Royal Families Scotland 830 to 1603

I have elected to start with King Alpin, Prior the 9th century, when Scotland was first founded, there are few details of the early rulers of Scotland. The Scottish monarchy is said to have been founded by Alpin, founder of the House of Alpin, and the start of the united Pictish tribes in Alba, the name used for what is now Scotland. The house of Alpin provided Scotland with kings until 1034, when the succession passed to the House of Dunkeld via the marriage of Bethoc, daughter of Malcolm II. The House of Dunkeld held sovereignty until 1290, when Queen Margaret, ‘the Maid of Norway’, perished at sea. Her death led to a great contest for the throne, with thirteen ‘competitors’ all contending for the crown. Edward I of England was asked to arbitrate, and he chose John Balliol, a lightweight whom he could easily manipulate to England’s advantage. The Scots naturally resented Edward’s interference in their government, and Balliol was obliged to abdicate in 1296. There followed the Second Interregnum, when Scotland was without a King from 1296 until 1306. Edward I was making strenuous efforts to bring Scotland under English rule during this period, until the emergence of Robert de Brus (or ‘the Bruce’), who declared himself King of Scotland in defiance of Edward in 1306, and who was destined to be one of the finest of Scotland’s rulers. Bruce’s dynasty did not long survive him; when his son died in 1371, the throne passed to Bruce’s grandson Robert II, son of Marjorie Bruce by Walter the Steward, who gave his name to the House of Stewart.

The Scots favored the ancient system of tanistry, whereby the crown passed back and forth from one branch of the family to the other. This system evolved in a time when life expectancy was short, society was violent, and a ruler might well die while his son was an infant: it ensured that the fittest, maturest male would inherit the throne. In the 11th century, Norman influence from England led to the adoption of succession by primogeniture.

Until the reign of Malcolm II in the early 11th century, the kingdom of Scotland was shifting its borders all the time, incorporating earlier, smaller kingdoms, or being subdivided between rival rulers. Malcolm II could therefore be said to be the first monarch of modern Scotland.