Capture of Berwick ( 1482 ) Berwick upon Tweed and its castle were captured by the English in 1482 during the Anglo - Scottish Wars . By the Treaty of Fotheringhay , 11 June 1482 , Alexander Stewart , Duke of Albany , the brother of James III of Scotland declared himself King of Scotland and swore loyalty to Edward IV of England . The follow - up invasion of Scotland failed to install Albany on the throne , but the border town of Berwick upon Tweed has remained English ever since the castle surrendered on 24 August 1482 . The English army left Edinburgh with a promise for the repayment of the dowry paid for the marriage Princess Cecily of England to the Scottish Prince . The treaty . Edward IV was disappointed by the failure of his 1474 treaty with James III who had promised that his son , Prince James would marry Cecily of York . The betrothal was made in October 1474 with a forty - five year truce to last until 1519 . Her dowry payments were to be made yearly on 3 February in Edinburgh , brought by Edward ' s servants from Norham Castle , and a meeting was to be held to resolve the dispute over the ' fish - garth , ' a salmon trap on the Esk . Since February 1475 , Edward ' s officers had delivered installments of Cecilia ' s 20 , 000 mark dowry to James ' s treasurer in St Giles , Edinburgh . However , border conflict had restarted in 1480 , perhaps due to Scotland ' s Auld Alliance with France . According to a chronicle , the Earl of Angus had attacked Bamburgh Castle , and the Earl of Northumberland had raided in Scotland . By October 1480 , James III had written to Louis XI of France asking for guns and artillerymen to repulse further attacks . Eleven ships were put on war - footing for Scotland in February 1481 and Sir Robert Radcliffe was commanded to arm a fleet with guns and gunners on 8 July . These ships made raids in Forth , attacking Blackness Castle and harassing shipping in the spring and autumn of 1481 . There does not seem to have a land based invasion of Scotland , but there were three raids into England by a Scottish army in that year . Edward IV had made invasion preparations and began to travel north , but went no further than Nottingham . In May 1482 James III ' s brother , Alexander , Duke of Albany landed in England at Southampton from France in a Scottish carvel , the " Michael " , captained by James Douglas . Edward IV seized this new opportunity to invade Scotland , hired Master Douglas and his ship on 9 May , and summoned fighting - men for the cause of the " king of Scotland " on 10 May . Edward IV , Albany and Richard , Duke of Gloucester made a formal treaty at Fotheringhay Castle near Peterborough , where Mary , Queen of Scots was imprisoned and executed a century later . According to the Fotheringhay treaty , Alexander , if he became King of Scotland , would reserve to Edward IV the town of Berwick upon Tweed , Lochmaben Castle with land in southern Scotland in Annandale , Liddesdale , Eskdale and Ewesdale . He would do homage to Edward IV and break the Auld Alliance with France . If he could extract himself from other engagements in the sight of the Church , he would marry Princess Cecilia of England . He had already married Anne de la Tour , the daughter of the Count of Auvergne and Bouillon in January . On 11 June 1482 , Albany signed " Alexander R . , " for Alexander , Rex . The invasion . Edward IV had been preparing an army of 20 , 000 men to invade Scotland by sea and land , and on 12 June 1482 Richard , Duke of Gloucester was made commander , with John Elrington appointed war - treasurer on 22 June . One of his officers , Francis Lovell , had his orders before 24 June 1482 , as he wrote that he could not travel south from Tanfield near Durham for the feast of John the Baptist as he had a command in Gloucester ' s army . Equipped with 2 , 000 sheaves of arrows and ordnance brought from Newcastle upon Tyne by 120 cart horses , Gloucester and Albany recaptured Berwick . The town had been in Scottish hands for the previous twenty years after the Lancastrian fugitives Henry VI of England , and his wife Margaret of Anjou gave it to James , and was held by David Lindsay , Earl of Crawford and Andrew , Lord Gray . They surrendered by negotiation , although the castle held out for Scotland . Lauder Bridge . The English army moved west from Berwick and divided into two . The Earl of Northumberland stayed on the Scottish border taking castles and bastle house s and burning farms at Kirk Yetholm , Bemersyde , Morebattle , Roxburgh , Jedburgh , Ednam and other places . Richard , Duke of Gloucester also moved west to Kimmerghame with the support of James , Earl of Douglas but near Duns turned north - west to Edinburgh . The Scottish army of James III got no further south than Lauder Bridge , to the west of Gloucester ' s route , where there was some kind of mutiny involving Archibald , Earl of Angus . The exact events at Lauder are unclear , but chronicles relate that some of the king ' s favourites including the architect Cochrane were hanged from the bridge . James III was brought back to Edinburgh on 22 July 1482 . There were now three clear factions in Scotland ; Albany ' s party , the loyalists , and the Lauder mutineers . The Queen at Stirling with Prince James may also have had independent influence . A London merchant , George Cely , wrote a letter with exaggerated news of the campaign in July ; " the Dewke of Albany ys comyn ynto Ynglond and he has sworne to Kyngys good grace , and the King hasse sent hym ynto Scottland wyth 60 , 000 men yn iii battelles and many lordys of Ynglond wyth hym , . . . Wythyn an monyth ther hasse ben about 44 townus and velagys brent en Scottlond and many lordys takyn and slayne , Donfryss ys brent . " Richard , Duke of Gloucester at Edinburgh . At the beginning of August Richard ' s army entered Edinburgh but he could not establish Albany as King . James III remained safe in Edinburgh Castle apparently as a prisoner of the lords who had mutinied at Lauder , although he had secretly contracted with the Keeper Lord Darnley and the garrison for his safety . Richard , not having expected to meet this coup d ' état , did not have resources to besiege the castle . As the details of treaty became known , vital Scottish support for Albany as king evaporated . Albany , his brother ' s party , and the keepers of the castle were reconciled . On 2 August Albany and Gloucester signed a bond with Colin , Earl of Argyll , Archbisbop Scheves , Lord Avandale , and the Bishop of Dunkeld which promised a pardon for Albany and the restoration of his previous dignities . The English army made a truce on 4 August 1482 and withdrew with an undertaking from the town of Edinburgh to repay an advance on Cecilia ' s dowry which Edward had given to James III . The money had been paid as James III had previously promised his son Prince James would marry Cecilia . Albany was left to take possession of Edinburgh Castle and become for a time his brother ' s keeper . Gloucester left 1 , 700 men to assault Berwick Castle on 11 August and the castle was captured after a fortnight ' s siege . Edward IV wrote to Pope Sixtus IV on 25 August describing the campaign in Scotland , explaining that Richard had spared all the citizens of Edinburgh , helped by the intercession of Albany , who was restored to his estates by the power of the English army . Edward explained that the taking of Berwick was the chief advantage he had gained . Berwick Castle , Edward writes , was taken on the army ' s return , not without slaughter and bloodshed . This letter was written before news of surrender of the castle could have reached him , according to the date 24 August given in the chronicles of Raphael Holinshed , John Lesley , and Edward Hall . A number of English soldiers were knighted at Berwick on 22 August , and the 70 knights made on 24 August 1482 marked the conclusion of the campaign . Siege of Edinburgh Castle . After Gloucester ' s departure , Albany seems from the chronicle stories to have looked for supporters for his faction , possibly including discussions with the Queen Margaret of Denmark at Stirling Castle , then besieged Edinburgh Castle . James III came out on 29 September , but Lord Darnley , who had joined James ' s party , held it in defence till 7 October . The historian Norman Macdougall supposed that James III came out of the castle after Albany made a deal with his half - uncles and rebels at Lauder , John Stewart , Earl of Atholl and James Stewart , Earl of Buchan . James wrote an official letter to Lord Darnley on 19 October which confirmed that he was brought from Lauder and held in the castle against his will . The letter exonerated the garrison from any censure . Darnley , James III wrote , had made a compact with him for his safety , and held the castle against Albany ' s siege on James ' s orders . Aftermath . For some months Albany remained powerful in Scotland , and on 11 December 1482 , James III made him " Lieutenant - General of the realm " to defend the borders from English raids . When James III was restored to power , on 8 January 1483 he rewarded the Provost of Edinburgh Walter Bertrahame , who had underwritten the bond to repay Cecilia ' s dowry while the King was captive and warded in Edinburgh Castle , with a pension of £40 . He also paid bills from July for minting an unpopular base - metal copper " black money " coinage and £214 for iron used for making serpentines and other guns , and arranged for the repayment of money seized from George Robison , the customs officer of Edinburgh , at Lauder . Albany went to Dunbar Castle and renewed his treaty with Edward IV in February 1483 . The new treaty was made at Westminster by Henry Earl of Northumberland , John Lord Scrope and William Parr with the Earl of Angus , Andrew Lord Grey and James Liddale of Halkerston . This had the unintended effect of strengthening home support for his elder brother . Albany was forfeited as a traitor by the Parliament of Scotland in June 1483 , for making this new treaty , not for the events of the previous summer . After a period of exile , joined with the Earl of Douglas , his next attempt in Scotland was defeated at the Battle of Lochmaben Fair . In England the boast " I was a captain when Barwycke was wonne " became a commonplace saying and was included in the Eton headmaster William Horman ' s 1519 Latin phrasebook " Vulgaria " as " Duxi ordinē qň Berwikũ venit in potestē . " The Scottish chronicles and Berwick Castle . The sixteenth century Scottish chronicles present a differing story . All accounts emphasise the coinage of the " black metal " currency and its devaluation as major factor in the King ' s unpopularity at Lauder , along with his favouritism of non - noble upstarts . Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie , probably writing in the 1570s , misunderstands the Treaty of Fotheringhay and presents Albany as his brother ' s rescuer after the coup at Lauder Bridge , seeking English support at the King ' s request . After Gloucester comes to Edinburgh and James III is released , the royal brothers ride together from the Castle to Holyroodhouse . Then Pitscottie has the brothers and the Duke of Gloucester travel to Stirling and tour Scotland . This may represent Albany ' s labours to build his faction while James III remained in Edinburgh Castle after Gloucester ' s departure . The idea that Albany brought an army to rescue his brother appears in the brief chronicle written by the Jedburgh monk Adam Abell in the 1530s . The historian Norman Macdougall supposed the sixteenth century writers were influenced by later stories which praised the Albany Stewarts and notes an apparently pro - Albany appendix to a manuscript of Andrew of Wyntoun ' s chronicle which omits Gloucester ' s invasion in 1482 . Another early narrative , a 1492 Italian life of Margaret of Denmark , possibly informed by the recollections of a Scottish student at Bologna , merely states that James III was imprisoned for a time after a period of unsatisfactory rule with the consent of his wife and brother . History which showed James III in a bad light and was positive about Albany may have been pleasing to the courtiers of James IV and Albany ' s son , John , Regent Albany . Macdougall calls this effect the " Albany legend , " which combined with the parliamentary record published by Robert Lekprevik in 1566 shaped the writings of these historians in the 1570s . Other records such as the valuable " golden charter " on 16 November 1482 by which James III rewarded the town of Edinburgh with the customs duties of Leith contributed to this legend . The charter recorded the loyal and hearty services of the whole community of Edinburgh " and Albany " in freeing him from Edinburgh castle . John Lesley , who knew of Alexander ' s pretension to be king in 1482 , has Gloucester take Berwick on his return to England after vigorous defence by Sir Patrick Hepburn of Dunsyre , Lord Hailes , and significant English casualties . An addition to the English Croyland Chronicle also records that Berwick Castle was taken by Gloucester on his return after " vast slaughter and bloodshed , " a phrase similar to that used by Edward IV in his letter to the Pope . George Buchanan has Albany at Lennoxlove camped with the English army in August and reconciled by the negotiation of Colin Campbell , Earl of Argyll , the Chancellor Andrew Stewart , and the Bishops of St Andrews and Dunblane . On 26 August , according to Buchanan , Berwick Castle , still held by Scotland separately from the town , was surrendered by negotiation in Edinburgh to England . The English writer Raphael Holinshed , who used Lesley as a source , understood that James III had gone to Lauder Bridge to meet his brother ' s invasion . He has Lord Stanley and Sir John Elrington , ( the English war treasurer ) , holding Berwick town while Gloucester went forward to Edinburgh and camped at Restalrig and Lord Hailes defended Berwick Castle . Holinshed and Lesley mention an English navy in the Forth , not mentioned by other writers , although a record of its armament survives . Holinshed adds that after his reconciliation Albany sent an army south to aid Lord Hailes at Berwick which reached Lammermuir , and like Lesley simply says 24 August was the date that Patrick Hepburn yielded the castle , as Hepburn knew there was little hope of relief because of the dissension in Scotland . The English chronicles : Hall ( 1542 ) , Grafton ( 1569 ) , Stow ( 1580 ) . The English chronicle of John Stow first published in 1580 adds more details . Edward IV , says Stow , invaded Scotland at Albany ' s request , " forgetting his oath , " and borrowing £5 , 000 from the City of London . The sum is less than the 8 , 000 marks or £5 , 333 of Cecilia ' s dowry received by James III . The army mustered at Alnwick at the start of July . There were three " battles " as mentioned in George Cely ' s newsletter . The vanguard was commanded by the Earl of Northumberland with Lord Scrope of Bolton , Sir John Middleton , Sir John Ditchfield , and 6 , 700 soldiers . Gloucester formed the middle section , with Albany , Francis Lovell , Lord Greystock , Sir Edward Woodville , and 5 , 800 men . Lord Neville followed with 3 , 000 ; Thomas , Lord Stanley on the right of the Duke with 4 , 000 ; Lord Fitzhugh , Sir William Parr and Sir James Harrington on the left with 2 , 000 ; while 1 , 000 men guarded the carriage of the ordnance . Stow and Richard Grafton called the keeper of Berwick Castle , Patrick Hepburn , " Earl of Bothwell , " a title he acquired in October 1488 . As Hepburn would not yield the castle , 4 , 000 troops were left to besiege it with Stanley , Parr , and the household treasurer , Sir John Elrington . On the way to Edinburgh the army burnt numerous towns and castles . Edward Hall ' s earlier " Chronicle " published in 1542 supplied the battle order and gave a list of some forty places burned by Gloucester en route and other places burned by the Earl of Northumberland ( who carried out a parallel campaign in the borders ) agreeing in number with Cely ' s newsletter . Richard Grafton in his " Chronicle at Large " published in 1569 has the same detail of the army as Hall , but like Cely states 44 towns were burnt . Much of Grafton ' s chronicle is taken from directly from Hall but his deviations are sometimes of interest . Hall has nothing to say about Lauder , and wrote that James III voluntarily enclosed himself in Edinburgh Castle , which coincides with the detail of Lord Darnley ' s secret contract . Stow says the Scottish army lay at Haddington , and Albany was reconciled with the lords much as described by George Buchanan , and made " Lieutenant - General of Scotland , " an appointment made or renewed in December . Hall ' s " Chronicle " has the army entering Edinburgh without any destruction at Albany ' s request , and issuing a public proclamation for James III in the castle , while the Scottish lords and army were at Haddington . After the reconciliation , Hall describes an indenture made at the English camp at Lennoxlove ( Lethington ) , just south of Haddington , on 3 August between Albany and Gloucester wherein Albany promised to deliver on his treaty at Fotheringhay despite his new agreement . Hall quotes the 4 August bond of the community of Edinburgh for the dowry repayment , Grafton has Albany direct the city of Edinburgh to make the bond after Berwick castle surrendered , but as in Hall , Grafton has the Garter Herald King at Arms return to Edinburgh on 23 October to request payment on the 4 August bond . The date is nearly correct ; Edward IV decided to abandon the marriage plan and redeem the bond and the Garter herald John Writhe came to Edinburgh on 26 October . On the herald ' s return Duke of Gloucester withdrew from Newcastle to Sheriff Hutton . Hall and Grafton continue that Albany only now let James III out of the Castle , after having previously besieged him there , though records show James III was released earlier . Soon after 4 August , in Hall ' s " Chronicle " , as in Holinshed and Lesley , as " Lieutenant - General of Scotland , " Albany summoned the army to relieve Berwick Castle to meet on 8 August at Cranshaws on the way to Duns , but told Gloucester it was a pretence . Gloucester declared that if Albany opposed him at Berwick , he would defend the besiegers or die in the attempt . However , the council of Scotland was reluctant to fight and instead drafted a surrender of Berwick Castle by treaty in Edinburgh on 24 August . When the document was sealed by both parties , which would be a couple of days later as Gloucester was now at Berwick or Alnwick , Berwick Castle was delivered straightaway , " incontinent , " to Lord Stanley . It is possible either that the castle fell to Stanley before Albany ' s negotiations with the council were completed and agreed by Gloucester , as Edward IV ' s letter to the Pope may suggest , or that Edward IV anticipated the castle would be taken by force when he wrote . Hall ' s 1542 chronicle , compiled using English historical materials , may be less affected by the " Albany legend " than the Scottish accounts and certainly shows Albany acting with duplicity , yet he concludes these events of 1482 with a lamentation of Albany ' s eventual fate , comparable with the Duke of Clarence , caused by the " prime envy " of James III against " his brother , the only organ and instrument by whom he obtained liberty and freedom , " which seems at odds with his own account of the invasion . Stow says when Berwick Castle was delivered to Stanley , Sir Thomas Molyneux of Haughton was knighted there as a banneret . Among the burnt places mentioned by Edward Hall , " Hooton " and " Heton Hall " must be the Hatton - Field , " Hoton feld besyde Berwyke " where Gloucester is said to have knighted Sir Ralph Assheton of Middleton as a banneret , and knighted Thomas , Lord Scrope of Masham and 26 others . These knights were made on 22 August , about the time of the surrender of Berwick Castle , and so Richard seems to have travelled back from Newcastle . The Earl of Northumberland is said to have knighted 18 men at the " mayne of Sefford , " Cessford in the Scottish Middle - march , during a previous campaign , on 22 August 1480 , or at the same time . A grand total of 70 knights and bannerets including Molyneux and Edward Stanley were made on 24 August which seems to mark the end of hostilities . The occasion on the 22 August may have prompted Edward ' s letter to the Pope . Stow concludes with the Duke of Gloucester returned to Sheriff Hutton and Edward IV rewarding the Mayor of London , William " Harriot , " and some of aldermen of the city with a feast and hunting at Waltham Forest . The feast appears in other chronicles of Edward IV as an example of his princely largesse , not connected with the Scottish expedition : the city loan of 5000 marks but not the Scottish expedition is mentioned under the year 1482 in Fabyan ' s chronicle . Stow ' s description of a city loan and reward are corroborated by surviving documents ; Edward IV ' s Garter King of Arms gave the bond from Edinburgh to William Heryot , Mayor of London on 11 October 1482 . Garter went to Edinburgh and contracted its payment with the city in the porch of St Giles ' Church on 27 October 1482 . External links . Primary sources Chronicles Secondary sources Fifteenth - Century Scotland : The War Measures of 1482 ' , in , " Florilegium " , vol . 25 ( 2008 ) : 127 - 49 ; journals . hil . unb . ca / index . php / flor / article / download / 14397 / 20215