The Treaty of Westminster (or the Treaty of Westminster-Ardtornish) was signed on 13 February 1462 between Edward IV of England of the House of York and the Scottish

John of Islay, Earl of Ross :''This article refers to John II, Lord of the Isles; for John I, see John of Islay, Lord of the Isles'' John of Islay (or John MacDonald) (1434–1503), Earl of Ross, fourth (and last) Lord of the Isles, and ''Mac Domhnaill'' (chief of Clan ...

, Lord of the Isles. The agreement proposed that if

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

was conquered by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the lands north of the Scottish sea (the Firth of Forth) would be divided between the Lord of the Isles and the

Earl of Douglas This page is concerned with the holders of the forfeit title Earl of Douglas and the preceding feudal barons of Douglas, South Lanarkshire. The title was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1358 for William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, so ...

to be held from the crown of England, while the Earl of Douglas would hold Scotland south of the Firth.

Background

The Scottish crown in the minority of

James III of Scotland James III (10 July 1451/May 1452 – 11 June 1488) was King of Scots from 1460 until his death at the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488. He inherited the throne as a child following the death of his father, King James II, at the siege of Roxburgh ...

had taken the Lancastrian side in the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

by welcoming the fugitive Henry VI of England. Edward IV was forming new alliances with disaffected English and Scottish nobles to reduce the threat posed by the exiled former king, now in the hands of James III's mother

Mary of Guelders Mary of Guelders (; c. 1434/1435 – 1 December 1463) was Queen of Scotland by marriage to King James II of Scotland. She ruled as regent of Scotland from 1460 to 1463. Background She was the daughter of Arnold, Duke of Guelders, and Cath ...

Process

The Earl of Douglas and his brother John Douglas of Balvenie made their way to the west of Scotland with Edward IV's proposals. The highland lords gave their assent from Ardtornish Castle on 19 October 1461, and sent Ranald of the Isles and Duncan, Archdeacon of the Isles, as their envoys to London. The articles were finalised and sealed at

Westminster Palace The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...

on 13 February 1462 and signed by Edward IV on 17 March 1462. John, Earl of Ross, Donald Balagh, and his son and heir John, with all the people of Ross and the Isles would become subjects of Edward IV on Whitsunday.

Consequences

The historian

Norman Macdougall Norman Macdougall is a Scottish historian who is known for writing about Scottish crown politics. He was a senior lecturer in Scottish history at the University of St Andrews. Macdougall has written biographies of the kings James III of Scotland ...

thought that the significance of the agreement was overplayed by earlier historians, such as

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University o ...

, who described it as an attempt to "stab Scotland in the back with a Celtic dirk." Its consequence was an attack by the Earl of Ross on crown lands near Inverness in 1462 and 1463. The Scottish crown allied with Edward IV by the

treaty of York The Treaty of York was an agreement between the kings Henry III of England and Alexander II of Scotland, signed at York on 25 September 1237, which affirmed that Northumberland (which at the time also encompassed County Durham), Cumberland, and ...

in 1464. In 1475, the English court revealed the existence of the 1462 agreement; John, the Earl of Ross, was consequently summoned for treason - including the acts of making leagues and bands with Edward IV and the banished Earl of Douglas.Macdougall, Norman, ''James III'', (1982), p. 121: J. & R. Munro ed., ''Acts of the Lords of the Isles'', (SHS, Edinburgh 1986), pp. lxx-lxxii. John was only able to calm matters by

quitclaim Generally, a quitclaim is a formal renunciation of a legal claim against some other person, or of a right to land. A person who quitclaims renounces or relinquishes a claim to some legal right, or transfers a legal interest in land. Originally a c ...

ing Ross (which at that time included Skye). In 1491, in an attempt to get it back, his half-nephew launched the

Raid on Ross The Raid on Ross was a conflict that took place in 1491 in the Scottish Highlands. It was fought between the Clan Mackenzie and several other clans, including the Clan MacDonald of Lochalsh, Clan MacDonald of Clanranald, the Clan Cameron, an ...

, which the Scottish king was then able to use as justification for abolishing the powerful

Lordship of the Isles The Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles ( gd, Triath nan Eilean or ) is a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title ...

itself.

The Douglases and England

It is notable that

Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus (c. 1449October 1513), was a Scottish nobleman, peer, politician, and magnate. Tradition has accorded him the nickname Archibald 'Bell-the-Cat' due to his association with the 1482 rebellion against Jam ...

was to play a significant role in the future Treaty of Perpetual Peace (1502) and its offspring, the

Treaty of Greenwich The Treaty of Greenwich (also known as the Treaties of Greenwich) contained two agreements both signed on 1 July 1543 in Greenwich between representatives of England and Scotland. The accord, overall, entailed a plan developed by Henry VIII of E ...

. The Douglases were generally, at that time, the heads of the pro-English party in Scotland, pushing for what eventually became a

Union of the Crowns The Union of the Crowns ( gd, Aonadh nan Crùintean; sco, Union o the Crouns) was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of the Kingdom of England as James I and the practical unification of some functions (such as overseas dip ...

and

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a Sovereign state, sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Timeline for Scotland during the 1400s

Landscapes of Scotland

Rymer, Thomas, ''Foedera, conventiones, literae,... inter Reges Angliae et alios'', vol. 5 part 1 & 2, Johannes Neaulm, Hague, (1741)
(Latin), (material from ''Foedera'', vol.11 & 12 (1710-1)), in part 1; p. 107-109.
Lang, Andrew, ''A History of Scotland from the Roman Occupation'', vol. 1, Blackwood, Edinburgh (1900)
pp. 336–7. 1462 in England 1462 in Scotland

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...