The Scottish kingdom has assumed approximately its…

1300 CE

The Scottish kingdom has assumed approximately its modern borders by the end of the thirteenth century.

However, processes of cultural and economic change beginning in the twelfth century had ensured Scotland looked very different in the later Middle Ages.

The stimulus for this had been the reign of King David I and the Davidian Revolution, during which feudalism, government reorganization and the first legally defined towns (called burghs) had begun.

These institutions and the immigration of French and Anglo-French knights and churchmen had facilitated a process of cultural osmosis, whereby the culture and language of the low-lying and coastal parts of the kingdom's original territory in the east have become, like the newly acquired southeast, English-speaking, while the rest of the country has retained the Gaelic language, apart from the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland, which will remain under Norse rule until 1468.

The death of Alexander III in March 1286, followed by the death of his granddaughter Margaret, Maid of Norway, had broken the succession line of Scotland's kings, leading to the intervention of Edward I of England, who has manipulated this period of confusion to have himself recognized as feudal overlord of Scotland.

Edward had organized a process to identify the person with the best claim to the vacant crown, which became known as the Great Cause, and this had resulted in the enthronement of John Balliol as king.

The Scots were resentful of Edward's meddling in their affairs and this relationship quickly broke down.

War ensued and King John had been deposed by his overlord, who had taken personal control of Scotland.

Andrew Moray and William Wallace had initially emerged as the principal leaders of the resistance to English rule in what become known as the Wars of Scottish Independence.

After Wallace, whose prestige had always been based on the success of the army, had resigned as Guardian of Scotland after the Battle of Falkirk, having no independent power base, he had been succeeded by Robert de Brus, Earl of Carrick (usually known in modern English as Robert the Bruce), and John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, as joint Guardians, but they could not see past their personal differences.

As a nephew and supporter of King John, and as someone with a serious claim to the Scottish throne, Comyn, or John "the Red", also known simply as the Red Comyn, had been Bruce's enemy.

In 1299, William Lamberton, Bishop of St. Andrews, had been appointed as a third, neutral Guardian to try and maintain order between Bruce and Comyn.

In 1300, Bruce finally resigns as joint Guardian and is replaced by Sir Gilbert, 1st Lord de Umfraville, Earl of Angus (in right of his mother, Maud, Countess of Angus).

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Scone Perthshire United Kingdom View →

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Edward I of England View → Guillaume de Machaut View → John Balliol View → John III Comyn View → Robert the Bruce View → William Wallace View → William de Lamberton View →

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