The Auld Alliance, Part I

In 1942 Frenchmen were exiled in Scotland during the German occupation. Charles de Gaulle gave a speech in Edinburgh and in it he harked back to "the oldest alliance in the world" and said "In every combat where for five centuries the destiny of France was at stake, there were always men of Scotland to fight side by side with men of France, and what Frenchmen feel is that no people has ever been more generous than yours with its friendship." But were we actually bosom buddies for five hundred years?

The mention of the Auld Alliance conjures up thoughts of an old friendship between Scotland and France where we helped each other out over the centuries. Access to claret, and its influence on our law are often mentioned as legacies of the alliance but the bottom line was that it was in place to help both countries resist English domination. So forget about the plonk, in military terms what exactly did it amount to?

The first alliance was signed in 1295 between John, King of Scots and Philip IV King of France. It was in response to the aggressive actions of Edward I of England. For much of the medieval period England controlled large swathes of France. Normandy was English as a result of William the Conqueror taking the English throne in 1066. Aquitaine in south-west France was English by marriage from 1154.

Edward was greedy for land and the terms of the treaty stipulated that if either France or Scotland was attacked by England, the other country would invade English territory. Your enemy's enemy is after all your friend. The signing of an alliance was actually a formal cementing of an existing relationship. Both France and Scotland had long realised that a war on two fronts for England was always going to be to the advantage of both countries.

However this alliance didn't last five hundred years, it actually lasted only three. The French dumped the Scots when we were subjugated by Edward. They had their own problems and abandoning the treaty suited both England and France.

Edward I's son Edward II was not much of a King, and during that period the Scots and French managed on their own. Edward III was a chip of the old Plantagenet block and he was as hungry as his grandfather for land. He attacked Scotland first; but France came to our aid, renewed the alliance and checked Edward's ambitions. French attacks on English possessions in Aquitaine focused Edward's attention on France and his invasion of 1337 started the one hundred and twenty years of warfare between France and England which is called the Hundred Years War for some reason. During this period there were many times when the two countries needed to come to the aid of each other until the English were ejected from France in 1453.

Each new King of France and King of Scots would renew the alliance over the next one hundred years. English kings continued to flex their muscles now and again and the Scots and French would look to each other for help.

In 1560 things were turned upside down. Scotland went through its reformation and it suddenly felt it had more in common with its protestant neighbours than Catholic France. At the same time the new queen in England was less belligerent than her father and realised having Scotland as a friend was in England's interest. The signing of the Treaty of Edinburgh between England, Scotland and France in July 1560 ended French involvement in Scottish affairs and effectively brought an end to the Auld Alliance.

It also coincided with a thawing in the relationship between France and England. Elizabeth I had no intentions of pursing any land claims in France (even though England had just recently lost Calais to France) and for the next hundred years France and England were at peace and sometimes even allies against Spain and Holland.

It was a fight for new empires and control of the world's sea trade which precipitated the second hundred-years-war between Britain and France in the eighteenth century. By this time Scotland and England had the same monarch and same parliament, so when England went to war with France, Scotland played a full and often enthusiastic part on Britannia's side.

The Jacobite risings of 1715, 1719 and 1745 had various levels of official French Support for the Pretenders' attempts to re-establish a Stuart Kingdom; but October 1745 was the last time an alliance was signed between a King of Scots (exiled) and a King of France. The War of Independence in America and the revolution in France finally put a nail in the coffin of any alliance as Scots regiments were raised by the dozen to fight the French. There may have been plenty of Irish volunteers in Napoleon's armies but there were few Scotsmen.

During the middle of the nineteenth century an invasion scare led to civilians forming volunteer companies for the defence of the country. The Auld Alliance was long forgotten as Scottish volunteers flocked to the colours in their thousands to see off any French invasion force.

By 1914 it had all changed again. France and Britain were allies, and when war broke out tens of thousands of Scots rushed to join up. The losses across the world were heavy on the Western Front, and heaviest of all in France. Five hundred years after an Army of Scotland had first served in France, the divisions of Scotland fought against the German invaders. In July 1918 the 15th (Scottish) Division was detached from the British XVII Corps and was rushed south to help the hard pressed French XX Corps. The Scottish troops replaced the 1st US Division in the line and fought hard, but took 3,516 casualties. After the battle the commander of the French 17th Division was so impressed by the Scottish soldiers he erected a cairn at Buzancy. On it was an inscription which would sum up a new alliance which saw thousands of Scots die on French soil during two world wars.

Here the noble thistle of Scotland will flourish for ever among the roses of France

This post has been an overview of the Auld Alliance. Part II in the near future will cover in detail the wars where Scotland and France were allies.

John Stewart, Constable of France - Who's Who in Scottish Military History

Between 1060 and 1626 there were forty-four Constables of France. This was the premier appointment of the five Great Officers of the Crown of France.

In Medieval France this was a rank one step down from the King, and the holder of the title was also the commander-in-chief of the army of France.

To be given this title was a very great honour and during a period of crisis for France the title was given to a Scotsman.

John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Buchan, had been in France for four years when Charles the Bold, Duke of Lorraine renounced the title of Constable of France in January 1424 and it was offered to the man from Scotland.

Fifteenth Century France was not the country we know today. The English held Normandy and the North including Paris, and also Aquitaine along the West coast around Bordeaux. In the East the English allies, the Burgundians, held large tracts of land and were frequently at odds with their countrymen.

In 1415 the cream of French nobility had been killed at Azincourt by English archers and in 1418 the French had asked Buchan's father, the 1st Duke of Albany for help. Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany, was acting as Regent in Scotland whilst the young King James I was held prisoner by the English. Scotland was too weak to fight England directly but by helping France with 6,000 Scottish soldiers she would gain a strong ally.

John Stewart had been born around 1380 and had always been a pawn in his father's political scheming. His appointment to the French expedition was just another extension of that. He had shown no great talent before going to France and was probably seen as expendable by his father. Certainly he was not being groomed as the successor to his father's role and he was now more useful keeping the Scots in with the French.

At first Buchan's troops were not seen as much of a bonus for the hard pressed French. They were described as "consumers of mutton and wine" and were used as garrison troops in French castles. After Azincourt the French were happier to sit in their castles and make the English besiege them rather than face the English longbows.

Buchan's finest hour came on 22nd March 1421. At Le Vieil Baugé in Anjou his Scots troops destroyed an English invasion force and killed the heir to the English throne.

The fortunes of the Scots in France immediately changed. The war-weary French now knew they could count on the Scots to help them as the Scotsmen had proved their willingness to fight the English. In 1422 The death of mad King Charles VI allowed Charles VII to take the throne. Charles VII as the Dauphin had been the one who had asked Albany for the contingent of Scots.

Charles had great faith in the Scots and in return the Scots flocked to France. It wasn't just anti-Englishness which drove them to France, great fortunes from ransoms were to be made if you captured an English or Burgundian knight.

Unfortunately for Charles, Henry VI of England also had a legitimate claim to the throne of France and a new round of fighting took place starting in 1423. In the summer the English and Burgundians raised a force of 4,000 men and marched into France. The Scots combined with French to take them on and a force of about 8,000 men under Buchan's command marched east.

Unfortunately Buchan misjudged his tactics and let the outnumbered English take the advantage when they met at Cravant. Once the English bowmen opened their devastating fire the rest of their army advanced across the shallow River Yonne. An attack over a bridge split the Scot-French force and the French troops abandoned the battlefield. The Scots had nothing to lose, the English considered them traitors and dealt with Scots prisoners savagely, and so they fought on. Now outnumbered the Scots were overwhelmed by the English-Burgundians and Buchan was captured. He was lucky, 3,000 Scots had died at the battle.

He was also lucky that there were valuable English prisoners from previous campaigns to be exchanged and he was not a prisoner for long.

Charles VII was eager to have more Scotsmen on his side, they at least would stand and fight the English. Buchan returned home for another 6,000 Scottish soldiers to make up for the men lost at Cravant. He also recruited his father-in-law to lead them, The 4th Earl of Douglas.

The Duke of Lorraine renounced his title of Constable of France in early 1424 and the King of France knew who he wanted for the post. He wanted the man who commanded his shock troops, the Scotsman John Stewart.

Buchan may have been the King's favourite but his appointment was not met with joy by the French nobles. The upstart Scotsman had come from nowhere to be appointed as the King's number two and to add to that the Earl of Douglas was made Lieutenant-General and Duke of Touraine when he landed in France.

Douglas was the first foreigner and also the first non-royal to be given a dukedom and it further strained relations between the Scots and the French nobles.

The Scotsman were eager to prove their worth and soon moved north to attack the English and relieve the besieged Ivry, near Le Mans.

When Ivry fell to the English the Scots and French pressed on; they wanted a battle. The older French were reluctant. They knew they couldn't defeat the English in open battle and could remember the carnage at Azincourt. The Scots and younger Frenchmen were determined to fight. Buchan who had been beaten by the English at Cravant, and Douglas who had been beaten by them at Homildon Hill should have known better but they still insisted on a battle.

At Verneuil in August 1424 the two armies met. It was to be one of the bloodiest battles of the Hundred Years War. The English archers took their toll but it was no one-sided battle like Azincourt, and although the English won the day they lost 1,600 killed.

The English had attacked and driven the French from the field and eventually surrounded the Scots. At Verneuil the Scots died in their thousands and amongst them was the new Constable of France.

Buchan had only held the title for a few months but he and his fellow countrymen had been held in high esteem by the French king and had shown themselves to be trusted allies. Thanks to the courage and tenacity of Buchan and his men the Scots would continue to fight in France against their auld enemy for many years to come.