The Bishop of Durham's charge at Falkirk 1298 First War of Scottish Independence Blàr na h-Eaglaise Brice
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Battle of Falkirk, (Blàr na h-Eaglaise Brice in Gaelic) which took place on 22 July 1298, was a major engagement in the First War of Scottish Independence. An English army commanded by King Edward I of England defeated the Scots under William Wallace. Despite his success King Edward was unable to complete the subjugation of Scotland because his army had been weakened by the campaign. The Scots army, again made up chiefly of spearmen as at Stirling, was arranged in four great armoured 'hedgehogs' known as schiltrons. The long spears pointed outwards at various heights gave these formations a formidable and impenetrable appearance. The gaps between the schiltrons were filled with archers, armed with longbows, and to the rear there was a small troop of men-at-arms, provided by the Comyns and other magnates. On Tuesday, July 22, the English cavalry, divided into four battalions, finally caught sight of their elusive enemy. The left was commanded by the Earls of Norfolk, Hereford and Lincoln. The right was under the command of Anthony Bek, Bishop of Durham, while the King commanded the centre, still a little distance to the rear of the vanguard. Once in sight of the enemy, Norfolk and his colleagues began an immediate attack, but on encountering a small marsh to the front of the Scots position, made a long detour to the west before being able to make contact with the right of Wallace's army. Bek tried to hold back his own battalion to give the King time to get into position, but he was overruled by his impatient knights anxious to join their comrades on the left in an immediate attack. In a disorganised pell-mell the cavalry finally closed on the Scots, on the right and left. The ground thundered as the schiltrons braced themselves for the impact. The Lord Comyns, however, with all his cavalry had goaded Wallace into this fight and at the critical moment when a sudden attack by his cavalry would have surely broken the English lines, the traitorous Comyns ordered his f