Before
David I David I may refer to:
* David I, Caucasian Albanian Catholicos c. 399
* David I of Armenia, Catholicos of Armenia (728–741)
* David I Kuropalates of Georgia (died 881)
* David I Anhoghin, king of Lori (ruled 989–1048)
* David I of Scotland ...
became the
King of Scotland in 1124, he was the prince of the Cumbrians and earl of a great territory in the middle of England acquired by marriage. This period marks the beginning of his life as a great territorial lord. Circa 1113, the year in which King
Henry I of England arranged his marriage to an English heiress and the year in which for the first time David can be found in possession of "Scottish" territory, marks the beginning of his rise to Scottish leadership.
Introduction — David and Henry I
No historian is likely to deny that
David I David I may refer to:
* David I, Caucasian Albanian Catholicos c. 399
* David I of Armenia, Catholicos of Armenia (728–741)
* David I Kuropalates of Georgia (died 881)
* David I Anhoghin, king of Lori (ruled 989–1048)
* David I of Scotland ...
's early career was largely manufactured for him by King
Henry I of England. David was one of Henry's "new men", and his "greatest protégé"; Henry's influence had brought David his English marriage and lands, and Henry's military power had allowed David to take up his Scottish lands. David's early career can be understood as part of Henry's frontier policy, which included marriage of two daughters to the kings of Scotland and Galloway, consolidation of royal control in the north-west coast of England and the quelling of the Montgomeries, marcher lords on the Welsh borders who had been allied to
Muirchertach Ua Briain,
High King of Ireland (1101–19). The world of peace which David had enjoyed in England ended after the death of Henry I, just as it did for most other English magnates.
When Henry I first became king of England, he did so in circumstances that were very irregular.
William II, it was said, had been killed in a hunting accident in the
New Forest
The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, fea ...
. Henry tentatively assumed power while his elder brother Robert, duke of Normandy and the rightful heir, was on crusade. Thus, as a usurper within his own dynasty, he cast about for a claim to legitimacy. He found it in a marriage to David's sister Edith, often called Matilda in Norman fashion, who had accompanied David in his exile. She was a descendant of the near-extinct dynasty of Wessex through her mother, and thereby provided a crude but effective means to create a legal basis for his rule. As an added benefit, from Henry's viewpoint, she might also provide some protection against further Scottish incursions like those that had plagued the northern English provinces with regularity under Malcolm III. This is not to argue that Henry I and David could not have appreciated each other's company and built their friendship on that basis, of course, but the fact that David was now styled as "the brother of the queen" when he witnessed documents does suggest at least one clear ulterior motive for their friendship and, on Henry's part, points to a familiar and quintessentially feudal logic that underpinned his nurturing of David.
Indeed, it was at Henry's bidding that David gained experience as a judge in the royal courts; it was Henry who organized his aforementioned marriage to Maud de Senlis (Matilda) in 1113, thereby installing David as one of the seven earls of the English realm; and it was Henry who ensured that the will of
king Edgar was fulfilled, giving military aid to David when he was installed in his appanage.
Furthermore, this organization of power based upon personal relationships peculiar to the feudal system ensured that, after he became king of Scotland in 1124, the only thing that kept David from pursuing a policy of vigorous expansion was his friendship with Henry. To be sure, it should not be surprising to learn that David harboured territorial ambitions – such desires were cultivated by the prevailing culture of the Normans, the greatest warriors of the age, and applauded if they ended in conquest – nor should it be any surprise that he soon sought to express them upon Henry's death. That he should seek to place those ambitions upon a solid basis of propriety would have been even less remarkable, had a suitable excuse to attack not been conveniently at hand.
When Henry I died in 1135, David had already sat upon the throne of Scotland for nearly eleven years. He had also, in his capacity as a great English nobleman, been the first to swear obedience to Henry's daughter, his own niece, the former Empress of Germany, Matilda, supporting her succession in lieu of any legitimate male heirs – Henry's son having predeceased him, drowning in the famous disaster of the White Ship in 1120.
The unclaimed inheritance
On 8 January 1107 David's brother Edgar died. It is often assumed that David took control of his inheritance, the southern lands bequeathed by Edgar, straight after the latter's death. However, much of the evidence indicates that David had to wait until 1113 to get the support he needed to take control of these lands because of King Alexander's opposition; it cannot be demonstrated that he possessed his inheritance until his foundation of Selkirk Abbey late in the year 1113. David's exact whereabouts between May 1108 and December 1113 are not explicitly attested in any sources, but according to the arguments of Richard Oram, all of this time was spent both in England and in
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
. By the end of his time in the
Kingdom of the English David had acquired lands in
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
and in Normandy, receiving
Hallamshire
Hallamshire (or Hallam) is the historical name for an area of South Yorkshire, England, approximating to the current City of Sheffield local government area.
The origin of the name is uncertain. The English Place-Name Society describe "Hall ...
and the northern section of the
Cotentin Peninsula
The Cotentin Peninsula (, ; nrf, Cotentîn ), also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain. To its w ...
from King Henry. David was probably in Henry's company when the latter campaigned in Normandy during this period, and David was probably given these lands as a reward for his services as a trusted subordinate. It was from Normandy and his possessions in the Cotentin Peninsula that David drew most of his early core followers, men such as
Robert de Brus
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...
,
Hugh de Morville and
Ranulf de Soules, who became his chief magnates in the conquered territory between
Cumberland and the Kingdom of Scotland; from here he probably brought his confessor
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
, the man who became the first bishop of David's reorganised
diocese of Glasgow
The Archdiocese of Glasgow was one of the thirteen (after 1633 fourteen) dioceses of the Scottish church. It was the second largest diocese in the Kingdom of Scotland, including Clydesdale, Teviotdale, parts of Tweeddale, Liddesdale, Annanda ...
. According to Oram, it was only in 1113, when Henry had returned to England, that David was at last in a position to claim his inheritance in southern "Scotland".
Seizure of inheritance
There is no evidence which shows that King Henry himself participated in the campaign in person, but it is clear that his backing was enough to force King Alexander to recognize his younger brother's claims. This probably occurred without bloodshed. Years later, when David invaded England with a huge army composed almost entirely of Gaelic Scots,
Ailred of Rievaulx
Aelred of Rievaulx ( la, Aelredus Riaevallensis); also Ailred, Ælred, and Æthelred; (1110 – 12 January 1167) was an English Cistercian monk, abbot of Rievaulx from 1147 until his death, and known as a writer. He is regarded by Anglicans ...
has a Norman knight named Robert de Brus lament and complain to David about his betrayal of the ''Angli'' and ''Normanni'', the English and Normans, whom he once relied upon. Among other things, the knight asserted:
"Oh King, when thou didst demand from thy brother Alexander the part of the kingdom which the same brother dgarhad bequeathed at his death didst obtain without bloodshed all that thou wouldst, through fear of us"
It was in this way, through a bloodless threat of force, that David gained his first territorial foothold within the area of modern Scotland. David's aggression seems to have inspired resentment amongst some native Scots. A recently rediscovered Gaelic quatrain from this period complains that:
If "divided from" is anything to go by, this quatrain may have been written in David's new territories in southern "Scotland". The lands in question consisted of the pre-1994 counties of
Roxburghshire,
Selkirkshire
Selkirkshire or the County of Selkirk ( gd, Siorrachd Shalcraig) is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. It borders Peeblesshire to the west, Midlothian to the north, Roxburghshire to the east, and Dumfriesshire to the south. ...
,
Berwickshire
Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of t ...
,
Peeblesshire and
Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland.
Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotl ...
. David, moreover, gained the title ''princeps Cumbrensis'', "Prince of the Cumbrians", as attested in David's charters from this era. Although this was a large slice of Scotland south of the river Forth, the region of Galloway-proper was entirely outside David's control. David may perhaps have had some varying degrees of overlordship in parts of
Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county.
I ...
,
Ayrshire,
Dunbartonshire
Dunbartonshire ( gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders Pe ...
and
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Re ...
; these lands were thought of as part of a
reater"Galloway", settled by
Gall Gaidel, Gaelic-speakers of mixed Gaelic and Norse descent, and in the early days of David's lordship would have rendered no more than occasional payments of ''cain'', the tribute paid to an overlord in Scotland. Upon the lands between Galloway and the Principality of Cumbria, David eventually setup large-scale marcher lordships, such as Annandale for Robert de Brus, Cunningham for Hugh de Morville, and possibly Strathgryfe for Walter fitz Alan.
Reformer
In part, David made use of the "English" income secured for him by his marriage to
Matilda de Senlis in order to finance the construction of the first true towns in Scotland, and these in turn allowed the establishment of several more. As Prince of the Cumbrians, David founded the first two
burghs
A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burg ...
of "Scotland", at
Roxburgh
Roxburgh () is a civil parish and formerly a royal burgh, in the historic county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was an important trading burgh in High Medieval to early modern Scotland. In the Middle Ages it had at leas ...
and
Berwick. These were settlements with defined boundaries and guaranteed trading rights, locations where the king could collect and sell the products of his ''cain'' and ''conveth'' (a payment made ''in lieu'' of providing the king
hospitality
Hospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill, including the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis, chevalier de Jaucourt describes ...
) rendered to him. These burghs were essentially Scotland's first towns. David would found more of these burghs when he became King of Scots. In 1113, in perhaps David's first act as Prince of the Cumbrians, he founded
Selkirk Abbey for the
Tironensian Order. Several years later, perhaps in 1116, David visited
Tiron itself, probably to acquire more monks; in 1128 he transferred Selkirk Abbey to
Kelso, nearer
Roxburgh
Roxburgh () is a civil parish and formerly a royal burgh, in the historic county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was an important trading burgh in High Medieval to early modern Scotland. In the Middle Ages it had at leas ...
, at this point his chief residence.
Renewed bishopric of Glasgow
Almost as soon as he was in charge of the Cumbrian principality, David placed the
bishopric of Glasgow under his chaplain,
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
, whom David may have met for the first time during his participation in Henry's conquest of Normandy after 1106. John himself was closely associated with the
Tironensian Order, and presumably committed to the new Gregorian ideas regarding episcopal organization. David carried out an
inquest, afterwards assigned to the bishopric all the lands of his principality, except those in the east of his principality which were already governed by the Scotland-proper based
bishop of St Andrews. David was responsible for assigning to Glasgow enough lands directly to make the bishopric self-sufficient and for ensuring that in the longer term Glasgow would become the second most important bishopric in the Kingdom of Scotland. By the 1120s, work also began on building a proper cathedral for the diocese. David would also try to ensure that his reinvigorated
episcopal see would retain independence from other bishoprics, an aspiration which would generate a great deal of tension with the English church, where both the
Archbishop of Canterbury and the
Archbishop of York
The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...
claimed overlordship.
Activities in England
The year 1113 was an important in another respect. In the later part of the year, King Henry gave David the hand of
Matilda de Senlis, daughter of
Waltheof, earl of Northumberland. The marriage brought with it the "Honour of Huntingdon and Northampton", a lordship which was scattered in the shires of Northampton, Huntingdon and Bedford. Moreover, within a few years Matilda de Senlis bore to him a son, whom David named
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
after his patron, King Henry I. Judith Green believes that Henry I's generosity had two causes; firstly, his wife — David's sister Matilda — was pressuring her husband to bestow favour on her younger brother; secondly, Henry wished to secure support for his succession plans. David would naturally be expected to support Henry's heirs as they would be David's own kin, and so boosting David's power was very much in Henry's interest. The new territories David gained control of were very much a boost, a valuable supplement to his income and manpower, increasing his status as one of the most powerful magnates in the Kingdom of the English. Moreover, Matilda's father Waltheof had been
Earl of Northumberland
The title of Earl of Northumberland has been created several times in the Peerage of England and of Great Britain, succeeding the title Earl of Northumbria. Its most famous holders are the House of Percy (''alias'' Perci), who were the most po ...
, a defunct lordship which had covered the far north of England and included
Cumberland and
Westmorland
Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...
,
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land ...
-proper, as well as overlordship of the bishopric of Durham. David would later revive the claim to this earldom for his son Henry, but that was in the future, only after the death of King Henry.
Like his activities before 1113, David's activities and personal whereabouts after 1114 are not always easy to trace. He spent much of his time outside his principality. He was, for instance, at
St Albans on 28 December 1115, and was still in England in 1116 when he witnessed a charter of his sister Queen Matilda (Edith, or Maud) at
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
. Despite the death of his sister on 1 May 1118, David remained a favoured vassal of King Henry. He was at Henry's court in the years 1121 and 1122. He was in the south of England in the summer of 1123, and it is possible that David accompanied Henry to Normandy in the same year to suppress
William Clito
William Clito (25 October 110228 July 1128) was a member of the House of Normandy who ruled the County of Flanders from 1127 until his death and unsuccessfully claimed the Duchy of Normandy. As the son of Robert Curthose, the eldest son of William ...
's claim for the
Duchy of Normandy
The Duchy of Normandy grew out of the 911 Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between King Charles III of West Francia and the Viking leader Rollo. The duchy was named for its inhabitants, the Normans.
From 1066 until 1204, as a result of the Norman c ...
. If David did go to France, then by the time he returned to Britain in 1124 his brother Alexander had died.
[Oram, ''David: The King Who Made Scotland'', pp. 69-72.]
Notes
References
Primary sources
*
Anderson, Alan Orr (ed.), ''Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500-1286'', 2 Vols, (Edinburgh, 1922)
* Anderson, Alan Orr (ed.), ''Scottish Annals from English Chroniclers: AD 500-1286'', (London, 1908), republished,
Marjorie Anderson
Marjorie Anderson (7 November 1913 – 14 December 1999) was a British actress and leading BBC radio broadcaster for over thirty years, including on the programme ''Woman's Hour'' from 1958 to 1972.
Early life
Marjorie Enid Anderson w ...
(ed.) (Stamford, 1991)
* Barrow, G. W. S. (ed.), ''The Charters of King David I: The Written acts of David I King of Scots, 1124-1153 and of His Son Henry Earl of Northumberland, 1139-1152'', (Woodbridge, 1999)
*
Clancy, Thomas Owen (ed.), ''The Triumph Tree: Scotland's Earliest Poetry, 550-1350'', (Edinburgh, 1998)
* Donaldson, G. (ed.), ''Scottish Historical Documents'', (Edinburgh, 1970)
* Lawrie, Sir Archibald (ed.), ''Early Scottish Charters Prior to A.D. 1153'', (Glasgow, 1905)
* Skene, Felix J. H. (tr.) &
Skene, William F. (ed.), ''John of Fordun's Chronicle of the Scottish Nation'', (Edinburgh, 1872)
Secondary sources
* Barrow, G. W. S., "Beginnings of Military Feudalism", in G. W. S. Barrow (ed.) ''The Kingdom of the Scots'', (Edinburgh, 2003), pp. 250–78
* Barrow, G. W. S., "King David I and Glasgow" in G.W.S. Barrow (ed.), ''The Kingdom of the Scots'', (Edinburgh, 2003), pp. 203–13
* Barrow, G. W. S., "David I (c.1085–1153)", in the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, January 200
, accessed 11 Feb 2007* Barrow, G. W. S., "David I of Scotland: The Balance of New and Old", in G. W. S. Barrow (ed.), ''Scotland and Its Neighbours in the Middle Ages'', (London, 1992), pp. 45–65, originally published as the 1984 Stenton Lecture, (Reading, 1985)
* Barrow, G. W. S., ''Kingship and Unity: Scotland, 1000-1306'', (Edinburgh. 1981)
* Barrow, G. W. S., "The Kings of Scotland and Durham", in David Rollason, Margaret Harvey &
Michael Prestwich
Michael Charles Prestwich OBE (born 30 January 1943) is an English historian, specialising on the history of medieval England, in particular the reign of Edward I. He is retired, having been Professor of History at Durham University and Head ...
(eds.), ''Anglo-Norman Durham, 1093-1193'', pp. 309–23
*
Bartlett, Robert, ''England under the Norman and Angevin Kings, 1075-1225'', (Oxford, 2000)
* Bartlett, Robert, ''The Making of Europe, Conquest, Colonization and Cultural Change: 950-1350'', (London, 1993)
* Broun, Dauvit, "The Welsh Identity of the Kingdom of Strathclyde", in ''The Innes Review'', Vol. 55, no. 2 (Autumn, 2004), pp. 111–80
* Clancy, Thomas Owen, "A Gaelic Polemic Quatrain from the Reign of Alexander I, ca. 1113", in ''Scottish Gaelic Studies'', vol.20 (2000), pp. 88–96.
* Clancy, M. T., ''England and its Rulers'', 2nd Ed., (Malden, MA, 1998)
*
Davies, R. R., ''Domination and Conquest: The Experience of Ireland, Scotland and Wales, 1100-1300'', (Cambridge, 1990)
* Davies. R. R., ''The First English Empire: Power and Identities in the British Isles, 1093-1343'', (Oxford, 2000)
*
Dowden, John, ''The Bishops of Scotland'', ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912)
*
Duncan, A. A. M., "The Foundation of St Andrews Cathedral Priory, 1140", in ''The Scottish Historical Review'', vol 84, (April, 2005), pp. 1–37
* Duncan, A. A. M., ''The Kingship of the Scots 842-1292: Succession and Independence'', (Edinburgh, 2002)
* Duncan, A. A. M., ''Scotland: The Making of the Kingdom'', (Edinburgh, 1975)
* Forte, Angelo,
Oram, Richard, & Pedersen, Frederick,
The Viking Empires', (Cambridge, 2005)
* Green, Judith A., "Anglo-Scottish Relations, 1066-1174", in Michael Jones and Malcolm Vale (eds.), ''England and Her Neigh-bours: Essays in Honour of Pierre Chaplais'' (London, 1989)
* Green, Judith A., "David I and Henry I", in the ''Scottish Historical Review''. vol. 75 (1996), pp. 1–19
* Haidu, Peter, ''The Subject Medieval/Modern: Text and Governance in the Middle Ages'', (Stamford, 2004)
* Hall, Derek, ''Burgess, Merchant and Priest: Burgh Life in the Medieval Scottish Town'', (Edinburgh, 2002)
* Moore, R. I., ''The First European Revolution, c.970–1215'', (Cambridge, 2000)
* Ó Cróinín, Dáibhí, ''Early Medieval Ireland: 400-1200'', (Harlow, 1995)
* O'Meara, John J., (ed.), ''Gerald of Wales: The History and Topography of Ireland'', (London, 1951)
* Oram, Richard, "David I" (2001), in M. Lynch (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to Scottish History'', (New York, 2001), pp. 381–382
* Oram, Richard, ''David: The King Who Made Scotland'', (Gloucestershire, 2004)
* Oram, Richard, ''The Lordship of Galloway'', (Edinburgh, 2000)
* Shead, Norman F., "The Origins of the Medieval Diocese of Glasgow", in the ''Scottish Historical Review'', 48 (1969), pp. 220–5
* Skene, William F., ''Celtic Scotland: A History of Ancient Alban'', 3 vols., (Edinburgh, 1876–80)
* Stringer, Keith J., "Reform Monasticism and Celtic Scotland", in Edward J. Cowan & R. Andrew McDonald (eds.), ''Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages'', (East Lothian, 2000), .pp. 127–65
* Stringer, Keith J., ''The Reformed Church in Medieval Galloway and Cumbria: Contrasts, Connections and Continuities'' (The Eleventh Whithorn Lecture, 14 September 2002), (Whithorn, 2003)
* Stringer, Keith J., "State-Building in Twelfth-Century Britain: David I, King of Scots, and Northern England", in John C. Appleby and Paul Dalton (eds.), ''Government, Religion, and Society in Northern England, 1000-1700''. (Stroud, 1997)
* Stringer, Keith J., ''The Reign of Stephen: Kingship, Warfare and Government in Twelfth-Century England'', (London, 1993)
* Toorians, L., "Twelfth-century Flemish Settlement in Scotland", in Grant G. Simpson (ed.), ''Scotland and the Low Countries, 1124-1994'', (East Linton, 1996), pp. 1–14
* Veitch, Kenneth, "'Replanting Paradise':Alexander I and the Reform of Religious Life in Scotland", in the ''Innes Review'', 52 (2001), pp. 136–166
* Watt, John, ''Church in Medieval Ireland'', (Dublin, 1972)
{{David I
David I of Scotland