4th Earl of Hertford & Essex Humphrey de Bohun VIII

• General Notes
  • Humphrey, 4th Earl of Hereford and 3rd Earl of Essex (1276-1322). He was one of the leaders that deposed King Edward II's favorite Piers Gaveston. He fought at the Battle of Bannockburn, where he was captured by the Scots. He was killed at the Battle of Boroughbridge, while leading another rebellion against the king. He married Elizabeth, daughter of King Edward I, and was succeeded by his second son John, 5th Earl of Hereford and 4th Earl of Essex.
    
    Battle of Bannockburn
    History -- Military history -- List of battles -- History of Scotland The Battle of Bannockburn (June 23-June 24, 1314) was a significant Scottish victory in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
    
    Battle of Bannockburn
    Dates of battle June 23-24 1314
    Conflict Wars of Scottish Independence
    Battle before Stirling Bridge
    Battle after Dupplin Moor
    Site of battle Bannockburn,
    south of Stirling
    Combatant 1 Scotland
    led by Robert the Bruce
    Forces about 9,000 men
    Combatant 2 England
    led by Edward II of England
    Forces 25,000 men
    result decisive Scottish victory
    
    
    Prelude
    Stirling Castle was besieged by the Scots in the spring of 1314. The commander at Stirling, Sir Philip Mowbray, agreed to surrender if a relieving force had not arrived by the end of June. On hearing of this agreement, Edward II of England organized a considerable force of possibly 25,000 men to head north. The army was mustered at Berwick-upon-Tweed before crossing the border at Coldstream and heading for Stirling.
    The battle
    On Sunday, June 23, the English force had reached the ford at Bannockburn, a few miles south of Stirling, where the Scottish force of maybe 9,000 was waiting for them under the command of Robert the Bruce. The Scots intended to fight in a narrow gap, relying on their disciplined schiltron to blunt the advantages of the English heavy cavalry. The actual battle spread over the few miles of poor ground between Bannock Burn and the River Forth.
    
    The battle was fought over two days and although the first encounters were relatively small compared to the major clash on the second day, its outcome dictated the strategically disastrous deposition of the English force, hemmed in on marshland between the Bannock Burn and the Pelstream Burn in the marshland leading down to the banks of the meandering River Forth. The Battle of Bannockburn was remembered by the English as "The Battle of the Pools".
    
    The first clash was between 500 English cavalry heading for Stirling and a force of Scottish infanty. The schiltrons proved their worth, the English charges were repulsed for little loss and the cavalry were forced to retire. At the same time there had been a number of skirmishes around the main force as the English crossed Bannock Burn to face up to the Scots, including the clash of the English Knight, Henry De Bohun (nephew of Humphrey de Bohun, the Earl of Hereford) and Robert the Bruce. De Bohun had seen the Bruce mounted on a pony in advance of the main Scottish force. Tilting his lance, De Bohun rode down on the solitary figure whose pony side-stepped the charging warhorse at the last moment while its rider dispatched the knight with a blow to his helmet with his battle axe. As daylight was fading after some further half-hearted skirmishes, the English withdrew to set up camp between Bannock Burn and the Pelstream Burn.
    
    The main battle occurred on June 24. The English advanced across the burn while the Scots waited in schiltrons. The first English cavalry charge was disorganised and costly, few knights managed to break through the schiltrons and they were quickly dispatched. The Scots then advanced, still in schiltrons, forcing the disorganised cavalry back into the English infantry still trying to join them across the burn. The fire from English archers fell on both English and Scots and before they could properly threaten the advancing Scottish infantry a sally of light cavalry drove the archers back. The English superiority of numbers hampered any attempts at rallying them as the Scottish force pressed the masses back towards the river. Edward II fled the field early, and after being denied entry to Stirling he went to Dunbar via Winchburgh and then by ship back to England.
    Aftermath
    The Scottish victory was complete and, although full English recognition of Scottish independence was not achieved until more than ten years later, Robert the Bruce was able to re-establish Scotland as a sovereign state mainly because of the events at Bannockburn.
    
    Each year the Scottish Nationalist movement, primarily the Scottish National Party commemorates the battle with a march to Bannockburn field from Stirling town centre. There then follows a laying of a wreath at the statue of Robert the Bruce and a rally.
    
    The Battle of Boroughbridge was a small but important battle in the conflicts between Edward II of England and his rebellious barons. The battle took place near at important bridge across the Wye called Boroughbridge, northwest of York.
    
    Early in 1322, king Edward took forces north in England to subdue his cousin Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. Lancaster was pushed further north, where he may have been hoping to join up with forces from Scotland. However on March 16, he found his way across the river Wye barred by forces of Sir Andrew Harclay. Sir Andrew used the infantry tactics which were later to prove so effective against the French at Crecy, and the rebels were defeated.
    
    Of the rebel leaders, Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, was killed, and the rest captured. The prisoners were later convicted of treason and executed.
    

Click here for details of Humphrey's family with Princess Elizabeth Plantagenet

¹ http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=arciek&id=I27542&style=TABLE
² http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jdp-fam&id=I5073
³ http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=jdp-fam&id=I9092&style=TABLE
Source/Citation The Royal Descents of 500 Immigrants

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