Scotland, Kingdom of
State | Defunct
1437 CE to 1707 CE
The Kingdom of Scotland is a state in northwest Europe traditionally said to have been founded in 843, which joins with the Kingdom of England to form a unified Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.
Its territories expand and shrink, but it comes to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England.
It suffers many invasions by the English, but under Robert I it fights a successful war of independence and remains a distinct state in the late Middle Ages.
In 1603, James VI of Scotland becomes King of England, joining Scotland with England in a personal union.
In 1707, the two kingdoms are united to form the Kingdom of Great Britain under the terms of the Acts of Union.
From the final capture of the Royal Burgh of Berwick by the Kingdom of England in 1482 (following the annexation of the Northern Isles from the Kingdom of Norway in 1472) the territory of the Kingdom of Scotland corresponds to that of modern-day Scotland, bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest.The Crown is the most important element of government.
The Scottish monarchy in the Middle Ages is a largely itinerant institution, before Edinburgh develops as a capital in the second half of the fifteenth century.
The court remains at the center of political life and in the sixteenth century emerges as a major center of display and artistic patronage, until it is effectively dissolved with the Union of Crowns in 1603.
The Scottish Crown adopts the conventional offices of western European courts, and develops a Privy Council and great offices of state.
Parliament also emerges as a major legal institution, gaining an oversight of taxation and policy, but is never as central to the national life as its counterpart in England.
In the early period the kings of the Scots depend on the great lords—the mormaers and toísecs—but from the reign of David I, sheriffdoms are introduced, which allow more direct control and gradually limit the power of the major lordships.
In the seventeenth century the creation of Justices of Peace and Commissioners of Supply help to increase the effectiveness of local government.
The continued existence of courts baron and the introduction of kirk sessions help consolidate the power of local lairds.Scots law develops into a distinctive system in the Middle Ages and is reformed and codified in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Under James IV the legal functions of the council are rationalizsed, with a royal Court of Session meeting daily in Edinburgh.
In 1532 the Royal College of Justice is founded, leading to the training and professionalization of lawyers.
David I is the first Scottish king known to have produced his own coinage.
Early Scottish coins are virtually identical in silver content to English ones, but from about 1300 their silver content begins to depreciate more rapidly than the English coins.
At the union of the Crowns in 1603 the Scottish pound is fixed at only one-twelfth the value of the English pound.
The Bank of Scotland issues pound notes from 1704.
Scottish currency is abolished by the Act of Union.Scotland is half the size of England and Wales in area, but has roughly the same length of coastline.
Geographically Scotland is divided between the Highlands and Islands and the Lowlands.
The Highlands have a relatively short growing season, which is further shortened during the Little Ice Age.
From Scotland's foundation to the Black Death the population grows from perhaps half a million to a million, then falls to half a million.
It probably expands in the first half of the sixteenth century, reaching about 1.2 million by the 1690s.
Significant languages in the medieval kingdom include Gaelic, Old English, Norse and French; but by the early modern era Middle Scots begins to dominate.
Christianity is introduced into Scotland from the sixth century.
In the Norman period the Scottish church undergoes a series of changes that lead to new monastic orders and organization.
During the sixteenth century, Scotland undergoes a Protestant Reformation that creates a predominately Calvinist national kirk.
There are a series of religious controversies that result in divisions and persecutions.
The Scottish Crown develops naval forces at various points in its history, but often relies on privateers and fought a guerre de course.
Land forces center around the large common army, but adopt European innovations from the sixteenth century; and many Scots take service as mercenaries and as soldiers for the English Crown.
Scottish flags include the Lion rampant and the Saltire, the latter being incorporated into the Union Flag from 1603.
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The handsome, athletic young king stands in sharp contrast to his wary, miserly father.
Henry's lavish court quickly drains the treasury of the fortune he had inherited.
He married the widowed Catherine of Aragon, and they have several children, but none survive infancy except a daughter, Mary.
In 1512, the young king embarks on a war in France.
Although England is an ally of Spain, one of France's principal enemies, the war is mostly about Henry's desire for personal glory, regardless of the fact that his sister Mary is married to the French king Louis XII.
The war accomplishes little.
The English army suffers badly from disease, and Henry is not even present at the one notable victory, the Battle of the Spurs.
Meanwhile, James IV of Scotland (despite being Henry's other brother-in-law), activates his alliance with the French and declares war on England.
While Henry is dallying in France, Catherine, who is serving as regent in his absence, and his advisers are left to deal with this threat.
At the Battle of Flodden on September 9, 1513, the Scots are completely and totally defeated.
Most of the Scottish nobility are killed along with James himself.
When Henry returns from France, he is given credit for the victory even though he had had nothing to do with it.
Power in Scotland, after the death of the regent Douglas in 1439, and with a general lack of high-status earls because of deaths, forfeiture or youth, becomes shared uneasily between William, 1st Lord Crichton, Lord Chancellor of Scotland, and Sir Alexander Livingston of Callendar, who has possession of the young king as the warden of the stronghold of Stirling Castle.
A dynastic feud now erupts over possession of the Scottish crown.
William Douglas, the eldest son of Archibald Douglas and Eupheme Graham, had become 6th Earl of Douglas on his father’s death and married Janet Lindsay, daughter of David Lindsay, 3rd Earl of Crawford.
Crichton and Livingston, together with James Douglas the Gross, Earl of Avondale, conspire to break the power of the late Earl's family, and in November 1440 summon William and his younger brother David to Edinburgh Castle.
The so-called 'Black Dinner' that ensues sees the two boys summarily beheaded on trumped up charges, in the presence of the young King.
The family estates are divided between Avondale, who is the son of the third earl (Archibald the Grim) and Margaret, the sixth earl's sister.
Commentators tend to place the blame for the Black Dinner at the feet of Crichton, Livingston and particularly Avondale, as Douglas's death brings him the earldom of Douglas (as 7th earl of Douglas), and the position of the most powerful magnate in Scotland.
The church of Saint John the Baptist is constructed in about 1440 in Perth.
The Death of John V of Brittany and Succession of Francis I (1442)
John V (VI), Duke of Brittany, whose complex relationship with King Charles VII of France included early efforts toward reconciliation in the 1430s, later became involved in significant rebellions against royal authority, notably the Praguerie Revolt in 1440 and the League of Nevers in 1442. Despite this political turbulence, within Brittany itself John had successfully carried out substantial reforms, enhancing governmental efficiency, strengthening military organization, and improving economic stability.
Upon John's death on August 28, 1442, his eldest son, Francis I, born from his marriage to Jeanne de Valois, a French princess, succeeded to the ducal throne. Francis had previously married Yolande of Anjou, daughter of Louis II of Anjou, at Nantes in 1431; Yolande died in 1440. To reinforce Brittany's political alliances, Francis remarried soon after his accession, marrying Isabella Stuart, a Scottish princess and daughter of the assassinated King James I, on October 30, 1442, at the Château d'Auray.
Francis I’s succession, marked by these strategic marital alliances, underscored Brittany’s ongoing attempt to maintain political independence and regional power amid shifting allegiances and tensions with the French crown. This transitional moment highlighted Brittany’s continued role as a significant, if sometimes disruptive, political force in Atlantic West Europe.
Enea Silvio de'Piccolomini, after studying at the universities of Siena and Florence, had settled in the former city as a teacher, but in 1431 had accepted the post of secretary to Domenico Capranica, bishop of Fermo, then on his way to the Council of Basel (1431–39).
Capranica had been protesting against the new Pope Eugene IV's refusal of a cardinalate for him, which had been designated by Pope Martin V. Arriving at Basel after enduring a stormy voyage to Genoa and then a trip across the Alps, Enea had successively served Capranica, who ran short of money, and then other masters.
He had been sent by Cardinal Albergati, Eugenius IV's legate at the council, on a secret mission to Scotland in 1435, the object of which is variously related, even by himself.
He had visited England as well as Scotland, had undergone many perils and vicissitudes in both countries, and has left a valuable account of each.
The journey to Scotland had proved so tempestuous that Piccolomini swore that he would walk barefoot to the nearest shrine of Our Lady from their landing port.
This proved to be Dunbar; the nearest shrine was ten miles distant at Whitekirk.
The journey through the ice and snow had left Aeneas afflicted with pain in his legs for the rest of his life.
It is only once he arrived in Newcastle that he had felt he had returned to a civilized part of the world and the inhabitable face of the Earth, Scotland and the far north of England being "wild, bare and never visited by the sun in winter".
In Scotland, he had fathered his second natural child, the other one having been born in Strasbourg.
Upon his return to Basel, Enea had sided actively with the council in its conflict with the Pope, and, although still a layman, had eventually obtained a share in the direction of its affairs.
He had supported the creation of the Antipope Felix V (Amadeus, Duke of Savoy) and had participated in his coronation.
Enea then withdrew to the court of Holy Roman Emperor Emperor Frederick III court in Vienna.
Crowned imperial poet laureate in 1442, he has obtained the patronage of the emperor's chancellor, Kaspar Schlick.
Some identify the love adventure at Siena that Enea related in his romance The Tale of the Two Lovers with an escapade of the chancellor.
Enea’s character had hitherto been that of an easy and democratic-minded man of the world with no pretense to strictness in morals or consistency in politics.
He now begins to be more regular in the former respect, and in the latter had adopted a decided line by making his peace between the Empire and Rome.
Being sent on a mission to Rome in 1445, with the ostensible object of inducing Pope Eugene to convoke a new council, he had been absolved from ecclesiastical censures and returned to Germany under an engagement to assist the Pope.
This he did most effectually by the diplomatic dexterity with which he had smoothed away differences between the papal court of Rome and the German imperial electors.
He plays a leading role in concluding a compromise in 1447 by which the dying Pope Eugene accepts the reconciliation tendered by the German princes.
As a result, the council and the antipope are left without support.
He had already taken orders, and one of the first acts of Pope Eugene's successor, Pope Nicholas V (1447–1455), is to make him Bishop of Trieste.
Ghent's Wool Trade, Guild Politics, and Resistance to Philip the Good (1440s)
The city of Ghent, a major economic powerhouse of Flanders since the High Middle Ages, owed much of its prosperity to the wool industry—initially established at the heart of Flemish wealth and power. The city’s renowned textile industry had become so developed by the fifteenth century that it necessitated extensive imports of wool from Scotland and England, reinforcing significant political and commercial relationships with these regions. Indeed, Ghent's historical ties to England were symbolically reinforced by the birth there of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.
The success of the wool trade had granted Ghent—and other Flemish cities—significant political leverage. Following the famous Battle of the Golden Spurs (1302), Ghent's guilds had secured increased political influence (the small nering), enabling representatives from the guilds to participate actively in civic governance. Between roughly 1360 and 1380, this participatory arrangement crystallized into a political structure known as the Rule of the Three Council Members, a balanced power-sharing arrangement between the city magistrates (schepenen) and guild representatives, fostering stability and cooperation within Ghent.
However, by the mid-1430s and into the 1440s, Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, sought to weaken the independence and political power that Flemish cities—Ghent in particular—had achieved following their victory in the Battle of the Golden Spurs (Guldensporenslag, 1302). Philip aimed to restore greater ducal authority, both politically, by asserting control over the appointment of city officials, and financially, by establishing reliable sources of income from wealthy Flemish cities.
Philip's most controversial effort involved imposing indirect taxation, moving away from the previous system of individual tax requests (beden), which city authorities could refuse. During a visit to Ghent in 1447, he sought approval from the city council, delivering a carefully prepared speech in Dutch to advocate for a semi-permanent tax, supported by a tax on salt—a critical commodity necessary for food preservation—and other essential goods such as beer. Despite his careful political preparation, including attempts to persuade or bribe influential guild deacons, the city council of Ghent strongly rejected Philip's proposals.
This confrontation was emblematic of the tensions between ducal centralization and traditional civic autonomy in the Low Countries. Ghent’s steadfast resistance marked a clear reaffirmation of civic independence, highlighting the ongoing struggle over governance, taxation, and political authority that would continue to shape the political and economic landscapes of Atlantic West Europe throughout the later fifteenth century.
The University of Glasgow is established in 1451, on the model of the University of Bologna,by a charter or papal bull from Pope Nicholas V, at the suggestion of King James II, giving Bishop William Turnbull permission to add the university to the city's cathedral.
It is the second-oldest university in Scotland, and the fourth-oldest in the English-speaking world.
The town of Kirkcaldy, in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland, has by 1451 been awarded feu-ferme status. ("Feu" is the Scots variant of fee.)
Under the status, responsibility will now lie with the bailies and council to deal with the routine administration of the town and its fiscal policies; conditioned on an annual payment of 33s 4d (£49.65) to the Abbot of Dunfermline.
The feu-ferme charter of 1451 between the Abbot of Dunfermline and the burgesses of Kirkcaldy mentions a small but functioning harbor; it is not known when this harbor was established, or whether it was always located at the mouth of the East Burn.
The power of the Black Douglases, lost after the execution of the 6th Earl, has been restored by the 8th Earl, who has recovered the lordships of Wigtown, Wigtownshire, Galloway and Bothwell by marriage (by papal dispensation) to his cousin, Margaret Douglas, Fair Maid of Galloway (daughter of the 5th Earl).
He was soon high in favor with James II, and had procured the disgrace of Sir William Crichton, presumed murderer of his kinsman the 6th Earl, by an alliance with his rival, Sir Alexander Livingston of Callendar.
James II had reached adulthood in 1449, yet in many ways his "active kingship" has differed little from his minority.
The Douglases had used his coming of age as a way to throw the Livingstons out of the shared government, as the young had king taken revenge for the brief arrest of his mother (a means to remove her from political influence) that had occurred in 1439.
Douglas and Crichton had continued to dominate political power, and the king's ability to rule without them remains arguably limited.
James has not acquiesced with this situation without argument, however, and between 1451 and 1455 he will struggle to free himself from the power of the Douglases.
James II had raided the Douglas lands in 1452 during the Earl’s absence on a pilgrimage to Rome.
Despite this, their relations seemed outwardly friendly.
However, in 1452, the king sends one of Douglas's friends, Sir William Lauder of Haltoun, with an invitation to Douglas to come to Stirling Castle under a safe-conduct, in itself, however, a proof of strained relations.
Jameson February 22 there demands the dissolution of a league into which Douglas has entered with Alexander Lindsay, the 'Tiger' earl of Crawford, and John of Islay.
Upon Douglas's refusal, the king murders him with his own hands, stabbing him twenty-sixtimes, and his body is thrown out of a window.
Since Douglas dies without issue, his titles pass to his brother James.
He denounces his brother's murderers and takes up arms against the king, and he and his brothers attack Stirling, driving a horse through the town with the safe conduct given to William attached to its tail.
He is forced to back down when some allies desert him.