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The Reformed Orders
& King David I
The impact
of David’s monastic revolution was felt mainly in the south
of Scotland. His successors - Malcolm the Maiden, William the
Lion, and Alexander II developed his work slowly, bringing Gaelic
Scotland, north of Fife, into the fold. Scotland had been transformed,
but not beyond recognition. As the revolution settled into everyday
Scottish life, what emerged was a hybrid of Gaelic and Norman
cultural influences on church and kingdom - yet a nation which
was recognisably part of mainstream European Christian culture.
Within that
framework the Church went on to become a recognisably Scottish
institution. From David I onwards, the Scottish kings promoted
its independence: petitioning the Pope for recognition of the
primacy of St. Andrews over the Scottish Church against the claims
from York and Canterbury in England. In 1189 the campaign succeeded
when the Scottish Church was recognised as ‘Rome’s special
daughter’, its bishops answerable to the Pope alone.
A distinctive
Scottish identity was promoted through the cults of Scottish saints,
like Andrew, Columba and David I’s mother, Margaret (canonised
in 1249). From the late 13th century monastic chroniclers began
to write histories of Scotland. Built on the work of Adomnán
and other anonymous monastic annalists, the chronicling tradition
culminated in the mid-15th century with Abbot Walter Bower’s
masterpiece, The Scotichronicon.
However, Scottish
identity didn’t simply arise through the work of a few monastic
chroniclers, but more through the role the Church played in society.
In early 12th century charters, David I was entitled Rex Scotorum
(King of Scots), who ruled over a diverse kingdom of Gaels, Angles,
Normans and Gallowegians. Over the next century, the Church was
one of the principle unifying factors in bringing this diverse mix
of peoples together. With promotion by the Scottish kings, it brought
a sense of shared identity and loyalty throughout the kingdoms,
with a practical notion of society, order and mutual obligation.
By the 13th century something new was being born: the Scottish nation.
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