Scottish History - The House of Canmore pt 2
David 1st (The Saint) to Alexander 2nd

• Malcolm III (Canmore) (1058-1093)
• Donald Ban (1093-1094)
• Duncan II (May-November 1094)
• Donald Ban and Edmund (1094-1097)
• Edgar (The Peaceable) (1097-1107)
• Alexander (The Fierce) (1107-1124)
• David I (1124-1153)
• Malcolm IV (The Maiden) (1153-1165)
• William (The Lion) (1165-1214)
• Alexander II (1214-1249)
• Alexander III (1249-1286)
• Margaret (Maid of Norway) (1286-1290)

David I (the Saint) (1124-53)

David was the youngest son of Margaret and Malcolm III. No one expected him to become king but his reign proved to be an outstanding one for Scotland. He married a granddaughter of Earl Siward of Northumbria and through that alliance had a legitimate claim to a large part of northern England. He had been a prisoner of his uncle Donald Bane but escaped and was brought up at the court of Henry I.

He became familiar with English and Norman ways. He was treated well by Henry who arranged a marriage for him to the heiress of vast Northumberland estates. Henry appointed him the ruler of Cumbria, thereby increasing his power.

When Henry died he took advantage of the confusion and inaction to press into England taking Carlisle and Newcastle before he was defeated at the battle of the Standard. King Stephen (of England) at the time was not in a position to alienate the Scottish king and by the Treaty of Durham David gained control of Northumbria.

As Earl of Huntingdon, David had to swear an oath of loyalty to the English king. Having been brought up in England when he returned to Scotland to succeed Alexander, he took with him powerful Anglo-Norman influences which would eventually transform Scottish society.

David's Norman friends soon held most of the important positions within the Church and State. He issued the first Scottish coinage and honored his mother's piety by establishing monastic center. David gave the Normans lands which meant they the Normans gained landowner privileges and authority over the lives of those living on their land. In the lowlands the Celtic ways of tribe and kinship were replaced by the new feudal system of laws and regulations.

David influenced language development so that while Gaelic was spoken by highlanders, Inglis, a Scottish variant of English, was adopted in the south. His reign enhanced the prestige of the monarchy. He maintained order, and overcame his enemies partly with the support from the Normans by establishing royal burghs and shires and a system of control over the people.

He was deeply religious as was his mother and he founded many abbeys. The king assigned lands to the abbey and in return gained protection and spiritual support from the abbots, monks and clergy. His only son Earl Henry died in 1152. He was married to the daughter of the Earl of Surrey and they had three children, Malcolm IV, Will the Lion and David. He appointed his grandson Malcolm as his successor.

Eulogy on David's death:

O desolate Scotia, who shall console thee now?
He is no more who made an untilled and barren land a land that is pleasant and plenteous.

Malcolm IV (the Maiden) (1153-65)

Malcolm was known as the Maiden because he never married and maintained a vow of chastity. Malcolm was only 11 years old when he came to the throne. There were several rebellions during his reign because his succession was disputed. However it was during his reign that the first references were made in written charters to the "Kingdom of Scotland." He was forced to renounce his rights to Northumbria when Henry II became king of England. Although this improved Scotland's relationship with England, the Scottish nobles were not pleased.

William the Lion (1165-1214)

William succeeded his unmarried brother, Malcolm IV. He got his name because of the emblem he adopted for his armor. Armor encased a knight from head to toe and made him unrecognizable. Therefore, each knight adopted an emblem to be recognized by one another. William's was a "roaring, clawing beast of blood in red on a yellow background" - the Lion Rampant. This became the emblem of Scotland. William ruled for 49 years which made him the longest reigning monarch in Scotland up to that time. His brother had made peace with King Henry of England but William led an army to Northumberland to take Alnwick Castle. He was defeated, captured and imprisoned in Normandy. The price of his release was his kingdom. He was released after he accepted Henry II as overlord of Scotland. Henry died 15 years later and Richard Coeur-de-Lion came to the English throne. Richard's ambition in life was to go on a crusade. He needed money for such an undertaking and William the Lion was able to buy back the sovereignty in 1189 by giving 10,000 merks to Richard I's third crusade, thereby being released from being a vassal of the English king. William produced a son (and several daughters), Alexander II. He paid a dowry of 15,000 merks to secure the marriage of his two daughters to King John's sons but this bargain was broken by the English king.

Alexander II (1214 - 1249)

Alexander succeeded William when William died in 1214. When Alexander came to the throne, King John (England) declared he would hunt the red fox cub from his den. Alexander backed the barons who made John seal the Magna Carta in 1215. By marrying John's daughter, Joan, Alexander became the brother in law of the new English King Henry III. He demanded the return of William the Lion's dowry, as well as the return of Northumbria.

A treaty of York in 1236 fixed the Border on the Tweed-Solway line. Alexander's relationship with England was diplomatic rather than warlike. Alexander's second marriage was to Marie de Coucy. This offended the English because they feared a French-Scottish alliance (the auld Alliance). Alexander II made Scotland stronger than it had ever been. He attended to parts of the country that were causing trouble. For instance, he determined to subdue the disturbances in the lands of Argyll. He prepared a fleet to sail up the Clyde in 1221.

Unfortunately, he failed to take the stormy September weather and tides into account and was forced to return to Glasgow. The next year he took his army across country to Argyll and reestablished order.

To make sure that peace would continue, he transferred the titles of disloyal nobles' lands to more amenable and reliable subjects. In that same year he had trouble with a different kind of rebellion. Bishop Adam of Caithness had been charging the people double the amount that was usual for the support of the church. The people had complained many times but the Bishop ignored their complaints until 300 angry people stormed their way towards the Bishop's palace.

His servants ran to the Earl of Caithness to ask for help. The Earl said that if the Bishop was afraid, he should come to the Earl's castle. In the meantime the crowd had seized the bishop, stripped and beaten him and then carried him to his kitchen fire and roasted him alive.

Alexander was just preparing to attack England when this news reached him. He went to Caithness and the people paid dearly. He also confiscated half the lands belonging to the Earl of Caithness to punish him for his lack of assistance to Bishop Adam.

Like David I, Alexander granted lands for the construction of cathedrals and abbeys. He awarded the Bishop of Moray the seat at the Elgin Cathedral and gave permission for the building of three new abbeys, Pluscarden Abbey, Beauly Abbey and Ardchatten Abbey. These abbeys were peopled by Benedictine monks called Valliscaulians who operated under a very strict code.

Before Alexander died he tried to regain the Western Isles (Hebrides) from King Haakon IV of Norway. Before he could reach them he became ill and died on the island of Kerrera, off Oban on July 8, 1249.