Overview

Battle of the Standard

22 August 1138

The Battle of the Standard, fought on 22 August 1138 near Northallerton in Yorkshire, was one of the most important Anglo-Scottish battles of the twelfth century. An English army assembled largely from northern nobles and local forces defeated the army of King David I of Scotland, halting a major Scottish invasion of northern England.

The battle took its unusual name from the great religious standard around which the English army gathered. Banners associated with northern saints were mounted upon a wagon and raised above the English position, turning the standard into both a military rallying point and a powerful religious symbol.

The battle occurred during the wider political turmoil known as The Anarchy, when King Stephen of England and his cousin Empress Matilda competed for the English crown.

The Anarchy

The origins of the conflict stretched back to the death of King Henry I of England in 1135.

Henry's only legitimate son, William Adelin, had died in the White Ship disaster of 1120. Henry therefore attempted to secure the succession for his daughter, Empress Matilda, widow of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V and later wife of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou.

Henry required his leading nobles to recognize Matilda as his heir.

When Henry died, however, his nephew Stephen of Blois moved rapidly to claim the English throne. Stephen was crowned King of England in December 1135.

Matilda refused to abandon her claim.

The resulting struggle eventually developed into a prolonged period of civil war and political instability remembered as The Anarchy.

David I of Scotland

King David I of Scotland had a particularly important connection to the English succession dispute.

David was the maternal uncle of Empress Matilda. His sister, Matilda of Scotland, had married Henry I and was Empress Matilda's mother.

David therefore supported his niece's claim against King Stephen.

But family loyalty was not his only motivation.

The instability in England offered David an opportunity to extend Scottish influence into northern England, an area in which Scottish kings had long held political and territorial ambitions.

David invaded northern England several times during the early years of Stephen's reign.

By 1138, the conflict had become particularly serious.

The Scottish Invasion of 1138

David assembled a large and diverse army.

His forces included troops from different parts of the Scottish kingdom and surrounding regions, including knights, archers and infantry. Contemporary chroniclers also described Galwegian warriors from Galloway, who became especially associated with the opening attack at the Battle of the Standard.

The Scottish army advanced deep into northern England.

King Stephen, meanwhile, was occupied elsewhere and could not personally command the defense of Yorkshire.

Northern English nobles therefore organized resistance themselves.

Among the important English leaders were William of Aumale, Walter Espec, and other powerful landholders of northern England.

Religious leaders also played a significant role in encouraging resistance.

The Standard

The English army assembled near Northallerton.

At the center of its position stood a wagon upon which a tall mast had been erected.

Attached to it were religious banners associated with northern saints, traditionally identified with St. Peter of York, St. John of Beverley, and St. Wilfrid of Ripon. A consecrated host was also reportedly displayed.

The structure provided the battle with its famous name:

The Battle of the Standard.

For the English soldiers, the standard served several purposes.

It provided a highly visible rallying point on the battlefield, helped maintain the cohesion of the army, and gave the confrontation a religious character. The English defenders were encouraged to see themselves as protecting their homes, churches and communities against invasion.

August 22, 1138

On the morning of 22 August 1138, the Scottish army approached the English position.

David's forces were probably numerically superior, although medieval accounts of army sizes are often unreliable.

A disagreement reportedly developed within the Scottish army over who should lead the initial attack.

David had Norman and Anglo-Norman knights in his service who favored a more conventional deployment involving armored men-at-arms. The warriors of Galloway, however, demanded the honor of leading the assault.

David eventually permitted them to take the front position.

The decision would have major consequences.

The Battle Begins

The Galwegian infantry launched a fierce attack against the English lines.

The English had formed a compact defensive position around the Standard. Knights had dismounted to fight alongside infantry, strengthening the formation.

English archers poured arrows into the advancing Scottish troops.

The Galwegians attacked repeatedly and initially placed considerable pressure upon the defenders.

But they were unable to break the English formation.

The combination of disciplined infantry, dismounted knights and archery gradually weakened the Scottish attack.

Casualties mounted.

The Scottish formation began to lose cohesion.

Prince Henry

One portion of David's army achieved greater success.

The king's son, Prince Henry of Scotland, commanded mounted troops that managed to penetrate part of the English position.

Henry and his men reportedly broke through the opposing forces and continued beyond the English line.

But the breakthrough could not be converted into an overall victory.

Elsewhere, David's army was beginning to collapse.

As the Galwegian attack failed and other Scottish troops withdrew, confusion spread through the army.

The English held their position around the Standard.

Eventually the Scottish forces retreated.

David I Withdraws

David himself remained on the battlefield for some time as his army disintegrated.

Eventually he was forced to withdraw.

The Battle of the Standard had ended in a clear English victory.

Despite the defeat, however, David's political ambitions in northern England were not completely destroyed.

This is one of the most interesting aspects of the battle.

A major military defeat did not produce a permanent Scottish retreat from northern English affairs.

Negotiations followed.

The Treaty of Durham

In 1139, a settlement was reached between Stephen and David.

Under the resulting arrangements, David's son Prince Henry received important lands and titles in northern England, including the earldom of Northumberland.

David therefore achieved through negotiation some of the political influence that he had failed to secure completely through military force.

King Stephen had good reason to compromise.

His conflict with Empress Matilda was becoming increasingly dangerous, and he could not afford a continuing war with Scotland while simultaneously confronting supporters of Matilda elsewhere in England.

The settlement illustrates how closely the Battle of the Standard was connected with the larger succession crisis.

Scotland, England and Family Politics

The battle was not simply a national war between medieval England and Scotland in the modern sense.

The ruling families and aristocracies of the two kingdoms were deeply interconnected.

David I himself had spent considerable time at the English royal court and possessed lands in England. His sister had been Queen of England, and his niece was one of the principal claimants to the English throne.

Many nobles held lands or family connections on both sides of the border.

The conflict therefore combined territorial ambition, dynastic loyalty, feudal obligations and local politics.

David was simultaneously King of Scotland, an English landholder, and uncle of Empress Matilda.

These overlapping relationships were typical of medieval European politics.

Connection to the Plantagenets

The events surrounding the Battle of the Standard also form part of the story that eventually produced the Plantagenet dynasty.

Empress Matilda continued her struggle against Stephen.

Her husband, Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, secured control of Normandy, while their eldest son Henry eventually emerged as the principal challenger to Stephen.

After years of warfare, Stephen recognized Henry as his heir under the Treaty of Wallingford.

When Stephen died in 1154, Henry became King Henry II of England.

Henry II's accession began the rule of the Plantagenet dynasty in England.

Thus David I's intervention in 1138 belonged to a much larger dynastic conflict whose consequences would shape the English monarchy for centuries.

Legacy

The Battle of the Standard remains one of the most famous battles between English and Scottish forces during the medieval period.

Its name preserves the extraordinary image of an army gathered around a wagon carrying the banners of northern saints.

Militarily, the battle demonstrated the effectiveness of a disciplined defensive formation supported by archers. Politically, however, the result was more complicated. David I lost the battle but retained considerable influence in northern England afterward.

The confrontation also cannot be separated from The Anarchy.

David's support for Empress Matilda connected the Scottish invasion directly to the disputed English succession following Henry I's death.

What occurred near Northallerton on 22 August 1138 was therefore more than a border battle.

It was one episode in a complicated struggle involving England, Scotland, family relationships, territorial ambitions and the succession to the English crown—a struggle that would eventually result in the accession of Henry II and the beginning of Plantagenet rule.

On This Day fields

Historical Event Date: 1138-08-22

Short Calendar Description:
English forces defeated the army of King David I of Scotland near Northallerton at the Battle of the Standard during the struggle for the English throne known as The Anarchy.

Suggested subtitle:
David I of Scotland Invades Northern England — 22 August 1138