Great Scots: Psychological Perspectives on Scottish History and Leadership

St Margaret, the "Margaretsons", and the Norman Conquest of Britain

Drs. David Cross & Nowell Donovan

This webpage gives an historical overview for the first two hundred years of the second millenium of Scottish history (roughly, 1000–1200). The overview provides historical context for more in-depth study of Scotland's first great king, David I, "the Saint", son of Saint Margaret, Scotland's only royal saint. There are several overarching themes to Scottish history for this period, including the following:

The establishment of the mac Malcolm dynasty of Scottish kings, which reached its apex during the reign of David I.
William the Conqueror's defeat of King Harold at Hastings in 1066, which began the "Normanization" of the British Isles, including Scotland.
The parallel growth of the Scottish Kirk and Scottish Crown, both of which became strong and interdependent during this period.
The beginnings of the "English Problem", whereby some Scottish kings are forced swear fealty to an English king as overlord — usually as a result of their own foolishness.

Year Event Commentary
1040 MacBeth, Earl of Moray, aided by Thorfinn "Raven Feeder", Earl of Orkney, defeats the current king, Duncan I, in battle; Duncan is killed, and MacBeth becomes King of Scotland (Duncan was invading Moray, in an attempt to subdue the independence-minded northern provinces). MacBeth, the play, by William Shakespeare, actually says more about the time it was written — 1606, during the reign of King James VI (of Scotland) and I (of England) — than it does about the time of MacBeth; as history, the play does not fare very well — most notably because Duncan was not murdered, but died as a result of wounds inflicted during a battle with Thorfinn's (or MacBeth's?) army.
1050 MacBeth travels to Rome, where "he scattered money like seed". Not only was MacBeth not the villain portrayed in Shakespeare's MacBeth, he was actually a pretty good king, and was responsible for initiating The Laws of MacBeth, along with the machinery for carrying them out (after his death, MacBeth's Laws were neglected until resurrected by David I, see below).
1057 Thorfinn dies, and MacBeth is killed by Malcom III; MacBeth is buried at the Relig Oran, Iona.
1058 Malcolm III, "Canmore", becomes King of Scots, and marries Ingibjorg, widow of Thorfinn. scene from the
Bayeux Tapestry

1066 William "the Conqueror" defeats the Saxon king, Harold, at the Battle of Hastings (a story told by the Bayeux Tapestry (part of the tapestry is shown to the right).
1069 Ingibjord, Malcom III's queen, dies, having given birth to two sons, Duncan and Donald.
1070 Malcolm marries Margaret, sister of Edgar "the Atheling" (Prince). Edgar — son of the defeated Saxon king Harold — and Margaret are fleeing England after an aborted attempt to regain the English crown from William "the Conqueror"; extremely pious, Margaret is canonized in 1250, and is now known as St Margaret, the only Scottish royal to achieve sainthood.
1093 Malcolm "Canmore" dies in battle, along with Margaret's eldest son, Edward; Margaret, having foretold the day of her death, dies a few days later. Margaret bore six sons — Edward, Edmund, Ethelred, Edgar, Alexander, and David — and two daughters — Matilda (Edith) and Mary; Edgar, Alexander, and David followed Malcolm as kings, with David becoming one of Scotland's greatest monarchs; Matilda married Henry I, younger son of William the Conqueror.
1093–7 Malcolm's brother, Donald Ban III, is selected king by the Scottish mormaors. Malcolm's sons were apparently avoided because of their close connections with the English court (including the influence of their mother, Margaret).
1097–1107 Edgar, Margaret's second son, won the crown from Donald, with support from William II "Rufus" of England (elder son of "the Conqueror") Edgar's was an unremarkable reign; among the lowlights of his tenure was a peace treaty with the Norsemen, which yielded the western islands, including Iona.
1107–1124 Alexander, Margaret's third son, succeeded Edgar when Edgar died in 1124; Alexander also paid homage to an English king, Henry I, younger son of "the Conqueror" (however, Henry I was a far better neighbor than William Rufus, and the Scots were not threatened by their southern neighbor during Henry's reign). Alexander's reign, like Edgar's was largely unremarkable; he did, however, sponsor the Augustinian priory Scone c. 1115, and establish the royal castle at Stirling.
1124–1124 David I, Margaret's youngest son, is king of Scots (see Map of Scotland).
1153ҍ Malcolm IV, "the Maiden" (because he had no children), is King of Scots; Malcolm IV, David's grandson, is depicted with his grandfather in the figure to the right.
1165–1214 William I, "the Lion", is King of Scots; after his capture at the battle of Alnwick, William was forced in the Treaty of Falaise (1174) to pay homage to Henry II for Scotland.

Year	Event	Commentary
1040	MacBeth, Earl of Moray, aided by Thorfinn "Raven Feeder", Earl of Orkney, defeats the current king, Duncan I, in battle; Duncan is killed, and MacBeth becomes King of Scotland (Duncan was invading Moray, in an attempt to subdue the independence-minded northern provinces).	MacBeth, the play, by William Shakespeare, actually says more about the time it was written — 1606, during the reign of King James VI (of Scotland) and I (of England) — than it does about the time of MacBeth; as history, the play does not fare very well — most notably because Duncan was not murdered, but died as a result of wounds inflicted during a battle with Thorfinn's (or MacBeth's?) army.
1050	MacBeth travels to Rome, where "he scattered money like seed".	Not only was MacBeth not the villain portrayed in Shakespeare's MacBeth, he was actually a pretty good king, and was responsible for initiating The Laws of MacBeth, along with the machinery for carrying them out (after his death, MacBeth's Laws were neglected until resurrected by David I, see below).
1057	Thorfinn dies, and MacBeth is killed by Malcom III; MacBeth is buried at the Relig Oran, Iona.
1058	Malcolm III, "Canmore", becomes King of Scots, and marries Ingibjorg, widow of Thorfinn.	scene from the Bayeux Tapestry
1066	William "the Conqueror" defeats the Saxon king, Harold, at the Battle of Hastings (a story told by the Bayeux Tapestry (part of the tapestry is shown to the right).
1069	Ingibjord, Malcom III's queen, dies, having given birth to two sons, Duncan and Donald.
1070	Malcolm marries Margaret, sister of Edgar "the Atheling" (Prince).	Edgar — son of the defeated Saxon king Harold — and Margaret are fleeing England after an aborted attempt to regain the English crown from William "the Conqueror"; extremely pious, Margaret is canonized in 1250, and is now known as St Margaret, the only Scottish royal to achieve sainthood.
1093	Malcolm "Canmore" dies in battle, along with Margaret's eldest son, Edward; Margaret, having foretold the day of her death, dies a few days later.	Margaret bore six sons — Edward, Edmund, Ethelred, Edgar, Alexander, and David — and two daughters — Matilda (Edith) and Mary; Edgar, Alexander, and David followed Malcolm as kings, with David becoming one of Scotland's greatest monarchs; Matilda married Henry I, younger son of William the Conqueror.
1093–7	Malcolm's brother, Donald Ban III, is selected king by the Scottish mormaors.	Malcolm's sons were apparently avoided because of their close connections with the English court (including the influence of their mother, Margaret).
1097–1107	Edgar, Margaret's second son, won the crown from Donald, with support from William II "Rufus" of England (elder son of "the Conqueror")	Edgar's was an unremarkable reign; among the lowlights of his tenure was a peace treaty with the Norsemen, which yielded the western islands, including Iona.
1107–1124	Alexander, Margaret's third son, succeeded Edgar when Edgar died in 1124; Alexander also paid homage to an English king, Henry I, younger son of "the Conqueror" (however, Henry I was a far better neighbor than William Rufus, and the Scots were not threatened by their southern neighbor during Henry's reign).	Alexander's reign, like Edgar's was largely unremarkable; he did, however, sponsor the Augustinian priory Scone c. 1115, and establish the royal castle at Stirling.
1124–1124	David I, Margaret's youngest son, is king of Scots (see Map of Scotland).
1153ҍ	Malcolm IV, "the Maiden" (because he had no children), is King of Scots; Malcolm IV, David's grandson, is depicted with his grandfather in the figure to the right.
1165–1214	William I, "the Lion", is King of Scots; after his capture at the battle of Alnwick, William was forced in the Treaty of Falaise (1174) to pay homage to Henry II for Scotland.

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