Battle of Boroughbridge The Battle of Boroughbridge was a battle fought on 16 March 1322 between a group of rebellious barons and King Edward II of England , near Boroughbridge , north - west of York . The culmination of a long period of antagonism between the king and Thomas , Earl of Lancaster , his most powerful subject , it resulted in Lancaster ' s defeat and execution . This allowed Edward to re - establish royal authority , and hold on to power for another five years . Not in itself a part of the Wars of Scottish Independence , the battle is significant for its employment of tactics learned in the Scottish wars in a domestic , English conflict . Both the extensive use of foot soldiers rather than cavalry , and the heavy impact caused by the longbow , represented significant steps in military developments . Background . Edward II was a weak and ineffectual king , and his reign was marked by military failure and internal strife . A great number of the barony turned against the king , and the leader of the opposition eventually became Thomas of Lancaster . Lancaster was Edward ' s cousin , and next to the king he was the richest man in the country . Through a set of regulations known as the Ordinances , Lancaster and his associates had been trying to put restrictions on royal authority , but by the late 1310s Edward was again in full control of central government . The situation was aggravated by the king ' s ostentatious patronage of his favourite , Hugh Despenser , and Hugh ' s father by the same name . In 1319 , the king and Lancaster fell out during a failed campaign against Scotland . The next year Lancaster refused to attend a parliament summoned by the king , and later the same year , Edward obtained papal absolution from his oath to follow the Ordinances . Meanwhile an inheritance dispute had broken out in the Welsh Marches between the Despensers and certain marcher lords , including Humphrey de Bohun , Earl of Hereford . Lancaster now took the initiative with the discontented . In 1321 he summoned two meetings of magnates , one at Lancaster ' s residence of Pontefract in March , and the other at Sherburn in June . The meetings consisted of northern and marcher lords , as well as Lancaster ' s own retainers , but little assistance was forthcoming from the northerners . The marcher rebellion , and the threat of civil war , forced the king to exile the younger Despenser , but the favourite was recalled within weeks . Edward now seized the initiative , and moved northwards . Lancaster convened one final meeting at Doncaster in November , and also entered into an alliance with Robert I of Scotland to strengthen his hand against the king . In January 1322 Edward crossed the River Severn , and secured the surrender of several of the marcher lords while Lancaster remained passive . The earl ' s most trusted retainer , Robert de Holland , then defected to the king , and as the royal army crossed the River Trent after the Battle of Burton Bridge , Lancaster was forced to flee north . On 16 March Lancaster and his army had reached Boroughbridge by the River Ure . There they were cut off by the forces of Sir Andrew Harclay , a veteran from the Scottish wars , who had gathered the levies from the counties of Cumberland and Westmorland . Battle . When Lancaster arrived at the town of Boroughbridge , Harclay was already in possession of the bridge crossing the river . The rebel forces counted probably no more than 700 knights and men - at - arms , against the 4 , 000 or so soldiers in the royal army . Lancaster initially tried to negotiate , but Harclay could not be swayed . Since there was no realistic alternative place to cross the river , and with the royal forces in pursuit from the south , the rebels had no choice but to fight . The ensuing battle was short and one - sided . Harclay had deployed his men on foot to hold the bridge from the northern side . Additional forces were placed at a nearby ford , though contemporary sources do not specify the exact location of this ford . The royal pikemen were deployed in a schiltron formation , a tactic learned from the Scots in the Scottish wars . The formation proved effective against the oncoming cavalry . The rebels divided into two columns ; one led by Hereford and Roger de Clifford , attacking the bridge on foot , the other under Lancaster , trying to cross the ford by horse . According to a graphic description in the chronicle the " Brut " , Hereford was killed as he crossed the bridge by a pikeman hiding underneath , who thrust his spear up through the earl ' s anus . Clifford was also severely injured , and that column of the army fell into disarray . Lancaster ' s party fared little better ; under heavy archery fire his cavalry was cut off before it even reached the ford , and forced to retreat . This event shows an early – if not entirely novel – effective use of the longbow against cavalry , a tactic which was to become central to future English military success . Lancaster negotiated a truce with Harclay , and withdrew to the town . During the night a great number of the rebels deserted , and the next day the sheriff of York arrived from the south with additional forces . Lancaster , now greatly outnumbered and with no chance of retreat , had no choice but to surrender to Harclay . Aftermath . Thomas of Lancaster was taken to Pontefract Castle , which by then had fallen to the king . There he was submitted to what was little more than a show trial , and – in front of a gathering of earls and barons – sentenced to death . On 22 March 1322 he was led out of the castle and beheaded in front of a jeering crowd . In the years to come , a cult emerged around the person of the late earl as a martyr , and even a possible saint . Lancaster had shown no signs of extraordinary piety or other personal abilities during his lifetime , and the cult has been interpreted as a reaction to the incompetent and oppressive reign of Edward II . Some thirty of Lancaster ' s followers were also executed , among these Clifford and the baron John Mowbray . As for Robert Holland , his defection saved him from execution , but his close association with Lancaster made him suspect in the eyes of the king , and he was imprisoned until 1327 . The very next year he was murdered ( by beheading ) , possibly by order of Henry , Thomas ' s brother and heir . Andrew Harclay was richly rewarded for his loyal and competent performance at Boroughbridge . On 15 March he was created Earl of Carlisle , and promised lands worth 1000 marks yearly . Yet Harclay , who had turned down Lancaster ' s overtures to join in the rebellion , was no great adherent of the king . As a warden of the Scottish Marches he grew constantly more frustrated with the king ' s idleness , and eventually negotiated a peace treaty with the Scots . This action on Harclay ' s part amounted to treason , and early in 1323 he was apprehended by the king ' s men , and hanged , drawn and quartered . As for Edward II himself , his dependence on the Despensers grew only deeper , and their transgressions more severe . In 1327 , his wife Isabella , together with her lover Roger Mortimer , staged a coup against the king . Edward II was deposed and his son , Edward III , succeeded in his place .