Battle of Methven

Part of the First War of Scottish Independence

Date	19 June 1306
Location	Methven, west of Perth
Result	English victory

Belligerents

Kingdom of Scotland

Kingdom of England

Commanders and leaders

Robert I of Scotland

Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke

Strength

4,500

3,000

Casualties and losses

4,000 dead

600 Dead or wounded

The Battle of Methven took place at Methven, Scotland on 19 June 1306, during the Wars of Scottish Independence. The battlefield is currently under research to be included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland and protected by Historic Scotland under the Scottish Historical Environment Policy of 2009.

In February 1306, Robert Bruce and a small party of his followers killed John Comyn, also known as the Red Comyn, before the high altar of the Greyfriars Church in Dumfries. Both Comyn and Bruce had been forced to give fealty to King Edward I of England on pain of execution, and every appearance is that both intended to pursue the Scottish crown. According to John Barbour's poem The Brus, Comyn and Bruce had previously signed an agreement to that effect which Comyn betrayed to King Edward I. However, the bad blood between the two men went far back, and they had found it impossible to work together as Guardians of the Realm. Bruce was crowned King of Scots at Scone 25 March 1306.

The killing of John Comyn took Edward by complete surprise. News travelled slowly: it was some thirteen days after the event that the details reached his court at Winchester, and even then the full circumstances were unclear. The murder was initially described as the 'work of some people who are doing their utmost to trouble the peace and quiet of the realm of Scotland', but he learned the true facts later. On 5 April, he appointed Aymer de Valence, Comyn's brother-in-law, and the future Earl of Pembroke, as his plenipotentiary in Scotland, with powers to raise the Dragon Banner, signifying that no quarter would be given to Bruce and his adherents; or, as the chronicler John Barbour puts it 'to burn and slay and raise dragon'.

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Wikipedia