Where the Middle Ages Begin
In its definitive form of a system of local churches serving identifiable districts, usually known as parishes, grouped together under a diocesan bishop, the medieval church cannot be said to have existed in the general area of Scotland until the twelfth century. At this time, and for some three centuries previously, the islands to the north and west, with parts of the adjacent mainland, were under Norse control.
Five years ago, archaeologists uncovered a graveyard dating back to the Middle Ages in the Scottish city of Edinburgh. Now a research project to analyze almost 400 people who were buried there has revealed new insights into their lives and even how they might have looked like.
This article will focus mainly on the earliest period of Norse settlement, before the Norse earldom was established.
Annabella Drummond was married to Robert III, King of Scots. They had the longest duration of a Scottish royal marriage in history
Until recently it was generally held that Scotland first began to take shape with a union of Picts and Scots under Cinaed mac Ailpín, who died in 858.
John Barbour’s Bruce, composed in the mid 1370s, is the first long poem in the Scots vernacular. It contains twenty books, the first thirteen of which trace the Wars of Liberty from their origins until triumph at the Battle of Bannockburn. At this point the Irish ‘matter’ enters the poem.
Battlefield sites are some of the most iconic locations in any nation’s store of heritage attractions and continue to capture the imagination of visitors. They have strong historic, cultural, nationalistic and moral resonances and speak to people on a national as well as a local scale.
On June 24, 1314, Scottish and English armies fought the Battle of Bannockburn. Taking place near Stirling Castle in Scotland, the battle saw Robert the Bruce defeat the English ruler Edward II. The victory helped to re-establish Scottish independence from England in the 14th century.
One of the oldest copies of The Brus – the epic poem about Robert the Bruce and the Scottish Wars of Independence – has been restored by the University of Cambridge.
Theory and Practice in Scotland and Elsewhere Medieval Scotland’s law on bastardy is set out in the lawbook Regiam Majestatem (c.1320)…In England things were different, as Michael Hicks has demonstrated. Admittedly, English heraldic practice eventually followed the French, and the formula ‘X bastard of Y’ is occasionally found for magnates’ bastards.
These might be the remains of Olaf Guthfrithsson, King of Dublin and Northumbria from 934 to 941.
James Stewart I, King of Scots had an unusual reign in many ways. His rule began while he was a prisoner of King Henry IV of England. And his rule certainly ended in a tumultuous and violent manner.
Interested in visiting a medieval castle in Scotland? Here is our picks for the 10 best Scottish castles that date from the Middle Ages.
A team of researchers from the University of Cambridge have started creating an online database to categorize the miracles found in saints’ lives that were written in Britain and Ireland between 500 and 1300.
This paper looks at how Orkney figured in Norwegian royal strategies in the west and presents key examples which show its transition from a tool of war to a forum for peace.
Margaret was called Queen but was never crowned. She was known as Lady of Scotland, Margaret of Scotland and the Maid of Norway. The story of her life is very poignant and short lived.
An archaeological team working in southern Scotland have uncovered the remains of a village that existed between the 14th and 16th centuries.
Antoinette of Bourbon was the formidable matriarch of the Guise family in sixteenth century France. She had many children who were instrumental in international politics as well as in religious life including her daughter Mary of Guise, Queen of Scotland.
A report released earlier this month has revealed the ways medieval pilgrims would travel to the one of Scotland’s most holiest sites.
Very little is known of Ermengarde de Beaumont who became Queen of Scotland in 1186 when she married the forty three year old King William I of Scotland, later known as ‘The Lyon’.
A team of researchers have stared a new project that will give us a look at how Scone, one of Scotland’s medieval royal centres, looked like and why it was so important to the development of the Scottish kingdom.
Margaret of Denmark dressed at the height of fashion in mid-15th century Scotland.
When Robert the Bruce carried on his fight for the Scottish throne, Elizabeth and the rest of Bruce’s family were to suffer the consequences.
James I’s behaviour, during his short reign as an adult king of and in Scotland, was very much influenced by his queen Joan Beaufort.
On the evening of February 20, 1437, James was resting in his nightgown and slippers, maybe playing chess or cards or just bantering with his Queen and her ladies. They suddenly heard a great clamor of harnesses outside and saw torches.
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