War, marriage, tournament : Scottish politics and the Anglo-French war, 1448-1450

Abstract

The Scottish kingdom has often been portrayed as standing at the periphery of late medieval Europe. However, the events of 1448 to 1450 demonstrate that the Scots were capable of projecting their interests effectively at the courts of European rulers. These years witnessed the start of the final phase of the Hundred Years War culminating in the conquest of Normandy and Gascony by the French crown. Scottish historians have placed considerable stress on the marriage of King James II to Marie of Guelders in 1449 as an example of interactions between Scotland and European courtly life. This article demonstrates the interconnections between Anglo-Scottish warfare in the Borders, marriage diplomacy, the rapidly changing situation in the French kingdom, and the internal politics of Scotland. It shows that Scots and the Scottish kingdom were active participants in a wider political world at a defining point in European history.