A colorful history of Edinburgh Castle

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Edinburgh Castle stands on a volcanic plug, a piece of hardened basalt that has withstood the ice caps of Europe. The flow of ice divided around it, braiding the edges and depositing debris in its wake. When the ice retreated, it left a flat area to the north with a rock (the castle rock) and a tail (today the "Royal Mile").

A colorful history of Edinburgh Castle

The top of Castle Rock is 130 meters (430 feet) above sea level, with rocky cliffs to the south, west, and north, rising to a height of 80 meters (260 feet) above the surrounding landscape. The only easily accessible route to the castle is to the east, where the ridge slopes more gently, but where any approach can be seen for miles and where a defense could be concentrated.

Climate and geology had combined to create a natural defensive position.

Archaeological investigation has not yet established when Castle Rock was first used for human habitation. 

There is no trace of Roman activity. The map of Ptolemy from the 2nd century AD shows a settlement on the Votadini territory called "Alauna", which means place of rock, which makes it perhaps the first known name of the castle.

It did not reappear in historical documents until around 600 AD, however, when the epic of the Welsh poem Y Gododdin referred to "Din Eidyn" (the stronghold of Eidyn).

The first documentary reference to a castle in Edinburgh is the disputed account of Jean de Fordun of the death of King Malcolm III. 

What is more widely accepted, however, is Malcolm's youngest son, King David I, who began to develop Edinburgh as the seat of royal power in the 1140s. In 1174, King William "the Lion" ( 1165-1214) was captured by the English during the Battle of Alnwick.

He was forced to sign the Cliff Treaty to obtain his release, in exchange for the handing over of the castles of Edinburgh, Berwick, Roxburgh, and Stirling, to the English king Henry II. The castle was occupied by the English for twelve years, until 1186, when it was returned to Guillaume as dowry from his English wife, Ermengarde de Beaumont.

The colorful history of Edinburgh Castle really started to take off in March 1296, when Edward I launched an invasion of Scotland, thus starting the First Scottish War of Independence. Edinburgh Castle was quickly bombed for three days and surrendered to British control.

Edward brought his master builders from the great Welsh castles to Scotland and Edinburgh was strengthened. However, after the death of Edward I in 1307, England's control over Scotland weakened. On March 14, 1314, a surprise night attack by the 1st Count of Moray took over the castle.

A group of thirty handpicked men was guided by a William Francis, a member of the garrison who knew a route along the north face of Castle Rock and a place where the wall could be climbed. Making the difficult climb, Randolph’s men climbed the wall, surprised the garrison, and took control.

Robert the Bruce immediately ordered the destruction of the castle's defenses to prevent its re-occupation by the English. Four months later, his army won the battle at Bannockburn. Tickets for the Edinburgh Tattoo are available online.

After Bruce's death in 1329, Edward III of England decided to renew Scotland's attempted subjugation. Edward attacked in 1333, marking the start of the Second Scottish War of Independence, and English forces reoccupied and re-fortified Edinburgh Castle in 1335, holding it back until 1341.

This time the Scottish physical attack was led by William Douglas, lord of Liddesdale. Douglas' group disguised themselves as Leith merchants bringing supplies to the garrison. Driving a cart into the entrance, they stopped him to prevent the doors from closing. A larger force hidden nearby rushed to join them and the castle was recaptured. The English garrison, 100 in number, was killed.

The Berwick Treaty of 1357 ended the wars of independence. David II took over his reign and began to rebuild Edinburgh Castle which became its main seat of government. The Tower of David was started around 1367 and was incomplete when David died at the castle in 1371.

It was completed in the 1370s by his inheritor, Robert II. At the beginning of the 15th century, another English invasion, this time under Henry IV, reached Edinburgh Castle and began a siege, but eventually withdrew in due to lack of supplies.

Edinburgh Castle from Prince's Street Gardens. The castle never really developed the traditional turrets and towers that we could associate with Wales.

From 1437 Sir William Crichton was the caretaker of Edinburgh Castle and soon became Chancellor of Scotland. In an attempt to win the regency of Scotland, Crichton sought to break the power of the Douglases, the principal noble family of the kingdom.

William Douglas, sixteen, Earl of Douglas, sixteen, and his younger brother David were summoned to Edinburgh Castle in November 1440. After the so-called "black dinner", the two boys were summarily executed on accusations fabricated in the presence of King James II, 10 years old.

Supporters of Douglas later besieged the castle, causing damage, but construction continued throughout this period, the area now known as Crown Square being vaulted in the 1430s.

Royal apartments were built, forming the nucleus of the last palace building, and a large hall existed in 1458. Edinburgh fans can buy Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Tickets online.

In 1479, Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany, was imprisoned in the Tower of David for plotting against his brother, King James III (r.1460-1488). He escaped by drinking his guards, then lowering himself from a window on a rope.

Albany fled to France, then to England, where he allied with King Edward IV. In 1482 Albany entered Scotland with Richard, the Duke of Gloucester (future King Richard III) and an English army. James III was trapped in the castle from July 22 to September 29, 1482, until he successfully negotiated a settlement.

In the 15th century, the castle was increasingly used as an arsenal and an armament factory. The first known purchase of firearms took place in 1384, and the “big bomb” Mons Meg was delivered to Edinburgh in 1457.

The first recorded mention of an arsenal for the manufacture of firearms took place in 1474 and, in 1498, master gunner Robert Borthwick threw bronze cannons at Edinburgh. In 1511 Edinburgh was the main foundry in Scotland, replacing Stirling Castle,

Mons Meg, the 13,000-pound (5.9-ton) gun rests on a reconstructed cart. Some of Meg's rifle stones, weighing around 150 kg, are on display next to her. On July 3, 1558, she was dismissed to celebrate the marriage of Marie, Queen of Scotland, with the French dolphin François II. Soldiers recovered one of his stones near the Forth River, 2 miles from the castle

On September 9, 1513, the Scots were routed at the Battle of Flodden. James IV was killed. Waiting for the English to take advantage of their advantage, the Scots hastily built a wall around Edinburgh and raised the defenses of the castle.

Three years later, King James V (r. 1513-1542), was brought to the castle for safety. When he died 25 years later, the crown was passed on to his week-old daughter, Queen of Scotland, Mary. The English invasions followed as King Henry VIII attempted to force a dynastic marriage in Scotland, "The Rough Wooing" from 1543 - 1551.

The city of Edinburgh did badly in 1544 and was razed to the ground. Those who sought refuge in Edinburgh Castle remained largely unchanged. The fortress held under cannon fire was spilled on the Royal Mile.

In June 1548, however, Musselburgh and Dunbar were razed and it was deemed necessary to evacuate Mary to a safe place, where she was engaged to the Dauphin of France in August 1548. Edin Tattoo Tickets can buy online from our trusted online market.

Edinburgh Castle at night - (Just on a complete tangent, during her exile in France, Mary continued to play golf. She was a natural target for English assassins and was assigned to a bodyguard of the cadet body from the nearby naval academy. She quickly discovered that her cadet bodyguard could be used to carry her batons.

The French word for a cadet is, of course, pronounced Cad-Day. Therefore, his club bearer became his junior. When she returned to Scotland, she had adopted the idea of ​​a club carrier. You have probably already guessed where the word caddy comes from?)

Be that as it may, with the military and financial aid of France, the Scots were able to maintain the resistance. Hostilities ended with Scotland with the Treaty of Boulogne in March 1550, which was mainly between France and England.

James V's widow, Marie de Guise, acted as regent from 1554 until her death at the chateau in 1560, over which the Catholic Marie, Queen of Scotland, returned from France to begin her reign, which was marred of crises and quarrels among the powerful Protestant Scottish nobility.

In 1565 the Queen made an unpopular marriage to Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and the following year, in a small room in the palace of Edinburgh Castle, she gave birth to their son James, who would later become King of Scotland and England. The reign of Mary was however condemned and ended abruptly.

Three months after the murder of Darnley at Kirk o ’Field in 1567, she married James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, one of the main murder suspects. Much of the nobility rebelled, eventually leading to imprisonment and forced abdication.

She escaped and fled to England. Edinburgh Castle was originally handed over by its captain, James Balfour, to Regent Moray, who had forced Mary's abdication and now held power in the name of the infant King James VI. Tattoo lovers can get Military Tattoo Tickets 2020 online.

Shortly after the Battle of Langside, in May 1568, Moray appointed Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange Keeper of the Castle. Grange was a trusted lieutenant of the regent, but after Moray's murder in January 1570, his allegiance to the king's cause began to falter.

Under the inspiration of William Maitland of Lethington, Mary’s secretary, Grange changed sides, occupying the city and Edinburgh Castle for Queen Mary and against the new regent, the Earl of Lennox.

The ensuing impasse was not resolved until two years later and became known as the "Lang Siege". Hostilities began in May, with a month-long siege in the city and a second short-lived siege in October.

Blockages and skirmishes continued while Grange continued to re-fortify the castle. The King's party appealed to Elizabeth I of England for help as they lacked the artillery and money to reduce the castle and feared that Grange would receive help from France.

A truce expires on January 1, 1573, and Grange begins to bomb the city. However, its reserves of powder and shot were low and, despite the availability of 40 guns, there were only seven gunners in the garrison. However, the king's forces, now led by the Earl of Morton as regent, were advancing.

Ditches were plowed to surround the castle and St Margaret’s Well was poisoned. In February, all the other supporters of Queen Mary had surrendered to the regent, but Grange had resolved to resist despite the water shortages in the castle. The garrison continued to bomb the city.

In April, a force of approximately 1,000 English soldiers arrived in Edinburgh. They were followed by 27 cannons from Berwick-upon-Tweed. The English troops built an artillery site on Castle Hill, immediately opposite the east walls of the castle, and five others in the north, west, and south. By mid-May, these batteries were ready and bombing began.

Over the next 12 days, the gunners fired about 3,000 shots at the castle. On May 22, the south wall of the Tower of David collapsed and the following day, the constable's tower also fell. Debris blocked the entrance to the castle, as well as the Fore Well, although it has already dried up. People can enjoy the live moments by getting the 2020 Tattoo Tickets online.

On May 26, the English attacked and captured the castle's external fortification. The next day, Grange emerged, calling for a ceasefire. However, having obtained no conditions, he decided to continue the resistance, but the garrison threatened to mutiny. Therefore, he arranged for Drury and his men to enter the castle on May 28, preferring to surrender to the English rather than the Regent Morton.

Edinburgh Castle was given to George Douglas of Parkhead, the regent's brother, and the garrison was authorized to liberate. Much of the castle was now to be rebuilt. The task falls to Regent Morton. The spur, the new Half Moonbattery and the Portcullis gate have been added.

James’s successor, King Charles I, visited Edinburgh Castle only once, hosting a party in the Great Hall. It was the last time that a reigning monarch resided in the castle. In 1639, in response to Charles’s attempts to impose the episcopate on the Scottish Church, a civil war broke out between the king’s forces and the Presbyterian Pacts.

The Covenanters, led by Alexander Leslie, captured Edinburgh Castle after a brief siege, although it was returned to Charles after the Peace of Berwick in June of the same year. The peace was short-lived. The following year, the Covenanters took over the castle, this time after a three-month siege, during which the garrison ran out of supplies.

In May 1650, the Covenanters signed the Treaty of Breda, joining forces with Charles II in exile against English parliamentarians, who had executed his father the year before.

In response to Charles King's Scottish proclamation, Oliver Cromwell launched an invasion of Scotland, defeating the Covenant army at Dunbar in September. Edinburgh Castle was taken after a three-month restriction, which caused further damage.

The next wave of turbulence did not take long to arrive in 1688 when James VII was deposed and exiled by the Glorious Revolution which installed William of Orange as King of England. Tattoo Edinburgh Tickets can buy online from all over the world.

Shortly after, in early 1689, Scotland officially accepted William as their new king and demanded that the Duke of Gordon surrender Edinburgh Castle. Gordon, who had been appointed by James VII as a Catholic confrere, refused.

In March 1689, the castle was blocked by 7,000 men against a garrison of 160 men. Viscount Dundee, determined to spark a rebellion in the Highlands, climbed the west side of Castle Rock to urge Gordon to hold the castle against the new king. Gordon agreed. Despite his first victory at Killiecrankie, Dundee was fatally injured. Without its leadership, the rebellion lost its leadership.

The battle of Dunkeld resulted in an inconclusive result. Some rebels began to abandon the cause and returned to the Highland valleys. Returning to Edinburgh, Gordon began to realize that he was not going to be relieved and would surrender on June 14 due to reduced supplies and the loss of 70 men during the three-month siege.

The castle was almost taken during the first Jacobite lever in support of James Stuart, the "old suitor", in 1715. On September 8, just two days after the start of the lever, a group of about 100 Jacobite Highlanders, led by Lord Drummond, tried to climb the walls with the help of members of the garrison.

However, the rope ladder lowered by the castle sentries was too short and the alarm went off after a watch change. The Jacobites fled, while the deserters from the castle were hanged or flogged. The last military action at the castle took place during the second Jacobite uprising in 1745.

Under Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie"), The Jacobite army captured Edinburgh without a fight in September 1745, but the castle remained in the hands of his aging, General George Preston, who refused to surrender. After their victory over the government army at Prestonpans on September 21, the Jacobites attempted to block the castle.

Preston's response was to bombard Jacobite positions in the city. After the demolition of several buildings and the death of four people, Charles lifted the blockade. Fans can know Edinburgh Tattoo Tickets prices online.

The Jacobites themselves did not have heavy weapons with which to respond, and in November they entered England, leaving Edinburgh to be the garrison of the castle. The uprising would eventually perish on the Culloden field in April of the following year.

During the following century, the vaults of the castle were used to hold prisoners of war during several conflicts, notably the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) and the wars Napoleonic (1803-1815). 

After a massive escape of prisoners in 1811, it ceased to be used as such from 1814

The Edinburgh Castle regularly originated to assume a different role as a national monument. The palace began to be open to visitors in the 1830s. The Sainte-Marguerite chapel was "rediscovered" in 1845, having served as a store for many years.

Works in the 1880s, saw the Argyle tower built above the Portcullis Gate and the great hall restored after years of use as a barracks. A new Gatehouse was built in 1888. The permanent garrison moved in 1923, although the castle was briefly used again as a prison during the Second World War, for captured pilots from the Luftwaffe.

The castle was entrusted to "historic Scotland" when the agency was created in 1991 and was designated a historic monument registered in 1993. Today, it fulfills a function of ceremonial, tourism and administration, soldiers still present.

He is probably best known today for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo which takes place on the Esplanade every year in August. The basis of each performance is a parade of massive pipes and drums from Scottish regiments, and since its creation in 1950, the tattoo has developed a complex format that includes a variety of guest performers from around the world, albeit always with a purpose military.

The highlight of the evening is the solitary bagpiper on the ramparts of the castle, playing a pibroch in memory of the comrades-in-arms, followed by massive groups joining a mix of traditional Scottish melodies. The tattoo attracts an annual audience of around 217,000 people and is broadcast in around thirty countries to an estimated television audience of 100 million.

Another tradition that visitors can observe is the discharge of the One O’Clock Gun, a time signal, fired every day at 1 p.m., except Sunday, Good Friday and Christmas Day.

The "Time Gun" was created in 1861 as a signal for ships in the port of Leith and the Firth of Forth, 3 km away. 

The original gun was an 18-pound muzzle-loading cannon, which needed four men to charge, and was fired from the Half Moonbattery. On Sunday, April 2, 1916, the One O’Clock Gun was fired in vain at a German Zeppelin during an air raid, the only known use of the pistol in wartime.

Edinburgh Castle remains Scotland's most popular tourist attraction, with more than 1.4 million visitors in 2013. Historic Scotland has a number of facilities within the castle, including two cafes/restaurants, several shops and numerous historical exhibitions.

An educational center in the Queen Anne Building organizes events for schools and educational groups and employs reenactors in costume and with vintage weapons.

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