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Below is a list of events through history
that led to Scottish Clans gaining or loosing
their power.
858 Kenneth I (MacAlpin) died, king of the
Picts, regarded as the first king of Scots.
Kenneth I founded the Alpin dynasty that ruled
much of Scotland for most of the medieval
period, gradually turning this land of warring
tribes, into an organized civilization.
Many of the early Scotland Kings are buried
at Iona Abbey,
with Iona Abbey founded by St Columba and his
Irish followers in AD 563, on the Isle of Iona,
just off the west coast of Scotland. These
kings include Kenneth I and Macbeth.
1018, King Malcolm II of Scotland won the
Battle of Carham (Northern England) against the
Northern English. This led to the Kingdom of
Scotland’s border with England being
drawn to almost what it is today. The Scots
captured more land in Northern England in the
following years, but failed to hold them.
1058, King Malcolm III (Canmore) is king of
Scotland and marries Margaret of Wessex, later
Saint Margaret. They make Dunfermline their capital and begin
the building of Dunfermline Abbey. Their descendants
build Edinburgh Castle and
Stirling Castle from where they
begin to take control of all Scotland.
1263 1st October, King Alexander III
(Canmore) of Scotland defeated the Norwegian
King Haakon at the Battle of Largs. The Vikings
had been plundering the Western Isles and west
coast of Scotland for over 400 years. The
Battle of Largs led to the Vikings being pushed
out of Scotland, western isles, and northern
isles over the following years.
1286, the death of King Alexander III, and
that of his only heir, the four year old
Princess Margaret (Maid of Norway) four years
later, led to the powerfully English King
Edward I (Longshanks) sending his forces into
Scotland to gain control for himself. This was
the end of the Canmore kings.
1292, John Balliol was chosen by the
Scottish Nobles to be their King. Balliol then
tried unsuccessfully to drive the English out
of Scotland. Edward captured and imprisoned
Balliol in the Tower of London. Balliol's
release in 1299 saw him moved to France, where
he lived on his estate there until he died.
1297 11th September, William Wallace lead
about 15,000 Scottish rebels against an English
army, about 50,000 strong, that were on route
to Stirling Castle. Wallace’s victory at
Stirling Bridge saw him rewarded with the title
Guardian of Scotland.
1298, William Wallace’s army was
defeated by a huge English army led by Edward I
at Falkirk. Wallace escaped Falkirk, but was
captured in Glasgow 5th August 1305, and
executed in London 23rd August 1305.
1314 June 23rd, the Scottish army of Robert
the Bruce engaged an English army led by King
Edward II (son of Edward 1 who died in July
1307). This battle was at Bannockburn, close to Stirling
Castle. Bruce’s victory in this three day
battle, led to the English fleeing towards
their remaining strongholds in Scotland, and
back across the border. The Scotland / England
war continued for a further 14 years, until the
treaty of Edinburgh was signed on the 17th
March 1328. Bruce then became king of an
independent Scotland. Bruce died at Cardross,
probably from leprosy on the 7th June 1329, he
was buried at Dunfermline Abbey.
1371, Bruce’s son David II died
without leaving an heir, leading to the
crowning of Robert the Bruce’s grandson
Robert II (Stewart) this starting the house of
Stuart, that would soon rule Scotland and
England.
1488, the disliked King James III (Stuart)
is killed at the battle of Sauchieburn by the
army of his son James, who became King James IV
of Scotland.
1513 9th September, the Battle of Flodden
Moor, in Northuberland England, took place
between the armies of James IV (Stuart) of
Scotland, and King Henry VIII (Tudor) of
England. Henry provoked the Scottish attack by
capturing Scottish ships traveling between
Scotland and France. Scotland’s losses in
the battle included the king himself, and many
nobles.
1530s, King Henry VIII of England (Tudor)
encourages England to adopt Protestantism. The
German monk Martin Luther, was stating the
Christian Catholic religion, built around the
Pope in Rome, should be changed. Luther’s
preaching’s split the Christian religion
into Catholic and Protestant. The Protestant
religion was adopted by Henry so English
churches would then send money to him instead
of the Pope. Also, Protestants could get
divorced, and clerics could marry. Many
thousands of British died, or had to emigrate
over the following two century’s,
fighting over religion.
1542, King James V (Stuart) of Scotland,
died only one week after the birth of his only
child Mary. The death of James V, saw Henry
VIII of England send troops into Scotland to
pressure the Scots into having Mary mary his
son Edward. Mary was taken to France for her
safety in 1548. She later married a French
prince and became Queen of France. Following
the death of her husband, and the death of her
mother soon after in 1560, Mary returned to
Scotland to take on the title Mary Queen of
Scots. At this time, Scotland and England were
constantly fighting over the Catholic and
Protestant religions. Catholics from Scotland,
England and France, claimed Queen Elizabeth I
(Tudor) of England since 1558, a protestant,
should be replaced by Mary, who was a catholic
with claims to the English throne, as she was
Margaret Tudor's granddaughter. There were a
number of battles at that time, that only ended
after Mary was captured and imprisoned by
Elizabeth’s forces in 1568. Mary was held
captive until she was executed by beheading in
1587. The death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603
without leaving an heir, led to Mary Queen of
Scots son James VI of Scotland, declared King
of England and Scotland.
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1642, Charles I (Stuart) of England &
Scotland, is so unpopular, England ends up in a
Civil War. Forcing a new prayer book on the
Scots, and having little regard for the English
Parliament, led to the war. The
parliamentarians (Roundheads) led by Oliver
Cromwell, finally defeated the Monarchy
(Cavaliers) in 1649, Charles was sentenced to
death and beheaded soon after. This allowed
Cromwell to rule England & Scotland as Lord
Protector until he died in 1658. The death of
Cromwell’s son in 1659, led to the
Stuart’s returning to the throne.
1560, the Scottish Parliament passed an Act,
abolishing the Roman Catholic Church in
Scotland, this led to most of the Cathedrals
and Abbey's in Scotland being destroyed. Much
of their stonework was then used for the
construction of other buildings.
1707, Queen Anne (Stuart) manages to set up
the Union of the parliaments of Scotland and
England. The parliaments then become the
Parliament of Great Britain. Scotland merchants
were then free to trade with America and the
West Indies, that had been mainly controlled by
England until that time. Sugar, tobacco and
slavery made many Scottish merchants rich,
leading to Scotland's towns and cities growing
dramatically from that time, with impressive
Georgian and Victorian buildings being built
all over Scotland from the mid 1700s till the
early 1900s. Much of the historic architecture
found in Scotland's towns and cities today, was
built during this time.
1714, the death of Queen Anne (Stuart) a
Protestant, without leaving an heir, lead to
George I (Hanover) becoming king of Great
Britain. This was requested by Queen Anne to
prevent her exiled Catholic brother, James the
old Pretender, from becoming king. George was
the son of the Electress Sophia of Hanover
/Germany, a granddaughter of King James I of
England. As George was a protestant German, the
catholic Stuart’s disputed his right to
be king.
1715, the sixth Earl of Mar (John Erskin)
raised an army for James Francis Stuart (the
Old Pretender) and joined up with English
forces that also wanted King George I
overthrown. That uprising was defeated by
Hanoverian supporters, and became known as the
first Jacobite Rising.
1719, the Battle of Glenshiel led to another
defeat of the Jacobite's by the
Hanovarians.
1745 September 19th, the Battle of
Prestonpans, led by Prince Charles Edward
Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) defeated a
Hanovarian army led by Sir John Cope, the first
Jacobite victory.
1746 January 17th, the Jacobite's defeated
English troops at Falkirk.
1746 April 16th, the Battle of
Culloden Moor by Inverness, ended in under one
hour with the defeat of the Jacobite's. Bonnie
Prince Charlie survived the battle only to flee
to France. This was the last major battle
fought on the British Isles.
1762 The Highland Clearances start, as
Chiefs and land owners begin forcing crofters
off their land so they can make way for large
sheep farms. Many crofters relocated to coastal
areas, where it was difficult to survive, so
moved into large towns and cities in search of
work. Many crofters were forced to emigrated to
America and Canada, where they were encouraged
to move into new territory, where they would
have to face hostile native Americans.
1837-1901, Queen Victoria (Hanover) ruled
Britain with her children marrying throughout
Europe. Her marriage to Prince Albert (son of
Ernest Duke of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha,
Germany) produced 9 children and 40
grandchildren. Victoria Adelaide, their first
child, married the German Emperor Frederick
III, with their son becoming Kaiser Wilhelm II
of World War I era. Edward II, their second
child, ruled Britain under his fathers title
Saxe-Coburg & Gotha, with his son becoming
George V of Britain of the World War I era.
Princess Alice, their third child, married the
German Louis IV of Hesse, Grand Duke, with
their daughter Princess Alexandria marrying
Csar Nicholas II of Russia of World War I
era.
1917, during World War One, King George V of
Britain takes on the name House of Windsor for
the British royalty, in an attempt to distance
them from their German relations. As the war
came to an end, George’s cousin Kaiser
Wilhelm II of Germany, abdicated and move to
Holland. Czar Nicholas II of Russia,
George’s other cousin, was forced to
abdicate in 1917 during the Bolshevik
Revolution. The Czar, Princess Alexandria and
their family, were shot by the
Bolshevik’s on the 16th July 1918. The
House of Windsor survived the war, and have
remained popular monarchs in Britain into the
21st century.
Three rulers of the most powerful countries
that fought each other during World War One,
Britain, Germany and Russia, were related
through Queen Victoria. This must be the
largest family feud in history, that led to the
death of around 9 million people.
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