Editing Battle of Bannockburn (section)

=== Importance ===
This battle was an attempt by Robert the Bruce to legitimise his kingship through combat. An article by Medieval Warfare states, "Robert Bruce, King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329 aged around 55, was no stranger to the battlefield. He waged war to wear down his Scottish opponents and the English regime in Scotland, culminating in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, to legitimise his kingship and free his kingdom."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2017 |title=The faces of Robert the Bruce |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/48578072 |journal=Medieval Warfare |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=4–5 |jstor=48578072 |issn=2211-5129 |access-date=3 May 2022 |archive-date=2 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502062249/https://www.jstor.org/stable/48578072 |url-status=live }}</ref> It was a battle that Robert the Bruce hoped would confirm his place on the throne of Scotland and force Edward II to recognize him King. Bruce also faced internal struggles for the crown of Scotland among the "Balliols, Bruces, and the Scottish political nation in a decades-long contest for the crown."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cramsie |first=John |date=2011-06-01 |title='Bannockburn: The Triumph of Robert the Bruce'. By David Cornell. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2009. pp. 320.) |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6563.2011.00294_47.x |journal=The Historian |volume=73 |issue=2 |pages=378–379 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6563.2011.00294_47.x |s2cid=142588139 |issn=0018-2370}}</ref>  As stated by W. M. Mackenzie, "The victory at Bannockburn is of more than national interest and had other results than those immediately affecting Scotland. With Falkirk and Courtrai (1302), where the flemish footman shattered the chivalry of France—and more than either of these it initiated the change which was to come over the mediaeval art of war, in demonstrating the superiority of infantry properly handled to the mounted [[men-at-arms]] upon whom the entire stress of fighting had hitherto been laid. The defeated were quick to learn their lesson and apply it in their own way.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=MacKenzie |first=W. M. |date=1910 |title=The Real Bannockburn, June 23–24, 1314 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44897746 |journal=Transactions of the Glasgow Archaeological Society |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=80–102 |jstor=44897746 |issn=2398-5755 |access-date=3 May 2022 |archive-date=2 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502062251/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44897746 |url-status=live }}</ref> This shows the sheer importance of the Scottish spearman on the European stage as many countries began to adapt to this infantry dominated medieval battleground. They were moving away from cavalry and more towards the domination of the foot soldier. Another aspect is that this battle was for the rights to Stirling Castle essentially. Robert the Bruce did not want to give the castle up to the English as it was a major staging point. This is supported by Herbert Maxwell who stated that "Bruce's position was taken up to bar King Edwards access to Stirling."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Maxwell |first=Herbert |author-link=Sir Herbert Maxwell, 7th Baronet |date=1914 |title=The Battle of Bannockburn |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25518682 |journal=The Scottish Historical Review |volume=11 |issue=43 |pages=233–251 |issn=0036-9241 |jstor=25518682 |access-date=3 May 2022 |archive-date=2 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502165801/https://www.jstor.org/stable/25518682 |url-status=live }}</ref>