The Scottish host was disintegrating by the time two of the nobles present inspired a desperate, doomed charge towards the enemy. Archers poured their fire into the ranks of the Scots and, with their own missile troops silenced, there was little option but to stand and endure the torrent of arrows until the breaking point came. On 14 September 1402 a large Scottish army was trapped on a Northumbrian hilltop, its route back to northern safety blocked by a powerful English force. Full-scale battlefield encounters with England brought the most acute challenges to the collective courage of Scottish soldiers and it is testament to their severity that even a renowned figure like William Wallace suffered a failure of resolve when faced with battle at Falkirk in 1298. The circumstances of Scotland's wars with England, meanwhile, led to greater than usual dangers of captivity, injury and death, and a greater level of equality of risk across the social spectrum in Scottish armies. The Scots had especially acute problems to overcome, notably in comparison to their regular enemies, the English, in maintaining fortitude in armed forces that featured a relatively wide social spread, with attendant implications for protective equipment and rudimentary training for the occasional soldiers who usually made up the majority of the Scottish host. There are also particularities in the Scottish case. Similar influences served to encourage the soldier and the prospect of similar afflictions might spread fear. In many respects the story sketched fits into wider patterns of warriors’ lives elsewhere in Latin Christendom. This article examines aspects of the experience of the later medieval Scottish soldier, in particular courage, fear and the factors that shaped these responses.
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