Editing Battle of Bannockburn (section)

==Prelude==
[[File:Peers and commoners fighting - The Holkham Bible Picture Book (c.1320-1330), f.40 - BL Add MS 47682.jpg|thumb|[[Holkham Bible]], c. 1330: Depiction of a biblical battle, giving an impression of how soldiers were equipped at Bannockburn.]]
On the morning of 23 June 1314 it was still not certain if a battle was going to take place. The armies were still eight miles apart, giving [[Robert the Bruce|King Robert the Bruce]] enough time to decide whether to move northwards beyond the Forth or westwards up the river into a district of mosses and hills.<ref name=":0">{{Citation |last=Brown |first=Michael |title=The Bannockburn War (1307–13) |date=2008-07-02 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9780748633326.003.0003 |work=Bannockburn |pages=24–47 |access-date=2022-03-16 |publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]] |doi=10.3366/edinburgh/9780748633326.003.0003 |isbn=978-0748633326}}</ref> Robert knew that the latter decision would influence the plans of Edward II and his lords. Given the declared objective and the advancing march the previous week, it was obvious that the English would continue their advance on Stirling.<ref name=":0"/> In an effort to "rescue" Stirling, Edward II continued to hurry his troops: they marched seventy miles in one week. Many historians criticise Edward II for this move, as he was not acting as a leader of a well-trained army but was instead acting like a pilgrim. This bad decision-making by Edward II led to horses, horsemen, and infantry becoming extremely worn out with toil and hunger.<ref name=":0"/>

Now Edward II was within reach of Stirling. Edward II and his advisors began to make plans for the upcoming battle. Edward and his advisors knew the places where the Scots were likely to challenge them, and sent orders for their troops to prepare for an enemy established in boggy ground near the [[River Forth]], near Stirling.<ref name="Black"/> The English appear to have advanced in four divisions. The Scots assembled defensive formations known as [[schiltron]]s, which were strong defensive squares of men with pikes.<ref name="Black"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Barrow |first=Geoffrey W. S. |title=Robert Bruce and the Community of Realm of Scotland |date=1988 |publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]] |pages=225–229}}</ref> [[Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray]], commanded the Scottish [[Vanguard (military tactics)|vanguard]], which was stationed about a mile south of Stirling, near the church of St. Ninian, while the king commanded the rearguard at the entrance to the New Park. His brother Edward led the third division. The fourth division was nominally under the youthful [[Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland|Walter the Steward]], but actually under the command of [[James Douglas, Lord of Douglas|Sir James Douglas]].<ref>Nicholson, Later Middle Ages pp. 87–89</ref> The Scottish archers used yew-stave longbows and, while these were equal to English longbows in strength, there were probably fewer Scottish archers,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strickland |first1=Matthew |title=The Great Warbow |last2=Hardy |first2=Robert |publisher=Sutton |year=2005 |isbn=0750931671 |location=Stroud |page=162}}</ref> possibly only 500 although there is no evidence as to their number. These archers played little part in the battle.<ref>The Chronicle of Lanercost says that, on the second day of the battle, "''the English archers were thrown forward before the line, and the Scottish archers engaged them, a few being killed and wounded on either side; but the King of England's archers quickly put the others to flight.''" The Chronicle of Lanercost, 1272–1346: Translated, with notes by Sir [[Herbert Maxwell]]. p. 206</ref> There is first-hand evidence in a poem, written just after the battle by the captured [[Carmelite]] friar Robert Baston, that one or both sides employed slingers and crossbowmen.<ref>[[Walter Bower]], ''Scotichronicon'', Book XII, p. 371</ref>