Wars with Wales and Scotland

The Middle Ages were fought as much as they were ruled. In Wales, English kings pushed to bring the country under their control, and in 1284 a law called the Statute of Rhuddlan declared Wales annexed to the Crown of England. Ireland saw a similar push: English troops arrived to help an Irish king, then stayed, and by 1200 they held an area around Dublin known as the Pale.

Scotland was a harder fight. At the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, the Scots, led by Robert the Bruce, beat the English and kept Scotland free of English rule — a result Wales and the Pale did not get.

English kings also fought abroad. At the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, an English army heavily outnumbered by the French still won, one of the best-remembered victories of a long war with France. Four battles, four different outcomes, all part of the same restless age.