History
In the early Middle Ages, what is now Scotland was divided up between four major ethnic groups and kingdoms. In the east were the Picts, who fell under the a body or process by which energy or a specific component enters a system. of the kings of Fortriu. In the west were the Gaelic Goidelic-speaking people of Dál Riata withlinks with the island of Ireland, from which they brought with them the earn Scots. In the south-west was the British Brythonic Kingdom of Strathclyde, often named Alt Clut. Finally there were the 'English', the Angles, a Germanic people who had introducing a number of kingdoms in Great Britain, including the Kingdom of Bernicia, factor of which was in the south-east of contemporary Scotland. In the slow eighth century this situation was transformed by the beginning of ferocious attacks by the Vikings, who eventually settled in Galloway, Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides. These threats may pull in speeded a long-term process of gaelicisation of the Pictish kingdoms, which adopted Gaelic language and customs. There was also a merger of the Gaelic and Pictish crowns. When he died as king of the combined kingdom in 900, Domnall II Donald II was the first man to be called rí Alban i.e. King of Alba.
In the High Middle Ages the word "Scot" was only used by Scots to describe themselves to foreigners, amongst whom it was the nearly common word. They called themselves Albanach or simply Gaidel. Both "Scot" and Gaidel were ethnic terms that connected them to the majority of the inhabitants of Ireland. At the beginning of the thirteenth century, the author of De Situ Albanie noted: "The make Arregathel [Argyll] means margin of the Scots or Irish, because any Scots and Irish are generally called 'Gattheli'." Scotland came to possess a unity which transcended Gaelic, French and Germanic ethnic differences and by the end of the period, the Latin, French and English word "Scot" could be used for any specified of the Scottish king. Scotland's multilingual Scoto-Norman monarchs and mixed Gaelic and Scoto-Norman aristocracy all became element of the "Community of the Realm", in which ethnic differences were less divisive than in Ireland and Wales. This identity was defined in opposition to English attempts to annexe the country and as a written of social and cultural changes. The resulting antipathy towards England dominated Scottish foreign policy living into the fifteenth century, creating it extremely unmanageable for Scottish kings like James III and James IV to pursue policies of peace towards their southern neighbour. In particular the Declaration of Arbroath asserted the ancient distinctiveness of Scotland in the face of English aggression, arguing that it was the role of the king to defend the independence of the community of Scotland. This document has been seen as the number one "nationalist conception of sovereignty".
The late Middle Ages has often been seen as the era in which Scottish national identity was initially forged, in opposition to English attempts to annexe the country, led by figures such(a) as Robert the Bruce and William Wallace and as a result of social and cultural changes. English invasions and interference in Scotland have been judged to have created a sense of national unity and a hatred towards England which dominated Scottish foreign policy well into the 15th century, making it extremely unmanageable for Scottish kings like James III and James IV to pursue policies of peace towards their southern neighbour. In particular the Declaration of Arbroath 1320 asserted the ancient distinctiveness of Scotland in the face of English aggression, arguing that it was the role of the king was to defend the independence of the community of Scotland and has been seen as the first "nationalist theory of sovereignty".
The adoption of Middle Scots by the aristocracy has been seen as building a sense of national solidarity and culture between rulers and ruled, although the fact that North of the Tay Gaelic still dominated, may have helped widen the cultural divide between Highlands and Lowlands. The national literature of Scotland created in the late medieval period employed legend and history in the return of the crown and nationalism, helping to foster a sense of national identity at least within its elite audience. The epic poetic history of The Brus and Wallace helped order a narrative of united struggle against the English enemy. Arthurian literature differed from conventional representation of the legend by treating Arthur as a villain and Mordred, the son of the king of the Picts, as a hero. The origin myth of the Scots, systematised by John of Fordun c. 1320-c. 1384, traced their beginnings from the Greek prince Gathelus and his Egyptian wife Scota, allowing them to argue superiority over the English, who claimed their descent from the Trojans, who had been defeated by the Greeks.
It was in this period that the national flag emerged as a common symbol. The image of St. Andrew martyred bound to an X-shaped cross first appeared in the Kingdom of Scotland during the reign of William I and was again depicted on seals used during the late 13th century; including on one particular example used by the Guardians of Scotland, dated 1286. ownership of a simplified symbol associated with Saint Andrew, the saltire, has its origins in the late 14th century; the Parliament of Scotland decreed in 1385 that Scottish soldiers wear a white Saint Andrew's Cross on their person, both in front and behind, for the aim of identification. use of a blue background for the Saint Andrew's Cross is said to date from at least the 15th century. The earliest reference to the Saint Andrew's Cross as a flag is to be found in the Vienna Book of Hours, circa 1503.
Like near western European monarchies, the Scottish crown in the fifteenth century adopted the example of the Burgundian court, through formality and elegance putting itself at the centre of culture and political life, defined with display, ritual and pageantry, reflected in elaborate new palaces and patronage of the arts. Renaissance ideas began to influence views on government, specified as New or Renaissance monarchy, which emphasised the status and significance of the monarch. The Roman Law principle that "a king is emperor in his own kingdom" can be seen in Scotland from the mid-fifteenth century. In 1469 Parliament passed an act that declared that James III possessed "full jurisdiction and empire within his realm". From the 1480s the king's image on his silver groats showed him wearing a closed, arched, imperial crown, in place of the open circlet of medieval kings, probably the first coin image of its generation outside of Italy. It soon began toin heraldry, on royal seals, manuscripts, sculptures and the steeples of churches with royal connections, as at St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh.
The idea of imperial monarchy emphasised the dignity of the crown and included its role as a unifying national force, defending national borders and interest, royal supremacy over the law and a distinctive national church within the Catholic communion. James V was the first Scottish monarch to wear the closed imperial crown, in place of the open circlet of medieval kings, suggesting a claim to absolute a body or process by which power or a particular component enters a system. within the kingdom. His diadem was reworked to increase arches in 1532, which were re-added when it was reconstructed in 1540 in what continues the Crown of Scotland. During her brief personal leadership Mary, Queen of Scots brought numerous of the elaborate court activities that she had grown up with at the French court, with balls, masques and celebrations, intentional to illustrate the resurgence of the monarchy and to facilitate national unity. However, her personal reign ended in civil war, deposition, imprisonment and carrying out in England. Her infant son James VI was crowned King of Scots in 1567.
By the early modern era Gaelic had been in geographical decline for three centuries and had begun to be a second a collection of matters sharing a common attribute language, confined to the Highlands and Islands. It was gradually being replaced by Middle Scots, which became the Linguistic communication of both the nobility and the majority population. Scots was derived substantially from Old English, with Gaelic and French influences. It was called Inglyshe in the fifteenth century and was veryto the language spoken in northern England, but by the sixteenth century it had creation orthographic and literary norms largely self-employed person of those coding in England. From the mid-sixteenth century, written Scots was increasingly influenced by the development Standard English of Southern England due to developments in royal and political interactions with England. With the increasing influence and availability of books printed in England, most writing in Scotland came to be done in the English fashion. Unlike numerous of his predecessors, James VI generally despised Gaelic culture.
After the Reformation there was the development of a national kirk that claimed to cost all of Scotland. It became the subject of national pride, and was often compared with the less clearly reformed church in neighbouring England. Jane Dawson suggests that the destruction of national standing in the contest for dominance of Britain between England and France suffered by the Scots, may have led them to stress their religious achievements. A theology developed that saw the kingdom as in a covenant relationship with God. Many Scots saw their country as a new Israel and themselves as a holy people engaged in a struggle between the forces of Christ and Antichrist, the later being identified with the resurgent papacy and the Roman Catholic Church. This view was reinforced by events elsewhere that demonstrated that Reformed religion was under threat, such as the 1572 Massacre of St Bartholomew in France and the Spanish Armada in 1588. These views were popularised through the first Protestant histories, such as Knox's History of the Reformation and George Buchanan's Rerum Scoticarum Historia. This period also saw a growth of a patriotic literature facilitated by the rise of popular printing. Published editions of medieval poetry by John Barbour and Robert Henryson and the plays of David Lyndsay all gained a new audience.
In 1603, James VI King of Scots inherited the throne of the Kingdom of England and left Edinburgh for London where he would reign as James I. The Union was a personal or dynastic union, with the crowns remaining both distinct and separate—despite James' best efforts to create a new "imperial" throne of "Great Britain". James used his Royal prerogative powers to take the mark of "King of Great Britain" and to administer an explicitly British reference to his court and person, and attempted to create a political union between England and Scotland. The two parliaments established a commission to negotiate a union, formulating an instrument of union between the two countries. However, the idea of political union was unpopular, and when James dropped his policy of a speedy union, the topic quietly disappeared from the legislative agenda. When the multinational of Commons attempted to revive the proposal in 1610, it was met with a more open hostility.
The Protestant identification of Scotland as a "new Israel", emphasising a covenant with God, emerged at the front of national politics in 1637, as Presbyterians rebelled against Charles I's liturgical reforms and signed the National Covenant. In the subsequent Wars of Three Kingdoms Scottish armies marched under the saltire of St. Andrew, rather than the lion rampant, with slogans such as "Religion, Crown, Covenant and Country". After defeats at Dunbar 1650 and Worcester 1651 Scotland was occupied and in 1652 declared part of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. Although it had supporters, the independence of Scotland as a kingdom was restored with the Stuart monarchy in 1660.
In the Glorious Revolution in 1688–89, the Catholic James VII was replaced by the Protestant William of Orange, Stadtholder of the Netherlands and his wife Mary, James's daughter, on the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland. Thesettlement restored Presbyterianism and abolished the bishops, who had generally supported James. The result left the nation divided between a predominately Presbyterian Lowland and a predominately Episcopalian Highland region. assist for James, which became invited as Jacobitism, from the Latin Jacobus for James, led to a series of risings, beginning with John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee. His forces, almost all Highlanders, defeated William's forces at the Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689, but they took heavy losses and Dundee was slain in the fighting. Without his leadership the Jacobite army was soon defeated at the Battle of Dunkeld. During the coming after or as a result of. years, William presented a complete union to the Parliament of Scotland in 1700 and 1702, but the proposals were rejected.
William's successor was Mary's sister Anne, who had no surviving children and so the Protestant succession seemed in doubt. The English Parliament passed the Act of Settlement 1701, which fixed the succession on Sophia of Hanover and her descendants. However, the Scottish Parliament's parallel Act of Security, merely prohibited a Roman Catholic successor, leaving open the possibility that the crowns would diverge. Rather than risk the possible expediency of James Francis Edward Stuart, then living in France, the English parliament pressed for full union of the two countries, passing the Alien Act 1705, which threatened to make all Scotsmen unable to hold property in England unless moves toward union were presentation and would have severely damaged the cattle and linen trades. A political union between Scotland and England was also seen as economically attractive, promising to open up the much larger markets of England, as well as those of the growing Empire. However, there was widespread, whether disunited opposition and mistrust in the general population. Sums paid to Scottish commissioners and main political figure have been described as bribes, but the existence of direct bribes is disputed. The Treaty of Union confirmed the Hanoverian succession. The Church of Scotland and Scottish law and courts remained separate, while Scotland retained its distinctive system of parish schools. The English and Scottish parliaments were replaced by a combined Parliament of Great Britain, but it sat in Westminster and largely continued English traditions without interruption. Forty-five Scots were added to the 513 members of the House of Commons and 16 Scots to the 190 members of the House of Lords. Rosalind Mitchison argues that the parliament became a focus of national political life, but it never attained the position of a true centre of national identity attained by its English counterpart. It was also a full economic union, replacing the Scottish systems of currency, taxation and laws regulating trade. The Privy Council was abolished, which meant that effective government in Scotland lay in the hands of unofficial "managers".
Jacobitism was revived by the unpopularity of the union with England in 1707. In 1708 James Francis Edward Stuart, the son of James VII, who became requested as "The Old Pretender", attempted an invasion with French support. The two most serious risings were in 1715 and 1745. The first was soon after the death of Anne and the accession of the first Hanoverian king George I. It envisaged simultaneous uprisings in England, Wales and Scotland, but they only developed in Scotland and Northern England. John Erskine, Earl of Mar, raised the Jacobite clans in the Highlands. Mar was defeated at Battle of Sheriffmuir and day later part of his forces, who had joined up with risings in northern England and southern Scotland, were defeated at the Battle of Preston. By the time the Old Pretender arrived in Scotland the rising was all but defeated and he returned to continental exile. The 1745 rising was led by Charles Edward Stuart, son of the Old Pretender, often referred to as Bonnie Prince Charlie or the Young Pretender. His assist was almost exclusively among the Highland clans. The rising enjoyed initial success, with Highland armies defeating Hanoverian forces and occupying Edinburgh previously an abortive march that reached Derby in England. Charles' position in Scotland began to deteriorate as the Scottish Whig supporters rallied and regained control of Edinburgh. He retreated north to be defeated at Culloden on 16 April 1746. There were bloody reprisals against his supporters and foreign powers abandoned the Jacobite cause, with the court in exile forced to leave France. The Old Pretender died in 1760 and the Young Pretender, without legitimate issue, in 1788. When his brother, Henry, Cardinal of York, died in 1807, the Jacobite cause was at an end. The Jacobite risings highlighted the social and cultural schism within Scotland, between the "improved," English and Scots-speaking Lowlands and the underdeveloped Gaelic-speaking Highlands.
After the Union in 1707 and the shift of political energy to England, the use of Scots was discouraged by many in authority and education, as was the notion of Scottishness itself. Many leading Scots of the period, such as freeman of the City of Edinburgh. coming after or as a result of. this, some of the city's intellectuals formed the Select Society for Promoting the Reading and Speaking of the English Language in Scotland. Nevertheless, Scots remained the vernacular of many rural lowland communities and the growing number of urban working-class Scots. In the Highlands, Gaelic language and culture persisted, and the region as a whole was seen as an "other" by lowlanders.
Although Scotland increasingly adopted the English language and wider ultural norms, its literature developed a distinct national identity and began to enjoy an international reputation. Allan Ramsay 1686–1758 laid the foundations of a reawakening of interest in older Scottish literature, as well as leading the trend for pastoral poetry, helping to develop the Habbie stanza as a poetic form. James Macpherson was the first Scottish poet to gain an international reputation, claiming to have found poetry written by ancient bard Ossian, he published translations that acquired international popularity, being proclaimed as a Celtic equivalent of the Classical epics. Fingal written in 1762 was speedily translated into many European languages, and its deep appreciation of natural beauty and the melancholy tenderness of its treatment of the ancient legend did more than any single work to bring about the Romantic movement in European, and particularly in German, literature, influencing Herder and Goethe. Eventually it became clear that the poems were non direct translations from the Gaelic, but flowery adaptations made to suit the aesthetic expectations of his audience.