Exploring the ties between the King of England and the King of Scots.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Scottish_monarchs Scottish Monarchs
By the late 11th century at the very latest, Scottish kings were using the term King of Scots which fell out of use in 1707, when the Kingdom of Scotland was merged with the Kingdom of England to form a single Kingdom of Great Britain. Thus Queen Anne became the last monarch of the ancient kingdom of Scotland and England and the first of Great Britain, although the kingdoms had shared a monarch since 1603. Her uncle Charles II was the last Scottish monarch actually to be crowned in Scotland, at Scone in 1651.
Malcolm II was the last king of the House of Alpin; having no sons, was able to pass the crown to his daughter’s son, Duncan I, who inaugurated the House of Dunkeld.
After the reign of David I, the Scottish throne was passed according to rules of primogeniture, moving from father to son, or where not possible, brother to brother.
House of Dunkeld (1024-1286)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_III_of_Scotland Malcolm III “Canmore” aka “Great Chief”, King of Alba, b. ca 1031, Scotland d. 11/13/1093, Alnwick, Northumberland, England. Reigned from 1058-1093 (35 years). He was the son of Duncan I and Suthen; he was the 1st Scottish Monarch of the House of Dunkeld. Married 1st: Ingibiorg of Norway d. ca. 1069, Scotland -mother of Duncan II. Married 2'nd: Margaret of Wessex, an English Princess, daughter of Edward "the Exile"; she was descended from Alfred the Great, King of Wessex. 8/15/1040, his father Duncan I, was killed by Macbeth; Malcolm was said to have been taken to England by his mother and spent most of Macbeth's reign at the court of Edward the Confessor. 4/25/1058, Malcolm's coronation as King of (Alba) Scots (the date is uncertain). 1072, after the Harrrying of the North, Malcolm handed his son Duncan over to William I, King of England to be held hostage and arranged peace between William I and his brother-in-law Edgar Etheling (of Wessex). 11/13/1093, while besieging Alnwick Castle, he was killed by Arkil Morel; his son Edward was also mortally wounded; Queen Margaret died soon after receiving the news. Malcolm's body was taken to Tynemouth Priory for burial; during the reign of his son Alexander his body was reburied at Dunfermline or possibly Iona.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_III_of_Scotland Donald III "the Fair" King of Scots b. ca. 1039 (1033) d. 1099, Rescobie, Angus, Forfarshire, Scotland. Reign (1093-1094 and 1094-1097).
Donald was born in 1033, during the reign of his great-grandfather King Malcolm II. His father, King Duncan I, perished in 1040 when Donald was still a boy, killed by Thane Macbeth, yet another grandson of King Malcolm II, who usurped his place as king. Donald went into hiding in Ireland for 17 years, for fear that he would be killed by Macbeth. His elder brother, Malcolm, went to England. When Malcolm grew to manhood, he overthrew Macbeth and became the new king. Malcolm designated Edward, his eldest son by Margaret of Wessex, as the king to come; but Edward died on campaign in Northumbria in Nov. 1093; followed very soon afterwards by Queen Margaret. John of Fordun reports that Donald invaded the kingdom after her death and laid siege to Edinburgh with Malcolm’s sons by Margaret inside. (historian) Fordun has Edgar Etheling, concerned for his nephews’ well-being, take the sons of Malcolm and Margaret to England. (historian) Andrew of Wyntoun’s much simpler account has Donald become king and banish his nephews. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records only that Donald was chosen as king and expelled the English from the court.
In May 1094, Donald’s nephew Duncan, son of Malcolm and his first wife Ingibiorg, invaded at the head of an army of Anglo-Normans and Northumbrians, aided by his half-brother Edmund and his father-in-law- Gospartic, Earl of Northumbria. This invasion succeeded in placing Duncan on the throne as Duncan II, but an uprising defeated his allies and he was compelled to send away his foreign troops. He was killed 11/12/1094 by Mael Petair, Mormaer of Merns. The Annals of Ulster say that Duncan was killed on the orders of Donald and Edmund.
Donald resumed power, probably with Edmund as his designated heir. (but) Edgar, eldest surviving son of Malcolm and Margaret, obtained the support of William Rufus… Donald’s fate is not entirely clear. (historian) William of Malmesbury tells us that he was “slain by the craftiness of David [later, David I]... blinded and died imprisoned… Donald left one daughter but no sons... He was succeeded by his nephew Edgar the 4th son of Malcolm III.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar,_King_of_Scotland Edgar “the Valiant”, King of (Alba) Scots b. 1074 d. 1/8/1107. He began his reign as King of (Alba) Scots in 1097, following the murder of his half-brother Duncan II. Nothing noteworthy occurred during his 10 year reign. He died 1/8/1107 in Edinburgh, Scotland unmarried and childless; he acknowledged his brother Alexander as his successor. His will also granted (brother) David an appanage in "Cumbria"; David would later be known as Prince of the Cumbrians.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_I_of_Scotland Alexander I “the Fierce”, King of Scots b. ca 1078, Stirling, Scotland d. 4/23/1124. Became King of Scots in 1107, after the death of his brother Edgar. Alexander married Henry I’s illegitimate daughter Sybilla; the marriage was childless. Alexander did not remarry but he had at least one illegitimate child, Mael Coluim mac Alaxandair, who was later to be involved in a revolt against David I in the 1130s; he was imprisoned at Roxburgh, possibly until his death. Alexander died without a legitimate heir; his brother David succeeded him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_I_of_Scotland David I “the Saint”, King of Scots b. ca. 1084 d. 5/24/1153, Carlisle, Cumbria, England. Coronation, 1124, Scone, Scotland. Reign (1124-1153)
With the backing of Henry I, David chose to take the Kingdom of Scotland for himself. When Henry I died, David supported the claims of Henry’s daughter Matilda to the throne of England; in doing so he came into conflict with King Stephen.
The term “Davidian Revolution” is used by many scholars to summarize the changes which took place in Scotland during his reign: his foundation of burghs and regional markets, implementation of the ideals of Gregorian Reform, foundation of monasteries, Normalization of the Scottish government, and the introduction of feudalism through immigrant French and Anglo-French knights.
When his brother Edgar died in 1107, his will provided David with an appanage in "Cumbria"; he became Prince of the Cumbrians in 1113; which marks the beginning of his life as a great territorial lord.
In the latter part of 1113, King Henry gave David the hand of Matilda of Huntingdon, daughter and heiress of Waltheof, Earl of Northumberland. The marriage brought with it the “Honor of Huntingdon”, a lordship scattered through the shires of Northampton, Huntingdon, and Bedford; he named his son, Henry after his patron.
In January and February 1138, the army which invaded England was called “an execrable army, savager than any race of heathen yielding honor to neither God nor man” and that it “harried the whole province and slaughtered everywhere folk of either sex, of every age and condition, destroying, pillaging and burning the vills, churches and houses”.
By February King Stephen marched north to deal with David. The two armies avoided each other, and Stephen was soon on the road south. In the summer David split his army into two forces, sending William fitz Duncan to march into Lancashire, where he harried Furness and Craven. On June 10, William fitz Duncan met a force of knights and men-at-arms. A pitched battle took place, the Battle of Clitheroe, and the English army was routed.
David’s force, apparently 26,000 strong and several times larger than the English army, met the English on August 22 (1138) at Cowdon Moor near Northallerton, North Yorkshire. The Battle of the Standard, was a defeat for the Scots. Afterwards, David and his surviving notables retired to Carlisle… on April 9 (1839) David and Stephen’s wife Matilda of Boulogne met at Durham and agreed a settlement. David’s son Henry was given the earldom of Northumberland and was restored to the earldom of Huntingdon and the lordship of Doncaster; David himself was allowed to keep Carlisle and Cumberland. King Stephen was to retain possession of the strategically vital castles of Bamburgh and Newcastle.
The settlement with Stephen was not set to last long. The arrival in England of the Empress Matilda gave David an opportunity to renew the conflict with Stephen… He was at Westminster Abbey in September, when the Empress found herself surrounded at Winchester.
This civil war, or “the Anarchy” as it was later called, enabled David to strengthen his own position in northern England. The castles at Newcastle and Bamburgh were again brought under his control, and he attained dominion over all of England north-west of the river Ribble and Pennines, while holding the north-east as far south as the river Tyne, on the borders of the core territory of the bishopric of Durham… David’s acquisition of the mines at Alston and the South Tyne enabled him to begin minting the Kingdom of Scotland’s first silver coinage.
Succession and death. 7/12/1152, David’s son and successor Henry died. David died 5/24/1153. He was succeeded by his grandson (son of Henry) Malcolm IV.
Legacy of David I. He was great town builder, he founded around 15 burghs; settlements with defined boundaries and guaranteed trading rights. Became English in culture and language which would give birth to the idea of the Scottish Lowlands.
David founded more than a dozen new monasteries; these functioned to transform Scottish society; serving as centers of foreign influence and serve the crown's administrative needs. Through Cistercian labor southern Scotland became an important source of sheep wool.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_IV_of_Scotland Malcolm IV "Virgo" aka "the Maiden", King of Scots, b. 1141, Scotland d. 12/9/1165, Jedburgh, Scotland. Eldest son of Henry, Earl of Huntingdon and Northumbria and Ada de Warenne was crowned King of Scots 5/27/1153 (Malcolm was the grandson of David I; his father Henry died in 1152). For much of his reign he was in poor health and died unmarried at the age of twenty-four. He was succeeded by his brother, William I.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Lion William I “the Lion”, King of Scots b. abt 1143 d. 12/4/1214, Stirling, Scotland. Reign 1165-1214 (49 years). 9/5/1186, he married Ermengarde de Beaumont; the marriage was arranged by King Henry II of England. Richard (de Beaumont) was the son of Henry I's illegitimate daughter Constance aka Maud FitzRoy. William considered her status beneath him (her grandmother was illegitimate), but agreed after Henry offered to pay for the entire wedding, land valued at 100 merks and 40 knight’s fees, and to return the castles that he had forfeited, one of them being Edinburgh. Chronicler Walter Bower described her as ‘an extraordinary woman, gifted with a charming and witty eloquence’. Though William had many lovers before his marriage (and numerous illegitimate children whose descendants were among those who would lay claim to the Scottish crown), he was reportedly never unfaithful to her after their wedding. Due to the illness of William, Ermegarde took over some of his duties during his later years, and there is evidence that she wielded considerable influence in public affairs.
He was an effective monarch whose reign was marred by his ill-fated attempts to regain control of Northumbria from the Normans. William inherited the title of Earl of Northumbria in 1152 from his father, Henry of Scotland; however he had to give up this title to King Henry II of England in 1157.
William was a key player in the Revolt of 1173-1174 against Henry II. In 1174, at the Battle of Alnwick, William was unhorsed and captured by Henry’s troops and taken in chains to Newcastle, then Northampton, and then transferred to Falaise in Normandy. Henry then sent an army to Scotland and occupied it. As ransom and to regain his kingdom, William signed the Treaty of Falaise; he 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. He was then allowed to return to Scotland. The Treaty of Falaise triggered a revolt in Galloway which lasted until 1186, and prompted construction of a castle at Dumfries. 12/5/1189, needing money to take part in the Third Crusade, Richard the Lionheart agreed to terminate the Treaty of Falaise in return for 10,000 silver marks.
Despite the Scots regaining their independence, Anglo-Scottish relations remain tense during the first decade of the 13th century. Aug 1209, King John marched a large army to Norham (near Berwick), to exploit the flagging leadership of the ageing Scottish monarch. As well as promising a large sum of money, William agreed to his elder daughters marrying English nobles and, when the treaty was renewed in 1212, John apparently gained the hand of William’s only surviving legitimate son, and heir, Alexander, for his eldest daughter, Joan.
Legacy. (following the lines laid down by his grandfather, David I) Anglo-French settlements and feudalization were extended, new burghs founded, criminal law clarified, the responsibilities of justices and sheriffs widened, and trade grew. He died 12/4/1214 and was succeeded by his son, Alexander II.
Children of William and Ermengarde:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_of_Scotland,_Countess_of_Kent Margaret (1193-1259). Her father had battled with Henry II of England as well as his younger brother John of England. As a result, in 1209, William was forced to send Margaret and her younger sister Isabella as hostages; they were imprisoned at Corfe Castle along with Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany, who had been under house arrest to prevent her claim on England. 6/19/1221, she married Hubert de Burgh; at the time of their marriage he was regent of the Kingdom of England since Henry III was too young to carry out the duties of King; Hubert was awarded the title of Earl of Kent and remained one of the most influential people at court.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_of_Scotland,_Countess_of_Norfolk Isabella (1195-aft 1253). Her father had battled with Henry II of England as well as his younger brother John of England. As a result, in 1209, William was forced to send Margaret and her younger sister Isabella as hostages; they were imprisoned at Corfe Castle along with Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany, who had been under house arrest to prevent her claim on England. Upon Isabella’s release, she was required to marry English noble Roger Bigod, 4th Earl of Norfolk. Henry III of England granted her property when she married Roger in May 1225. Noteworthy: at the time of their marriage, Isabella was 30 and Roger was 16. Roger became a ward of his new brother-in-law King Alexander; he held the position until 1228. Roger and Isabella were childless; in 1245, he repudiated her on grounds of consanguinity, but was compelled by an ecclesiastical sentence to take her back in 1253.
About Roger Bigod (ca. 1209-1270). Eldest son and heir of Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk by his wife (Matilda aka) Maud, a daughter of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke. After the death of his father in 1225, the young Roger became the ward of William Longespee, 3rd Earl of Salisbury. In 1228, although still under-age but by now married and in a second wardship to Alexander II of Scotland following his 1225 marriage to Alexander’s sister Isabella, he succeeded to his father’s estates including Framlingham Castle; he didn’t receive his father’s title until 1233.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_II_of_Scotland Alexander II, King of Scots b. 8/24/1198 d. 7/6/12149. (his biographical information follows Marjorie, below)
Marjorie of Scotland b. 1200 d. 11/17/1244 (no wikipedia page); 8/1/1235 in Berwick-upon-Tweed, married Gilbert Marshal, 4th Earl of Pembroke son of William Marshal and Isabel de Clare. He was accidentally killed 6/27/1241 while in a tournament at Ware; he was thrown from his horse and his foot was caught in the stirrup, dragged for some distance and died from injuries.
Alexander II, King of Scots b. 8/24/1198, Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland d. 7/6/1249, Kerrera, Inner Herbrides. King John of England knighted him (age 15) at Clerkenwell Priory in 1213. Coronation: 12/6/1214 (age 16), Scone, Scotland. In 1215 he joined the English barons in their struggle against John, King of England. He led an army into the Kingdom of England which led to the sacking of Berwick-upon-Tweed as John’s forces ravaged the north. 1216, Alexander paid homage to the pretender Prince Louis of France for his lands in England, chosen by the barons to replace King John. But when John died, the Pope and the English aristocracy changed their allegiance to his 9-yr-old son, Henry, forcing the French and the Scots armies to return home.
Peace between Henry III, Louis of France, and Alexander followed on 9/12/1217 with the Treaty of Kingston. Diplomacy further strengthened by the marriage of Alexander to Henry’s sister Joan of England in June 1221.
Alexander's royal forces crushed a revolt in Galloway in 1235. The Treaty of York signed 9/25/1237; affirmed that Northumberland, and Cumberland, and Westmorland were subject to English sovereignty; and defined the boundary between the two kingdoms as running between the Solway Firth (in the west) and the mouth of the River Tweed (in the east).
Joan died in March 1238 in Essex; Alexander married his second wife, Marie de Coucy, 5/15/1239; they had one son, the future Alexander III.
Alexander became ill and died at the Isle of Kerrera in the Inner Hebrides 7/6/1249; he was buried at Melrose Abbey. Melrose, Roxburghshire,Scotland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melrose_Abbey
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_III_of_Scotland Alexander III, King of Scots b. 9/4/1241, Roxburgh Castle, Roxburghshire, Scotland d. 3/19/1286, Kinghorn Ness, Fife, Scotland. Reign (1249-1286) (37 yrs). The last Scottish King of the House of Dunkeld. When his father died, he became King of Scots at the age of seven, inaugurated at Scone 7/13/1249. 1251, (age 10) Alexander was married to Margaret (age 11) of England, daughter of Henry III of England (they had been betrothed by their parents in 1244; Margaret was 4 and Alexander was 3).
In 1262, Alexander reached his majority (age 21) and declared his intention of resuming the projects on the Western Isles which the death of his father had cut short. When the Norwegian king Haakon rejected his claim, Alexander invaded. Haakon died in Orkney 12/15/1263; in 1266, his successor, concluded the Treaty of Perth by which he ceded the Isle of Man and the Western Isles to Scotland; Norway retained only Orkney and Shetland in the area.
12/26/1251, Alexander’s 1st wife Margaret died; according to the Lanercost Chronicle, he did not spend his decade as a widower alone: “he used never to forbear on account of season nor storm, nor for perils of flood or rocky cliffs, but would visit none to credibly nuns or matrons, virgins or widows as the fancy seized him, sometimes in disguise. Towards the end of his reign, the death of all three of his children within a few years made the question of succession one of pressing importance. Children of Alexander and Margaret:
Margaret b. 2/28/1261 d. 4/9/1283, in childbirth (age 22); married Eric II King of Norway (she was 20, he was 13) *their children were to succeed to the throne of the kingdom of the Scots. Their daughter, Margaret became Queen of Scots (age 3) until her death, 1290 (age 7).
Alexander b. 1/21/1263 d. 1/17/1284 (age 20); married Margaret of Flanders; they had no children.
David b. 3/20/1272 d. June 1281 (age 9).
Summary: David died 1281 (age 9); Margaret died 1283 (age 22); Alexander died 1284 (age 22); Alexander’s only grandchild, Margaret became heir to the throne of Scotland; when Alexander died in 1286, she became Queen regnant at the age of 2.
In 1284 Alexander induced the Estates to recognize as his heir-presumptive his granddaughter Margaret (b. 1283), the “Maid of Norway”. The need for a male heir led him to contract a 2nd marriage to Yolande de Dreux 11/15/1285, at Jedburgh Abbey; daughter of Robert IV, Count of Dreux and Beatrice, Countess of Montfort. She was b. 1263 d. 8/2/1322. Her father was a patrilineal descendant of King Louis VI of France, making her a member of a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty with powerful connections. After Alexander’s death in March of 1286, Yolande declared she was pregnant; it is unclear what happened to her pregnancy (stillborn or died shortly after birth); tradition says the baby was buried at Cambuskenneth. The council began preparations for Margaret of Norway (granddaughter of Alexander by his 1st marriage) to be taken to Scotland as their new sovereign.
Margaret died 9/26/1290, on her way to Scotland, of the effects of sea-sickness. Her death left no obvious heir to the Scottish throne; the matter was resolved in the Great Cause of 1291-2.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competitors_for_the_Crown_of_Scotland Competitors for the Crown of Scotland. With the death of King Alexander III in 1286, the crown of Scotland passed to his only surviving descendant, his 3-yr-old granddaughter Margaret. In 1290, the Guardians of Scotland, who had been appointed to govern the realm during the young Queen’s minority, drew up the Treaty of Birgham, a marriage contract between Margaret and the 5-yr-old Edward of Caernarvon (son of Edward I. King of England), heir apparent to the English throne. The treaty, contained the provision that although the issue of this marriage would inherit the crowns of both England and Scotland, the latter kingdom should be “separate, apart and free in itself without subjection to the English Kingdom”.
After Queen Margaret’s death, the Guardians called upon her fiance’s father, Edward I of England, to decide between various competitors for the Scottish throne in a process known as the Great Cause. One of the strongest claimants, John Balliol, Lord of Galloway, forged an alliance with the powerful Antony Bek, Bishop of Durham, the representative of Edward I in Scotland and began styling himself ‘heir of Scotland’, while another, Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale, turned up to the site of Queen Margaret’s supposed inauguration with a force of soldiers amidst rumours that his friends the Earl of Mar and the Earl of Atholl were also raising their forces. Scotland looked to be headed for civil war.
To avoid war between the Bruce and Balliol, the Guardians and other Scots magnates asked Edward I to intervene; he seized the occasion as an opportunity to gain legal recognition that the realm of Scotland was held as a feudal dependency to the throne of England. The English kings had a long history of presuming an overlordship of Scotland harking back to the late 12th century when Scotland had actually been a vassal state of England for 15 years from 1174 (Treaty of Falaise) until the Quitclaim of Canterbury (1189), but the legality of the 13th century claim was questionable. Alexander III, giving homage to Edward, had chosen his words very carefully: ‘I become your man of the lands I hold of you in Kingdom of England for which I own homage, saving my Kingdom.
In the line of this desire, Edward demanded in May 1291 that his claim of feudal overlordship of Scotland be recognised before he would step in and act as arbiter. Indeed, he went so far as to demand that the Scots produce evidence to show that he was not the lawful overlord rather than presenting them with evidence that he was. The Scots’ reply came that without a king there was no one in the realm responsible enough to possibly make such an admission, and so any assurances given by the Scots were worthless… The majority of the competitors and the Guardians did eventually step forward to acknowledge Edward as their rightful overlord… They also agreed to put Edward in temporary control of the principal royal castles of Scotland… Edward agreed that he would return control of both kingdom and castles to the successful claimant within two months… Edward arranged for a court to be setup to decide which of the claimants should inherit the throne… There were fourteen nobles who put themselves forward as candidates… In reality only four of these men had genuine claims to the throne… only Bruce and Balliol had realistic grounds on which to claim the crown.
John Balliol, by the tradition of primogeniture, he was the rightful claimant… he also argued that the Kingdom of Scotland was, as royal estate, indivisible as an entity.
Robert Bruce a Scotsman was the next in line to the throne according to proximity of blood. As such, his arguments centered on this being a more suitable way to govern the succession than primogeniture… they also suggested that Alexander III had designated Bruce as heir when he was still childless; whatever the truth of this, Alexander did produce a male heir… there was also an argument that it be split amongst the three senior claimants (which included John Hastings, a descendant of King David I)...
Election. Edward gave judgment on the Scottish case 11/17/1292 in favor of John Balliol with his son Edward (betrothed to Queen Margaret) becoming heir designate.
The inauguration of John Balliol as king 11/30/1292 ended the six years of the Guardians of Scotland governing the land.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Balliol John Balliol, King of Scots b. ca 1249 d. 11/25/1314 Château de Helicourt, Picardy, France. Reign: 1292-1296 (6 yrs) Feb 1281, married, Isabelle de Warenne of the Noble family of Plantagenet; daughter of John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey and Alice de Lusignan, half-sister of Henry III of England. 11/30/1292, Coronation, King of Scots. 1296, 1st War of Scottish Independence; after a Scottish defeat, Balliol abdicated and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. He was released from the custody of Pope Boniface III in 1301 and lived the rest of his life on his family’s ancestral estates.
Scotland was without a monarch until 1306 when Robert the Bruce ascended.
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