil the north, the King finally moved to reclaim his father's conquests, accompanied by his favourites and those peers with a vested interest in securing the estates granted to them by the Longshanks. Those against the King, namely Warwick and Lancaster, refused to sanction the campaign and instead have remained in the north with sizeable armies, acutely aware that a victory could cement Edward's dominance... But defeat could break his influence completely.

The outcome was the latter. The King of England fought like a lion, but nonetheless was forced to flee south with five hundred knights, seeking sanctuary at Dunbar Castle whilst English Scotland crumbles into the hands of Bruce. The King's close supporter and nephew Gilbert de Clare lies dead, with many others captured by the Scots. Lancaster lurks in his fortress of Dunstanburgh, and surely word will soon reach him that now the King of England is more vulnerable than ever, the sympathy that he gathered after Gaveston's murder evaporated in the face of such a humiliating defeat.

List of those present at Bannockburn:

Edward II - Free Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester - Dead Henry Beaumont, Baron Beaumont - Captured Ralph de Monthermer, Baron Monthermer - Captured Hugh le Despencer, Baron le Despencer - Free Hugh le Despencer the Younger - Free Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford - Captured Roger Mortimer, Baron Mortimer - Captured John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey - Free Thomas de Berkeley, Baron Berkeley - Captured Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford - Captured Marmaduke Thweng, Baron Thweng - Captured