Revision 115629954 of "Benutzer:Merkið/Battle of Otterburn" on dewiki

{{more footnotes|date=August 2011}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Battle of Otterburn
|partof=Anglo-Scottish border conflicts

|image=[[Image:Otterburn Battle.jpg|300px|Battle of Otterburn]]
|caption=
|date=5 August or 19 August 1388
|place=1 mile northwest of [[Otterburn, Northumberland|Otterburn]], [[Northumberland]]
|result=Scottish victory
|combatant1= [[File:Royal Arms of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg|15px]] [[Kingdom of Scotland]]
|combatant2= [[File:Royal Arms of England (1340-1367).svg|15px]] [[Kingdom of England]]
|commander1= [[File:Blason Douglas-Mar.svg|15px]] [[James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas]]{{KIA}}
|commander2=[[Harry Hotspur|Henry "Hotspur" Percy]]
|strength1=around 2,900
|strength2=around 3,200
|casualties1=around 500
|casualties2=1,500 + killed, wounded, and captured
}}
{{Campaignbox Anglo-Scottish Wars}}
[[File:Pennon of James Douglas, Earl of Moray from Otterburn 001.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Pennon of James Douglas, Earl of Douglas.]]
[[File:Pennon of Sir Henry (Hotspur) Percy, Battle of Otterburn.jpg|thumb|150px|Captured Pennon of Hotspur|right]]
:''For the ballad see [[The Battle of Otterburn (ballad)]].''
'''The Battle of Otterburn''' took place according to Scottish sources on 5 August 1388,<ref>Tom Steel, ''Scotland's Story'', p 57, ISBN 0006370039.</ref><ref>''The Hundred Years' War'' by [[Anne Curry]], p 53, ISBN 1841762695.</ref> or 19 August according to English sources,<ref>''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'' by [[Francis James Child]], p 292, ISBN 0486431452.</ref><ref>''Border Fury, England and Scotland at War 1296–1568'' by [[John Sadler (historian)|John Sadler]], p 275, ISBN 1405840226.</ref>as part of the continuing border skirmishes between the [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scottish]] and [[Kingdom of England|English]].

The best remaining record of the battle is from [[Jean Froissart]]'s ''[[Froissart's Chronicles|Chronicles]]'' in which he claims to have interviewed veterans from both sides of the battle. His account is still regarded with some concern as details, such as the distance between [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] and [[Otterburn, Northumberland|Otterburn]], are incorrect.

The Scottish noble [[James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas|James, 2nd Earl of Douglas]] decided to lead a raid&mdash;one of a continuing series on both sides of the border&mdash;into English territory. It was timed to take advantage of divisions on the English side between [[Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland|Lord Neville]] and [[Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland]] who had just taken over defence of the border.

==The battle==
The Scots divided their forces with the main force and their [[baggage train]] heading towards [[City of Carlisle|Carlisle]] while a raiding party under the Earl of Douglas ravaged the countryside around [[Durham]] and Newcastle. Northumberland sent his two sons [[Harry Hotspur|Sir Henry Percy]] and Sir Ralph Percy to engage while he stayed at [[Alnwick]] to cut off the marauders' retreat.

Froissart says that the first fighting included a meeting of the Earl of Douglas and Henry Percy in hand to hand combat, in which Percy's [[pennon]] was captured. Douglas then moved off destroying the castle at [[Ponteland]] and besieging Otterburn Castle (now [[Otterburn Tower]]). Percy attacked Douglas's encampment with a surprise attack in the late afternoon but first encountered the Earl's serving men, giving the bulk of the forces time to muster and attack them on their flank. 

During the battle on a moon-lit night Douglas was killed and the Percys were both captured, with the remaining English force retreating to Newcastle. Despite Percy's force having an estimated three to one advantage over the Scots Froissart records 1040 English were captured and 1860 killed whereas 200 Scots were captured and 100 were killed.  The [[Westminster Chronicle]] estimates Scottish casualties at around 500.  When the [[Bishop of Durham]] advanced from Newcastle with 10,000 men he was so impressed by the ordered appearance of the Scottish force, the din they set up with their horns, and their seemingly unassailable position, that he declined to attack.

==Aftermath==
Such a decisive victory kept the two sides apart for some time. In 1402 Douglas's cousin, [[Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas|Archibald, 4th Earl of Douglas]], attempted to emulate his great victory and hopefully survive but the [[Battle of Humbleton Hill]] was almost an exact reverse of Otterburn and a great defeat for the Scots.

Of such renown was the battle of Otterburn that several [[ballad]]s were composed in its honour including ''The Battle of Otterburn'' and ''[[The Ballad of Chevy Chase]]'' ([[Child ballad]]s 161 and 162). Chevy Chase rather mangles the history of the battle and may be confusing other conflicts at around the same time but it is still cited as one of the best of the ancient ballads.

==Houses Involved in the Battle==
Some of the various Scottish Lowland Families involved in this battle were the [[Clan Swinton|Swintons]], [[Clan Johnstone|Johnstones]], [[Clan Graham|Grahams]], [[Clan Gordon|Gordons]], [[Clan Lindsay|Lindsays]], [[Clan Leslie|Leslies]] and [[Clan Montgomery|Montgomerys]].<ref>[http://www.google.com/books?id=139q7Wmb5vYC&pg=PA266&dq=Otterburn+johnston&ei=ChgyR9rsB4rM7QLcpeHFAQ Lean's Collection By Vincent Stuckey Lean p 266]</ref>

==References==
===Notes===
{{reflist|2}}

===Sources===
;Primary
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* Froissart, Jean, ''Chronicles'', 1903 ed.
* Hardyng, John, ''Chronicles'', 1812.
* ''Pluscarden, the Book of'', ed. F. H. Skene, 1880.
* ''The Westminster Chronicle, 1381-1394'', ed. and trans. by L. C. Hector and B. F. Harvey, 1982.
* Wyntoun, Andrew of, ''Origynal Chronicle of Scotland'', ed F. J. Amours, 1908.

;Secondary
* [http://archive.org/details/annalshouseperc00fonbgoog Fonblanque, E. B., ''Annals of the House of Percy'', London 1887.]
* Grant, A., ''The Otterburn War from a Scottish Point of View'', in War and  Border Societies in the Middle Ages, ed A. Goodman and A. Took, 1992.
* Robson, J., ''Border Battles and Battlefields'', 1897.
* Nigel Tranter, ''[[Historical novels by Nigel Tranter set between 1286-1603#Stewart_trilogy|The Stewart Trilogy]]'', Dunton Green, Sevenoaks, Kent : Coronet Books, 1986. ISBN 0-340-39115-4. ''Lords of Misrule, 1388-1396. A Folly of Princes, 1396-1402. The Captive Crown, 1402-1411''.
* Tyson, C, ''The Battle of Otterburn: When and Where was it Fought?,'' in War And Border Societies, see above.
* Walton, R. H., ''The Otterburn Story,'' in History of the Berwickshire Naturalist Club, vol. 35, 1961.
* Wesencraft, C. F., ''The Battle of Otterburn'', 1988.
* White, R. H., ''The History of the Battle of Otterburn'', 1857.

== External links ==
* [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=FroChro.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=4&division=div1 Froissart's account of the battle]
* {{mmukscaled|NY877936|25|Map sources}} for Percy's Cross which marks the battlefield
* [http://www.musicanet.org/robokopp/scottish/itfellab.htm  Version of the ballad ''The Battle of Otterburn'']
* [http://www.otterburntower.com Otterburn Tower - Northumbrian country house founded by a cousin of William the Conqueror in 1086]

{{coord|55.236|-2.195|type:event_region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(NY877936)|display=title}}<!-- Note: WGS84 lat/long, converted from OSGB36 grid ref -->

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otterburn, Battle of}}
[[Category:1388 in England]]
[[Category:1388 in Scotland]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1388]]
[[Category:Battles between England and Scotland]]
[[Category:Battles involving England|Otterburn]]
[[Category:Battles involving Scotland|Otterburn]]
[[Category:Military history of Northumberland|Otterburn]]
[[Category:House of Douglas and Angus|*Battle of Otterburn]]
[[Category:Registered historic battlefields in England|Otterburn]]
[[Category:Battles of the Middle Ages]]
[[Category:Otterburn, Northumberland]]