The Battles of Hastings & Byland, and the Trial of Mary, Queen of Scots
Today is a very special, three part extended episode. This will happen from time to time when a single date represents multiple events that are connected by a common thread of some sort.
Today is October 14, and on this date, some years back, three pivotal moments in the history of the British Isles occurred.
On This Date, 951 Years Back, in 1066, William the Conqueror won the Battle of Hastings.
The Norman Conquest of England is one of those rare touchstones of history that still affect most of the English speaking world (and by extension the cultural exports to the non-English speaking world) on a daily basis.
The Normans, inhabitants of the region of Normandy, France, were largely descended from Vikings, or Northmen, settlements in that area 250 years earlier. Charles the Simple, king of West Francia had given the land to the Norsemen on the condition that they stop sailing up the River Seine and raiding Paris, as well as protecting the river from other bands of invaders.
The Vikings thrived, and their culture adapted to their new home and neighbors. Over time, through many conquests, the borders of Normandy had spread, and they had consolidated quite a bit of wealth.
This, in conjunction with the death of the heir-less Edward the Confessor, King of England, paved the way for William’s Conquest of England.
Harold Goodwinson, Edward’s successor, immediately faced challengers to his rule. And won several battles against them, ensuring his place on the throne.
William the Conqueror waited for his moment, and gathered forces from all over France, not just Normandy. He assembled his army of roughly 10,000 men on the French coast, and built a fleet of ships throughout the summer. After various delays, some for weather, and other based on intelligence reports, the Normans finally sailed for England, landing in Pevensey on September 28.
They immediately constructed a wooden castle fort at Hastings which served as a base of operations as they raided nearby villages for supplies for the battles to come.
Harold Goodwinson marched his army straight for the Normans, wanting to quell the invasion quickly. The most accurate estimation of the size of Harold’s forces puts the number at around 7,500 men.
During the battle, which lasted the entire day of October 14, Harold Goodwinson was killed, and as a result, the English withdrew.
Victorious, William expected the other English nobles to submit to him, but instead a new English King, Edgar the Ætheling was proclaimed.
Thus the Battle of Hastings was merely the kickoff of the Norman Conquest, instead of a decisive event. Even so, William had taken the English throne by the end of the year.
Also On This Date, 695 Years Back, in 1322, Robert the Bruce won the Battle of Byland, a major victory in the First War for Scottish Independence.
For those of you who have seen Mel Gibson’s Braveheart, and tried to take historical lessons from it, I’m sorry but you need to forget everything you think you know. That film is a travesty. Secondly, Robert the Bruce, was the real Braveheart, a moniker given to him in the poem Heart of Bruce written by William Edmondstoune Aytoun.
Robert the Bruce was crowned the King of Scots in 1306, seven months after the execution of William Wallace, and three and a half months before the death of Edward the Longshanks.
Through the first eight years of Robert’s reign, he led a relentless guerrilla war against the English, avoiding meeting them for open battle at all costs. During this time he recaptured most of the English held castles in Scotland.
In 1314, Robert scored an overwhelming victory against the English, and their King Edward II, at Bannockburn. Following this battle, the emboldened Scots adopted more traditional methods of warfare, and the fight for independence continued.
The Battle of Old Byland occurred eight years later, and had little lasting effect aside from maintaining the status quo of the Scots winning against battles against a politically stronger enemy.
Scottish Independence would not become a legal and recognized reality until 1328. Edward III of England would invade Scotland again in 1333, kicking off the Second War of Scottish Independence.
Lastly, On This Date, 431 Years Back, in 1586, Mary Queen of Scots was put on trial for Treason against Queen Elizabeth I.
Mary (of the house Stuart), acceded to the throne six days after her birth, when her father James V died. Mary wed the crown prince of France in 1558, and reigned as Queen consort of France, for a year until his death left her a widow.
Four years later, she remarried, and two years after that she was widowed once again. Her third marriage produced an heir, James VI, and because of a popular uprising against her and her new husband, she was forced to abdicate the throne to her infant son.
She tried and failed to regain the throne, and fled south, seeking protection from England’s Queen Elizabeth I, her first cousin once removed.
The only problem with Mary’s plan was the fact that Elizabeth viewed her as a serious threat.
The reason for this perception, was that this was taking place a mere 39 years after the death of Henry VIII, who started the English Reformation. Catholicism, despite Henry’s establishment of the Anglican Church, was still very prominent throughout the England. Queen Elizabeth, like her father, favored Anglican Protestantism, whereas Mary was Catholic, and most of the Catholic population of England viewed her as the legitimate claimant to the English Crown.
Elizabeth feared Mary gaining popular support and mounting a challenge to her reign. As a result, Elizabeth did help Mary, but only insofar as harboring her in English castles, a sort of protective house arrest, where Elizabeth could maintain control over Mary, under the pretense of aiding her.
While in custody, several plans involving Mary were hatched, and discovered by Elizabeth’s interests. Some were marriage plans meant to empower Mary, others were plans for the overthrow of Elizabeth.
One such plan, known as the Throckmorton Plot in 1583 was an attempt by English Catholics to assassinate Elizabeth and replace her with Mary. Upon the plot’s failure, the Act for the Queen’s Safety was passed, giving the death penalty to those convicted of plotting against the Queen, regardless of the outcome.
In 1586, Mary was implicated in yet another plot, and placed on trial for treason under the Act for the Queen’s Safety.
Mary vehemently denied any wrong-doing, and even called into question the proceedings of the court itself as she had not been permitted to review the evidence used against her, and was given no legal counsel. Most importantly though, as an anointed Queen of Scotland, Mary was not, nor had ever been, an English subject. Simply put, a foreigner, by definition, cannot commit treason against a government they are not subject to. It’s a logical impossibility.
Nevertheless, Mary was convicted and sentenced to death. Only 1 out of the 36 commissioners presiding over her case voiced any dissent about the ruling. Elizabeth was slow to order her execution, believing that executing a foreign royal would set a bad precedent, and could potentially bring on unforeseen consequences of such an action.
Seeking a way out of this conundrum, Elizabeth asked the man overseeing Mary’s captivity if he could find a way to secretly shorten Mary’s life. The man refused, citing that he was not an executioner and did not want that weight on his conscience.
Elizabeth finally ordered Mary’s execution on February 1, 1587. On February 8, Mary, Queen of Scots, was not only executed, but desecrated as well. The axeman charged with removing her head missed his mark on the first strike, smashing the back of her head instead of severing her neck. On his second swing, he hit the neck, but failed to cut completely through it. A third strike completed the task.
He then lifted Mary’s head by it’s hair, only to learn that the hair was a wig when the head fell to the floor. Elizabeth denied Mary her wishes to be buried in France, and saw to it that she had a Protestant funeral rather than a Catholic one.
Thanks for reading, and be sure to check back tomorrow for an event so momentous it literally made certain days cease to exist.
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