Scotland until 1485

Before the accession to the Scottish throne of Malcolm Canmore in 1057, Scotland had been a Celtic country with local leaders ruling their own areas. Malcolm III MacDuncan, as he became had lived in England in exile. He tried to govern and organise Scotland in the same way as England and married an English princess, Margaret, who had been driven out by the Normans in 1066. The two combined the practices of the Celtic and Roman Catholic churches although this was not popular with many Scots. After Malcolm's death, Margaret and her stepson Duncan were driven out of Scotland and replaced by Donald Bane, one of Malcolm's brothers. With help from the Normans in England under William Rufus the rebellion was crushed and Edgar, son of Malcolm and Margaret, became king. Under Edgar and his brothers, Alexander I and David I, Scotland became closely modelled on England.

One of Wallace's opponents, Robert Bruce now took over as leader of the Scots and was crowned Robert I in 1306. The war continued until 1314 when the new English king Edward II invaded Scotland. His army was heavily defeated at Bannockburn, one of the greatest defeats of an English army within the British Isles. Edward still refused to give Scotland back its independence and the war continued until 1328 when Edward II signed the Treaty of Northampton giving Scotland an independence which it kept for almost four hundred years.

The treaty did not bring peace, though, and Edward III wanted revenge. He even supported an invasion of Scotland by Edward de Baliol in 1332 which was briefly successful. The Hundred Years War with France was far too important for the English kings to spend time in Scotland and the country was mostly liberated. An invasion of northern England in 1346 by David II of Scotland and his French allies brought the inevitable reprisals and much of southern Scotland was conquered.

The kings of Scotland from 1371 were members of the Stuart family which later formed the royal family of England. The Stuarts kept their alliance with France and by 1460 had freed the whole of Scotland from English rule. By the marriage of James IV to Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII of England, there was peace although relations remained difficult for another hundred years.

Memorial of William the Bruce.