Research Notes – The War Begins

by Sandra Pendlington

The Date of the 1480 Raid on Jedburgh and the Knightings

Richard and Henry Percy’s 1480 raid on south east Scotland is sometimes dated as August 1481 but the evidence is quite clear that the date was August 1480.

The York Records say that on 15th August 1480 York men were ready to go to Scotland. A levy on parishes would be made to equip the men with red and white jackets. On 30th August, the record say that the council received a letter from Richard, presumably thanking the Council for sending men. The standard bearer and sheriffs were given extra money and the Council ordered that spoils of war should be given to the Council. This confirms the date of the raid as August 1480.

The Date of the Knighting Ceremonies

The Harleian Roll dates the knighting ceremonies to 22nd August 1480 so where does the date 22nd August 1481 come from?

In 1887, Walter Metcalfe made a copy of the list of new knights. His heading said,

‘Bannerets and Knightes made by Richard, Duke of Gloucester, at Hoton Feld, beside Berwycke, the 22 day of August anno 20 of the reign of Edward IV. Anno domini 1481.’

Metcalfe made an error – 22nd August in the 20th year of the reign of Edward was in 1480.

This confusion of dates has led to historian Michael Hicks (p. 204-205) saying that there were two raids into south east Scotland. The first in August and September 1480 by Percy alone, the reprisal raid after Angus’s raid on Bamburgh, and a second in August 1481 by Percy and Richard when the knighting ceremonies took place. Hicks quoted Ross’s account of the counter raid in 1480 (p. 279) but Ross states, correctly, that both Henry Percy and Richard were involved in the raid. Ross does not mention the knighting ceremonies. In his account of the second raid in 1481, Hicks gives a full account of the knighting ceremonies. His reference is Metcalfe, which explains the date error.

Acknowledgements

I am most grateful to Marie Barnfield of the Richard III Society Research Committee for sharing her research on the timeline for these years and the evidence for the date of the 1480 raid. Her merticulous work has shed new light on events.

Scottish historian David Santiuste’s work on Richard III and Scotland has contributed to the introduction.

Further Reading

Scottish historian Norman Macdougall’s biography of James III has good background and references to the events at this time (Chapter 7: A Bridge Too Far, pp 171-206).

English historian Michael Hicks’s biography of Richard III (Chapter 9: Career Culmination: The Scottish Ear 1480-3. pp 198-207).

The Scottish parliament records can be accessed at https://www.rps.ac.uk/mss/

Inglis’s paper can be accessed at https://soas.is.ed.ac.uk/index.php/psas/article/view/7376

References

Attreed, L C (ed) (1991) ‘The York House Books 1461-1490′. Pub. Alan Sutton for Richard III and Yorkist History Trust.

Barnfield, M ‘Diary of contemporary references for 1480′ (Communication to the author), ‘Richard’s great Scottish campaign’ in The Ricardian Bulletin June 2022, pp 54-63. Pub. The Richard III Society, A Marsh (ed).

Hicks, M (2019) ‘Richard III: The Self-Made King‘ Pub. Yale University Press: New Haven and London.

Macdougall, N (2009 ed) ‘James III’ Pub. John Donald (Birlinn Ltd), Edinburgh.

Percy, R (the Duke of Northumberland) (2019) ‘Lions of the North: The Percys & Alnwick Castle: A thousand years of history’ Pub. Scala Arts & Heritage Ltd, London.

Ross, C (1975 ed) ‘Edward IV’ Pub. Book Club Associates, London.