On 13 July 1174 William the Lion, Uilleam MacEanraig, King of Scots, was captured by an English force led by  Ranulf de Glanvill at the Battle of Alnwick.

With only 60 men to the English force of 400, William charged into the opposing army, was unseated from his horse and taken prisoner in 1174.

He was taken in chains to Newcastle, then Northampton, and then transferred to Caen then Falaise in Normandy. Henry II of England then sent an army to Scotland and occupied it. As ransom and to regain his kingdom, William had to acknowledge Henry as his feudal superior and agree to pay for the cost of the English army’s occupation of Scotland by taxing the Scots. The cost was equal to 40,000 Scottish marks (£26,000). The church in Scotland was also subjected to that of England. William acknowledged this by signing the Treaty of Falaise and was then allowed to return to Scotland. On 10 August 1175 he swore fealty to Henry II at York Castle and became his liege man.

The Treaty of Falaise remained in force for the next fifteen years. Then the English king Richard the Lionheart, needing money to take part in the Third Crusade, agreed to terminate it in return for 10,000 silver marks (£6,500), on 5 December 1189.