Wikipedia:
The Battle of Methven took place at Methven, Scotland on 19 June 1306, during the Wars of Scottish Independence. The battlefield was researched to be included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland and protected by Historic Scotland under the Scottish Historical Environment Policy of 2009, but was excluded due to the uncertainty of its location.
Background[edit]
Bruce was crowned King of Scots by Bishop William de Lamberton at Scone, near Perth, on Palm Sunday (25 March 1306).[3]
Enraged by the killing of John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch by Bruce and his followers at Dumfries and Bruce’s coronation Edward I of England named Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, special lieutenant for Scotland.[4] Pembroke moved quickly, and by the middle of summer he had made his base at Perth, along with Henry Percy and Robert Clifford and an army of about 3000 men drawn from the northern counties. Edward I gave orders that no mercy was to be granted and all taken in arms were to be executed without trial.[5]
Battle[edit]
It is possible that this word had not reached the king because he resorted to a chivalric tradition and called on de Valence to come out from the walls of Perth and do battle. De Valence, who had the reputation of an honorable man, made the excuse that it was too late in the day to do battle and said he would accept the challenge on the following day. The king bivouacked his army some six miles away in some woods that were on high ground near the River Almond. At about dusk as the Bruce’s army made camp and many disarmed, the army of Aymer de Valence fell upon them in a surprise attack.[6]
The king unhorsed the Earl of Pembroke in the first onslaught but was unhorsed himself and nearly captured by Sir Philip Mowbray only to be saved by Sir Christopher Seton. Outnumbered and taken by surprise, the king’s force had no chance. Bruce was twice more unhorsed and twice more rescued. At the last, a small force of Scottish knights including James Douglas, Neil Campbell, Edward Bruce, John de Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl, Gilbert de Haye and the king formed a phalanx to break free and were forced to flee in a shattering defeat, leaving many of the king’s most loyal followers dead or soon to be executed.
The battle is depicted in the Netflix original film, Outlaw King.
Aftermath[edit]
Those captured during the battle included Alexander Fraser, David de Inchmartin, Hugh de Haye, John Somerville, Alexander Scrymgeour, the royal standard bearer, Thomas de Randolph, Bruce’s nephew and Hugh, Bruce’s chaplain.[7]
Military Wiki:
Comyn’s Death
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 The Brus, written with access to people who were at the event, 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. For Bruce, after Comyn’s murder, the only way was forward for he would never be received back into the peace of Edward I . His only defense lay in the seizure of the political high ground: a few weeks after Comyn’s death Bruce was crowned King of Scots at Scone.
The Oath of the Swans
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,[1] 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’.
At Westminster on 20 May, the king knighted the Prince of Wales and 250 other young men in preparation for the coming war. A banquet was held after the ceremony during which two decorated swans were presented to the king. Edward then vowed ‘by the God of Heaven and these swans’ to avenge Comyn’s death and the treachery of the Scots. On his demand the newly created knights took a similar oath.
Methven
In Scotland, Robert Bruce was already engaged in a full-scale civil war with the family and friends of John Comyn. The coronation in March had given him some legitimacy; but overall the position was very uncertain. Even his wife, Elizabeth de Burgh, the daughter of the Earl of Ulster, and now queen of Scots, was concerned. After the coronation she is reported to have said ‘It seems to me we are but a summer king and queen whom children crown in their support’.
Valence moved quickly, and by the middle of summer he had made his base at Perth, where he was joined by many of the supporters of John Comyn. King Robert came from the west, ready to meet his foe in battle. He was prepared to observe on this occasion the gentlemanly conventions of feudal warfare, while the English adopted less orthodox tactics. Valence was invited to leave the walls of Perth and join Bruce in battle, but he declined. The king, perhaps believing that Valence’s refusal to accept his challenge was a sign of weakness, retired only a few miles to nearby Methven, where he made camp for the night. Before dawn on 19 June, his little army was taken by surprise and almost destroyed, because Bruce had accepted Valence at his word and failed to take the precaution of placing pickets around the camp. His entire army was routed.
After this experience, he borrowed a page from the book of William Wallace and switched to the guerrilla warfare which the latter had usually preferred.