Sir Henry Percy, nicknamed Hotspur or Harry Hotspur, was an English knight who fought in several campaigns against the Scots in the northern border and against the French during the Hundred Years' War. The nickname "Hotspur" was given to him by the Scots as a tribute to his speed in advance and readiness to attack. The heir to a leading noble family in northern England, Hotspur was one of the earliest and prime movers behind the deposition of King Richard II in favour of Henry Bolingbroke in 1399. He later fell out with the new regime and rebelled, and was slain at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 at the height of his fame.
Robert II was King of Scots from 1371 to his death in 1390. The son of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, and Marjorie, daughter of King Robert the Bruce, he was the first monarch of the House of Stewart. Upon the death of his uncle David II, Robert succeeded to the throne.
Sir James Douglas was a Scottish knight and feudal lord. He was one of the chief commanders during the Wars of Scottish Independence.
"The Ballad of Chevy Chase" is an English ballad, catalogued as Child Ballad 162. There are two extant ballads under this title, both of which narrate the same story. As ballads existed within oral tradition before being written down, other versions of this once-popular song also may have existed.
Sir James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas and Mar was an influential and powerful magnate in the Kingdom of Scotland.
This page is concerned with the holders of the forfeit title Earl of Douglas and the preceding feudal barons of Douglas, South Lanarkshire. The title was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1358 for William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, son of Sir Archibald Douglas, Guardian of Scotland. The Earldom was forfeited by James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas, in 1455.
The First War of Scottish Independence was the first of a series of wars between English and Scottish forces. It lasted from the English invasion of Scotland in 1296 until the de jure restoration of Scottish independence with the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton in 1328. De facto independence was established in 1314 at the Battle of Bannockburn. The wars were caused by the attempts of the English kings to establish their authority over Scotland while Scots fought to keep English rule and authority out of Scotland.
The Battle of Holmedon Hill or Battle of Homildon Hill was a conflict between English and Scottish armies on 14 September 1402 in Northumberland, England. The battle was recounted in William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1. Although Humbleton Hill is the modern name of the site, over the centuries it has been variously named Homildon, Hameldun, Holmedon, and Homilheugh.
Otterburn is a small village in Northumberland, England, 31 miles (50 km) northwest of Newcastle upon Tyne on the banks of the River Rede, near the confluence of the Otter Burn, from which the village derives its name. It lies within the Cheviot Hills about 16 miles (26 km) from the Scottish border. The parish of Otterburn is at the heart of Redesdale, a Northumbrian upland valley.
This timeline summarises significant events in the history of Northumbria and Northumberland.
Archibald Douglas, Earl of Douglas and Wigtown, Lord of Galloway, Douglas and Bothwell, called Archibald the Grim or Black Archibald, was a late medieval Scottish nobleman. Archibald was the illegitimate son of Sir James "the Black" Douglas, Robert the Bruce's trusted lieutenant, and an unknown mother. A first cousin of William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, he inherited the earldom of Douglas and its entailed estates as the third earl following the death without legitimate issue of James, 2nd Earl of Douglas at the Battle of Otterburn.
Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas, Duke of Touraine, was a Scottish nobleman and warlord. He is sometimes given the epithet "Tyneman", but this may be a reference to his great-uncle Sir Archibald Douglas.
The Battle of Boroughmuir was fought on 30 July 1335 between Guy, Count of Namur, a cousin of Queen Philippa of England, and John Randolph, 3rd Earl of Moray and Guardian of Scotland. Namur was on his way to join Edward III on his invasion of Scotland, when he was intercepted on the common grazing ground to the south of Edinburgh – the Borough Muir. The fighting continued into the city itself, and concluded in a desperate struggle in the ruins of the old castle. Randolph was victorious in a fight which forms a small part of the Second War of Scottish Independence.
Sir William Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale, also known as the Knight of Liddesdale and the Flower of Chivalry, was a Scottish nobleman and soldier active during the Second War of Scottish Independence.
"The Battle of Otterburn" is a Scottish ballad, catalogued as Child Ballad 161, Roud 3293. It is an account of the Scottish victory at the Battle of Otterburn in 1388. This battle also inspired "The Ballad of Chevy Chase", an English version, but the Scottish version is more historically accurate.
The Battle of Sark, alternatively called the Battle of Lochmaben Stone, was fought between England and Scotland in October 1448. A large battle, it was the first significant Scottish victory over the English in over half a century, since the Battle of Otterburn in 1388. It placed the Scots in a position of strength against the English for over a decade, until Edward IV ascended the English throne, and it brought the powerful Douglas family to even greater prominence in Scotland.
Otterburn Tower is a Grade II listed castellated, three star country house hotel in Otterburn, Northumberland. It is set in 32 acres (13 ha) of deer park and woodland in the Northumberland National Park in northeastern England. Founded by a cousin of William the Conqueror in 1086, it was later owned by the Clan Hall, before being rebuilt in 1830 by Thomas James, a magistrate, on the site and using some of the stones from Otterburn Castle. Nearby Otterburn Hall was built in 1870 on land given to a Lord Douglas as recompense for the death of his ancestor James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas in the Battle of Otterburn.
Sir Robert de Umfraville KG, Lord of Redesdale was a knight in late-medieval England who took part in the later stages of the Hundred Years' War, particularly against Scotland. The de Umfraville family had been influential in northeast England for centuries and also held major estates in Yorkshire. His ancestors were mormaers of Angus, and his nephew married into the Percies, a powerful local marcher family with whom de Umfraville was closely associated. Much of Sir Robert's career continued on the same path as his ancestors, being primarily focused on defending the border with Scotland, which had been in a state of near-permanent warfare since the late thirteenth century.
Sir James (de) Lindsay, 9th Lord of Crawford, Knight Banneret, Lord of Crawford, Kirkmichael, Wigton, Symontoun, and of many other baronies, claiming also to be Lord of Buchan, was a Scottish feudal lord.
Sir Thomas Umfraville (c1362-1391) was an English landowner, soldier, administrator, diplomat, and politician who sat in the Parliament of England as member for Northumberland in 1388 and 1390 and also served as High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1388.
