ABSTRACT
The wars with England which began in 1296 continued until 1323. War broke out again in 1332 and dragged on into the 1350s, only ending with the Treaty of Berwick in 1357. The scale of long-term dislocation as well as short-term devastation was considerable. The campaigns associated with William Wallace and Robert Bruce are well known but war damage in the years immediately following 1296 was probably less severe than during the second quarter of the fourteenth century. Though the Treaty of Berwick was followed by a generation of peace close contact with England, such as had existed in the later thirteenth century, was not resumed. The legacy of mistrust between the two countries was to last for another 300 years and more, a state of latent hostility punctuated by intermittent war which had profound effects on Scotland’s social and economic development.
