Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the start of the Battle of Bannockburn, a two-day battle fought in 1314 between King Robert Bruce of Scotland and King Edward II of England.
The English army had invaded Scotland but was being steadily driven back. Edward decided to make a final stand at Stirling Castle, which was besieged by the Scottish army. He assembled an army around 15,000 strong to relieve the siege, using a strong force of cavalry and archers. Robert Bruce’s army was vastly outnumbered, with only around 5,000 men, mostly infantry, but he carefully planned to fight the English on his own terms. Bruce knew the route the English army would take to reach Stirling, so he prepared traps along the way.