In 1328, after more than thirty years of war, England did what it had sworn never to do: it recognised Scotland as a free and independent kingdom, and Robert the Bruce as its rightful king. The Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton was the crowning achievement of Bruce's life and the formal end of the First War of Independence. To the English, it was so humiliating they called it the ‘shameful peace’.
Key facts: the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton
- Agreed: Edinburgh, March 1328; ratified by the English Parliament at Northampton in May
- Recognised: Scotland as a fully independent kingdom and Robert the Bruce as king
- England renounced: All claims to overlordship of Scotland
- Sealed with a marriage: Bruce's young son David married Joan, sister of Edward III of England
- Payment: Scotland paid £20,000 to England
- English nickname: The turpis pax – the ‘shameful peace’
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The road to peace
The victory at Bannockburn in 1314 had broken English power in Scotland, but it had not ended the war. For another fourteen years Bruce pressed his case by raiding northern England and by diplomacy, most famously the Declaration of Arbroath of 1320. The turning point came when Edward II of England was deposed and murdered in 1327. The new regime, ruling in the name of the boy-king Edward III, was weak, short of money, and unable to continue the fight after a failed campaign against the Scots.
The terms
The treaty agreed in Edinburgh in early 1328 gave Scotland everything Bruce had fought for. England formally recognised Scotland's independence and Bruce's kingship, and renounced all claims to feudal superiority. The peace was to be sealed by the marriage of Bruce's four-year-old son and heir, David, to Edward III's young sister Joan – a match that earned the little princess the nickname ‘Joan Makepeace’. In return, Scotland paid England £20,000.
Triumph and its limits
For Robert the Bruce, the treaty was the seal on a remarkable life's work – from excommunicated fugitive in 1306 to internationally recognised king of a free Scotland. He did not enjoy the peace for long, dying the following year in 1329.
Sadly, the settlement did not last. Many in England never accepted the ‘shameful peace’, and once Edward III came into his own power he encouraged a renewed invasion. Within five years the Battle of Halidon Hill reopened the wars, beginning the long and bloody Second War of Independence. Yet the principle established in 1328 – that Scotland was a sovereign kingdom in its own right – could never wholly be erased.
Frequently asked questions
What did the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton do?
It ended the First War of Independence by having England recognise Scotland as an independent kingdom and Robert the Bruce as its rightful king.
Why did the English call it the shameful peace?
Many English nobles resented giving up their claims to Scotland, and the turpis pax, or ‘shameful peace’, was widely unpopular in England.
Did the treaty bring lasting peace?
No. After Edward III took power, war resumed in 1332–33, opening the Second War of Independence, though Scotland's independence ultimately endured.
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