Battle of Bannockburn
In the Spring of 1313 Edward Bruce, brother of the Scottish King began a siege of Stirling Castle, which was held by Sir Philip Mowbray for the English king. By the middle of summer the Scots were still not able to defeat the castle. Edward Bruce made an agreement with the castle commander, Mowbray. It said that if the castle was not relieved by the English by 24 June the following year it would be surrendered to Bruce. Edward Bruce went to his brother to tell him the good news. But the Robert Bruce saw this as a mistake. It gave King Edward II of England a year to get ready an army to march into Scotland. Up to this point the king of Scotland had avoided pitched battles with the English army. All King Robert could do is prepare for what was sure to come. In October 1313 King Robert made everyone in Scotland take an oath of loyalty to him or lose their lands. The English king was now in danger of losing everything in Scotland. On 28 November 1313 Edward II announced he would assemble an army to be in Scotland before 24 June 1314.