La presenza di alcuni Cavalieri del Tempio nella battaglia di Bannockburn(23-24 Giugno, 1314), al fianco del futuro Re di Scozia, durante la primaguerra d’indipendenza scozzese (1296–1328), non è sufficentementedocumentata. La relazione del leader della rivolta Robert I Bruce con ilTempio può essere suffragata dalle sue origini normanne e dalla legendalocale, per la quale secondo il desiderio di Robert, il suo cuore avrebbedovuto essere sepolto a Gerusalemme nella Chiesa del Santo Sepolcro. Nel1330 almeno cinque cavalieri s’imbarcarono per eseguire il desiderio diRobert. Durante il viaggio la comitiva fu bloccata da una crociata. Secondoleggende locali, uno dei cavalieri, portò il cuore in battaglia come talismano.Sembra che il cuore fu riportato in Scozia e sepolto nell’abbazia di Melrose.Bruce fu spesso in contrasto con l’eroe scozzese William WallaceBattle of Bannockburn (June 23 to 24, 1314) English version
Battle of Bannockburn (June 23 to 24, 1314)The presence of some Knights of the Temple at the Battle of Bannockburn (23-24 June 1314), alongside the future King of Scotland, during the First War of Scottish Independence (1296-1328), is not sufficiently documented.The report of the leaders of the revolt Robert The Bruce with the Temple can be supported by its Norman origins and legendalocale, for which according to the desire of Robert, his heart was to be buried in Jerusalem in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In 1330 at least five knights embarked to run the desire diRobert. During the trip the group was blocked by a crusade. According to local legends, one of the knights, brought the heart into battle as a talisman. It seems that the heart was returned to Scotland and buried in Melrose. Bruce was often at odds with the Scottish hero William Wallace
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bannockburn
The Battle of Bannockburn (Blàr Allt a’ Bhonnaich in Scottish Gaelic) (24 June 1314) was a significant Scottish victory in the Wars of Scottish Independence. It was one of the most decisive battles of the First War of Scottish Independence, and remains one of the iconic cornerstones in the history of Scotland.
Around Lent of 1314, Edward Bruce, brother of the Scottish King, began the siege of Stirling Castle, which was commanded by Sir Philip Mowbray. Unable to make any headway, Bruce agreed to a pact with Mowbray—if no relief came by midsummer 1314, the castle would surrender to Bruce. It was now two years since an English army had come to Scotland, and King Edward II of England had recently been on the verge of war with his barons after the murder of Piers Gaveston in the summer of 1312.
Stirling was of vital strategic importance and its loss would be a serious embarrassment to the English. The time allowed in the Bruce-Mowbray pact was ample for Edward to gather a powerful army. According to the historian and poet John Barbour, King Robert Brucerebuked the folly of his brother, even though Dundee had probably fallen to the Scots through a similar arrangement in 1312. Mowbray had a breathing space and looked forward to the summer of 1314. In England, Edward and his barons reached an uneasy peace and made ready.
Edward came to Scotland in the high summer of 1314 with the preliminary aim of relieving Stirling Castle: the real purpose, of course, was to find and destroy the Scottish army in the field, and thus end the war. England, for once, was largely united in this ambition, although some of Edward’s greatest magnates and former enemies, headed by his cousin, Thomas of Lancaster, did not attend in person, sending the minimum number of troops they were required to by feudal law.
Even so, the force that left Berwick-upon-Tweed on 17 June 1314 was impressive: it comprised between 2,000–3,000 horse and 16,000 foot. The precise size relative to the Scottish forces is unclear but estimates range from as much as at least two or three times the size of the army Bruce had been able to gather, to as little as only 50% larger.[10]
Edward was accompanied by many of the seasoned campaigners of the Scottish wars, headed by Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, and veterans like Henry de Beaumont and Robert de Clifford, 1st Baron de Clifford. The most irreconcilable of Bruce’s Scottish enemies also came: Ingram de Umfraville, a former Guardian of Scotland, and his kinsman the Earl of Angus, as well as others of the MacDougalls, MacCanns and Sir John Comyn of Badenoch, the only son of the Red Comyn, who was born and raised in England and was now returning to Scotland to avenge his father’s killing by Bruce at Greyfriars Kirk in Dumfries in 1306.
This was a grand feudal army, one of the last of its kind to leave England in the Middle Ages. King Robert awaited its arrival south of Stirling near the Bannock Burn in Scotland.
La battaglia di Bannockburn (23 giugno, 1314 – 24 giugno, 1314) fu una significativa vittoria scozzese durante la prima guerra di indipendenza scozzese (1296–1328). Lo scontro fu decisivo per le sorti del conflitto e produsse, come conseguenza, la restaurazione de facto dell’indipendenza della Scozia dall’Inghilterra, proclamata poi de jure, nel 1328, con la firma del trattato di Edimburgo-Northampton.Nel 1306 Robert Bruce, un nobile con diritti dinastici sul trono di Scozia, diede il via a una rivolta per riconquistare l’indipendenza scozzese, approfittando della debolezza del re inglese Edoardo II, da pochi anni succeduto al padre Edoardo I. Bruce iniziò con azioni di guerriglia contro le guarnigioni inglesi sparse per la Scozia, per poi, ottenuta l’incoronazione a Scone, iniziare ad occupare numerose città e castelli, giungendo ad occupare Edimburgo nel 1310. Nel 1314 Edoardo decise di intervenire, mentre Bruce assediava il castello di Stirling, e radunò un grande esercito nel Northumberland. Ma molti nobili inglesi rifiutarono di partecipare e inviarono solo piccoli contingenti, privando Edoardo II di forze di cavalleria, ma soprattutto di preziosi consiglieri. Con un esercito comunque imponente avanzò verso Stirling lungo un’antica strada romana.
Pare che la leva feudale e l’arruolamento di mercenari avessero fornito agli inglesi 2.000 cavalieri pesanti, 15.000 fanti, 10.000 arcieri, anche se le fonti parlano di contingenti, come quello irlandese, che non raggiunsero il sovrano in tempo utile, cosicché il numero effettivo di uomini schierati contro gli scozzesi era probabilmente inferiore alle 25.000 unità. In ogni caso, il re inglese in questa campagna si trovò al comando di un esercito di notevoli proporzioni, considerando l’epoca e il tipo di scacchiere operativo.
Visto che il momento e l’obiettivo dell’attacco inglese erano noti, Robert Bruce ebbe tutto l’agio di far convergere in un unico punto più uomini di quanti ne avesse mai avuti a disposizione, senza troppo preoccuparsi degli approvvigionamenti e dei limiti di durata della leva, che a quel tempo era quasi sempre limitata a pochi mesi. In totale ebbe a disposizione: 500 cavalieri leggeri, 6.000 picchieri delle highlands, 2.000 uomini delle highlands.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battaglia_di_Bannockburn
Di Massimo Agostini
photo courtesy by author