Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
practised by the Picts) and introduced
feudalism
into Scotland, a system that was
diametrically opposed to the Gaelic system - the followers of a Gaelic king were his
kindred, whereas the followers of a feudal king were vassals bought with land.
he Canmores, independent of the local nobility, who remained a military threat, also
began to reform the
Church
. his development started with
Margaret
, Malcolm III's
English wife, who brought Scottish religious practices into line with those of the rest of
Europe.
David I
continued the process by importing monks to found a series of
monasteries, principally along the border at Kelso, Melrose, Jedburgh and Dryburgh.
Similarly, the dynasty founded a series of
royal burghs
, towns such as Edinburgh,
Stirling and Berwick, recognized as centres of trade. heir charters usually granted a
measure of self-government and the monarchy hoped this liberality would both
encourage loyalty and increase the prosperity of the kingdom. Scotland's Gaelic-
speaking clans had little influence within the burghs, and gradually Scots - a northern
version of Anglo-Saxon - became the main
language
throughout the Lowlands.
The Wars of Scottish Independence
In 1286 Alexander III died, and a hotly disputed succession gave
Edward I
, King of
England, an opportunity to subjugate Scotland. In 1291 Edward presided over a
conference where the rival claimants to the Scottish throne presented their cases.
Edward chose
John Balliol
over
Robert the Bruce
, his main rival; he obliged Balliol to
pay him homage, thus turning Scotland into a vassal kingdom. Bruce refused to accept
the decision and in 1295 Balliol renounced his allegiance to Edward and sided with
France - beginning what is known as the “
Auld Alliance
”. In the ensuing conflict, the
Bruce family sided with the English, Balliol was defeated and imprisoned, and Edward
seized control of almost all of Scotland.
Edward had shown little mercy during his conquest of Scotland - he had most of the
population of Berwick massacred - and his cruelty provoked a truly national resistance.
his focused on
William Wallace
, a man of relatively lowly origins who raised an army
of peasants, lesser knights and townsmen that was fundamentally different to the
armies raised by the nobility. Figures like Balliol, holding lands in England, France and
Scotland, were part of an international aristocracy for whom warfare was the means by
which they struggled for power. Wallace, by contrast, led proto-nationalist forces
determined to expel the English from their country. Probably for that very reason
Wallace never received the support of the nobility and, after a bitter ten-year campaign
during which he notched up a couple of notable victories over English armies, he was
betrayed and executed in London in 1305.
In 1306 Robert the Bruce defied Edward and had himself crowned king of Scotland.
Edward died the following year, but the unrest dragged on until 1314, when Bruce
decisively defeated a huge English army under Edward II at the
Battle of
Bannockburn
.
At last Bruce was firmly in control of his kingdom, and in 1320 the Scots asserted their
right to independence in a successful petition to the pope, now known as the
Declaration of Arbroath
.
The Stewart dynasty
Following Bruce's death in 1329, the Scottish monarchy gradually declined in
influence. he last of the Bruce dynasty died in 1371, to be succeeded by the
563
843
1286
St Columba founds a monastery
on Iona and begins to convert
the Picts.
Kenneth MacAlpine becomes
the first king of the Scots and
the Picts.
Death of Alexander III
sparks the Wars of
Scottish Independence.
