Qualla: Battle of Arkinholm https://qualla.com/battle-of-arkinholm en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:16 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Battle of Arkinholm https://qualla.com/battle-of-arkinholm Battle of Arkinholm: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-arkinholm/ Three brothers rode out to Arkinholm on 1 May 1455 and only one rode away. The Black Douglases had been the most powerful family in Scotland for a century, holders of vast estates, employers of private armies, kingmakers in their own right. By sunset Archibald, Earl of Moray, was dead, his head being readied to be carried to King James II. Hugh, Earl of Ormonde, was in chains and would soon be executed. Only John, Lord of Balvenie, made it to England. The action was small, the soldiers numbered in mere hundreds, and yet this little skirmish on the Esk near Langholm decided who would rule Scotland for the next century.

Read more: Battle of Arkinholm on Qualla

]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/v/c/battle-of-arkinholm-wp/gcvc-battle-of-arkinholm-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Arkinholm: The Slow Collapse of a Dynasty https://qualla.com/battle-of-arkinholm/ The Black Douglases had risen to power on the bones of the Wars of Scottish Independence, where Sir James Douglas served Robert the Bruce so faithfully that he was sent to carry Bruce's heart on crusade. By the 1450s their head, James Douglas the 9th Earl of Douglas, controlled e...

Read more: Battle of Arkinholm on Qualla

]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/v/c/battle-of-arkinholm-wp/gcvc-battle-of-arkinholm-the-slow-collapse-of-a-dynasty.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Arkinholm: The Border Families Turn https://qualla.com/battle-of-arkinholm/ The army that fought for the king at Arkinholm was assembled from the Border families the Black Douglases had dominated for generations: Johnstones, Carruthers, Maxwells, Scotts. Some accounts credit George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus, head of the rival Red Douglas line and third ...

Read more: Battle of Arkinholm on Qualla

]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/v/c/battle-of-arkinholm-wp/gcvc-battle-of-arkinholm-the-border-families-turn.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Arkinholm: Heads on Pikes, Lands to the Crown https://qualla.com/battle-of-arkinholm/ The battle itself was brief and brutal in the manner of medieval Border warfare. Archibald, Earl of Moray, was killed on the field; his head was struck off and presented to the king as proof and trophy. Hugh, Earl of Ormonde, was captured, dragged back to the royal court, and exe...

Read more: Battle of Arkinholm on Qualla

]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/v/c/battle-of-arkinholm-wp/gcvc-battle-of-arkinholm-heads-on-pikes-lands-to-the-crown.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Arkinholm: The Long Shadow of a Small Battle https://qualla.com/battle-of-arkinholm/ Arkinholm settled a question that had hung over Scottish politics since the death of Robert the Bruce: could the crown survive a magnate family powerful enough to challenge it? The answer turned out to be yes, but only after a generation of murder, attainder, and battle. James II...

Read more: Battle of Arkinholm on Qualla

]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/v/c/battle-of-arkinholm-wp/gcvc-battle-of-arkinholm-the-long-shadow-of-a-small-battle.mp3 0:06 5 full