Aberdeen Castle was a

late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

fortification, in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It was situated on Castle Hill, a site today known as the Castlegate, and the location of the castle is now occupied by blocks of flats.

Burned and demolished

It is thought the castle and fortifications were slighted by King Robert the Bruce as was his policy on recaptured castles in June 1308, during the

Wars of Scottish Independence The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and 14th centuries. The First War (1296–1328) began with the English invasion of Scotla ...

immediately following the Harrying of Buchan. Bruce and his men laid siege to the castle before massacring the English Garrison to prevent its use by the English troops of Edward II. It is said the Scots showed no mercy but "slew every man who fell into their hands. Edward I, indeed, had already set the example of executing his prisoners. It was not to be expected that the other side would fail to follow the same course" However, as of August 1308, Gilbert Pecche and the last troops were allowed to leave Aberdeen; though this is unlikely to be accurate. On 10 July 1308, English ships left Hartlepool to help the English garrison. Legend tells that the city's motto, Bon Accord, came from the password used to initiate Bruce's final push and destruction of the castle.

Surrender to the English

The castle was surrendered to the English in 1295, and on 14 April 1296, the English King, Edward I arrived in Aberdeen and stayed in the castle as part of his campaign in the east coast of Scotland, having defeated the Scots.

Wallace

However, the following year, in 1297, after defeating the English at Dunnottar Castle,

William Wallace Sir William Wallace (, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army at the Battle of St ...

marched his men to Aberdeen as part of their campaign to reclaim the east coast from the English army. They found the English preparing to leave with an armada of one hundred ships. The speed of Wallace's arrival from Dunnottar caught the English unawares. At low tide, the stranded ships were attacked in the harbour: the crew and soldiers were slaughtered, the cargo was seized, and the ships were burned.

John Balliol

The English Sheriff of Aberdeen, Sir Henry de Lazom, had been left in charge of the castle, but during the chaos of the attack, he defected and declared the castle in the name of the Scottish King,

John Balliol John Balliol or John de Balliol ( – late 1314), known derisively as Toom Tabard (meaning 'empty coat'), was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296. Little is known of his early life. After the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Scotland entered an ...

References

{{Aberdeen History of Aberdeen Former castles in Scotland Castles in Aberdeen 1308 disestablishments in Scotland