The High Middle Ages of Scotland encompass
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
in the era between the death of
Domnall II in 900 AD and the death of King
Alexander III in 1286, which was an indirect cause of the
Wars of Scottish Independence
The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.
The First War (1296–1328) began with the English invasion of ...
.
At the close of the ninth century, various competing kingdoms occupied the territory of modern Scotland.
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
n influence was dominant in the northern and western islands,
Brythonic culture in the southwest, the Anglo-Saxon or English
Kingdom of Northumbria
la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria
, common_name = Northumbria
, status = State
, status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
in the southeast and the
Pictish
Pictish is the extinct language, extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited num ...
and
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
Kingdom of Alba
The Kingdom of Alba ( la, Scotia; sga, Alba) was the Kingdom of Scotland between the deaths of Donald II in 900 and of Alexander III in 1286. The latter's death led indirectly to an invasion of Scotland by Edward I of England in 1296 and the ...
in the east, north of the
River Forth
The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Gaelic name for the upper reach of th ...
. By the tenth and eleventh centuries, northern
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
was increasingly dominated by Gaelic culture, and by the Gaelic regal lordship of ''
Alba
''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scottish people, Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed i ...
'', known in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
as either ''Albania'' or ''
Scotia
Scotia is a Latin placename derived from ''Scoti'', a Latin name for the Gaels, first attested in the late 3rd century.Duffy, Seán. ''Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia''. Routledge, 2005. p.698 The Romans referred to Ireland as "Scotia" around ...
'', and in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
as "Scotland". From its base in the east, this kingdom acquired control of the lands lying to the south and ultimately the west and much of the north. It had a flourishing culture, comprising part of the larger Gaelic-speaking world and an economy dominated by agriculture and trade.
After the twelfth-century reign of
King David I
David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim ( Modern: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 1124 and later King of Scotland from 1124 to 1153. The youngest son of Mal ...
, the
Scottish monarchs
The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth I MacAlpin (), who founded the state in 843. Historically, the Kingdom of Scotland is thought to have grown ...
are better described as
Scoto-Norman
The term Scoto-Norman (also Franco-Scottish or Franco-Gaelic) is used to describe people, families, institutions and archaeological artifacts that are partly Scottish people, Scottish (in some sense) and partly Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman (in some ...
than Gaelic, preferring
French culture
The culture of France has been shaped by geography, by historical events, and by foreign and internal forces and groups. France, and in particular Paris, has played an important role as a center of high culture since the 17th century and from t ...
to native Scottish culture. A consequence was the spread of French institutions and social values including
Canon law
Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...
. The first towns, called
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 ...
, appeared in the same era, and as they spread, so did the
Middle English language. These developments were offset by the acquisition of the
Norse-Gaelic west and the
Gaelicisation
Gaelicisation, or Gaelicization, is the act or process of making something Gaelic, or gaining characteristics of the ''Gaels'', a sub-branch of celticisation. The Gaels are an ethno-linguistic group, traditionally viewed as having spread from Ire ...
of many of the noble families of
French and
Anglo-French
Anglo-French (or sometimes Franco-British) may refer to:
*France–United Kingdom relations
*Anglo-Norman language or its decendants, varieties of French used in medieval England
*Anglo-Français and Français (hound), an ancient type of hunting d ...
origin. National cohesion was fostered with the creation of various unique religious and cultural practices. By the end of the period, Scotland experienced a "Gaelic revival", which created an integrated
Scottish national identity
Scottish national identity is a term referring to the sense of national identity, as embodied in the shared and characteristic culture, languages and traditions, of the Scottish people.
Although the various dialects of Gaelic, the Scots lan ...
. By 1286, these economic, institutional, cultural, religious and legal developments had brought Scotland closer to its neighbours in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and
the Continent
Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...
, although outsiders continued to view Scotland as a provincial, even savage place. By this date, the
Kingdom of Scotland
The Kingdom of Scotland (; , ) was a sovereign state in northwest Europe traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a l ...
had political boundaries that closely resembled those of the modern nation.
Historiography
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
in the High Middle Ages is a relatively well-studied topic and Scottish medievalists have produced a wide variety of publications. Some, such as
David Dumville
David Norman Dumville (born 5 May 1949) is a British medievalist and Celtic scholar. He attended at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he studied Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; and received his PhD at ...
,
Thomas Owen Clancy
Thomas Owen Clancy is an American academic and historian who specializes in medieval Celtic literature, especially that of Scotland. He did his undergraduate work at New York University, and his Ph.D at the University of Edinburgh. He is currently ...
and
Dauvit Broun
Dauvit Broun, FRSE, FBA ( en, David Brown) (born 1961) is a Scottish historian and academic. He is the professor of Scottish history at the University of Glasgow. A specialist in medieval Scottish and Celtic studies, he concentrates primarily on ...
, are primarily interested in the native cultures of the country, and often have linguistic training in the
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages ( usually , but sometimes ) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward ...
. Normanists, such as
G.W.S. Barrow
Geoffrey Wallis Steuart Barrow (28 November 1924 – 14 December 2013) was a Scottish historian and academic.
The son of Charles Embleton Barrow and Marjorie née Stuart, Geoffrey Barrow was born on 28 November 1924, at Headingley near Leeds. ...
, are concerned with the
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
and
Scoto-Norman
The term Scoto-Norman (also Franco-Scottish or Franco-Gaelic) is used to describe people, families, institutions and archaeological artifacts that are partly Scottish people, Scottish (in some sense) and partly Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman (in some ...
cultures introduced to Scotland after the eleventh century. For much of the twentieth century, historians tended to stress the cultural change that took place in Scotland during this time. However, scholars such as
Cynthia Neville
Cynthia J Neville, FRHistS, FSAScot is a Canadian historian, medievalist and George Munro professor of history at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Neville's primary research interests are the social, political and cultural history ...
and
Richard Oram
Professor Richard D. Oram Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, F.S.A. (Scot.) is a Scotland, Scottish historian. He is a professor of medieval and environmental history at the University of Stirling and an honorary lecturer in history at the Univer ...
, while not ignoring cultural changes, argue that continuity with the
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
past was just as, if not more, important.
Since the publication of ''Scandinavian Scotland'' by
Barbara E. Crawford in 1987, there has been a growing volume of work dedicated to the understanding of Norse influence in this period. However, from 849 on, when
Columba's relics were removed from
Iona in the face of Viking incursions, written evidence from local sources in the areas under
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
n influence all but vanishes for three hundred years. The sources for information about the
Hebrides
The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebrid ...
and indeed much of northern Scotland from the eighth to the eleventh century, are thus almost exclusively Irish, English or Norse. The main Norse texts were written in the early thirteenth century and should be treated with care. The English and Irish sources are more contemporary, but according to historian
Alex Woolf, may have "led to a southern bias in the story", especially as much of the Hebridean archipelago became Norse-speaking during this period.
There are various traditional clan histories dating from the nineteenth century such as the "monumental" ''The Clan Donald'' and a significant corpus of material from the Gaelic oral tradition that relates to this period, although their value is questionable.
Origins of the Kingdom of Alba
At the close of the ninth century, various polities occupied Scotland. The
Pictish
Pictish is the extinct language, extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited num ...
and Gaelic
Kingdom of Alba
The Kingdom of Alba ( la, Scotia; sga, Alba) was the Kingdom of Scotland between the deaths of Donald II in 900 and of Alexander III in 1286. The latter's death led indirectly to an invasion of Scotland by Edward I of England in 1296 and the ...
had just been united in the east; the Scandinavian-influenced
Kingdom of the Isles
The Kingdom of the Isles consisted of the Isle of Man, the Hebrides and the islands of the Firth of Clyde from the 9th to the 13th centuries AD. The islands were known to the Norse as the , or "Southern Isles" as distinct from the or North ...
emerged in the west.
Ragnall ua Ímair
Ragnall mac Bárid ua Ímair ( non, Rǫgnvaldr , died 921) or Rægnald was a Viking leader who ruled Northumbria and the Isle of Man in the early 10th century. He was a grandson of Ímar and a member of the Uí Ímair. Ragnall was most probably ...
was a key figure at this time although the extent to which he ruled territory in western and northern Scotland including the Hebrides and
Northern Isles
The Northern Isles ( sco, Northren Isles; gd, Na h-Eileanan a Tuath; non, Norðreyjar; nrn, Nordøjar) are a pair of archipelagos off the north coast of mainland Scotland, comprising Orkney and Shetland. They are part of Scotland, as are th ...
is unknown as contemporary sources are silent on this matter.
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990.
Dumbarton was the ca ...
, the capital of the
Kingdom of Strathclyde
Strathclyde (lit. "Strath of the River Clyde", and Strað-Clota in Old English), was a Brittonic successor state of the Roman Empire and one of the early medieval kingdoms of the Britons, located in the region the Welsh tribes referred to as Yr ...
had been sacked by the
Uí Ímair
The Uí Ímair (; meaning ‘''scions of Ivar’''), also known as the Ivar Dynasty or Ivarids was a royal Norse-Gael dynasty which ruled much of the Irish Sea region, the Kingdom of Dublin, the western coast of Scotland, including the Hebrides ...
in 870.
[Woolf (2007) p. 109.] This was clearly a major assault, which may have brought the whole of mainland Scotland under temporary Uí Imair control. The south-east had been absorbed by the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
Kingdom of Bernicia/Northumbria in the seventh century.
Galloway
Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway.
A native or i ...
in the southwest was a Lordship with some regality. In a
Galwegian Galwegian or Galwegians may refer to:
* Of Galway (disambiguation)
** Of or pertaining to Galway, Ireland, or to its residents.
** Galwegians RFC, rugby club in Galway, Ireland
* Of Galloway (disambiguation)
** Of, or pertaining to, Galloway, Scot ...
charter dated to the reign of
Fergus, the Galwegian ruler styled himself ''rex Galwitensium'', King of Galloway. In the northeast the
ruler of Moray was called not only "king" in both Scandinavian and Irish sources, but before
Máel Snechtai, "King of Alba".
However, when
Domnall mac Causantín died at
Dunnottar in 900, he was the first man to be recorded as ''rí Alban'' and his kingdom was the nucleus that would expand as Viking and other influences waned. In the tenth century, the
Alba
''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scottish people, Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed i ...
n elite had begun to develop a conquest myth to explain their increasing
Gaelicisation
Gaelicisation, or Gaelicization, is the act or process of making something Gaelic, or gaining characteristics of the ''Gaels'', a sub-branch of celticisation. The Gaels are an ethno-linguistic group, traditionally viewed as having spread from Ire ...
at the expense of Pictish culture. Known as
MacAlpin's Treason, it describes how
Cináed mac Ailpín is supposed to have annihilated the Picts in one fell takeover. However, modern historians are now beginning to reject this conceptualization of Scottish origins. No contemporary sources mention this conquest. Moreover, the Gaelicisation of Pictland was a long process predating Cináed, and is evidenced by Gaelic-speaking Pictish rulers, Pictish royal patronage of Gaelic poets, and Gaelic inscriptions and placenames. The change of identity can perhaps be explained by the death of the
Pictish language
Pictish is the extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geographica ...
, but also important may be
Causantín II's alleged Scoticisation of the "Pictish" Church and the trauma caused by
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
invasions, most strenuously felt in the Pictish kingdom's heartland of
Fortriu
Fortriu ( la, Verturiones; sga, *Foirtrinn; ang, Wærteras; xpi, *Uerteru) was a Pictish kingdom that existed between the 4th and 10th centuries. It was traditionally believed to be located in and around Strathearn in central Scotland, but is ...
.
Scandinavian-influenced territories
Kingdom of the Isles
The Kingdom of the Isles comprised the Hebrides, the
islands of the Firth of Clyde and the
Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
from the 9th to the 13th centuries AD. The islands were known to the Norse as the ''Suðreyjar'', or "Southern Isles" as distinct from the ''Norðreyjar'' or "
Northern Isles
The Northern Isles ( sco, Northren Isles; gd, Na h-Eileanan a Tuath; non, Norðreyjar; nrn, Nordøjar) are a pair of archipelagos off the north coast of mainland Scotland, comprising Orkney and Shetland. They are part of Scotland, as are th ...
" of
Orkney
Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...
and
Shetland
Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.
The islands lie about to the no ...
, which were held by the
Earls of Orkney
Earl of Orkney, historically Jarl of Orkney, is a title of nobility encompassing the archipelagoes of Orkney and Shetland, which comprise the Northern Isles of Scotland. Originally founded by Norse invaders, the status of the rulers of the N ...
as vassals of the Norwegian crown throughout the High Middle Ages.
After Ragnall ua Ímair,
Amlaíb Cuarán, who fought at the
Battle of Brunanburh
The Battle of Brunanburh was fought in 937 between Æthelstan, King of England, and an alliance of Olaf Guthfrithson, King of Dublin, Constantine II, King of Scotland, and Owain, King of Strathclyde. The battle is often cited as the poin ...
in 937 and who also became
King of Northumbria
Northumbria, a kingdom of Angles, in what is now northern England and south-east Scotland, was initially divided into two kingdoms: Bernicia and Deira. The two were first united by king Æthelfrith around the year 604, and except for occasional ...
, is the next King of the Isles on record.
[Gregory (1881) pp. 4–6.] In the succeeding years Norse sources also list various rulers such as
Gilli,
Sigurd the Stout
Sigurd Hlodvirsson (23 April 1014), popularly known as Sigurd the Stout from the Old Norse ''Sigurðr digri'',Thomson (2008) p. 59 was an Earl of Orkney. The main sources for his life are the Norse Sagas, which were first written down some tw ...
,
Håkon Eiriksson and
Thorfinn Sigurdsson
Thorfinn Sigurdsson (1009?– 1065), also known as Thorfinn the Mighty (Old Norse: ''Þorfinnr inn riki''), was an 11th-century Jarl of Orkney. He was the youngest of five sons of Jarl Sigurd Hlodvirsson and the only one resulting from Sigu ...
as rulers over the Hebrides as vassals of the Kings of Norway or Denmark.
Godred Crovan
Godred Crovan (died 1095), known in Gaelic as Gofraid Crobán, Gofraid Meránach, and Gofraid Méránach, was a Norse-Gaelic ruler of the kingdoms of Dublin and the Isles. Although his precise parentage has not completely been proven, he was c ...
became the ruler of Dublin and Mann from 1079
[''The Chronicle of Man and the Sudreys'' (1874) p. 51.] and from the early years of the twelfth century the
Crovan dynasty
The Crovan dynasty, from the late 11th century to the mid 13th century, was the ruling family of an insular kingdom known variously in secondary sources as the Kingdom of Mann, the Kingdom of the Isles, and the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles. The ...
asserted themselves and ruled as "Kings of Mann and the Isles" for the next half-century. The kingdom was then sundered due to the actions of
Somerled
Somerled (died 1164), known in Middle Irish as Somairle, Somhairle, and Somhairlidh, and in Old Norse as Sumarliði , was a mid-12th-century Norse-Gaelic lord who, through marital alliance and military conquest, rose in prominence to create the ...
whose sons inherited the southern Hebrides while the Manx rulers held on to the "north isles" for another century.
The North
The Scandinavian influence in Scotland was probably at its height in the mid eleventh century during the time of Thorfinn Sigurdsson, who attempted to create a single political and ecclesiastical domain stretching from Shetland to Man. The permanent Scandinavian holdings in Scotland at that time must therefore have been at least a quarter of the land area of modern Scotland.
By the end of the eleventh century, the Norwegian crown had come to accept that Caithness was held by the Earls of Orkney as a fiefdom from the Kings of Scotland although its Norse character was retained throughout the thirteenth century.
Raghnall mac Gofraidh
''Ragnall'', ''Raghnall'', ''Raonall'', and ''Raonull'' are masculine personal names or given names in several Gaelic languages.
''Ragnall'' occurs in Old Irish, and Middle Irish/ Middle Gaelic. It is a Gaelicised form of the Old Norse '' Røgnv ...
was granted Caithness after assisting the Scots king in a conflict with
Harald Maddadson
Harald Maddadsson (Old Norse: ''Haraldr Maddaðarson'', Gaelic: ''Aralt mac Mataid'') (c. 1134 – 1206) was Earl of Orkney and Mormaer of Caithness from 1139 until 1206. He was the son of Matad, Mormaer of Atholl, and Margaret, daughter o ...
, an earl of Orkney in the early thirteenth century.
In the ninth century, Orcadian control stretched into Moray, which was a semi-independent kingdom for much of this early period. The Moray rulers
Macbeth
''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
(1040–1057) and his successor
Lulach
Lulach mac Gille Coemgáin ( Modern Gaelic: ''Lughlagh mac Gille Chomghain'', known in English simply as Lulach, and nicknamed Tairbith, "the Unfortunate" and Fatuus, "the Simple-minded" or "the Foolish"; before 1033 – 17 March 1058) was King of ...
(1057–1058) became rulers of the entire Scottish kingdom for a time.
[Mackie (1964) p. 43.] However, Moray was subjugated by the Scottish kings after 1130, when the native ruler,
Óengus of Moray
Óengus of Moray (''Oenghus mac inghine Lulaich, ri Moréb'') was the last king of Moray of the native line, ruling Moray in what is now northeastern Scotland from an unknown date until his death in 1130.
Óengus is known to have been the son of ...
was killed leading a rebellion. Another revolt in 1187 was equally unsuccessful.
South west Scotland
By the mid-tenth century Amlaíb Cuarán controlled
The Rhinns and the region gets the modern name of Galloway from the mixture of Viking and Gaelic Irish settlement that produced the Gall-Gaidel.
Magnus Barelegs
Magnus Olafsson (Old Norse: ''Magnús Óláfsson'', Norwegian: ''Magnus Olavsson''; 1073 – 24 August 1103), better known as Magnus Barefoot (Old Norse: ''Magnús berfœttr'', Norwegian: ''Magnus Berrføtt''), was King of Norway (being Mag ...
is said to have "subdued the people of Galloway"
[ in the eleventh century and ]Whithorn
Whithorn ( ʍɪthorn 'HWIT-horn'; ''Taigh Mhàrtainn'' in Gaelic), is a royal burgh in the historic county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, about south of Wigtown. The town was the location of the first recorded Christia ...
seems to have been a centre of Hiberno-Norse artisans who traded around the Irish Sea
The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...
by the end of the first millennium.[Graham-Campbell and Batey (1998) p. 203.] However, the place name, written and archaeological evidence of extensive Norse (as opposed to Norse-Gael) settlement in the area is not convincing.[Graham-Campbell and Batey (1998) pp. 106–108.]
The ounceland system seems to have become widespread down the west coast including much of Argyll, and most of the southwest apart from a region near the inner Solway Firth
The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven ...
. In Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...
the place name evidence is complex and of mixed Gaelic, Norse and Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
influence, the last most likely stemming from contact with the extensive Danish holdings in northern England.[Crawford (1987) pp. 87, 93, 98.] Although the Scots obtained greater control after the death of Gilla Brigte and the accession of Lochlann
In the modern Gaelic languages, () signifies Scandinavia or, more specifically, Norway. As such it is cognate with the Welsh name for Scandinavia, (). In both old Gaelic and old Welsh, such names literally mean 'land of lakes' or 'land of ...
in 1185, Galloway was not fully absorbed by Scotland until 1235, after the rebellion of the Galwegians was crushed.
Strathclyde
The main language of Strathclyde and elsewhere in the ''Hen Ogledd
Yr Hen Ogledd (), in English the Old North, is the historical region which is now Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands that was inhabited by the Brittonic people of sub-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages. Its population sp ...
'' in the opening years of the High Middle Ages was Cumbric
Cumbric was a variety of the Common Brittonic language spoken during the Early Middle Ages in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North" in what is now the counties of Westmorland, Cumberland and northern Lancashire in Northern England and the souther ...
, a variety of the British language akin to Old Welsh
Old Welsh ( cy, Hen Gymraeg) is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic ...
. Sometime after 1018 and before 1054, the kingdom appears to have been conquered by the Scots, most probably during the reign of Máel Coluim mac Cináeda who died in 1034. At this time the territory of Strathclyde extended as far south as the River Derwent.[Price (2000) p. 121.] In 1054, the English king Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066.
Edward was the son of Æth ...
dispatched Earl Siward of Northumbria
Siward ( or more recently ) or Sigurd ( ang, Sigeweard, non, Sigurðr digri) was an important earl of 11th-century northern England. The Old Norse nickname ''Digri'' and its Latin translation ''Grossus'' ("the stout") are given to him by near-c ...
against the Scots, then ruled by Macbeth
''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
. By the 1070s, if not earlier in the reign of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada
Malcolm III ( mga, Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, label=Medieval Gaelic; gd, Maol Chaluim mac Dhonnchaidh; died 13 November 1093) was King of Scotland from 1058 to 1093. He was later nicknamed "Canmore" ("ceann mòr", Gaelic, literally "big head" ...
, it appears that the Scots again controlled Strathclyde, although William Rufus
William II ( xno, Williame; – 2 August 1100) was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Normandy and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. The third so ...
annexed the southern portion in 1092.[ The territory was granted by Alexander I to his brother David, later ]King David I
David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim ( Modern: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 1124 and later King of Scotland from 1124 to 1153. The youngest son of Mal ...
, in 1107.
Kingdom of Alba or Scotia
Gaelic kings: Domnall II to Alexander I
Domnall mac Causantín's nickname was ''dásachtach''. This simply meant a madman, or, in early Irish law, a man not in control of his functions and hence without legal culpability. The following long reign (900–942/3) of his successor Causantín is more often regarded as the key to the formation of the Kingdom of Alba.
The period between the accession of Máel Coluim I and Máel Coluim mac Cináeda was marked by good relations with the Wessex
la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons
, common_name = Wessex
, image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg
, map_caption = S ...
rulers of England, intense internal dynastic disunity and, despite this, relatively successful expansionary policies. In 945, king Máel Coluim I received Strathclyde
Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...
as part of a deal with King Edmund of England, an event offset somewhat by Máel Coluim's loss of control in Moray. Sometime in the reign of king Idulb (954–962), the Scots captured the fortress called ''oppidum Eden'', i.e. Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. Scottish control of Lothian
Lothian (; sco, Lowden, Loudan, -en, -o(u)n; gd, Lodainn ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Sco ...
was strengthened with Máel Coluim II's victory over the Northumbrians
la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria
, common_name = Northumbria
, status = State
, status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
at the Battle of Carham (1018). The Scots had probably some authority in Strathclyde since the later part of the ninth century, but the kingdom kept its own rulers, and it is not clear that the Scots were always strong enough to enforce their authority.
The reign of King Donnchad I from 1034 was marred by failed military adventures, and he was killed in a battle with the men of Moray, led by Macbeth
''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
who became king in 1040. Macbeth ruled for seventeen years, peaceful enough that he was able to leave to go on pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
to Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
; however, he was overthrown by Máel Coluim, the son of Donnchad, who some months later defeated Macbeth's stepson and successor Lulach to become king Máel Coluim III.[ In subsequent medieval ]propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
, Donnchad's reign was portrayed positively while Macbeth was vilified; William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
followed this distorted history with his portrayal of both the king and his queen consort, Gruoch
Gruoch ingen Boite () was a Scottish queen, the daughter of Boite mac Cináeda, son of Cináed II. She is most famous for being the wife and queen of MacBethad mac Findlaích (Macbeth). The dates of her life are uncertain.
Life
Gruoch is beli ...
, in his play ''Macbeth
''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
''.
It was Máel Coluim III, not his father Donnchad, who did more to create the dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...
that ruled Scotland for the following two centuries. Part of the resource was the large number of children he had, perhaps as many as a dozen, through marriage to the widow or daughter of Thorfinn Sigurdsson and afterwards to the Anglo-Hungarian princess Margaret, granddaughter of Edmund Ironside
Edmund Ironside (30 November 1016; , ; sometimes also known as Edmund II) was King of the English from 23 April to 30 November 1016. He was the son of King Æthelred the Unready and his first wife, Ælfgifu of York. Edmund's reign was marred by ...
. However, despite having a royal Anglo-Saxon wife, Máel Coluim spent much of his reign conducting slave
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
raids against the English, adding to the woes of that people in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest of England
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...
and the Harrying of the North. Marianus Scotus
Marianus Scotus (1028–1082 or 1083) was an Irish monk and chronicler. He authored the ''Chronica Clara'', a history of the world.
Name
Marianus Scotus is Latin for " Marian the Scot", although that term at the time was still inclusive of ...
narrates that "the Gaels and French devastated the English; and he English
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
were dispersed and died of hunger; and were compelled to eat human flesh".
Máel Coluim's Queen Margaret was the sister of the native claimant to the English throne, Edgar Ætheling
Edgar Ætheling or Edgar II (c. 1052 – 1125 or after) was the last male member of the royal house of Cerdic of Wessex. He was elected King of England by the Witenagemot in 1066, but never crowned.
Family and early life
Edgar was born ...
. This marriage, and Máel Coluim's raids on northern England, prompted interference by the Norman rulers of England in the Scottish kingdom. King William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
invaded and Máel Coluim submitted to his authority, giving his oldest son Donnchad as a hostage. From 1079 onwards there were various cross-border raids by both parties and Máel Coluim himself and Edward, his eldest son by Margaret, died in one of them in the Battle of Alnwick, in 1093.
Tradition would have made his brother Domnall Bán Máel Coluim's successor, but it seems that Edward, his eldest son by Margaret, was his chosen heir. With Máel Coluim and Edward dead in the same battle, and his other sons in Scotland still young, Domnall was made king. However, Donnchad II, Máel Coluim's eldest son by his first wife, obtained some support from William Rufus
William II ( xno, Williame; – 2 August 1100) was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Normandy and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. The third so ...
and took the throne. According to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...
'' his English and French followers were massacred, and Donnchad II himself was killed later in the same year (1094) by Domnall's ally Máel Petair of Mearns
Máel Petair of Mearns is the only known Mormaer of the Kincardineshire, Mearns. His name means "tonsured one of (Saint) Saint Peter, Peter".
Professor Dauvit Broun of the University of Glasgow identifies his father as a man called Loren. Little i ...
. In 1097, William Rufus sent another of Máel Coluim's sons, Edgar, to take the kingship. The ensuing death of Domnall Bán secured the kingship for Edgar, and there followed a period of relative peace. The reigns of both Edgar and his successor Alexander
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
are obscure by comparison with their successors. The former's most notable act was to send a camel
A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...
(or perhaps an elephant
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...
) to his fellow Gael Muircheartach Ua Briain
Muircheartach Ua Briain (old spelling: Muirchertach Ua Briain) (also known as Murtaugh O'Brien) (c. 1050 – c. 10 March 1119), son of Toirdelbach Ua Briain and great-grandson of Brian Boru, was King of Munster and later self-declared High Ki ...
, High King of Ireland
High King of Ireland ( ga, Ardrí na hÉireann ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and later sometimes assigned ana ...
. When Edgar died, Alexander took the kingship, while his youngest brother David became Prince of Cumbria.
Scoto-Norman kings: David I to Alexander III
The period between the accession of 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 (di ...
and the death of Alexander III was marked by dependency upon and relatively good relations with the Kings of England. The period can be regarded as one of great historical transformation, part of a more general phenomenon, which has been called "Europeanisation". The period also witnessed the successful imposition of royal authority across most of the modern country. After David I, and especially in the reign of William I
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...
, Scotland's Kings became ambivalent about the culture of most of their subjects.[William I was known as ''Uilleam Garbh'' (i.e. "William the Rough") in the contemporary Irish annals e.g. ''Annals of Ulster'', s.a. 1214.6; ''Annals of Loch Cé'', s.a. 1213.10.] As Walter of Coventry
Walter of Coventry ( fl. 1290), English monk and chronicler, who was apparently connected with a religious house in the province of York, is known to us only through the historical compilation which bears his name, the ''Memoriale fratris Walteri ...
tells us, "The modern kings of Scotland count themselves as Frenchmen, in race, manners, language and culture; they keep only Frenchmen in their household and following, and have reduced the Gaels to utter servitude."
This situation was not without consequence. In the aftermath of William's capture at Alnwick
Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116.
The town is on the south bank of the River Aln, south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish bor ...
in 1174, the Scots turned on the small number of Middle English-speakers and French-speakers among them. William of Newburgh
William of Newburgh or Newbury ( la, Guilelmus Neubrigensis, ''Wilhelmus Neubrigensis'', or ''Willelmus de Novoburgo''. 1136 – 1198), also known as William Parvus, was a 12th-century English historian and Augustinian canon of Anglo-Saxon de ...
related that the Scots first attacked the Scoto-English in their own army, and Newburgh reported a repetition of these events in Scotland itself. Walter Bower
Walter Bower (or Bowmaker; 24 December 1449) was a Scottish canon regular and abbot of Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth, who is noted as a chronicler of his era. He was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian, in the Kingdom of Sc ...
, writing a few centuries later about the same events confirms that "there took place a most wretched and widespread persecution of the English both in Scotland and Galloway".
The first instance of strong opposition to the Scottish kings was perhaps the revolt of Óengus
In Irish mythology, Aengus or Óengus is one of the Tuatha Dé Danann and probably originally a god associated with youth, love,Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. ''Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopedia of the Irish folk tradition''. Prentice-Hall Press, ...
, the Mormaer of Moray. Other important resistors to the expansionary Scottish kings were Somerled, Fergus of Galloway
Fergus of Galloway (died 12 May 1161) was a twelfth-century Lord of Galloway. Although his familial origins are unknown, it is possible that he was of Norse-Gaelic ancestry. Fergus first appears on record in 1136, when he witnessed a charter ...
, Gille Brigte, Lord of Galloway
Gille Brigte or Gilla Brigte mac Fergusa of Galloway (died 1185), also known as ''Gillebrigte'', ''Gille Brighde'', ''Gilbridge'', ''Gilbride'', etc., and most famously known in French sources as Gilbert, was Lord of Galloway of Scotland (from 11 ...
and Harald Maddadsson, along with two kin-groups known today as the MacHeths
__NOTOC__
The MacHeths were a Celtic kindred who raised several rebellions against the kings of Scotland in the 12th and 13th centuries. Their origins have long been debated.
Origins
The main controversy concerning the MacHeths is their origin. ...
and the MacWilliams. The threat from the latter was so grave that, after their defeat in 1230, the Scottish crown ordered the public execution of the infant girl who happened to be the last of the MacWilliam line. According to the ''Lanercost Chronicle'':
Many of these resistors collaborated, and drew support not just in the peripheral Gaelic regions of Galloway, Moray, Ross and Argyll, but also from eastern "Scotland-proper", and elsewhere in the Gaelic world. However, by the end of the twelfth century, the Scottish kings had acquired the authority and ability to draw in native Gaelic lords outside their previous zone of control in order to do their work, the most famous examples being Lochlann, Lord of Galloway
Lochlann of Galloway (died December 12, 1200), also known as Lochlan mac Uchtred and by his French name Roland fitz Uhtred, was the son and successor of Uchtred, Lord of Galloway as the "Lord" or "sub-king" of eastern Galloway.
Family
Lochlann w ...
and Ferchar mac in tSagairt. By the reign of Alexander III, the Scots were in a strong position to annex the remainder of the western seaboard, which they did following Haakon Haakonarson
Haakon IV Haakonsson ( – 16 December 1263; Old Norse: ''Hákon Hákonarson'' ; Norwegian: ''Håkon Håkonsson''), sometimes called Haakon the Old in contrast to his namesake son, was King of Norway from 1217 to 1263. His reign lasted for 46 y ...
's ill-fated invasion and the stalemate of the Battle of Largs
The Battle of Largs (2 October 1263) was a battle between the kingdoms of Norway and Scotland, on the Firth of Clyde near Largs, Scotland. Through it, Scotland achieved the end of 500 years of Norse Viking depredations and invasions despite bei ...
with the Treaty of Perth
The Treaty of Perth, signed 2 July 1266, ended military conflict between Magnus VI of Norway and Alexander III of Scotland over possession of the Hebrides and the Isle of Man. The text of the treaty.
The Hebrides and the Isle of Man had become ...
in 1266.[Barrett (2008) p. 411.] The conquest of the west, the creation of the Mormaerdom of Carrick in 1186 and the absorption of the Lordship of Galloway
The lords of Galloway consisted of a dynasty of heirs who were lords (or kings) and ladies who ruled over Galloway in southwest Scotland, mainly during the High Middle Ages. Many regions of Scotland, including Galloway and Moray, periodically ...
after the Galwegian revolt of Gille Ruadh
Gille Ruadh was the Galwegian leader who led the revolt against King Alexander II of Scotland. His birth, death date and origins are all unknown.
Upon Alan, Lord of Galloway's death in 1234, Galloway was left without a legitimate feudal heir. ...
in 1235 meant that Gaelic speakers under the rule of the Scottish king formed a majority of the population during the so-called Norman period. The integration of Gaelic, Norman and Saxon cultures that began to occur may have been the platform that enabled King Robert I to emerge victorious during the Wars of Independence
This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars
Wars of national liberation or national liberation revolutions are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against for ...
, which followed soon after the death of Alexander III.
Geography
At the beginning of this period, the boundaries of Alba contained only a small proportion of modern Scotland. Even when these lands were added to in the tenth and eleventh centuries, the term ''Scotia
Scotia is a Latin placename derived from ''Scoti'', a Latin name for the Gaels, first attested in the late 3rd century.Duffy, Seán. ''Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia''. Routledge, 2005. p.698 The Romans referred to Ireland as "Scotia" around ...
'' was applied in sources only to the region between the River Forth
The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Gaelic name for the upper reach of th ...
, the central Grampians
The Grampian Mountains (''Am Monadh'' in Gaelic) is one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, that together occupy about half of Scotland. The other two ranges are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. The Grampian rang ...
and the River Spey
The River Spey (Scottish Gaelic: Uisge Spè) is a river in the northeast of Scotland. At it is the eighth longest river in the United Kingdom, as well as the second longest and fastest-flowing river in Scotland. It is important for salmon fishi ...
and only began to be used to describe all of the lands under the authority of the Scottish crown from the second half of the twelfth century. By the late thirteenth century when the Treaty of York
The Treaty of York was an agreement between the kings Henry III of England and Alexander II of Scotland, signed at York on 25 September 1237, which affirmed that Northumberland (which at the time also encompassed County Durham), Cumberland, and ...
(1237) and Treaty of Perth
The Treaty of Perth, signed 2 July 1266, ended military conflict between Magnus VI of Norway and Alexander III of Scotland over possession of the Hebrides and the Isle of Man. The text of the treaty.
The Hebrides and the Isle of Man had become ...
(1266) had fixed the boundaries with the Kingdom of the Scots with England and Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
respectively, its borders were close to the modern boundaries. After this time both Berwick and the Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
were lost to England, and Orkney and Shetland were gained from Norway in the fifteenth century.
The area that became Scotland in this period is divided by geology into five major regions: the Southern Uplands
The Southern Uplands ( gd, Na Monaidhean a Deas) are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas (the other two being the Central Lowlands and the Grampian Mountains and the Highlands, as illustrate ...
, Central Lowlands
The Central Lowlands, sometimes called the Midland Valley or Central Valley, is a geologically defined area of relatively low-lying land in southern Scotland. It consists of a rift valley between the Highland Boundary Fault to the north and ...
, the Highlands
Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau.
Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to:
Places Albania
* Dukagjin Highlands
Armenia
* Armenian Highlands
Australia
*Sou ...
, the North-east coastal plain and the Islands
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
. Some of these were further divided by mountains, major rivers and marshes. Most of these regions had strong cultural and economic ties elsewhere: to England, Ireland, Scandinavian and mainland Europe. Internal communications were difficult and the country lacked an obvious geographical centre. Dunfermline
Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...
emerged as a major royal centre in the reign of Malcolm III and Edinburgh began to be used to house royal records in the reign of David I, but, perhaps because of its proximity and vulnerability to England, it did not become a formal capital in this period.
The expansion of Alba into the wider Kingdom of Scotland
The Kingdom of Scotland (; , ) was a sovereign state in northwest Europe traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a l ...
was a gradual process combining external conquest and the suppression of occasional rebellions with the extension of seigniorial power through the placement of effective agents of the crown.[ Neighbouring independent kings became subject to Alba and eventually disappeared from the records. In the ninth century the term '']mormaer
In early Middle Ages, medieval Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, a mormaer was the Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic name for a regional or provincial ruler, theoretically second only to the Kings of Scots, King of Scots, and the senior of a ''Toísech'' (chi ...
'', meaning "great steward", began to appear in the records to describe the rulers of Moray, Strathearn
Strathearn or Strath Earn (, from gd, Srath Èireann) is the strath of the River Earn, in Scotland, extending from Loch Earn in the West to the River Tay in the east.http://www.strathearn.com/st_where.htm Derivation of name Strathearn was on ...
, Buchan
Buchan is an area of north-east Scotland, historically one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It is now one of the six committee areas and administrative areas of Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland. These areas were created by th ...
, Angus
Angus may refer to:
Media
* ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film
* ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record''
Places Australia
* Angus, New South Wales
Canada
* Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario
* East Angus, Quebec
Scotland
* An ...
and Mearns, who may have acted as "marcher lords" for the kingdom to counter the Viking threat.[Webster (1997) p. 22.] Later the process of consolidation is associated with the feudalism introduced by David I, which, particularly in the east and south where the crown's authority was greatest, saw the placement of lordships, often based on castles, and the creation of administrative sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
doms, which overlay the pattern of local thegn
In Anglo-Saxon England, thegns were aristocratic landowners of the second rank, below the ealdormen who governed large areas of England. The term was also used in early medieval Scandinavia for a class of retainers. In medieval Scotland, there ...
s. It also saw the English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
''earl'' and Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''comes'' begin to replace the ''mormaers'' in the records. The result has been seen as a "hybrid kingdom, in which Gaelic, Anglo-Saxon, Flemish and Norman elements all coalesced under its 'Normanised', but nevertheless native lines of kings".[Grant (1997) p. 97.]
Economy and society
Economy
The Scottish economy of this period was dominated by agriculture and by short-distance, local trade. There was an increasing amount of foreign trade in the period, as well as exchange gained by means of military plunder. By the end of this period, coins were replacing barter goods, but for most of this period most exchange was done without the use of metal currency.
Most of Scotland's agricultural wealth in this period came from pastoralism
Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as " livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The a ...
, rather than arable farming
Arable land (from the la, wikt:arabilis#Latin, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Al ...
. Arable farming grew significantly in the "Norman period", but with geographical differences, low-lying areas being subject to more arable farming than high-lying areas such as the Highlands
Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau.
Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to:
Places Albania
* Dukagjin Highlands
Armenia
* Armenian Highlands
Australia
*Sou ...
, Galloway
Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway.
A native or i ...
and the Southern Uplands
The Southern Uplands ( gd, Na Monaidhean a Deas) are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas (the other two being the Central Lowlands and the Grampian Mountains and the Highlands, as illustrate ...
. Galloway, in the words of G. W. S. Barrow, "already famous for its cattle, was so overwhelmingly pastoral, that there is little evidence in that region of land under any permanent cultivation, save along the Solway coast". The average amount of land used by a Pastoralism, husbandman in Scotland might have been around 26 acres. The native Scots favoured pastoralism, in that Gaelic lords were happier to give away more land to French and Middle English-speaking settlers, while holding on tenaciously to upland regions, perhaps contributing to the Highland/Galloway-Lowland division that emerged in Scotland in the later Middle Ages. The main unit of land measurement in Scotland was the ''davoch'' (i.e. "vat"), called the ''arachor'' in Lennox (district), Lennox and also known as the "Scottish ploughgate". In English-speaking Lothian, it was simply ploughgate. It may have measured about , divided into 4 ''rath''s. Cattle, pigs and cheeses were among the chief foodstuffs, from a wide range of produce including sheep, fish, rye, barley, bee wax and honey.
David I established the first chartered 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 ...
in Scotland, copying the burgher charters and ''Leges Burgorum'' (rules governing virtually every aspect of life and work) almost verbatim from the English customs of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Early burgesses were usually Flemings, Flemish, English people, English, French and Germans, German, rather than Gaelic Scots. The burgh's vocabulary was composed totally of either Germanic and French terms. The councils that ran individual burghs were individually known as ''lie doussane'', meaning the dozen.
Demography and language
The population of Scotland in this period is unknown. The first reliable information in 1755 shows the inhabitants of Scotland as 1,265,380. Best estimates put the Scottish population for earlier periods in the High Middle Ages between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people, growing from a low point to a high point.
Linguistically, the majority of people within Scotland throughout this period spoke the Middle Irish language, Gaelic language, then simply called ''Scottish'', or in Latin, ''lingua Scotica''. Other languages spoken throughout this period were Old Norse and English, with the Cumbric language disappearing somewhere between 900 and 1100.[ Pictish may have survived into this period, but the evidence is weak. After the accession of David I, or perhaps before, Gaelic ceased to be the main language of the royal court. From his reign until the end of the period, the ]Scottish monarchs
The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth I MacAlpin (), who founded the state in 843. Historically, the Kingdom of Scotland is thought to have grown ...
probably favoured the French language, as evidenced by reports from contemporary chronicles, literature and translations of administrative documents into the French language. English, with French and Flemish, became the main language of Scottish burghs. However, they were, in Barrow's words, "scarcely more than villages ... numbered in hundreds rather than thousands".
Society
The legal tract known as ''Laws of the Brets and Scots'', probably compiled in the reign of David I, underlines the importance of the kin group as entitled to compensation for the killing of individual members. It also lists five grades of man: ''King'', ''mormaer'', ''toísech'', ''ócthigern'' and ''neyfs''.[Grant (1993) p. 42.] The highest rank below the king, the mormaer ("great officer"), were probably about a dozen provincial rulers, later replaced by the English term earl. Below them the toísech (leader), appear to have managed areas of the royal demesne, or that of a mormaer or abbot, within which they would have held substantial estates, sometimes described as shires and the title was probably equivalent to the later thane.[Barrow (1989) pp. 15-18.] The lowest free rank mentioned by the ''Laws of the Brets and Scots'', the ''ócthigern'' (literally, ''little'' or ''young lord''), is a term the text does not translate into French.[ There were probably relatively large numbers of free peasant farmers, called husbandmen or bondmen, in the south and north of the country, but fewer in the lands between the Forth and Sutherland until the twelfth century, when landlords began to encourage the formation of such a class through paying better wages and deliberate immigration.][ Below the husbandmen a class of free farmers with smaller parcels of land developed, with cottars and grazing tenants (gresemen).][Barrow (1995) p. 586.] The non-free ''naviti'', ''neyfs'' or serfs existed in various forms of service, with terms with their origins in Irish practice, including ''cumelache'', ''cumherba'' and ''scoloc'' who were tied to a lord's estate and unable to leave it without permission, but who records indicate often absconded for better wages or work in other regions or in the developing burghs.[
The introduction of feudalism from the time of David I, not only introduced sheriffdoms that overlay the pattern of local thanes,][ but also meant that new tenures were held from the king, or a superior lord, in exchange for loyalty and forms of service that were usually military.][Barrel (2000) pp. 16-19.] However, the imposition of feudalism continued to sit beside the existing system of landholding and tenure and it is not clear how this change impacted on the lives of the ordinary free and unfree workers. In places, feudalism may have tied workers more closely to the land, but the predominantly pastoral nature of Scottish agriculture may have made the imposition of a manorial system on the English model impracticable.[ Obligations appear to have been limited to occasional labour service, seasonal renders of food, hospitality and money rents.][
]
Law and government
Early Gaelic law tracts, first written down in the ninth century, reveal a society highly concerned with kinship, status, honour and the regulation of blood feuds. Scottish common law began to take shape at the end of the period, assimilating Gaelic and Celtic law with practices from Anglo-Norman England and the Continent
Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...
. In the twelfth century, and certainly in the thirteenth, strong continental legal influences began to have more effect, such as Canon law
Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...
and various Anglo-Norman practices. Pre-fourteenth century law among the native Scots is not always well attested, but extensive knowledge of Brehon Laws, early Gaelic Law gives some basis for its reconstruction. In the earliest extant Scottish legal manuscript, there is a document called ''Leges inter Brettos et Scottos''. The document survives in Old French language, Old French, and is almost certainly a French translation of an earlier Gaelic document. It retained a vast number of untranslated Gaelic legal terms. Later medieval legal documents, written both in Latin and Middle English language, Middle English, contain more Gaelic legal terms, examples including ''slains'' (Old Irish ''slán'' or ''sláinte''; exemption) and ''cumherba'' (Old Irish ''comarba''; ecclesiastic heir).
A ''Judex'' (pl. ''judices'') represents a post-Norman continuity with the ancient Gaelic orders of lawmen called in English today ''Brehons''. Bearers of the office almost always have Gaelic names north of the Forth or in the south-west. ''Judices'' were often royal officials who supervised baronial, abbatial and other lower-ranking "courts". However, the main official of law in the post-Davidian Kingdom of the Scots was the Justiciar who held courts and reported to the king personally. Normally, there were two Justiciarships, organised by linguistic boundaries: the Justiciar of Scotia and the Justiciar of Lothian. Sometimes Galloway had its own Justiciar too.
The office of Justiciar and Judex were just two ways that Scottish society was governed. In the earlier period, the king "delegated" power to hereditary native "officers" such as the Mormaers/Earls and Toísechs/Thanes. It was a government of gift-giving and bardic lawmen. There were also popular courts, the ''comhdhail'', testament to which are dozens of placenames throughout eastern Scotland. In the Norman period, sheriffdoms and sheriffs and, to a lesser extent, bishops (see Scotland in the High Middle Ages#Ecclesia Scoticana, below) became increasingly important. The former enabled the King to effectively administer royal demesne land. During David I's reign, royal sheriffs had been established in the king's core personal territories; namely, in rough chronological order, at Roxburgh, Scone, Scotland, Scone, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Stirling and Perth, Scotland, Perth. By the reign of William I
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...
, there may have been about 30 royal sheriffdoms, including ones at Ayr and Dumfries, key locations on the borders of Galloway-Carrick, Scotland, Carrick. As the distribution and number of sheriffdoms expanded, so did royal control. By the end of the thirteenth century, sheriffdoms had been established in westerly locations as far-flung as Wigtown, Kintyre, Isle of Skye, Skye and Lorne, Argyll and Bute, Lorne. Through these, the thirteenth-century Scottish king exercised more control over Scotland than any of his later medieval successors. The king himself was itinerant and had no "capital" as such although Scone performed a key function. By ritual tradition, all Scottish kings in this period had to be crowned there by the Mormaer of Strathearn, Mormaers of Strathearn and Mormaer of Fife, Fife.[Bannerman (1993) pp. 22–23.] Although King David I tried to build up Roxburgh as a capital, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, more charters were issued at Scone than any other location. Other popular locations were nearby Perth, Stirling, Dunfermline
Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...
and Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. In the earliest part of this era, Forres and Dunkeld seem to have been the chief royal residences.
Records from the Scandinavian-held lands are much-less well documented by comparison. Udal law formed the basis of the legal system and it is known that the Hebrides were taxed using the Ounceland measure. Thing (assembly), Althings were open-air governmental assemblies that met in the presence of the ''Earl of Orkney, jarl'' and the meetings were open to virtually all free men. At these sessions decisions were made, laws passed and complaints adjudicated. Examples include Tingwall, Shetland, Tingwall and Law Ting Holm in Shetland, Dingwall in Easter Ross, and Tynwald on the Isle of Man.["Thing"]
Shetlopedia. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
Warfare
Land warfare
By the twelfth century the ability of lords and the king to call on wider bodies of men beyond their household troops for major campaigns had become the "common" (''communis exertcitus'') or "Scottish army" (''exercitus Scoticanus''), the result of a universal obligation based on the holding of variously named units of land. Later decrees indicated that the common army was a levy of all able-bodied freemen aged between 16 and 60, with 8-days warning.[Brown (2004) p. 58.] It produced relatively large numbers of men serving for a limited period, usually as unarmoured or poorly armoured bowmen and spearmen.[Stringer (1993) pp. 30-31.] In this period it continued to be mustered by the Mormaer, earls and they often led their men in battle, as was the case in the Battle of the Standard in 1138. It would continue to provide the vast majority of Scottish national armies, potentially producing tens of thousands of men for short periods of conflict, into the early modern era.
There also developed obligations that produced smaller numbers of feudal troops. The Davidian Revolution of the twelfth century was seen by Geoffrey Barrow as bringing "fundamental innovations in military organization". These included the knight's fee, Homage (feudal), homage and fealty, as well as castle-building and the regular use of professional cavalry, as knights held castles and estates in exchange for service, providing troops on a 40-day basis. David's Norman followers and their retinues were able to provide a force of perhaps 200 mounted and armoured knights, but the vast majority of his forces were the "common army" of poorly armed infantry, capable of performing well in raiding and guerrilla warfare. Although such troops were only infrequently able to stand up to the English in the field, nonetheless they did manage to do so critically in the wars of independence at Battle of Stirling Bridge, Stirling Bridge in 1297 and Battle of Bannockburn, Bannockburn in 1314.
Marine warfare
The Viking onslaught of the British Isles was based on superior sea-power, which enabled the creation of the thalassocracy, thalassocracies of the north and west. In the late tenth century the naval battle of "Innisibsolian" (tentatively identified as taking place near the Slate Islands of Argyll) was won by Alban forces over Vikings, although this was an unusual setback for the Norse. In 962 Indulf, Ildulb mac Causantín, King of Scots, was killed (according to the ''Chronicle of the Kings of Alba'') fighting the Norse near Cullen, Moray, Cullen, at the Battle of Bauds, and although there is no evidence of permanent Viking settlement on the east coast of Scotland south of the Moray Firth, raids and even invasions certainly occurred. Dunnottar Castle, Dunnottar was taken during the reign of Domnall mac Causantín and the ''Orkneyinga saga'' records an attack on the Isle of May, by Sweyn Asleifsson and Margad Grimsson.
The Viking ships, long-ship, the key to their success, was a graceful, long, narrow, light, wooden boat with a shallow draft hull designed for speed. This shallow draft allowed navigation in waters only one metre deep and permitted beach landings, while its light weight enabled it to be carried over portages. Longships were also double-ended, the symmetrical bow and stern allowing the ship to reverse direction quickly without having to turn around. In the ''Gàidhealtachd'' they were eventually succeeded by the Birlinn, highland galley and lymphad, which, in ascending order of size, and which replaced the steering-board with a stern-rudder from the late twelfth century. Forces of ships were raised through obligations of a ship-levy through the system of ouncelands and pennylands, which have been argued to date back to the muster system of Dál Riata, but were probably introduced by Scandinavian settlers. Later evidence suggests that the supply of ships for war became linked to military feudal obligations. Viking naval power was disrupted by conflicts between the Scandinavian kingdoms, but entered a period of resurgence in the 13th century when Norwegian kings began to build some of the largest ships seen in Northern European waters, until Haakon Haakonson's ill-fated expedition in 1263 left the Scottish crown the most significant power in the region.[MacQuarrie (2004) p. 153.]
Christianity and the Church
By the tenth century, all of northern Britain was Christianised, except the Scandinavian north and west, which had been lost to the church in the face of Norse settlement.
Saints
Like every other Christian country, one of the main features of medieval Scottish Christianity was the Saint, Cult of Saints. Saints of Irish origin who were particularly revered included various figures called Fillan, St Faelan and St. Colman (disambiguation), St. Colman, and saints Finbarr of Cork, Findbar and Finan of Lindisfarne, Finan. The most important missionary saint was Columba, who emerged as a national figure in the combined Scottish and Pictish kingdom, with a new centre established in the east at Dunkeld by Kenneth I for part of his relics. He remained a major figure into the fourteenth century and a new foundation was endowed by William I at Arbroath Abbey and the relics in the Monymusk Reliquary handed over to the Abbot's care. Regional saints remained important to local identities. In Strathclyde the most important saint was St Kentigern, in Lothian, St Cuthbert and after this martyrdom around 1115 a cult emerged in Orkney, Shetland and northern Scotland around Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney. The cult of St Andrew in Scotland was established on the East coast by the Pictish kings as early as the eighth century.[Barrow (1988) p. 11.] The shrine, which from the twelfth century was said to have contained the relics of the saint, brought to Scotland by Saint Regulus, began to attract pilgrims from Scotland, but also from England and further away. By the twelfth century the site at Kilrymont, had become known simply as St. Andrews and it became increasingly associated with Scottish national identity
Scottish national identity is a term referring to the sense of national identity, as embodied in the shared and characteristic culture, languages and traditions, of the Scottish people.
Although the various dialects of Gaelic, the Scots lan ...
and the royal family. It was renewed as a focus for devotion with the patronage of Queen Margaret, who also became important after her canonisation in 1250 and the ceremonial transfer of her remains to Dunfermline Abbey, as one of the most revered national saints.
Organisation
There is some evidence that Christianity made inroads into the Viking-controlled Highlands and Islands before the official conversion at the end of the tenth century. There are a relatively large number of isles called Pabbay or Papa in the Western and Northern Isles, which may indicate a "hermit's" or "priest's isle" from this period. Changes in patterns of grave goods and the use of Viking place names using -kirk also suggest that Christianity had begun to spread before the official conversion. According to the ''Orkneyinga Saga'' the Northern Isles were Christianised by Olaf I of Norway, Olav Tryggvasson in 995 when he stopped at South Walls on his way from Ireland to Norway. The King summoned the ''earl, jarl'' Sigurd the Stout
Sigurd Hlodvirsson (23 April 1014), popularly known as Sigurd the Stout from the Old Norse ''Sigurðr digri'',Thomson (2008) p. 59 was an Earl of Orkney. The main sources for his life are the Norse Sagas, which were first written down some tw ...
and said "I order you and all your subjects to be baptised. If you refuse, I'll have you killed on the spot and I swear I will ravage every island with fire and steel." Unsurprisingly, Sigurd agreed and the islands became Christian at a stroke,[Thomson (2008) p. 69. quoting the ''Orkneyinga Saga'' chapter 12.] receiving their own Bishop of Orkney, bishop in the early eleventh century. Elsewhere in Scandinavian Scotland the record is less clear. There was a Bishop of the Isles, Bishop of Iona until the late tenth century and there is then a gap of more than a century, possibly filled by the Bishop of Orkney, Bishops of Orkney, before the appointment of the first Diocese of the Isles, Bishop of Mann in 1079.
At the beginning of the period Scottish monasticism was dominated by monks called ''Céli Dé'' (lit. "vassals of God"), anglicised as culdees. At St Andrews and elsewhere, ''Céli Dé'' abbeys are recorded and the round towers at Brechin and Abernethy, Perth and Kinross, Abernethy are evidence of Irish influence. Gaelic monasticism was vibrant and expansionary for much of the period and dozens of monasteries, often called Schottenklöster, were founded by Gaelic monks on the continent. The introduction of the continental type of monasticism to Scotland is associated with Queen Margaret, the wife of Máel Coluim III, although her exact role is unclear. She was in communication with Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, and he provided a few monks for a new Benedictine Dunfermline Abbey, abbey at Dunfermline (c. 1070).[MacQuarrie (2004) pp. 117-128.] Subsequent foundations under Margaret's sons, the kings Edgar, Alexander I and particularly David I, tended to be of the reformed type that followed the lead set by Cluniac Reforms, Cluny. These stressed the original Benedictine virtues of poverty, chastity and obedience, but also contemplation and service of the Mass and were followed in various forms by large numbers of reformed Benedictine, Augustinians, Augustinian and Cistercian houses.[
Before the twelfth century most Scottish churches had collegiate bodies of clergy who served over a wide area, often tied together by devotion to a particular missionary saint. From this period local lay landholders, perhaps following the example of David I, began to adopt the continental practice of building churches on their land for the local population and endowing them with land and a priest, beginning in the south, spreading to the north-east and then the west, being almost universal by the first survey of the Scottish Church for papal taxation in 1274. The administration of these parishes was often given over to local monastic institutions in a process known as appropriation.][ Scotland had little clear diocesan structure before the Norman period. There were bishoprics based on various ancient churches, but some are very obscure in the records and there appear to be long vacancies.][MacQuarrie (2004) pp. 109-117.] From around 1070, in the reign of Malcolm III, there was a "Bishop of Alba" resident at St. Andrews, but it is not clear what authority he had over the other bishops. After the Norman Conquest of England
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...
, the Archbishops of both Archbishopric of Canterbury, Canterbury and Archbishopric of York, York each claimed superiority over the Scottish church.[ The church in Scotland attained independent status after the Papal Bull of Celestine III (''Cum universi'', 1192) by which all Scottish bishoprics except Galloway were formally independent of York and Canterbury. However, unlike Ireland, which had been granted four Archbishoprics in the same century, Scotland received no Archbishop and the whole ''Ecclesia Scoticana'', with individual Scottish bishoprics (except Whithorn/Galloway), became the "special daughter of the see of Rome". It was in practice run by special councils made up of all its bishops, with the bishop of St Andrews emerging as the most important player.][Bawcutt and Williams (2006) pp. 26-29.]
Culture
As a predominantly Gaelic society, most Scottish cultural practices throughout this period mirrored closely those of Ireland, or at least those of Ireland with some Pictish borrowings. After David I, the French-speaking kings introduced cultural practices popular in Anglo-Norman England, France and elsewhere. As in all pre-modern societies, storytelling was popular. The English scholar D. D. R. Owen, who specialises in the literature of this era, writes that "Professional storytellers would ply their trade from court to court. Some of them would have been native Scots, no doubt offering legends from the ancient Celtic past performed ... in Gaelic when appropriate, but in French for most of the new nobility". Almost all of these stories are lost, although some have come down in the Gaelic or Scots language, Scots oral tradition. One form of oral culture extremely well accounted for in this period is genealogy. There are dozens of Scottish genealogies surviving from this era, covering everyone from the Mormaer of Lennox, Mormaers of Lennox and Mormaer of Moray, Moray to the Scottish king himself. Scotland's kings maintained an ''ollamh righe'', a royal high poet who had a permanent place in all medieval Gaelic lordships, and whose purpose was to recite genealogies when needed, for occasions such as coronations.
Before the reign of David I, the Scots possessed a flourishing literary elite who regularly produced texts in both Gaelic and Latin that were frequently transmitted to Ireland and elsewhere. Dauvit Broun has shown that a Gaelic literary elite survived in the eastern Scottish lowlands, in places such as Loch Leven (Kinross), Loch Leven and Brechin into the thirteenth century, However, surviving records are predominantly written in Latin, and their authors would usually translate vernacular terms into Latin, so that historians are faced with researching a Gaelic society clothed in Latin terminology. Even names were translated into more common continental forms; for instance, ''Gilla Brigte'' became ''Gilbert'', ''Áed'' became ''Hugh'', etc. As far as written literature is concerned, there may be more medieval Scottish Gaelic literature than is often thought. Almost all medieval Gaelic literature has survived because it was sustained in Ireland, not in Scotland. Thomas Owen Clancy has recently all but proven that the ''Lebor Bretnach'', the so-called "Irish Nennius", was written in Scotland, and probably at the monastery in Abernethy. Yet this text survives only from manuscripts preserved in Ireland. Other literary work that has survived include that of the prolific poet Gille Brighde Albanach. About 1218, Gille Brighde wrote a poem — ''Heading for Damietta'' — on his experiences of the Fifth Crusade. In the thirteenth century, Old French language, French flourished as a literary language, and produced the ''Roman de Fergus'', one of the earliest pieces of non-Celtic vernacular literature to survive from Scotland.
There is no extant literature in the English language in this era. There is some Norse literature from Scandinavian parts such as ''Darraðarljóð'', which is located in Caithness, the story being a "powerful mixture of Celtic and Old Norse imagery". The famous ''Orkneyinga Saga'', which pertains to the early history of the Earldom of Orkney, was written down in Iceland.
In the Middle Ages, Scotland was renowned for its musical skill. Gerald of Wales, a medieval clergyman and chronicler, explains the relationship between Scottish and Irish music:
Playing the harp (''clarsach'') was especially popular with medieval Scots – half a century after Gerald's writing, King Alexander III kept a royal harpist at his court. Of the three medieval harps that survive, two come from Scotland (Perthshire), and one from Ireland. Singers also had a royal function. For instance, when the king of Scotland passed through the territory of Strathearn, it was the custom that he be greeted by seven female singers, who would sing to him. When Edward I approached the borders of Strathearn in the summer of 1296, he was met by these seven women, "who accompanied the King on the road between Gask and Ogilvie, Angus, Ogilvie, singing to him, as was the custom in the time of the late Alexander kings of Scots".
Outsiders' views
The Irish thought of Scotland as a provincial place. Others thought of it as an outlandish or barbaric place. "Who would deny that the Scots are barbarians?" was a rhetorical question posed in the 12th century by the Anglo-Flemish author of ''De expugnatione Lyxbonensi'' (''On the Conquest of Lisbon'').[MacQuarrie, "Crusades" (2001), p. 115.] A century later Louis IX of France was reported to have said to his son "I would prefer that a Scot should come from Scotland and govern the people well and faithfully, than that you, my son, should be seen to govern badly."[
This characterisation of the Scots was often politically motivated, and many of the most hostile writers were based in areas frequently subjected to Scottish raids. English and French accounts of the Battle of the Standard contain many accounts of Scottish atrocities. For instance, Henry of Huntingdon notes that the Scots: "cleft open pregnant women, and took out the unborn babes; they tossed children upon the spear-points, and beheaded priests on altars: they cut the head of crucifixes, and placed them on the trunks of the slain, and placed the heads of the dead upon the crucifixes. Thus wherever the Scots arrived, all was full of horror and full of savagery." A less hostile view was given by Guibert of Nogent in the First Crusade, who encountered Scots and wrote: "You might have seen a crowd of Scots, a people savage at home but unwarlike elsewhere, descend from their marshy lands, with bare legs, shaggy cloaks, their purse hanging from their shoulders; their copious arms seemed ridiculous to us, but they offered their faith and devotion as aid."][
There was also a general belief that Scotland-proper was an island, or at least a peninsula, known as Scotia, Alba or Albania. Matthew Paris, a Benedictine monk and cartographer, drew a map in this manner in the mid-thirteenth century and called the "island" ''Scotia ultra marina''. A later medieval Italian map applies this geographical conceptualization to all of Scotland. The Arab geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi, al-Idrisi, shared this view: "Scotland adjoins the island of England and is a long peninsula to the north of the larger island. It is uninhabited and has neither town nor village. Its length is 150 miles."
]
National identity
In this period, the word "Scot" was not the word used by the vast majority of Scots to describe themselves, except to foreigners, among whom it was the most common word. The Scots called themselves ''Albanach'' or simply ''Gaidel''. Both "Scot" and ''Gaidel'' were ethnic terms that connected them to the majority of the inhabitants of Ireland. As the author of ''De Situ Albanie'' notes at the beginning of the thirteenth century: "The name Arregathel [Argyll] means margin of the Scots or Irish, because all Scots and Irish are generally called 'Gattheli'."
Likewise, the inhabitants of English and Norse-speaking parts were ethnically linked with other regions of Europe. At Melrose, Scotland, Melrose, people could recite religious literature in the English language. In the later part of the twelfth century, the Lothian writer Adam of Dryburgh describes Lothian as "the Land of the English in the Kingdom of the Scots". In the Northern Isles the Norse language evolved into the local Norn language, Norn, which lingered until the end of the eighteenth century, when it finally died out and Norse may also have survived as a spoken language until the sixteenth century in the Outer Hebrides.
Scotland came to possess a unity that transcended Gaelic, English, Norman and Norse ethnic differences and by the end of the period, the Latin, Norman-French and English word "Scot" could be used for any subject of the Scottish king. Scotland's multilingual Scoto-Norman
The term Scoto-Norman (also Franco-Scottish or Franco-Gaelic) is used to describe people, families, institutions and archaeological artifacts that are partly Scottish people, Scottish (in some sense) and partly Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman (in some ...
monarchs and mixed Gaelic and Scoto-Norman aristocracy all became part of the "Community of the Realm", in which ethnic differences were less divisive than in Ireland and Wales.[Barrow (1981) pp. 122–143; Davies (2000) p. 188.]
Notes
Citations
References
Primary sources
* Alan Orr Anderson, Anderson, Alan Orr, ''Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500–1286'', 2 Vols, (Edinburgh, 1922).
* Anderson, Alan Orr, ''Scottish Annals from English Chroniclers: AD 500–1286'', (London, 1908), republished, Marjorie Anderson (ed.) (Stamford, 1991).
* Gerald of Wales, ''The History and Topography of Ireland'', tr. John O’ Meary, (London, 1982).
* Guillaume le Clerc, ''Fergus of Galloway'', tr. D. D. R. Owen, (London, 1991).
* Hermann Pálsson, Pálsson, Hermann and Edwards, Paul Geoffrey, ''Orkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney'', Penguin Classics, (London, 1981).
* William Forbes Skene, Skene, William F. (ed.), Chronicles of the Picts and Scots: And Other Memorials of Scottish History, (Edinburgh, 1867).
Secondary sources
* Anderson, Marjorie O., ''Kings and Kingship in Early Scotland'', (Edinburgh, 1973).
* Antonsson, H., ''St. Magnús of Orkney: A Scandinavian Martyr-Cult in Context'', Brill, (Leiden, 2007).
* John Bannerman (historian), Bannerman, John, "MacDuff of Fife", in A. Grant & K. Stringer (eds.) ''Medieval Scotland: Crown, Lordship and Community, Essays Presented to G. W. S. Barrow'', (Edinburgh, 1993), pp. 20–38.
* Bannerman, John, "The Kings Poet", in ''The Scottish Historical Review'', V. LXVIII, (1989).
* Bannerman, John, ''Studies in the History of Dalriada'', (Edinburgh, 1974).
* Barrell, A. D. M., ''Medieval Scotland'' (Cambridge, 2000).
* Barron, Evan MacLeod, ''The Scottish War of Independence: A Critical Study'', 2nd Edition, (Inverness, 1934).
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* Barrow, G. W. S., ''Feudal Britain'', (London, 1956).
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External links
Primary sources
Annals of Tigernach
Gaelic Notes on the Book of Deer
Secondary sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scotland In The High Middle Ages
Scotland in the High Middle Ages,
History of Scotland by period