Alnwick

The burning of Alnwick.

Alnwick is a town in Northumbria.

History

On November 13th, 1093, in order to "punish" Robert de Mowbray for his "insufficient loyalty" to William Rufus, Malcolm III burnt the town of Alnwick to the ground... believing only peasants would perish, nobody important, and "lessons learned". But Lord Mowbray used Malcolm's atrocity as an excuse to move against him, resulting in the Battle of Alnwick. ("Fools Rush In...")

Real World Background

Alnwick (pronounced "Annick") was one of two candidates offered by Sir Thomas Malory as the site of Joyous Garde, Sir Lancelot's castle, in his Le Morte d'Arthur; the other was Bamburgh.

The Battle of Alnwick was not the last time that a Scottish king would meet with misfortune against the English at Alnwick. In 1174, King William the Lion of Scotland (the grandson of Malcolm III's Dauid) raided England and besieged Alnwick Castle. On the morning of July 13, he got lost in the fog and stumbled upon a group of English knights; charging them, he was swiftly captured and turned over to the then-king of England, Henry II, who freed him on the condition that William the Lion accept Henry as his liege lord, making Scotland subject to England. (Scotland regained its independence during the reign of Richard the Lion-Hearted, who, eager to raise money for the Third Crusade, released William the Lion from Henry's terms in return for 10,000 marks – a unit of money in medieval times.)

See Also

• Alnwick at Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia