1174 Treaty of Falaise

The Treaty of Falaise was an agreement made in December 1174 between the captive William I, King of Scots, and Henry II, King of England. William was captured at the Battle of Alnwick during an invasion of Northumbria and was being held in Falaise in Normandy. The Treaty required William to swear that Scotland would thereafter be subordinate to the English crown. English soldiers were also to occupy several key Scottish castles, and Scotland would be heavily taxed to pay for their upkeep. The treaty was cancelled in 1189 when Richard the Lionheart, Henry's heir, effectively sold southern Scotland back to the Scottish king to help fund Richard's crusade in the Holy Land.

1124 David I becomes king

David I (Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim) was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians, Earl of Northampton and Huntingdon and later King of the Scots (1124–1153). The youngest son of Malcolm III of Scotland and Margaret of Wessex. He spent his early years in Scotland, but was forced on the death of his parents in 1093 into exile by his uncle. Perhaps after 1100, he became a dependent at the court of King Henry I of England. There he was influenced by the Norman and Anglo-French culture of the court. It is to David's reign that the beginnings of feudalism are generally assigned. This is defined as "castle-building, the regular use of professional cavalry, the knight's fee" as well as "homage and fealty".

1058 Máel Coluim III is proclaimed king

Máel Coluim mac Donnchada called in most Anglicised regnal lists Malcolm III, and in later centuries nicknamed Canmore - "Big Head", or "Long-neck", was King of Scots. Malcolm's father Duncan I (Donnchad mac Crínáin) became king in late 1034, on the death of Malcolm II. Duncan's reign was not successful and he was killed by Macbeth (Mac Bethad mac Findlaích) in 1040. Although Shakespeare's Macbeth presents Malcolm as a grown man and his father as an old one, it appears that Duncan was still young in 1040. In 1057 various chroniclers report the death of Macbeth at Malcolm's hand. Macbeth was succeeded by his stepson Lulach, who was crowned at Scone. Lulach was killed by Malcolm, "by treachery", near Huntly in 1058. After this, Malcolm became king.

943 Causantín mac Áeda abdicates to become a culdee

Constantine, son of Áed (known in most modern regnal lists as Constantine II) was an early King of Scotland, known then by the Gaelic name "Alba". The Kingdom of Alba, a name which first appears in Constantine's lifetime, was in northern Great Britain. The core of the kingdom was formed by the lands around the River Tay. During his reign the words "Scots" and "Scotland" (Old English: Scottas, Scotland) are first used to mean part of what is now Scotland. In 943 Constantine abdicated the throne and retired to the Céli Dé (Culdee) monastery of St Andrews where he died in 952. He was succeeded by his predecessor's son Malcolm I (Máel Coluim mac Domnaill).

870 Dumbarton Rock captured after months of siege

Dumbarton Castle has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Great Britain. It overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton, and sits on a plug of volcanic basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is 240 feet (73 m) high. From the fifth century until the ninth, the castle was the centre of the independent British Kingdom of Strathclyde. Alt Clut or Alcluith, literally "Clyde Rock", the Brythonic name for Dumbarton Rock, became a metonym for kingdom. By 870, Dumbarton Rock was home to a tightly packed British settlement, which served as a fortress and as the capital of Alt Clut. The Vikings laid siege to Dumbarton, eventually defeating the inhabitants when they cut off their water supply.

802 Iona burned by Vikings

Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Irish monasticism for four centuries. Its modern Gaelic name means "Iona of (Saint) Columba". In the early Historic Period Iona lay within the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata. The island was the site of a highly important monastery (Iona Abbey) during the Early Middle Ages. Iona Abbey, now an ecumenical church, is of particular historical and religious interest to pilgrims and visitors alike. It is the most elaborate and best-preserved ecclesiastical building surviving from the Middle Ages in the Western Isles of Scotland. The series of Viking raids on Iona began in 794 and, after its treasures had been plundered many times, Columba's relics were removed and divided two ways between Scotland and Ireland in 849 as the monastery was abandoned.  

768 Battle in Fortriu

Ciniod son of Uuredech (Old Irish: Cináed mac Feradaig; English: Kenneth son of Feradach) was king of the Picts from 763 until 775. In Ciniod's reign a battle in Fortriu, against the men of Dál Riata under Áed Find, is reported by the Annals of Ulster in 768. This is the first report of Dál Riata since around 741. The entry does not report the result of the battle. The Annals of the Four Masters, a less reliable source, give a different version, placing this battle in Leinster and naming the victor as Cináed mac Flainn of the Uí Failgi and his defeated enemy as one Áed. Ciniod's death, as "Cinadhon, king of the Picts", is reported in several independent sources in 775. While no sons of Ciniod are known, the death of "Eithne ingen Cinadhon", who would appear to be his daughter, is reported by the Annals of Ulster in 778.