The news of Henry VI’s sudden death arrived in Edinburgh not
more than a week after it occurred; the news that two men were claiming the English
throne came a few days after that. James
II, who at the age of 22 had already ruled Scotland for 16 years, could see the
potential that the quickly developing succession crisis had for Scottish
interests along the border with England.
However, James also had to contend with the fact that he himself was
dealing with an intense family feud between the so called “black line” of Clan
Douglas and the royal house of Stewart.
The feud had been escalating in intensity since the 1440s during the
minority of James and evolved into an intermittent civil war in 1452 when James
personally stabbed William Douglas, the 8th Earl of Douglas, in
Stirling Castle. But as of last August
1453, only clans allied to the Black Douglas, as they were called, or loyal to
the Stewarts had clashed with James Douglas, the 9th Earl of
Douglas, and his brothers not openly challenging James nor he openly
challenging his enemies.
Throughout the fall of 1453, James
and the Scottish nobles looked on as the English nobility divided between York
and Beaufort or stayed neutral. Then in
early November reports came to Edinburgh that Fauconberg had left Roxburgh
Castle with at least half the castle’s garrison headed for Berwick. Instantly the King thought of taking one of the
last English possessions on Scottish soil and started to gather troops from
those loyal to him. As it turned out so
where the Black Douglas and for a while James though he might face open combat
with his rivals until George Douglas, the 4th Earl of Angus, of the “red-line”
of Clan Douglas acted as an intermediary between his cousins the King and the
Black Douglas along with their allies to temporarily set aside their issues for
the good of the kingdom.
This temporary accord came just after
news of the Battle of Durham drifted up from the English border along with
reports that Fauconberg had taken half of the garrison of Berwick on his way to
the battle. On the heel of this news
came the survivors from the Percy force including Henry Percy, the eldest son
and heir of the 2nd Earl of Northumberland, plus his brothers
seeking a haven now that the North had all but fallen to the Nevilles in
support of York. The Percys were hereditary
foes of the Douglases, however James allowed them to stay in Scotland but
sequestered them away from the border for the time being. In the meantime, James and the Douglases
started to organize a force for the vulnerable English possessions giving the
command to the Angus as he was at that time a neutral party in the bitter
family feud.
In late January 1454, after
following the flow of events in England, a small Scottish army led by Angus
quickly took the lightly defended Berwick.
Angus left a garrison to defend the newly conquered city and lead the
army to besiege Roxburgh Castle.
However, Fauconberg before he had left provisioned the strategic
stronghold so well that the light garrison that he had left would be able to
withstand a siege for a long time. It
did not take Angus long to realize that even before he had campaigned that
Fauconberg had practicably gotten the best of him. As news came of Richard’s victory at
Bosworth, Angus knew that a now unified England would send a relief force soon
and started to double his effects in taking Roxburgh. However, the fragile coalition between forces
loyal to James and those to the Black Douglas was breaking apart and with it
the cohesion of the Scottish army. When
news arrived that Fauconberg was leading a relief force into northern England,
Angus attempted to pressure the Roxburgh garrison even more, however Black
Douglas’ allies refused and marched to meet the English. Fauconberg crushed the splinter force before
maneuvering between Roxburgh and Berwick making Angus choose between facing the
oncoming English with a garrison behind him without support from Berwick or
retreat leaving Berwick to a siege itself.
When Fauconberg arrived at Roxburgh in late April, Angus had long since
left.
After reinforcing the Roxburgh garrison, Fauconberg went to
besiege Berwick. James along with many
of the nobles and clans were angry of the betrayal of the Black Douglas’ allies
at Roxburgh forcing Angus to retreat. In
fact during the siege of Berwick, the Stewart loyalists and the Black Douglas’
allies were at each other’s throats on the verge of fighting a civil war inside
while enemy troops waited outside. Then
as Fauconberg got reinforcements, the Black Douglas’ allies let the English
into the city but in doing so the Stewart loyalists forced their way through
their countrymen to a ship that had arrived at the town and sailed away. The ship arrived in Edinburgh a few days
later and the Stewart loyalists talked about what happened at Berwick. Although some of the Black Douglas’ allies tried
to refute the accusations, the events around Roxburgh had already set the stage
for more nobles and clans once allied to the Black Douglas started to turn to
James. It didn’t hurt the King that he
was also using patronage, titles, and offices to pick off other Black Douglas
allies as well.
As Richard settled into his reign in England, James had to
considering the English exiles in his country.
Besides the Percy brothers and other nobles that had fled after Durham,
James had allowed Oxford and Edmund Beaufort to stay in Scotland upon their
arrival after fleeing from Bosworth. The
news of attainders, fines, and death warrants from England worried the exiles
however James thought they could be of use against the Black Douglas. He allowed the Percys to travel freely within
the country though they and the other English exiles preferred to stay around
Edinburgh with Edmund Beaufort acting as head of a court-in-exile. The welcoming and harboring of the English
exiles did nothing to improve relations with the new King of England; however
James knew his rival Douglas would not find a friend in Richard due to the Douglases
being hereditary foes with Nevilles just like they were with the Percys.
