Editing Berwick-upon-Tweed (section)

=== Disputed territory ===

Berwick's strategic position on the [[Anglo-Scottish border]] during centuries of war between the two nations and its relatively great wealth led to a succession of raids, sieges and takeovers. [[William I of Scotland]] invaded and attempted to capture northern England in 1173–74.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wormald |first=Jenny |author-link=Jenny Wormald |year=2005 |title=Scotland: A History |location=London |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-820615-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/scotland00jenn/page/46 46] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/scotland00jenn/page/46}}</ref> After his defeat in 1174, Berwick was ceded to [[Henry II of England]] under the [[Treaty of Falaise]], along with four other castles at [[Edinburgh]], [[Jedburgh]], [[Roxburgh]], and [[Stirling]], with the five castles to be garrisoned with English troops paid for at Scottish expense.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hallam |first=Elizabeth |year=1996 |title=The Plantagenet Encyclopedia: An Alphabetical Guide to 400 Years of English History |publisher=Crescent Books |isbn=978-0-517-14081-9 |page=29}}</ref> The Treaty of Falaise was annulled in 1189 when William paid [[Richard I of England]] 10,000 marks sterling to contribute towards the latter's [[Crusades|crusade]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Geldard |first=Ed |year=2009 |title=Northumberland Strongholds |publisher=Frances Lincoln |isbn=978-0-7112-2985-3 |page=58}}</ref>

Berwick had become a prosperous town by the middle of the 13th century. According to [[William Edington]], a bishop and chancellor of England, Berwick was "so populous and of such commercial importance that it might rightly be called another [[Alexandria]], whose riches were the sea and the water its walls".<ref>{{cite book |last=Robson |first=Eric |author-link=Eric Robson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AEOaUkge9DMC&q=the+border+line |title=The Border Line |location=London |publisher=[[Frances Lincoln Publishers]] |isbn=978-0711227163 |page=234 |date=March 2007 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 1291–92, Berwick was the site of [[Edward I of England]]'s arbitration in the [[Competitors for the Crown of Scotland|contest for the Scottish crown]] between [[John Balliol]] and [[Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale]].<ref name=dunbar116>{{cite book |last=Dunbar |first=Sir Archibald H., Bt. |author-link=Dunbar baronets#Dunbar of Northfield (10 April 1700) |year=1899 |title=Scottish Kings – A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005–1625 |url=https://archive.org/details/scottishkingsre00dunbuoft |location=Edinburgh |page=[https://archive.org/details/scottishkingsre00dunbuoft/page/116 116]}}</ref> The decision in favour of Balliol was pronounced in the Great Hall of [[Berwick Castle]] on 17 November 1292.<ref name=dunbar116/>
[[File:Berwick heyheydecay.net.jpg|thumb|Part of the [[Berwick town walls|town walls]]]]
In 1296, England went to war with [[France]], with which Scotland was in alliance. Balliol invaded England in response, sacking [[Cumberland]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Baker |first=Charles-Arnold |year=2001 |title=The Companion to British History |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-18583-7 |page=91}}</ref> Edward, in turn, invaded Scotland and [[Capture of Berwick (1296)|captured Berwick]], destroying much of the town and massacring the burgesses, merchants and artisans of the town.<ref>{{cite book |last=Barrow |first=G. W. S. |year=2005 |title=Robert Bruce and the community of the realm of Scotland |location=Edinburgh |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-74-862022-7 |page=92}}</ref>

Edward I went again to Berwick in August 1296 to [[Ragman Rolls|receive formal homage]] from some 2,000 Scottish nobles, after defeating the Scots at the [[Battle of Dunbar (1296)|Battle of Dunbar]] in April and forcing John Balliol to abdicate at [[Kincardine Castle, Mearns|Kincardine Castle]] the following July. At this time, work began on building the town walls (and rebuilding the earlier Castle); these fortifications were complete by 1318 and subsequently improved under Scottish rule. An arm of [[William Wallace]] was displayed at Berwick after his execution and quartering on 23 August 1305.

In 1314, [[Edward II of England]] mustered 25,000 men at Berwick, who later fought in the crushing defeat at the [[Battle of Bannockburn]]. Between 1315 and 1318, Scottish armies, sometimes with the help of Flemish and German [[privateer]]s, besieged and [[blockaded]] the town, finally [[Capture of Berwick (1318)|capturing]] it in April 1318.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rogers |first=Clifford J |year=2010 |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology |location=London |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-533403-6 |page=144}}</ref>

England [[Capture of Berwick (1333)|retook Berwick]] the day after the [[Battle of Halidon Hill]] in 1333.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rogers |first=Clifford J. |year=2010 |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology |location=London |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-533403-6 |page=145}}</ref> The Scots briefly took control of the town of Berwick (but not its castle) after a [[Sieges of Berwick (1355 and 1356)|siege in November 1355]], but were in turn besieged by the English, who retook the town in January 1356. In October 1357, a treaty was signed at Berwick by which the [[Parliament of Scotland|Scottish estates]] undertook to pay 100,000 marks as a ransom for [[David II of Scotland]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Watt |first=Donald ER |author-link=D. E. R. Watt |year=2000 |title=Medieval Church Councils in Scotland |location=London |publisher=[[T&T Clark]] |isbn=978-0-567-08731-7 |page=120}}</ref> who had been taken prisoner at the [[Battle of Neville's Cross]] on 17 October 1346. In 1461, Berwick was ceded back to Scotland by [[Margaret of Anjou]] on behalf of her husband, [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]], in return for help against the [[Yorkists]] during the [[Wars of the Roses]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Wagner |first=John |year=2001 |title=Encyclopedia of the War of the Roses |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediawars00wagn |url-access=limited |location=Santa Barbara |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=978-1-85109-358-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediawars00wagn/page/n67 28]}}</ref>

Robert Lauder of [[Edrington]] was put in charge of the castle. He was succeeded in 1474 by [[David Lindsay, 1st Duke of Montrose|David, Earl of Crawford]]. On 3 February 1478, [[Robert Lauder of the Bass]] and Edrington was again appointed Keeper of the castle, a position that he held until the final year of Scottish control, when [[Patrick Hepburn, 1st Lord Hailes|Patrick Hepburn]], 1st Lord Hailes, had possession.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

In 1482, Richard, [[Duke of Gloucester]] (later [[Richard III of England|Richard III]]) [[Capture of Berwick (1482)|recaptured the town]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Dobson |first=RB |year=1996 |title=Church and Society in the Medieval North of England |location=London |publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum]] |isbn=978-1-85285-120-0 |page=132}}</ref> [[Thomas Gower (marshal of Berwick)|Thomas Gower]] ({{floruit|1543–1577}}) was the English [[marshal]] of Berwick 1543-1552. The Scots did not accept this conquest evidenced by innumerable charters for at least two centuries after this date, but never regained control of the town.<ref name="Historic Manuscripts Commission 1902, p.225"/> over a little more than 400 years, Berwick had changed hands more than a dozen times.{{sfn|Pevsner|Richmond|Grundy|McCombie|1992|p=173}}