Scotland in the Late Middle Ages, between the deaths of
Alexander III in 1286 and
James IV
James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...
in 1513, established its independence from England under figures including
William Wallace
Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence.
Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army a ...
in the late 13th century and
Robert Bruce
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...
in the 14th century. In the 15th century under the
Stewart Dynasty
The House of Stuart, originally spelt Stewart, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland and later Great Britain. The family name comes from the office of High Steward of Scotland, which had been held by the family progenitor Walter fit ...
, despite a turbulent political history, the Crown gained greater political control at the expense of independent lords and regained most of its lost territory to approximately the modern borders of the country. However, the
Auld Alliance
The Auld Alliance ( Scots for "Old Alliance"; ; ) is an alliance made in 1295 between the kingdoms of Scotland and France against England. The Scots word ''auld'', meaning ''old'', has become a partly affectionate term for the long-lasting a ...
with France led to the heavy defeat of a Scottish army at the
Battle of Flodden
The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...
in 1513 and the death of the king
James IV
James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...
, which would be followed by a long minority and a period of political instability.
The economy of Scotland developed slowly in this period and a population of perhaps a little under a million by the middle of the 14th century began to decline after the arrival of the
Black Death
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
, falling to perhaps half a million by the beginning of the 16th century. Different social systems and cultures developed in the lowland and highland regions of the country as
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 ...
remained the most common language north of the
Tay
Tay may refer to:
People and languages
* Tay (name), including lists of people with the given name, surname and nickname
* Tay people, an ethnic group of Vietnam
** Tày language
*Atayal language, an Austronesian language spoken in Taiwan (ISO 639 ...
and
Middle Scots
Middle Scots was the Anglic language of Lowland Scotland in the period from 1450 to 1700. By the end of the 15th century, its phonology, orthography, accidence, syntax and vocabulary had diverged markedly from Early Scots, which was virtually ...
dominated in the south, where it became the language of the ruling elite, government and a new national literature. There were significant changes in religion which saw
mendicant friars and new devotions expand, particularly in the developing
burgh
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 ...
s.
By the end of the period Scotland had adopted many of the major tenets of the
European Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
in art, architecture and literature and produced a developed educational system. This period has been seen as one in which a clear national identity emerged in Scotland, as well as significant distinctions between different regions of the country which would be particularly significant in the period of the Reformation.
Political history
Wars of Independence 1286–1371
John
The death of king
Alexander III in 1286, and the subsequent death of his granddaughter and heir
Margaret
Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian.
Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...
(called "the Maid of Norway") in 1290, left 14 rivals for succession. To prevent civil war the Scottish magnates asked
Edward I of England
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassa ...
to arbitrate. He extracted legal recognition that the realm of Scotland was held as a feudal dependency to the throne of England before choosing
John Balliol
John Balliol ( – late 1314), known derisively as ''Toom Tabard'' (meaning "empty coat" – coat of arms), was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296. Little is known of his early life. After the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Scotland entered an ...
, the man with the strongest claim, who became king as John I (30 November 1292).
Robert Bruce of Annandale, the next strongest claimant, accepted this outcome with reluctance. Over the next few years Edward I used the concessions he had gained to systematically undermine both the authority of King John and the independence of Scotland. In 1295 John, on the urgings of his chief councillors, entered into an alliance with France, the beginning of the
Auld Alliance
The Auld Alliance ( Scots for "Old Alliance"; ; ) is an alliance made in 1295 between the kingdoms of Scotland and France against England. The Scots word ''auld'', meaning ''old'', has become a partly affectionate term for the long-lasting a ...
.
In 1296 Edward invaded Scotland, deposing King John. The following year
William Wallace
Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence.
Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army a ...
and
Andrew Murrey raised forces to resist the occupation and under their joint leadership an English army was defeated at the
Battle of Stirling Bridge
The Battle of Stirling Bridge ( gd, Blàr Drochaid Shruighlea) was a battle of the First War of Scottish Independence. On 11 September 1297, the forces of Andrew Moray and William Wallace defeated the combined English forces of John de Warenne ...
. Murrey died of wounds after the battle and for a short time Wallace ruled Scotland in the name of John Balliol as
Guardian
Guardian usually refers to:
* Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another
* ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper
(The) Guardian(s) may also refer to:
Places
* Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...
of the realm. Edward came north in person and defeated Wallace at the
Battle of Falkirk
The Battle of Falkirk (''Blàr na h-Eaglaise Brice'' in Gaelic), on 22 July 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence. Led by King Edward I of England, the English army defeated the Scots, led by William Wal ...
. Wallace escaped but probably resigned as Guardian of Scotland. In 1305 he fell into the hands of the English, who executed him for treason despite the fact that he owed no allegiance to England.
Robert I
![Robert the Bruce](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Robert_the_Bruce.jpg)
Rivals
John Comyn
John Comyn III of Badenoch, nicknamed the Red (c. 1274 – 10 February 1306), was a leading Scottish baron and magnate who played an important role in the First War of Scottish Independence. He served as Guardian of Scotland after the forced ...
and
Robert the Bruce
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...
, grandson of the claimant Robert Bruce of Annandale, were appointed as joint guardians in Wallace's place.
[David R. Ross, ''On the Trail of Robert the Bruce'' (Dundurn Press Ltd., 1999), , p. 21.] On 10 February 1306, Bruce participated in the murder of Comyn, at Greyfriars Kirk in
Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...
. Less than seven weeks later, on 25 March Bruce was crowned as king Robert I at Scone. However, Edward's forces overran the country after defeating Bruce's small army at the
Battle of Methven
The Battle of Methven took place at Methven, Scotland on 19 June 1306, during the Wars of Scottish Independence. The battlefield was researched to be included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland and protected by Historic Sco ...
. Despite the excommunication of Bruce and his followers by
Pope Clement V
Pope Clement V ( la, Clemens Quintus; c. 1264 – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his de ...
, his support grew; and by 1314, with the help of leading nobles such as
Sir James Douglas James Douglas may refer to:
Scottish noblemen
Lords of Angus
* James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Angus (1426–1446), Scottish nobleman
* James Douglas, Earl of Angus (1671–1692), son of the 2nd Marquess of Douglas
Lords of Douglas
* James Douglas, ...
and the
Earl of Moray
The title Earl of Moray, Mormaer of Moray or King of Moray was originally held by the rulers of the Province of Moray, which existed from the 10th century with varying degrees of independence from the Kingdom of Alba to the south. Until 1130 th ...
, only the castles at Bothwell and Stirling remained under English control. Edward I had died in 1307 and his heir
Edward II
Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...
moved an army north to break the siege of
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological ...
and reassert control. They were defeated by forces under Robert I at the
Battle of Bannockburn
The Battle of Bannockburn ( gd, Blàr Allt nam Bànag or ) fought on June 23–24, 1314, was a victory of the army of King of Scots Robert the Bruce over the army of King Edward II of England in the First War of Scottish Independence. It was ...
in 1314, securing ''de facto'' independence.
In 1320 the
Declaration of Arbroath
The Declaration of Arbroath ( la, Declaratio Arbroathis; sco, Declaration o Aiberbrothock; gd, Tiomnadh Bhruis) is the name usually given to a letter, dated 6 April 1320 at Arbroath, written by Scottish barons and addressed to Pope John ...
, a remonstrance to the Pope from the nobles of Scotland, helped to convince
Pope John XXII
Pope John XXII ( la, Ioannes PP. XXII; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death in December 1334.
He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected by ...
to overturn the earlier excommunication and nullify the various acts of submission by Scottish kings to English ones so that Scotland's sovereignty could be recognised by the major European dynasties. The Declaration has also been seen as one of the most important documents in the development of a Scottish national identity. Robert's brother
Edward Bruce
Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick ( Norman French: ; mga, Edubard a Briuis; Modern Scottish Gaelic: gd, Eideard or ; – 14 October 1318), was a younger brother of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. He supported his brother in the 1306–1314 st ...
carried out a series of
campaigns against English forces in Ireland and was declared
High King. The campaigns in Ireland, although ultimately unsuccessful, opened the prospect of what has been characterised as "Pan-Gaelic Greater Scotia" under the Bruce dynasty. Robert's forces carried out a series of raids of Northern England, defeating an English army in 1327 at the
Battle of Stanhope Park. Robert's victories contributed to the deposition of Edward II and Robert was able to take advantage of the minority of his son
Edward III
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...
to secure the
Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton
The Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton was a peace treaty signed in 1328 between the Kingdoms of England and Scotland. It brought an end to the First War of Scottish Independence, which had begun with the English party of Scotland in 1296. The ...
, signed in May 1328, which recognised Scotland as an independent kingdom, and Bruce as its king.
David II
![David Bruce, king of Scotland, acknowledges Edward III as his feudal lord](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/David_Bruce%2C_king_of_Scotland%2C_acknowledges_Edward_III_as_his_feudal_lord.jpg)
Robert I died in 1329, leaving his five-year-old son to reign as
David II. During his minority, the country was ruled by a series of governors, two of whom died as a result of a renewed invasion by English forces from 1332. This was on the pretext of restoring
Edward Balliol
Edward Balliol (; 1283 – January 1364) was a claimant to the Scottish throne during the Second War of Scottish Independence. With English help, he ruled parts of the kingdom from 1332 to 1356.
Early life
Edward was the eldest son of John Ba ...
, son of John Balliol, to the Scottish throne, thus starting the Second War of Independence.
[M. H. Keen, ''England in the Later Middle Ages: a Political History'' (London: Routledge, 2nd edn., 2003), , pp. 86–8.] Despite victories at
Dupplin Moor
The Battle of Dupplin Moor was fought between supporters of King David II of Scotland, the son of King Robert Bruce, and English-backed invaders supporting Edward Balliol, son of King John I of Scotland, on 11 August 1332. It took place a lit ...
(1332) and
Halidon Hill
Halidon Hill is a summit, about west of the centre of Berwick-upon-Tweed, on the border of England and Scotland. It reaches 600 feet (180 m) high. The name of the hill indicates that it once had a fortification on its top. At the Battle of ...
(1333), in the face of tough Scottish resistance led by
Sir Andrew Murray
Sir Andrew Murray (1298–1338), also known as Sir Andrew Moray, or Sir Andrew de Moray, was a Scottish military and political leader who supported King David II of Scotland against Edward Balliol and King Edward III of England during the Seco ...
, the son of Wallace's comrade in arms, successive attempts to secure Balliol on the throne failed.
[ Edward III lost interest in the fate of his protege after the outbreak of the ]Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...
with France.[ In 1341 David was able to return from temporary exile in France. In 1346 under the terms of the ]Auld Alliance
The Auld Alliance ( Scots for "Old Alliance"; ; ) is an alliance made in 1295 between the kingdoms of Scotland and France against England. The Scots word ''auld'', meaning ''old'', has become a partly affectionate term for the long-lasting a ...
, he invaded England in the interests of France, but was defeated and taken prisoner at the Battle of Neville's Cross
The Battle of Neville's Cross took place during the Second War of Scottish Independence on 17 October 1346, half a mile (800 m) to the west of Durham, England. An invading Scottish army of 12,000 led by King David II was defeated with heavy los ...
on 17 October 1346 and would remain in England as a prisoner for 11 years. His cousin Robert Stewart ruled as guardian in his absence. Balliol finally resigned his claim to the throne to Edward in 1356, before retiring to Yorkshire, where he died in 1364.
Without swearing allegiance to Edward III, David was released for a ransom of 100,000 marks
Marks may refer to:
Business
* Mark's, a Canadian retail chain
* Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain
* Collective trade marks, trademarks owned by an organisation for the benefit of its members
* Marks & Co, the inspiration for the novel ...
in 1357, but he was unable to pay, resulting in secret negotiations with the English and attempts to secure succession to the Scottish throne for an English king. Major issues were his marriages and the failure to produce an heir. His first wife, Joan, the sister of Edward III, left him for England sometime after his return and she died without children in 1362. His planned second marriage to Margaret
Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian.
Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...
, the widow of the knight Sir John Logie, resulted in a factional division that alienated nobles including Robert Steward. Eventually the king backed the queen's opponents and attempted to divorce her. She fled to the continent and appealed to the Pope for support. Before he could marry again David died, apparently unexpectedly, bringing the Bruce dynasty to an end.
The Stewarts 1371–1513
Robert II, Robert III and James I
After the unexpected death of the childless David II, Robert Stewart, the first of the Stewart (later Stuart) monarchs, came to the throne in 1371. Despite his relatively venerable age of 55, his son, John, Earl of Carrick, grew impatient and assumed the reins of government as Lord Lieutenant. A border incursion into England led to the victory at Otterburn in 1388, but at the cost of the life of John's ally James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas
Sir James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas and Mar (c. 1358 – 5 or 19 August 1388) was an influential and powerful magnate in the Kingdom of Scotland.
Early life
He was the eldest son and heir of William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas and Margaret ...
. This, along with Carrick having suffered a debilitating horse kick, led to a shift in power to his brother Robert Stewart, Earl of Fife
Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany (c. 1340 – 3 September 1420) was a member of the Scotland, Scottish royal family who served as regent (at least partially) to three Scottish monarchs (Robert II of Scotland, Robert II, Robert III of Scotland, Rob ...
, who now was appointed as Lieutenant in his place. When Robert II died in 1390 John took the regnal name
A regnal name, or regnant name or reign name, is the name used by monarchs and popes during their reigns and, subsequently, historically. Since ancient times, some monarchs have chosen to use a different name from their original name when they ac ...
Robert III, to avoid awkward questions over the exact status of the first King John, but power rested with his brother Robert, now Duke of Albany.[S. H. Rigby, ''A Companion to Britain in the Later Middle Ages'' (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2003), , pp. 301–2.] After the suspicious death of his elder son, David, Duke of Rothesay in 1402, Robert, fearful for the safety of his younger son, James (the future James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
*James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
*James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
*James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
), sent him to France in 1406. However, the English captured him en route and he spent the next 18 years as a prisoner held for ransom. As a result, after the death of Robert III later that year, regents ruled Scotland: first Albany and after his death in 1420 his son Murdoch
Murdoch ( , ) is an Irish/Scottish given name, as well as a surname. The name is derived from old Gaelic words ''mur'', meaning "sea" and ''murchadh'', meaning "sea warrior". The following is a list of notable people or entities with the name.
...
, during whose term of office the country suffered considerable unrest.
When the Scots finally began the ransom payments in 1424, James, aged 32, returned with his English bride, Joan Beaufort, determined to assert this authority.[ He revoked grants from customs and of lands made during his captivity, undermining the position of those who had gained in his absence, particularly the Albany Stewarts. James had Murdoch and two of his sons tried and then executed with further enforcement of his authority by more arrests and forfeiture of lands. In 1436 he attempted to regain one of the major border fortresses still in English hands at ]Roxburgh
Roxburgh () is a civil parish and formerly a royal burgh, in the historic county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was an important trading burgh in High Medieval to early modern Scotland. In the Middle Ages it had at leas ...
, but the siege ended in a humiliating defeat. He was murdered by discontented council member Robert Graham and his co-conspirators near the Blackfriars church, Perth in 1437.
James II
The assassination left the king's seven-year-old son to reign as James II. After the execution of a number of suspected conspirators, leadership fell to Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas
Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas (c. 1391 – 26 June 1439) was a Scottish nobleman and general during the Hundred Years' War.
Life
Douglas was the son of Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas and Margaret Stewart, eldest daughter o ...
, as lieutenant-general of the realm. After his death in 1439, power was shared uneasily between the Douglas family, William, 1st Lord Crichton, Lord Chancellor of Scotland
The Lord Chancellor of Scotland, formally the Lord High Chancellor, was a Great Officer of State in the Kingdom of Scotland.
Holders of the office are known from 1123 onwards, but its duties were occasionally performed by an official of lower st ...
and Sir Alexander Livingston of Callendar. A conspiracy to break the power of the Douglas family led to the "Black Dinner" at Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...
in 1440, which saw the judicial murder of the young William Douglas, 6th Earl of Douglas
William, 6th Earl of Douglas (c. 1424 – 24 November 1440) was a Scottish nobleman. In addition to his Earldom of Douglas, he was Earl of Wigtown, Lord of Galloway, Lord of Bothwell, Selkirk and Ettrick Forest, Eskdale, Lauderdale, and ...
and his brother by Livingstone and Crichton. The main beneficiary was the victims' great uncle James Douglas, Earl of Avondale who became the 7th Earl of Douglas and emerged as the main power in the government.[A. D. M. Barrell, ''Medieval Scotland'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), , pp. 160–9.]
In 1449 James II was declared to have reached his majority, but the Douglases consolidated their position and the king began a long struggle for power, leading to the murder of the 8th Earl of Douglas at Stirling Castle on 22 February 1452. This opened an intermittent civil war as James attempted to seize Douglas lands, punctuated by a series of humiliating reversals. Gradually James managed to win over the allies of the Douglases with offers of lands, titles and offices and the Douglases' forces were finally defeated at the Battle of Arkinholm
The Battle of Arkinholm was fought on 1 May 1455, at Arkinholm near Langholm in Scotland, during the reign of King James II of Scotland. Although a small action, involving only a few hundred troops, it was the decisive battle in a civil war be ...
on 12 May 1455.[ Once independent, James II proved to be an active and interventionist king. He travelled the country dispensing justice and some of the unpopular policies of the following reign, such as the sale of pardons, may have originated in this period. Ambitious plans to take Orkney, Shetland and the Isle of Man came to nothing. His attempt to take Roxburgh from the English in 1460 succeeded, but at the cost of his life as he was killed by an exploding artillery piece.][
]
James III
James II's son, aged nine or ten, became king as James III, and his widow Mary of Guelders
Mary of Guelders (; c. 1434/1435 – 1 December 1463) was Queen of Scotland by marriage to King James II of Scotland. She ruled as regent of Scotland from 1460 to 1463.
Background
She was the daughter of Arnold, Duke of Guelders, and Cath ...
acted as regent until her own death three years later. The Boyd family, led by Robert, Lord Boyd, emerged as the leading force in the government, making themselves unpopular through self-aggrandisement, with Lord Robert's son Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the Ap ...
being made Earl of Arran and marrying the king's sister, Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
. While Robert and Thomas were out of the country in 1469 the king asserted his control, executing members of the Boyd family. His foreign policy included a rapprochement with England, with his eldest son, the future James IV
James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...
, being betrothed to Cecily of York
Cecily of York (20 March 1469 – 24 August 1507), was the third daughter of King Edward IV of England and his queen consort Elizabeth Woodville.
Shortly after the death of her father and the usurpation of the throne by her uncle King Richar ...
, the daughter of Edward IV of England
Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...
, a change of policy that was immensely unpopular at home.[J. Wormald, ''Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991), , p. 6.]
During the 1470s conflict developed between the king and his brothers, Alexander, Duke of Albany
Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany (7 August 1485), was a Scottish prince and the second surviving son of King James II of Scotland. He fell out with his older brother, King James III, and fled to France, where he unsuccessfully sought help. In 1 ...
and John, Earl of Mar. Mar died suspiciously in 1480 and his estates were forfeited and possibly given to a royal favourite
A favourite (British English) or favorite (American English) was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In post-classical and early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated si ...
, Robert Cochrane. Albany fled to France in 1479, accused of treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
. By this point the alliance with England was failing and from 1480 there was intermittent war, followed by a full-scale invasion of Scotland two years later, led by the Duke of Gloucester, the future Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
, and accompanied by Albany. James was imprisoned by his own subjects in Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...
, and Albany was established as lieutenant-general. Having taken Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...
the English retreated and Albany's government began to collapse forcing him to flee. Despite conspiracies and more attempts at invasion, James was able to regain power. However, the king managed to alienate the barons, refusing to travel for the implementation of justice, preferring to be resident in Edinburgh, he debased the coinage, probably creating a financial crisis, he continued to pursue an English alliance and dismissed key supporters, including his Chancellor Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll
Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll (c. 1433 – 10 May 1493) was a medieval Scottish nobleman, peer, and politician. He was the son of Archibald Campbell, Master of Campbell and Elizabeth Somerville, daughter of John Somerville, 3rd Lord S ...
, becoming estranged from his wife, Margaret of Denmark, and his son James. Matters came to a head in 1488 when he faced an army raised by the disaffected nobles, and many former councillors, acting in the name of the prince as James IV. He was defeated at the Battle of Sauchieburn
The Battle of Sauchieburn was fought on 11 June 1488, at the side of Sauchie Burn, a stream about south of Stirling, Scotland. The battle was fought between the followers of King James III of Scotland and a large group of rebellious Scottish n ...
and killed.
James IV
James IV was 15 when he came to the throne, but soon proved a capable and independent-minded ruler, whose reign is often considered to have seen a flowering of Scottish culture under the influence of the European Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
.[ He took a direct interest in the administration of justice and frequently moved his court in legal circuits of justice ayres.] He defeated a major Northern rebellion, mainly of supporters of the murdered James III. It began in Dunbarton in 1489, led by the Earl of Lennox
The Earl or Mormaer of Lennox was the ruler of the region of the Lennox in western Scotland. It was first created in the 12th century for David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon and later held by the Stewart dynasty.
Ancient earls
The first earl ...
and Lord Lyle and spreading through the North. James is credited with finally bringing the Lordship of the Isles
The Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles
( gd, Triath nan Eilean or ) is a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title ...
under control. He forced through the forfeiture of the lands of the last lord John MacDonald in 1493, backing Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly
Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly (died 1524) was a Scottish nobleman. He was a member of Parliament, a member of the Privy Council, a regent and Lieutenant of the kingdom.
Biography
He was the son of George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly and h ...
's power in the region and launching a series of naval campaigns and sieges that resulted in the capture or exile of his rivals by 1507.
For a time he supported Perkin Warbeck
Perkin Warbeck ( 1474 – 23 November 1499) was a pretender to the English throne claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who was the second son of Edward IV and one of the so-called "Princes in the Tower". Richard, were he alive, ...
, the pretender to the English throne, and carried out a brief invasion of England on his behalf in 1496. However, he then established good diplomatic relations with England, and in 1502 signed the Treaty of Perpetual Peace
The Treaty of Perpetual Peace was signed by James IV of Scotland and Henry VII of England in 1502. It agreed to end the intermittent warfare between Scotland and England which had been waged over the previous two hundred years, and, although it ...
, marrying Henry VII's daughter, Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor (28 November 1489 – 18 October 1541) was Queen of Scotland from 1503 until 1513 by marriage to King James IV. She then served as regent of Scotland during her son's minority, and successfully fought to extend her regency. Marg ...
, thus laying the foundation for the 17th century Union of the Crowns
The Union of the Crowns ( gd, Aonadh nan Crùintean; sco, Union o the Crouns) was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of the Kingdom of England as James I and the practical unification of some functions (such as overseas dip ...
. Animosity with Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
helped prompt the renewal of the Auld Alliance in 1512. When the Pope organised a Holy League, which included England, against the French in 1511, James was caught between incompatible diplomatic policies. He tried to suggest an unrealistic European Crusade to Constantinople, but after border skirmishing, when the French were attacked by the English he declared war on England and was excommunicated by the Pope. He sent his navy and gunners to support the French and in 1513 led a major army of perhaps 34,000 over the border.[J. Wormald, ''Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991), , p. 7.] After using his formidable artillery train to take Norham Castle
Norham Castle (sometimes Nornam) is a castle in Northumberland, England, overlooking the River Tweed, on the border between England and Scotland. It is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The castle saw much action during ...
he marched south, where the invasion was stopped decisively on 9 September 1513 at the Battle of Flodden
The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...
. The King, many of his nobles, and a large number of ordinary troops were killed, commemorated by the song " The Floo'ers o' the Forest". Once again Scotland's government lay in the hands of regents in the name of the infant James V
James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and duri ...
.
Geography
The defining factor in the geography of Scotland is the distinction between the Highlands and Islands
The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland and Outer Hebrides (Western Isles).
The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1886 ...
in the north and west and the lowlands
Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland.
Definitions
Upland and lowland are portions of p ...
in the south and east. The highlands are further divided into the Northwest Highlands
The Northwest Highlands are located in the northern third of Scotland that is separated from the Grampian Mountains by the Great Glen (Glen More). The region comprises Wester Ross, Assynt, Sutherland and part of Caithness. The Caledonian Canal, ...
and the Grampian Mountains
The Grampian Mountains (''Am Monadh'' in Scottish Gaelic, 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. T ...
by the fault line of the Great Glen
The Great Glen ( gd, An Gleann Mòr ), also known as Glen Albyn (from the Gaelic "Glen of Scotland" ) or Glen More (from the Gaelic ), is a glen in Scotland running for from Inverness on the edge of Moray Firth, in an approximately straight ...
. The lowlands are divided into the fertile belt of the 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 t ...
and the higher terrain of 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 illustrated ...
, which included the Cheviot hills
The Cheviot Hills (), or sometimes The Cheviots, are a range of uplands straddling the Anglo-Scottish border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. The English section is within the Northumberland National Park. The range includes T ...
, over which the border with England came to run by the end of the period. The Central Lowland belt averages about 50 miles in width and, because it contains most of the good quality agricultural land and has easier communications, could support most of the urbanisation and elements of conventional medieval government.[ However, the Southern Uplands, and particularly the Highlands were economically less productive and much more difficult to govern. This provided Scotland with a form of protection, as minor English incursions had to cross the difficult southern uplands and the two major attempts at conquest by the English, under Edward I and then Edward III, were unable to penetrate the highlands, from which area potential resistance could reconquer the lowlands. However, it also made those areas problematic to govern for Scottish kings and much of the political history of the era after the wars of independence circulated around attempts to resolve problems of entrenched localism in these regions.][J. Wormald, ''Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991), , pp. 39–40.]
It was in the later medieval era that the borders of Scotland reached approximately their modern extent. 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 ...
fell under English control in the 14th century, despite several attempts to restore Scottish authority. The English were able to annexe a large slice of the lowlands under Edward III, but these losses were gradually regained, particularly while England was preoccupied with the Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...
(1455–85).[P. J. Bawcutt and J. H. Williams, ''A Companion to Medieval Scottish Poetry'' (Woodbridge: Brewer, 2006), , pp. 21.] In 1468 the last great acquisition of Scottish territory occurred when James III married Margaret of Denmark, receiving the Orkney Islands
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 the Shetland Islands
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 ...
in payment of her dowry. However, in 1482 Berwick, a border fortress and the largest port in medieval Scotland, fell to the English once again, for what was to be the final change of hands.[
]
Demography
Because medieval Scotland lacked the intrusive government and growing bureaucracy that can be found in contemporaneous England, there is very little evidence on which to base reliable estimates of population before the early 18th century. On the basis that it had roughly a sixth of the farmable land of England, it has been suggested that the population would have been of a similar proportion, probably a little less than a million at its height before the Black Death
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
reached the country in 1349. Although there is no reliable documentation on the impact of the plague, there are many anecdotal references to abandoned land in the following decades. If the pattern followed that in England, then the population may have fallen to as low as half a million by the end of the 15th century.[S. H. Rigby, ed., ''A Companion to Britain in the Later Middle Ages'' (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2003), , pp. 109–11.] Compared with the situation after the redistribution of population in the later clearances and the industrial revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
, these numbers would have been relatively evenly spread over the kingdom, with roughly half living north of the Tay. Perhaps ten per cent of the population lived in one of fifty burghs that existed at the beginning of the period, mainly in the east and south. It has been suggested that they would have had a mean population of about 2,000, but many would be much smaller than 1,000 and the largest, Edinburgh, probably had a population of over 10,000 by the end of the era.[
]
Economy
Agriculture
Scotland is roughly half the size of England and Wales, but has only between a fifth and a sixth of the amount of the arable or good pastoral land, making marginal pastoral farming and, with its extensive coastline, fishing, the key factors in the medieval economy.[E. Gemmill and N. J. Mayhew, ''Changing Values in Medieval Scotland: a Study of Prices, Money, and Weights and Measures'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), , pp. 8–10.] With difficult terrain, poor roads and methods of transport there was little trade between different areas of the country and most settlements depended on what was produced locally, often with very little in reserve in bad years. Most farming was based on the lowland farmtoun or highland baile, settlements of a handful of families that jointly farmed an area notionally suitable for two or three plough teams, allocated in run rig
Run rig, or runrig, also known as rig-a-rendal, was a system of land tenure practised in Scotland, particularly in the Highlands and Islands. It was used on open fields for arable farming.
Its origins are not clear, but it is possible that the p ...
s to tenant farmers. They usually ran downhill so that they included both wet and dry land, helping to offset some of the problems of extreme weather conditions.[ This land was divided into the infield, which was in continuous arable cultivation, and the outfield which was rotated between arable and grass. Most ploughing was done with a heavy wooden plough with an iron coulter, pulled by oxen, who were more effective and cheaper to feed than horses. Obligations to the local lord usually included supplying oxen for ploughing the lord's land on an annual basis and the much-resented obligation to grind corn at the lord's mill.][J. Wormald, ''Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991), , pp. 41–55.] The rural economy appears to have boomed in the 13th century and in the immediate aftermath of the Black Death was still buoyant, but by the 1360s there was a severe falling off of incomes, which can be seen in clerical benefices, of between a third and half compared with the beginning of the era. This was followed by a slow recovery in the 15th century.[S. H. Rigby, ed., ''A Companion to Britain in the Later Middle Ages'' (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2003), , pp. 111–6.]
Burghs
Most of the burghs were on the east coast, and among them were the largest and wealthiest, including Aberdeen, Perth and Edinburgh, whose growth was facilitated by trade with the continent. Although in the southwest Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
was beginning to develop and Ayr
Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...
and Kirkcudbright
Kirkcudbright ( ; sco, Kirkcoubrie; gd, Cille Chùithbeirt) is a town, parish and a Royal Burgh from 1455 in Kirkcudbrightshire, of which it is traditionally the county town, within Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
The town lies southwest of C ...
had occasional links with Spain and France, sea trade with Ireland was much less profitable. In addition to the major royal burgh
A royal burgh () was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs.
Most royal burghs were either created by ...
s this era saw the proliferation of lesser baronial
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...
and ecclesiastical burghs, with 51 being created between 1450 and 1516. Most of these were much smaller than their royal counterparts; excluded from international trade, they mainly acted as local markets and centres of craftsmanship. In general burghs probably carried out far more local trading with their hinterlands, relying on them for food and raw materials. The wool trade was a major export at the beginning of the period, but the introduction of sheep-scab was a serious blow to the trade and it began to decline as an export from the early 15th century and despite a levelling off, there was another drop in exports as the markets collapsed in the early-16th century Low Countries. Unlike in England, this did not prompt the Scots to turn to large scale cloth production and only poor quality rough cloths seem to have been significant.[
]
Crafts, industry and trade
There were relatively few developed crafts in Scotland in this period, although by the later 15th century there were the beginnings of a native iron casting industry, which led to the production of cannon, and of the silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
and goldsmith
A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...
ing for which the country would later be known. As a result, the most important exports were unprocessed raw materials, including wool, hides, salt, fish, animals and coal, while Scotland remained frequently short of wood, iron and, in years of bad harvests, grain.[ Exports of hides and particularly salmon, where the Scots held a decisive advantage in quality over their rivals, appear to have held up much better than wool, despite the general economic downturn in Europe in the aftermath of the plague.][ The growing desire among the court, lords, upper clergy and wealthier merchants for luxury goods that largely had to be imported led to a chronic shortage of ]bullion
Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from t ...
. This, and perennial problems in royal finance, led to several debasements of the coinage, with the amount of silver in a penny being cut to almost a fifth between the late 14th century and the late 15th century. The heavily debased "black money" introduced in 1480 had to be withdrawn two years later and may have helped fuel a financial and political crisis.[
]
Society
Kinship and clans
The fundamental social bond in late medieval Scottish society was that of kinship. Descent was agnatic
Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...
, with members of a group sharing a (sometimes fictional) common ancestor, in the south often reflected in a common surname. Unlike in England, where kinship was predominately cognatic
Cognatic kinship is a mode of descent calculated from an ancestor counted through any combination of male and female links, or a system of bilateral kinship where relations are traced through both a father and mother. Such relatives may be known ...
(derived through both males and females), women retained their original surname at marriage and marriages were intended to create friendship between kin groups, rather than a new bond of kinship.[J. Wormald, ''Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991), , pp. 29–35.] As a result, a shared surname has been seen as a "test of kinship", proving large bodies of kin who could call on each other's support and this could help intensify the idea of the feud, which was usually carried out as a form of revenge for a kinsman and for which a large body of kin could be counted on to support rival sides, although conflict between members of kin groups also occurred.
The combination of agnatic kinship and a feudal system of obligation has been seen as creating the highland clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship
and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...
system, evident in records from the 13th century. Surnames were rare in the highlands until the 17th and 18th centuries and in the Middle Ages all members of a clan did not share a name and most ordinary members were usually not related to its head. The head of a clan in the beginning of the era was often the strongest male in the main sept or branch of the clan, but later, as primogeniture
Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
began to dominate, was usually the eldest son of the last chief.[J. L. Roberts, ''Clan, King, and Covenant: History of the Highland Clans from the Civil War to the Glencoe Massacre'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2000), , p. 13.] The leading families of a clan formed the ''fine'', often seen as equivalent to lowland gentlemen, providing council in peace and leadership in war, and below them were the ''daoine usisle'' (in Gaelic) or tacksmen (in Scots), who managed the clan lands and collected the rents. In the isles and along the adjacent western seaboard there were also ''buannachann'', who acted as a military elite, defending the clan lands from raids or taking part in attacks on clan enemies. Most of the followers of the clan were tenants, who supplied labour to the clan heads and sometimes act as soldiers. In the early modern era they would take the clan name as their surname, turning the clan into a massive, if often fictive, kin group.[
]
Social structure
In the late medieval era the terminology used to describe the different ranks of Scottish social structure was increasingly dominated by the Scots language and as a result began to parallel the terminology used in England. This consciousness over status was reflected in military and (from 1430) sumptuary legislation, which set out the types of weapons and armour that should be maintained, and clothes that could be worn, by various ranks.[ Below the king were a small number of ]duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
s (usually descended from very close relatives of the king) and earl
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...
s, who formed the senior nobility. Below them were the barons, and, from the 1440s, fulfilling the same role were the lords of Parliament
A Lord of Parliament ( sco, Laird o Pairlament) was the holder of the lowest form of peerage, entitled as of right to take part in sessions of the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland. Since that Union in 1707, it has been the lowest rank of the P ...
, the lowest level of the nobility with the rank-given right to attend the Estates. There were perhaps 40 to 60 of these in Scotland throughout the period.[A. Grant, "Service and tenure in late medieval Scotland 1324–1475" in A. Curry and E. Matthew, eds, ''Concepts and Patterns of Service in the Later Middle Ages'' (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2000), , pp. 145–65.] Members of these noble ranks, perhaps particularly those that had performed military or administrative service to the Crown, might also be eligible for the status of knighthood. Below these were the laird
Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...
s, roughly equivalent to the English gentlemen
A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...
.[ Most were in some sense in the service of the major nobility, either in terms of land or military obligations,][ roughly half sharing with them their name and a distant and often uncertain form of kinship.][J. Goodacre, ''State and Society in Early Modern Scotland'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), , pp. 57–60.] Serfdom died out in Scotland in the 14th century, although through the system of courts baron landlords still exerted considerable control over their tenants.[ Below the lords and lairds were a variety of groups, often ill-defined. These included ]yeomen
Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witn ...
, sometimes called "bonnet lairds", often owning substantial land, and below them the husbandmen
A husbandman in England in the Middle Ages and the early modern period was a free tenant farmer, or a small landowner. The social status of a husbandman was below that of a yeoman. The meaning of "husband" in this term is "master of house" ra ...
, lesser landholders and free tenants that made up the majority of the working population. Society in the burghs was headed by wealthier merchants, who often held local office as a burgess __NOTOC__
Burgess may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Burgess (surname), a list of people and fictional characters
* Burgess (given name), a list of people
Places
* Burgess, Michigan, an unincorporated community
* Burgess, Missouri, U ...
, alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
, bailie
A bailie or baillie is a civic officer in the local government of Scotland. The position arose in the burghs, where bailies formerly held a post similar to that of an alderman or magistrate (see bailiff). Baillies appointed the high constables i ...
s or as a member of the council. A small number of these successful merchants were dubbed knights for their service by the king by the end of the era, although this seems to have been an exceptional form of civic knighthood that did not put them on a par with landed knights. Below them were craftsmen
Craftsman may refer to:
A profession
*Artisan, a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative
* Master craftsman, an artisan who has achieved such a standard that he may establish his own workshop and take ...
and workers that made up the majority of the urban population.[J. Wormald, ''Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991), , pp. 48–9.]
Social conflict
Historians have noted considerable political conflict in the burghs between the great merchants and craftsmen throughout the period. Merchants attempted to prevent lower crafts and gilds from infringing on their trade, monopolies and political power. Craftsmen attempted to emphasise their importance and to break into disputed areas of economic activity, setting prices and standards of workmanship. In the 15th century a series of statutes cemented the political position of the merchants, with limitations on the ability of residents to influence the composition of burgh councils and many of the functions of regulation taken on by the bailies.[ In rural society historians have noted a lack of evidence of widespread unrest similar to that evidenced the ]Jacquerie
The Jacquerie () was a popular revolt by peasants that took place in northern France in the early summer of 1358 during the Hundred Years' War. The revolt was centred in the valley of the Oise north of Paris and was suppressed after a few week ...
of 1358 in France and the Peasants' Revolt
The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black ...
of 1381 in England, possibly because there was relatively little of the type of change in agriculture, like the enclosure
Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
of common land, that could create widespread resentment before the modern era. Instead a major factor was the willingness of tenants to support their betters in any conflict in which they were involved, for which landlords reciprocated with charity and support.[J. Wormald, ''Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991), , pp. 50–1.] Highland and border society acquired a reputation for lawless activity, particularly the feud
A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one part ...
. However, more recent interpretations have pointed to the feud as a means of preventing and speedily resolving disputes by forcing arbitration, compensation and resolution.[J. Wormald, ''Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991), , pp. 28 and 35-9.]
Government
The Crown
The Crown was at the centre of government in late medieval Scotland. The unification of the kingdom, the spread of Anglo-Norman custom, the development of a European trading economy and Robert I's success in achieving independence from England, all did much to build up the prestige of the institution. However, its authority within the kingdom was not unchallenged, not least from the many semi-independent lordships and it endured a series of crises, particularly frequent minorities and resulting regencies. All of this, in addition to the relative poverty of the kingdom and the lack of a system of regular taxation, helped to limit the scale of central administration and government. Much more than the English monarchy, the Scottish court remained a largely itinerant institution, with the king moving between royal castles, particularly Perth and Stirling, but also holding judicial sessions throughout the kingdom, with Edinburgh only beginning to emerge as the capital in the reign of James III at the cost of considerable unpopularity.[J. Wormald, ''Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991), , pp. 14–15.] Like most western European monarchies, the Scottish Crown in the 15th century adopted the example of the Burgundian court, through formality and elegance putting itself at the centre of culture and political life, defined with display, ritual and pageantry, reflected in elaborate new palaces and patronage of the arts.[J. Wormald, ''Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991), , p. 18.]
Privy Council
After the Crown the most important government institution was the Privy Council, composed of the king's closest advisers, but which, unlike in England, retained legislative and judicial powers. It was relatively small, with normally less than 10 members in a meeting, some of whom were nominated by Parliament, particularly during the many minorities of the era, as a means of limiting the power of a regent.[J. Wormald, ''Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991), , p. 22.] The council was a virtually full-time institution by the late 15th century, and surviving records from the period indicate it was critical in the working of royal justice. Nominally members of the council were some of the great magnates of the realm, but they rarely attended meetings. Most of the active members of the council for most of the period were career administrators and lawyers, almost exclusively university-educated clergy, the most successful of which moved on to occupy the major ecclesiastical positions in the realm as bishops and, towards the end of the period, archbishops. By the end of the 15th century this group was being joined by increasing numbers of literate laymen, often secular lawyers, of which the most successful gained preferment in the judicial system and grants of lands and lordships. From the reign of James III onwards the clerically dominated post of Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
was increasingly taken by leading laymen.
Parliament
The next most important body in the process of government was parliament, which had evolved by the late 13th century from the King's Council of Bishops and Earls into a 'colloquium' with a political and judicial role. By the early 14th century, the attendance of knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
s and freeholders had become important, and probably from 1326 burgh
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 ...
commissioners joined them to form the Three Estates
The estates of the realm, or three estates, were the broad orders of social hierarchy used in Christendom (Christian Europe) from the Middle Ages to early modern Europe. Different systems for dividing society members into estates developed and ...
, meeting in a variety of major towns throughout the kingdom. It acquired significant powers over particular issues, including consent for taxation, but it also had a strong influence over justice, foreign policy, war, and other legislation, whether political,