1093

November 13

Malcolm III, the king of Scotland, and his son Edward were both killed at the battle of Alnwick in Northumberland. Malcolm had invaded England after William II had made moves to take more control over Cumbria and had fortified Carlisle. The bodies of the Scottish king and his son where buried at Tynemouth Priory.

1093

November 13

After Malcolm III and his eldest son Edward by his second marriage were killed near Alnwick Donald, Malcolm's brother, became the king of Scotland. Malcolm's family were forced into exiled in England. Malcolm had another son, Duncan, by his first wife. But Duncan was being held hostage at the court of William Rufus.

1096

...

Building work on Alnwick Castle began.

1147

...

Alnwick Abbey was founded by Eustace fitz John, the owner of Alnwick Castle.

1173

Summer

King William of Scotland targeted several key fortifications in northern England, particularly in Northumberland and Cumberland in an attempt to seize territory while King Henry II was preoccupied with the broader revolt against his son. Castles that he attempted to capture included Carlisle Castle, Newcastle Castle, Prudhoe Castle and Alnwick Castle. All of these castles managed to be defended against the Scottish King's attacks and sieges.

1174

June 13

William I, king of Scotland invaded England to help fight in the baronial rebellion against Henry II. The Scottish King attacked the castle at Prudhoe but was unable to capture it. William was captured at the Battle of Alnwick and the rebellion came to an end. He was transported to Falaise in Normandy where he would later sign a peace treaty.

1174

December 8

Captured by the English, William I of Scotland was forced to sign the Treaty of Falaise. The treaty made Scotland a feudal possession of England and William and his nobles swore fealty to Henry II. William had to hand over several castles to the English in return for his freedom. One of these was Stirling Castle. This treaty was overruled by King Richard I in return for funds paid by Scotland that Richard needed for his crusade in 1189. ^[1]

1462

October 25

Queen Margaret landed near Bamburgh Castle on the Northumbrian coast with a small army. The main castles in the area, Alnwick, Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh surrendered to the Queen. ^[2]

1462

December

The Earl of Warwick was put in charge of capturing the castles from the Lancastrian garrisons. Edward had to stay at Durham to recover from a bout of the measles. The castles were not attacked but cut off from supplies to starve the soldiers out. Just before the new year the Lancastrian soldiers surrendered and the Yorkists took control of Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh Castles. Warwick used the castle at Warkworth as his base while he monitored the sieges at the other castles. The seige of Alnwick Castle continued into January. ^[3]

1463

January 6

The Lancastrians inside Alnwick Castle were short of supplies so an army from Scotland under the control of George Douglas, the 4th Earl of Angus marched down to assist. When the Scottish army arrived at the castle, the Yorkists who were beseiging the castle withdrew allowing many of those inside to escape. Douglas did not attack the Yorkists but turned with the rescued men back to Scotland. The Yorkists returned to the castle and those Lancastrians that had not been able to escape surrendered. ^[3]

1463

March

Sir Ralph Percy, the constable in charge of Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh castles, defected and allowed the Lancastrians to take control. Alnwick Castle fell to the Lancastrians shortly afterwards.

1463

May

Alnwick Castle was captured by the Lancastrians. ^[4]

1464

June 23

After the Lancastrians were defeated at the Battle of Hexham their power in Northumberland was at an end. The Earl of Warwick accepted the surrender of Alnwick Castle on June the 23rd. Dunstanburgh Castle surrendered shortly afterwards. The siege at Bamburgh Castle was brought to an end with the use of cannons, the first castle to fall in such a way. ^[3]