22nd July 1298
The Battle of Falkirk
Two years into the First War of Scottish Independence, English king Edward I marched in the region of 14,000 troops and horsemen across the border at Roxburgh, determined to do battle with Scottish troops led by William Wallace. Having heard that Wallace was lying in wait, close to Falkirk, Edward directed his troops there and the two sides faced off.
It was a bloody and uneven battle, with English forces outnumbering Scots by more than two to one. Around 4000 men are thought to have been killed, with casualties roughly equal on either side. Nobody knows precisely where the battle took place, but it was over in a matter of hours, with the surviving Scottish troops eventually dispersing.
Other events that occured in July
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