
Scottish Kings and
Queens
From 840 AD to 1625 AD |
Alpin
|
840 to 843 |
Little
is known, though tradition credits him with a victory over the Picts by
whom he was killed three months later.
|
Kenneth I
|
843 to 858. |
Kenneth was the first king of the united Scots of Dalriada and the Picts of Scotland
north of a line between the Forth and Clyde rivers. He
ruled for 16 years. The period is obscure. The gradual union of the two
kingdoms from 843 doubtless owes much to intermarriage. By the Pictish
marriage custom, inheritance passed through the female. Nevertheless,
Kenneth probably made some conquests among the eastern Picts and possibly
invaded Lothian and burned Dunbar and Melrose.
After
attacks on Iona
by
Vikings he removed relics of St. Columba, probably in 849 or 850, to
Dunkeld, which became the headquarters of the Scottish Columban church. He
died at
Forteviot, not far from
Scone
in Pictish territory, and was buried on
the island of Iona.
|
Donald I
|
858 to 862.
|
Brother and successor of Kenneth I MacAlpin. Donald established an ancient
corpus of laws and rights (known as the laws of Aed, or Aedh) that
apparently included the custom of tanistry. According to this custom, the
successor of a king was elected during his lifetime from the eldest and
worthiest of his kin, often a collateral (brother or cousin) in preference
to a descendant (son). The next king, Donald's nephew Constantine I,
succeeded in accordance with this custom.
|
Constantine I
|
862 to 877 |
Son of
Kenneth I. Killed in battle. King of Scotland or Alba, the united kingdom
of the Picts and Scots, who succeeded his uncle Donald I. Constantine's
reign was occupied with conflicts with the Norsemen Olaf the White, the
Danish king of Dublin, laid waste the country of the Picts and Britons
year after year; in the south the Danish leader Halfdan devastated
Northumberland and Galloway. Constantine was slain at a battle at
Inverdovat in Fife, at the hands of another band of northern marauders.
|
Aed |
877 to 878 |
Son of
Kenneth I. Little is known about King Aed except he was the son of Kenneth
I and the brother of Constantine. He was killed shortly after becoming
king by Giric.
|
Giric and
Eochaid |
878 to 889 |
Giric
was the son of Donald I. Echaid was the grandson of Kenneth 1 in
female line. These two Kings ruled jointly because of both men having
claims to the Pictish throne, so they both ruled from their respective
territories.
|
Donald II |
889 to 900 |
Son of Constantine I. His reign coincided with renewed invasions by
the Danes, who came
less to plunder and more to occupy the lands bordering Scotland and the
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. He was also embroiled in efforts to reduce the
highland robber tribes. By one account he was slain at
Dunnottar, meeting
a Danish invasion; by another he died of infirmity brought on by his
campaigns against the highlanders.
|
Constantine II |
900 to 943 |
Son of
Aed and cousin of Donald II. Abdicated & entered monastery (943). died c. 952. During the
first part of his reign the kingdom was still beset by the Norsemen. In
his third year they wasted Dunkeld and
all of Alba. They were repulsed,
however, in Strathearn the following year. In his eighth year Rognwald,
the Danish king of Dublin, with earls Ottir and Oswle Crakaban, ravaged
Dunblane. Six years later the same leaders were defeated on
the Tyne by
Constantine in a battle whose site and incidents are told in conflicting
stories; it appears certain, however, that Constantine saved his dominions
from further serious attacks by the Vikings. In spite of his wars,
Constantine found time in the early part of his reign for two important
reforms, one ecclesiastical and the other civil. In his sixth year (906)
he established the Scottish church, which the Pictish kings had earlier
suppressed. Two years later, on the death of Donald, king of the Britons
of Strathclyde, Constantine procured the election of his own brother
Donald to that kingdom. He had now to meet a more formidable foe, the West
Saxons, whose kings were steadily moving northward. In league with other
northern kings, Constantine was decisively defeated at the Battle of Brunanburh (937) by
King Athelstan. The slaughter was devastating. A son
of Constantine was slain, as were four kings and seven earls. Constantine
himself escaped to Scotland, where in old age he resigned the crown for
the tonsure and became abbot of the Culdees of St. Andrews. He was
succeeded by a cousin, Malcolm I.
|
Malcolm I |
943 to 954 |
Son of
Donald II. Killed in battle. Also called MALCOLM MACDONALD king of the Picts and Scots (Alba). He annexed
Moray to the kingdom for the first
time. After driving the Danes from
York,
the English king Edmund turned
Cumbria over to Malcolm, apparently as a fief or seal of alliance. Later,
when Norsemen again invaded the land, the Scots sent raids against the
English, and in 954 the West Saxon King Eadred reunited the northern
counties to his dominions. Malcolm was slain the same year.
|
Indulf |
954 to 962 |
Son of
Constantine II. Added Edinburgh
to Kingdom of Alba. Under his rule Edinburgh was brought under Scots rule.
He died in battle against the Danes.
|
Dubh |
962 to 967 |
Son of
Malcolm I. Dubh (The Black) Twice challenged by Culen, Dubh
was killed in the second battle and Culen succeeded him as King.
|
Culen |
967 to 971 |
Son of Indulf.
Culen was killed for kidnapping the daughter of the King of Strathclyde.
|
Kenneth II
|
971 to 995 |
Son of
Malcolm I. Brother of Dubh. Murdered. King of the united Picts and
Scots. He began his reign by ravaging the Britons, probably as an act of
vengeance, but his name is also included among a group of northern and
western kings said to have made submission to the Anglo-Saxon king
Edgar in 973, perhaps at Chester; and the chronicler
Roger of Wendover
(Flores Historiarum, under the year 975) states that shortly afterward
Kenneth received from Edgar all the land called
Lothian (i.e., between the
Tweed and the Forth rivers). This is the first mention of the River Tweed
as the recognized border between England and Scotland. Kenneth was slain,
apparently by his own subjects, at Fettercairn in the Mearns.
|
Constantine III
|
995 to 997 |
Son of
Culen. Succeeded to the crown after the murder of his cousin, Kenneth II,
son of Malcolm I. After a brief reign of two years he was himself killed,
perhaps by an illegitimate son (named Kenneth) of Malcolm I or by his
successor, Kenneth III.
|
Kenneth III
|
997 to 1005 |
Son of
Dubh and grandson of Malcolm I.. Killed by Malcolm II He
succeeded to the throne perhaps after killing his cousin Constantine III
he was himself killed at Monzievaird by Malcolm (son of Kenneth II), who
became Malcolm II. Gruoch, wife of the future King Macbeth, was
apparently a granddaughter of Kenneth III.
|
Malcolm II |
1005 to 1034 |
Son of
Kenneth II. Added Lothian and Strathclyde to Alba. The first to reign over
an extent of land roughly corresponding to much of modern Scotland.
Malcolm II succeeded to the throne after killing his predecessor, Kenneth
III, and allegedly secured his territory by defeating a Northumbrian army
at the battle of Carham (c. 1016); he not only confirmed the Scottish hold
over the land between the rivers Forth and Tweed but also secured
Strathclyde about the same time. Eager to secure the royal succession for
his daughter's son Duncan, he tried to eliminate possible rival claimants;
but Macbeth, with royal connections to both Kenneth II and Kenneth III,
survived to challenge the succession.
|
Duncan I |
1034 to 1040 |
Grandson of Malcolm II in female line. Killed by Macbeth. Duncan was the
grandson of King Malcolm II who irregularly made him ruler of Strathclyde
when that region was absorbed into the Scottish kingdom (probably shortly
before 1034). Malcolm violated the established system of succession
whereby the kingship alternated between two branches of the royal family.
Upon Malcolm's death, Duncan succeeded peacefully, but he soon faced the
rivalry of Macbeth, Mormaor (subking) of
Moray, who probably had a better
claim to the throne. Duncan besieged
Durham
unsuccessfully in 1039 and in
the following year was murdered by Macbeth. Duncan's elder son later
killed Macbeth and ruled as King Malcolm III Canmore (1058-93).
|
Macbeth |
1040 to 1057 |
Grandson of either Malcolm II or Kenneth II. Killed by Malcolm III. The
legend of whose life was the basis of Shakespeare's Macbeth. He
married Gruoch, a descendant of King Kenneth III. About 1031
Macbeth succeeded his father, Findlaech (Sinel in Shakespeare), as
mormaer, or chief, in the province of
Moray, in northern Scotland. Macbeth
established himself on the throne after killing his cousin King Duncan I
in battle near
Elgin
not, as in Shakespeare, by murdering Duncan in bed
on Aug. 14, 1040. Both Duncan and Macbeth derived their rights to the
crown through their mothers. Macbeth's victory in 1045 over a rebel army,
near
Dunkeld
(in modern Tayside region) may account for the later
references (in Shakespeare and others) to Birnam Wood, for the village of
Birnam is near Dunkeld. In 1046 Siward, Earl of Northumbria,
unsuccessfully attempted to dethrone Macbeth in favour of Malcolm
(afterward King Malcolm III Canmore), eldest son of Duncan I. By 1050
Macbeth felt secure enough to leave Scotland for a pilgrimage to
Rome. But
in 1054 he was apparently forced by Siward to yield part of southern
Scotland to Malcolm. Three years later Macbeth was killed in battle by
Malcolm, with assistance from the English. Macbeth was buried on
the
island of Iona, regarded as the resting place of lawful kings but not of
usurpers. His followers installed his stepson, Lulach, as king; when
Lulach was killed on March 17, 1058, Malcolm III was left supreme in
Scotland.
|
Lulach |
1057 to 1058
|
Stepson of Macbeth. Lulach was killed by Malcolm III after a few short
months of rule.
|
Malcolm 'Canmore'
III |
1058 to 1093 |
"Canmore".
Son of Duncan I. Died in battle. Founder of the dynasty that consolidated
royal power in the Scottish kingdom. Malcolm lived in exile in
England during part of the reign of his father's murderer, Macbeth.
Malcolm killed Macbeth in battle in 1057 and then ascended the throne.
After the conquest of England by William the Conqueror, in 1066, Malcolm
gave refuge to the Anglo-Saxon prince Edgar the Aetheling and his sisters,
one of whom, Margaret (later St. Margaret), became his second wife.
Malcolm acknowledged the overlordship of William in 1072 but nevertheless
soon violated his feudal obligations and made five raids into England.
During the last of these invasions he was killed by the forces of King
William II Rufus. Except for a brief interval after Malcolm's death, the
Scottish throne remained in his family until the death of Queen Margaret,
the Maid of Norway, in 1290. Of Malcolm's six sons by Margaret, three
succeeded to the throne: Edgar, Alexander I , and David I.
|
Donald III |
1093 to 1094 |
"Donald Bane II. Son of Duncan I. Deposed by Duncan II Also spelled
DONALDBANE, OR DONALBANE, BANE also spelled BAN OR BAIN, king of Scotland
from November 1093 to May 1094 and from November 1094 to October 1097, son
of Duncan I. Upon the death of his brother Malcolm III Canmore (1093)
there was a fierce contest for the crown. Donald Bane besieged
Edinburgh
Castle, took it, and, with the support of the Celtic Scots and the custom
of tanistry (the Celtic system of electing kings or chiefs), he was king
nominally for at least six months. He was expelled by Duncan II, son of
Malcolm, assisted by English and Normans and some Saxons. Duncan's reign
was equally short, for Donald Bane had his nephew slain and again reigned
for three years. These years saw the last attempt of the Celts to maintain
a king of their race and a kingdom governed according to their customs.
Edgar the Aetheling, who had newly befriended the Norman king of England,
led an army into Scotland, dispossessed Donald Bane, and advanced his
nephew Edgar, son of Malcolm III, as sole king of the Scots.
|
Duncan II
|
1094 to 1094 |
Son of
Malcolm III and grandson of Duncan I.. Killed by Donald III. For
many years (1072?-87) Duncan lived as a hostage of the Norman English,
allegedly as a confirmation of his father's homage to William I of
England. He became king of the Scots while driving out his uncle, Donald
Bane, in 1094, an enterprise in which he was helped by some English and
Normans. He was killed at the instigation of Donald Bane, possibly at
Monthechin, making way for the restoration of Donald Bane.
|
Donald III
(Restored)
|
1094 to 1097 |
Deposed by Edgar. Died
C. 1100 [ see above ] |
Edgar |
1097 to 1107 |
Fourth son of Malcolm
III. and Queen Margaret was subserviant to England, he gave the western
islands to the King of Norway to establish peace. As a result of this
peace many Anglo-Normans came to Scotland.
|
Alexander I |
1107 to 1124 |
Son of
Malcolm III. No legitimate heirs. Alexander succeeded to the throne upon
the death of his brother King Edgar. In accordance with Edgar's
instructions, Alexander allowed his younger brother and heir, David, to
rule southern Scotland. Alexander probably acknowledged King Henry I of
England as his overlord. He married Henry's illegitimate daughter,
Sibylla, and in 1114 he led a Scottish contingent in Henry's Welsh
campaigns. Nevertheless, Alexander strove to preserve the independence of
the Scottish Church from the English Church and to assert his will over
the Scottish bishops. The outcome of these struggles was inconclusive at
his death. He was succeeded by David I, who ruled over the whole of
Scotland.
|
David I
|
1124 to 1153 |
The
youngest of the six sons of the Scottish king Malcolm III Canmore and
Queen Margaret (afterward St. Margaret). One of the most powerful Scottish
kings. He admitted into Scotland an Anglo-French (Norman) aristocracy that
played a major part in the later history of the kingdom. He also
reorganized Scottish Christianity to conform with continental European and
English usages and founded many religious communities, mostly for
Cistercian monks and Augustinian canons. David spent much of his
early life at the court of his brother-in-law King Henry I of England.
Through David's marriage (1113) to a daughter of Waltheof, earl of
Northumbria, he acquired the English earldom of Huntingdon and
obtained much land in that county and in
Northamptonshire. With
Anglo-Norman help, David secured from his brother Alexander I, king of
Scots from 1107, the right to rule Cumbria, Strathclyde, and part of
Lothian. In April 1124, on the death of Alexander, David became king of
Scots. David recognized his niece, the Holy Roman empress Matilda
(died 1167), as heir to Henry I in England, and from 1136 he fought
for her against King Stephen (crowned as Henry's successor in
December 1135), hoping thereby to gain
Northumberland for himself. A brief
peace made with Stephen in 1136 resulted in the cession of
Cumberland to
David and the transfer of Huntingdon to his son
Earl Henry. David,
however, continued to switch sides. While fighting for Matilda again, he
was defeated in the Battle of the Standard, near
Northallerton, Yorkshire
(Aug. 22, 1138). He then made peace once more with Stephen, who in 1139
granted Northumberland (as an English fief) to
Earl Henry. In 1141 David reentered the war on Matilda's behalf, and in 1149 he knighted her son
Henry Plantagenet (afterward King Henry II of England), who
acknowledged David's right to
Northumberland. In Scotland, David
created a rudimentary central administration, issued the first Scottish
royal coinage, and built or rebuilt the castles around which grew the
first Scottish burghs: Edinburgh,
Stirling, Berwick, Roxburgh, and perhaps Perth.
As ruler of Cumbria
he had taken Anglo-Normans into his service, and during his kingship many
others settled in Scotland, founding important families and intermarrying
with the older Scottish aristocracy. Bruce, Stewart, Comyn, and
Oliphant are among the noted names whose bearers went from northern
France to England during the Norman Conquest in 1066 and then to
Scotland in the reign of David I. To these and other French-speaking
immigrants, David granted land in return for specified military service or
contributions of money, as had been done in England from the time of the
Conquest.
|
Malcolm IV
|
1153 to 1165 |
"The Maiden". Grandson
of David I. Died unmarried MALCOLM THE MAIDEN king of Scotland. Malcolm
ascended the throne at the age of 11. He was the eldest son of Henry,
Earl of Huntingdon and of Northumberland (d. 1152), and
succeeded his grandfather King David I. Under Malcolm's predecessors, the
kingdom of Scotland had been extended to embrace the modern English
counties of Northumberland and
Cumbria. In 1157, by a treaty signed
at Chester,
England's King Henry II forced the boy king Malcolm to surrender
these counties in return for confirming Malcolm's rights to the earldom of
Huntingdon. Malcolm died young, unmarried (thus his nickname, the Maiden)
and without issue, and was succeeded by his brother, William I the Lion.
|
William I
|
1165 to 1214 |
"William the Lion".
Grandson of David I King of Scotland from 1165 to 1214; although he
submitted to English overlordship for 15 years (1174-89) of his reign, he
ultimately obtained independence for his kingdom. William was the second
son of the Scottish Henry, Earl of Northumberland, whose title he
inherited in 1152. He was forced, however, to relinquish this earldom to
King Henry II of England (reigned 1154-89) in 1157. Succeeding to
the throne of his elder brother, King Malcolm IV, in 1165, William joined
a revolt of Henry's sons (1173) in an attempt to regain
Northumberland.
He was captured near Alnwick,
Northumberland, in 1174 and released
after agreeing to recognize the overlordship of the king of England and
the supremacy of the English church over the Scottish church. Upon Henry's
death in 1189, William obtained release from his feudal subjection by
paying a large sum of money to England's new king, Richard I
(reigned 1189-99). In addition, although William had quarreled bitterly
with the papacy over a church appointment, Pope Celestine III ruled
in 1192 that the Scottish church owed obedience only to Rome, not to
England. During the reign of King John in England, relations
between England and Scotland deteriorated over the issue of
Northumberland
until finally, in 1209, John forced William to renounce his claims. In his
effort to consolidate his authority throughout Scotland, William developed
a small but efficient central administrative bureaucracy. He chartered
many of the major burghs of modern Scotland and in 1178 founded
Arbroath Abbey,
which had become probably the wealthiest monastery in Scotland by the time
of his death. |
Alexander II |
1214 to 1249 |
Son of William I.
He maintained peace with England and greatly strengthened the Scottish
monarchy. Alexander came to the throne on the death of his father, William
I the Lion. When the English barons rebelled against King John
(reigned 1199-1216) in 1215, Alexander sided with the insurgents in the
hope of regaining territory he claimed in northern England. After the
rebellion collapsed in 1217, he did homage to King Henry III
(reigned 1216-72), and in 1221 he married Henry's sister, Joan (d.
1238). In 1237 Henry and Alexander concluded an agreement (Peace of
York) by which the Scots king abandoned his claim to land in England
but received in exchange several English estates. The boundary of Scotland
was fixed approximately at its present location. Meanwhile, Alexander was
suppressing rebellious Scots lords and consolidating his rule over parts
of Scotland that had hitherto only nominally acknowledged royal authority.
In 1222 he subjugated Argyll.
He died as he was preparing to conquer
the Norwegian-held islands along Scotland's
west coast.
|
Alexander III |
1249 to 1286 |
Son of Alexander II.
Killed in accident. The last major ruler of the dynasty of kings descended
from Malcolm III Canmore, who consolidated royal power in Scotland.
Alexander left his kingdom independent, united, and prosperous, and his
reign was viewed as a golden age by Scots caught up in the long, bloody
conflict with England after his death. The only son of King Alexander II,
Alexander III was seven years old when he came to the throne. In 1251 he
was married to Margaret (d. 1275), the 11-year-old daughter of
England's King Henry III. Henry immediately began plotting to obtain
suzerainty over Scotland. In 1255 a pro-English party in Scotland seized
Alexander, but two years later the anti-English party gained the upper
hand and controlled the government until Alexander came of age in the year
1262. In 1263 Alexander repulsed an invasion by the Norwegian
King
Haakon IV, who ruled the islands along Scotland's west coast. Haakon's
son, King Magnus V, in 1266 ceded to Alexander
the Hebrides
and the Isle of Man.
Alexander was killed in 1286 when his horse fell over a cliff. Because his
children were all dead, his infant grandchild Margaret "the Maid of
Norway" (d. 1290) succeeded to the throne.
|
Margaret |
1286 to 1290 |
"Maid of Norway".
Granddaughter of Alexander III. The last of the line of Scottish rulers
descended from King Malcolm III Canmore. Margaret's father was Eric II,
king of Norway; her mother, Margaret, a daughter of King
Alexander III of Scotland, died in 1283. Because none of Alexander III's
other children were alive at the time of his death (March 1286), the
Scottish lords proclaimed the infant Margaret as their queen. In 1290 her
great-uncle, King Edward I of England, arranged a marriage between
Margaret and his son Edward, later King Edward II of England. On
the voyage from Norway to England, however, Margaret fell ill and died.
Although the marriage treaty had specified that Scotland was to maintain
its independence of England, Edward now proclaimed himself overlord of
Scotland; the Scots resisted, and for more than 20 years Scotland suffered
foreign domination and civil war.
|
Interregnum |
1290 to 1292 |
Competition for
Crown - Adjudicated by Edward
I of England |
John |
1292 to 1296 |
Great-great-great-grandson of David I.
Deposed 1296. also called JOHN DE BALLIOL, OR BALIOL, the youngest son of
John de Balliol and his wife Dervorguilla, daughter and heiress of
the lord of Galloway. His brothers dying childless, he inherited
the Balliol lands in
England and France
in 1278 and succeeded to
Galloway
in 1290. In that year, when the heiress to the kingdom of Scotland,
Margaret, the Maid of Norway, died, Balliol became one of 13 competitors
for the crown. He at once designated himself "heir of the kingdom of
Scotland," clearly anticipating the vindication of his claim, which was
derived from his mother, daughter of Margaret, eldest daughter of David,
earl of Huntingdon, brother to kings Malcolm IV and William I the
Lion. His chief rival was
Robert de Bruce (grandfather of King
Robert I). The English king Edward I met the Scottish baronage at
Norham in Northumberland
and insisted that as adjudicator between the claimants he should be
recognized as overlord of Scotland. His court of 104 persons discussed the
rival titles for more than a year, but Balliol's simple claim by
primogeniture ultimately prevailed. Edward I confirmed the decision
on Nov. 17, 1292, and Balliol was enthroned at
Scone
on November 30, doing homage to Edward at
Newcastle
on December 26. John, however, soon proved rebellious; and when in June
1294 Edward demanded military aid from Scotland for his projected war in
Gascony, the Scottish reaction was
to conclude a treaty of mutual aid with the French. When Edward I sent an
army to
Gascony
in January 1296, the Scots raided
northern England. Edward reacted
quickly; he took
Berwick
on March 30. Castle after castle fell to the English king, and at
Montrose, John resigned his kingdom
to Edward. He was stripped of his arms and knightly dignity in a ceremony
which later earned him the nickname "Toom (empty) Tabard." John was a
prisoner in the Tower of London until July 1299, when papal intervention
secured his release. Thereafter, he lived in
Normandy. John Baliol was in fact
the last Scottish king crowned upon the Stone of Scone.
|
Interregnum |
1296 to 1306 |
Edward I governs
Scotland directly |
Robert I |
1306 to 1329 |
"The Bruce". Seizes
throne.
Great-great-great-great-grandson of David l. ROBERT VIII DE BRUCE, OR
ROBERT THE BRUCE, who freed Scotland from English rule, winning the
decisive Battle of Bannockburn (1314) and ultimately confirming
Scottish independence in the Treaty of Northampton (1328).
|
David II
|
1329 to 1371 |
Son of Robert I. Died
without heir. Although he spent 18 years in exile or in prison. His reign
was marked by costly intermittent warfare with England (a stage in the
Scottish Wars of Independence), a decline in the prestige of the monarchy,
and an increase in the power of the barons. On July 17, 1328, in
accordance with the Anglo-Scottish peace treaty of Northampton, the
four-year-old David was married to Joanna, sister of King Edward III of
England. The boy succeeded his father, Robert I the Bruce, as king of
Scots on June 7, 1329. A rival claimant to the Scottish throne, Edward
de Balliol, a vassal of Edward III, became de facto king after
Edward's victory over Sir Archibald Douglas, regent since 1332, at
Halidon Hill, Northumberland
(July 19, 1333). In 1334 David went into exile in France, where he was
maintained generously by King Philip VI. In 1339 and 1340 he fought
in Philip's fruitless campaigns against Edward III. By 1341 he was
able to return to Scotland, but he did little as king except to make
futile raids into England. During the French siege of English-held
Calais
he attempted a diversion on behalf of Philip VI but was defeated,
wounded, and captured at Neville's
Cross, County Durham (Oct. 17,
1346). Held prisoner by the English, David was released in 1357 in return
for a promised ransom that proved to be more than the Scottish government
could pay. In 1363 David, now on cordial terms with Edward III,
proposed that a son of the English king should succeed to the throne of
Scotland in return for the cancellation of the ransom. The arrangement,
which made an enemy of his nephew and lawful successor, the future Robert
II, was repudiated by the Scottish Parliament. In his last years David
inspired further opposition by his financial extravagance.
|
Robert II
|
1371 to 1390 |
House of Stewart.
Grandson of Robert I in female line. also called ROBERT THE STEWARD, OR
(1357-71) ROBERT STEWART, EARL OF STRATHEARN First of the Stewart
(Stuart) sovereigns in Scotland. Heir presumptive for more than 50
years, he had little effect on Scottish political and military affairs
when he finally acceded to the throne. On the death (1326) of his father,
Walter the Steward, in 1326, Robert became seventh hereditary steward of
Scotland at age 10. From 1318 he was heir presumptive to his maternal
grandfather, King Robert I the Bruce (died 1329). He lost this position in
1324 when the Bruce's son, afterward King David II, was born; but two
years later the Scottish Parliament confirmed Robert the Steward as heir
apparent to David. During David's periods of exile and of imprisonment by
the English, Robert the Steward was joint regent (1334-35; with John
Randolph, 3rd earl of Moray) and sole regent (1338-41, 1346-57). After
David had been ransomed from the English, Robert led an unsuccessful
rebellion (1362-63). He succeeded in defending his own right as heir
apparent against David's abortive proposal to commute his remaining ransom
payments to the English by making a son of King Edward III of England
heir to the Scottish throne. On the death of David (Feb. 22, 1371), Robert
succeeded to the throne, his reign proving largely an anticlimax to his
career. He took no active part in the renewed war with England (from 1378
to 1388). From 1384 the kingdom was administered by Robert's eldest son,
John, earl of Carrick (afterward King Robert III), and from 1388, by his
next surviving son, Robert, earl of Fife (afterward 1st duke of Albany).
Robert's marriage (c.1348) to Elizabeth Mure followed the birth of
their four sons and five daughters, whose legitimation by the subsequent
marriage did not give any of them an undisputed right of succession to the
crown. A superior claim was asserted on behalf of Robert's two sons and
two daughters by his second wife, Euphemia Ross, whom he married in
1355. Partly because of this dispute, Walter, earl of Atholl, one
of Robert's sons by Euphemia, instigated the murder (1437) of James I,
king of Scots, grandson of Robert and Elizabeth Mure. Robert also had at
least eight illegitimate sons.
|
Robert III
|
1390 to 1406 |
Baptismal name John.
Crowned as Robert III.
Son of Robert II also called JOHN STEWART, EARL OF CARRICK.
After having ruled Scotland in the name of his father, Robert II, from
1384 to 1388. Physically disabled by a kick from a horse, he was never the
real ruler of Scotland during the years of his kingship. The eldest son of
Robert the Steward (the future Robert II) and Elizabeth Mure, he
was legitimated by their marriage several years after his birth. In
1362-63 he joined his father in a futile revolt against King David II, who
both imprisoned him and created him Earl of Carrick in 1368. (He
had been created Earl of Atholl in 1367.) Robert II became king in
1371; in 1384, because of his advanced age, he turned over the government
to Carrick. After his injury in 1388, however, Carrick was supplanted by
his brother Robert, earl of Fife. On his accession, probably on April 19,
1390, he changed his name to Robert (III) from John, to avoid reminding
others of John de Balliol, who was not favourably remembered. was
created Duke of Albany in 1398, continued to govern throughout this
reign, except for three years (1399-1402) when Robert III's eldest son,
David, Duke of Rothesay, took his place. The dissolute Rothesay
died in March 1402 while imprisoned in Albany's castle of
Falkland, Fife.
Perhaps in an attempt to save his remaining son, James (afterward James I,
king of Scots), from death at Albany's hands, Robert III sent the boy to
France, but James was captured by English sailors, a shock to the aging
king.
|
James I |
1406 to 1437 |
Son of Robert III.
Murdered by Atholl conspiracy. Was held prisoner by the English for
over 18 years. After being considered nobility by the Scottish Parliament,
he was released from prison and returned to Scotland to claim the throne.
He was later murdered by dissident nobles and is buried at Perth where he
died.
|
James II |
1437 to 1460 |
Son of James l. Killed
by exploding cannon. The coronation of James broke an ancient tradition of
Kings being crowned at Scone,
all previous Kings of Scotland since Kenneth MacAlpin had been
crowned at Scone.
During his attempts at liberating castles from England in almost constant
warfare, James introduced Cannons to warfare, and during the siege of
Roxburgh he was killed as a cannon exploded that was under his care. |
James III |
1460 to 1488 |
Son of James II.
Killed at Battle of Sauchieburn. He was weak monarch, he was
confronted with two major rebellions because he failed to win the respect
of the nobility. James received the crown at the age of eight upon the
death of his father, King James II. Scotland was governed first by James's
mother, Mary of Gueldres (d. 1463), and James Kennedy,
bishop of St. Andrews (d. 1465), and then by a group of nobles headed by
the
Boyds of Kilmarnock (2)
(3),
who seized the king in 1466. In 1469 James overthrew the Boyds and began
to govern for himself. Unlike his father, he was, however, unable to
restore strong central government after his long minority. He evidently
offended his nobles by his interest in the arts and by taking artists for
his favourites. In 1479 he arrested his brothers, Alexander, Duke of
Albany, and John, Earl of Mar, on suspicion of treason. Albany escaped
to England, and in 1482 English troops entered Scotland and forced James
to restore Albany to his domains. During this invasion dissident Scottish
nobles hanged James's favourites. By March 1483 the king had recovered
enough power to expel Albany. Nevertheless, even without English aid to
his discontented subjects, James was unable to ward off revolts. In 1488
two powerful border families, the Homes and the Hepburns, raised a
rebellion and won to their cause his 15-year-old son, the future king
James IV. James III was captured and killed after his defeat at the Battle
of Sauchieburn, Stirling,
on June 11 1488
|
James IV |
1488 to 1513 |
Son of James III. Killed at Battle of Flodden.
An energetic and popular ruler, he unified Scotland under royal control,
strengthened royal finances, and improved Scotland's position in European
politics. The 15-year-old monarch immediately began to take an active part
in government. He extended his authority to the sparsely populated areas
of western and northern Scotland
and by 1493 had humbled the last lord of the Isles. Although his
reign was internally peaceful, it was disturbed by wars with England.
Breaking a truce with England in 1495, James prepared an invasion in
support of Perkin Warbeck, a pretender to the English throne. The
war was confined to a few border forays, and a seven-year peace was
negotiated in December 1497, though border raids continued. Relations
between England and Scotland were further stabilized in 1503, when James
married Margaret Tudor, the eldest daughter of the English king
Henry VII; this match resulted, a century later, in the accession of
James's great-grandson, the Stuart monarch James VI of Scotland, to the
English throne as King James I. James IV's growing prestige enabled him to
negotiate as an equal with the rulers of continental Europe, but his
position was weakened as he came into conflict with King Henry VIII of
England (ruled 1509-47). In 1512 James allied with
France
against England and the major continental powers. When Henry invaded
France in 1513, James decided, against the counsel of his advisers, to aid
his ally by advancing into England. He captured four castles in northern
England in August 1513, but his army was disastrously defeated at the
Battle of Flodden, near Branxton,
on Sept. 9, 1513. The king was killed while fighting on foot, and most of
his nobles perished. James left one legitimate child, his successor, James
V (ruled 1513-42); in addition, he had many illegitimate children, several
of whom became prominent figures in Scotland. True to the ideal of the
Renaissance prince, James strove to make his court a centre of refinement
and learning. He patronized literature, licensed Scotland's first
printers, and improved education.
|
James V |
1513 to 1542
|
Son of James
IV.
During the period of his minority, which lasted throughout the first half
of his reign, James was a pawn in the struggle between pro-French and
pro-English factions; after he assumed personal control of the government,
he upheld Roman Catholicism against the Protestant nobles and allied his
country with France. James was 17 months old when he succeeded to the
throne of his father. In the power struggle that developed between the
pro-French regent, John Stewart, duke of Albany, and the head of
the English party, Archibald Douglas, earl of Angus, each side
sought to gain possession of the young ruler. James's mother, Margaret
Tudor, complicated events by shifting her allegiance from her husband,
Angus, to Albany. Albany retired to France in 1524, and Angus kept James
in confinement from 1526 until 1528, when the King escaped and forced
Angus to flee to England. By 1530 James had consolidated his power in
Scotland. He signed a treaty with his uncle, King Henry VIII of England,
in 1534, but in 1538 he married the French noblewoman Marie de Guise
and thereafter allied with France against England. A cruel man, he
instituted in his later years a near reign of terror in Scotland, and his
financial exactions did not endear him to his subjects. When Henry VIII's
forces attacked Scotland in 1542, James's small army, weakened by the
disaffection of the Protestant nobles, crossed into England and was easily
routed near the border at Solway
Moss on Nov. 24, 1542. The disaster
caused the King to suffer a mental breakdown; he died on Dec. 14, 1542, a
week after the birth of his daughter--his only surviving legitimate
child--Mary Stuart (Mary, Queen of Scots). Among his several
illegitimate children was James, earl of Moray (died 1570), who
became regent of Scotland when Mary Stuart abdicated her throne in 1567.
|
Mary |
1542 to 1567 |
Daughter of James V
Abdicated 1567. Executed by Elizabeth of England 1587 original name
MARY STUART, OR STEWART. She was queen of Scotland and queen
consort of France (1559-60). Her unwise marital and political actions
provoked rebellion among the Scottish nobles, forcing her to flee to
England, where she was eventually beheaded as a Roman Catholic threat to
the English throne.
|
James VI
|
1567 to 1625 |
Son of Mary by
marriage to Darnley. Succeeded to English throne 1603 through descent from
Henry VII He was the first Stuart king of England from
1603 to 1625, who styled himself "king of Great Britain." James was
a strong advocate of royal absolutism, and his conflicts with an
increasingly self-assertive Parliament set the stage for the rebellion
against his successor, Charles I. |
|