In 1237 King Henry III of England and King Alexander II of Scotland sign the Treaty of York defining the boarders of the two countries for the first time.
Border disputes had continued between England and Scotland for many years. In 1173-1174, King Henry II of England was suppressing a rebellion led by his three oldest sons, William I of Scotland took advantage of the chaos and attempted to invade northern England. When Henry defeated William, Scotland was forced to cede the town of Berwick. Berwick was sold back to the Scottish by Richard I of England to raise money for the crusades. Richard’s brother John became King of England on the 6th of April 1199 and soon after began work building Tweedmouth Castle, which overlooked Berwick, to secure part of the English Borders. Shortly after the castle’s construction began, William I attacked and destroyed the castle in 1204. King John ordered the reconstruction of the castle but in 1209 William and John met to sign the Treaty of Norham in which John promised to demolish the half constructed castle at a cost of £4,000 for compensation and to cover any costs.
On the 4th of December 1214 King William I of Scotland died and he was succeeded by his son Alexander II aged just 16. Meanwhile the English were once again at war with France and King John was becoming increasingly unpopular for raising taxes to pay for it without success. On the 10th of June 1215 the nobles of England entered London and forced King John to sign the Magna Charta on the 15th of June. Alexander saw this as a sign of weakness by John and attempts to invade Northumbria. The English defeated the invaders and in response burnt the city of Berwick to the ground and rebuilt Tweedmouth Castle.
When King John died on the 19th of October 1216 his son Henry became King Henry III of England and peace existed between the two Kingdoms for many Years. Alexander II married Henry’s older sister in 1221 and as the peace continued both Kings signed the Treaty of York on the 25th of September which defined the borders of both Kingdoms.
But this was far from the end of disputes between the two nations. Many more battles were waged and many lives lost. Finally When Queen Elizabeth I of England died leaving no sons here closest heir was James VI of Scotland. On the 24th of March 1603 both Kingdoms were united under one king and a century later in 1701 the governments would also be united as the United Kingdoms.
