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 SCOTLAND

610

SCOTLAND

dioceses, to be immediatelj' subject to the Apostolic See. The issue of this Bull, which was confirmed by succeeding popes, was followed, on William subscribing handsomely to Richard Ccuur de Lion's crusading fund, by the King of England agreeing to abrogate the huniihating treaty which had made him the feudal superior of the King of Scots, and formally recogniz- ing the temporal as well as the spiritual independence of Scotland. WiUiam's reign, Uke that of its pred- ecessors, was prolific in religious foundations, the principal being the great Abbey of Arbroath, a memo- rial of St. Thomas of Canterbury, with whom the king had been on terms of personal friendship. Even more noteworthy was the establishment of a Benedictine monastery in the sacred Isle of lona by Reginald, Lord of the Isles, whose desire, like that of the Scottish kings, was to sujiersede the effete Culdees in his domains by the regular orders of the Church. In 1200 a tenth diocese was erected — that of Argyll, cut off from Duukeld, and including an extensive territory in which Gaelic was (as it still is) almost exclusively spoken. The Fourth Lateran Council was held in Rome in 1215. the year after WiUiam's death, under the great Pope Innocent III, and was at- tended by four Scot- tish bi.shops and ab- bots, and procurators of the other j^relates; and we find the ec- clesiastics of Scot- land, as of other countries, ordered to contribute a twen- tieth part of their re\"enues towards a new crusade, and a papal legate arriv- ing in Scotland .soon afterwards to collect the money. In 122.5 the Scottish bishops met in council for the first time without the presence of a legate from Rome, electing one of their number, as directed by a papal bull, to preside over the assembly with quasi- metropolitan authority and the title of conservator. The Scottish kings were regularly represented at these councils by two doctors of laws, specially nomi- nated by the sovereign.

The thirteenth century, during the greater part of which (1214-86) the second and third Alexanders wore the crown of Scotland, is sometimes spoken of as the golden age of that country. During that long period, in the words of a modern poet, "God gave them peace, their land rcpo.se<l"; and they were free U) carry on the work of consolidation and develop- ment so well begun by th<! good King David. Alex- ander II, indeed, when still a youth incurred the papal excommunication by espousing the cause of the Eng- lish barons against King .John, but when he had obtained absolution he married a sister of Henry III, and so secured a good understanding with England. The occasional signs of unrest among .some of his Celtic subjects in Argyll, Moray, and Caithness were met and checked with firmness and success; and this reign witnessed a distinct advance in the industrial progress of the realm, the king devoting special at- tention to the improvement of agriculture. Many now religious foundations were also made by him, in- cluding monasteries at Culross, Pluscardine, Beauly, and Crossraguel ; while the royal favour was also ex- tended to the new orders of friars which were spread- ing throupliout lOurojje, and numerous houses were founded by him both for Dominicans and Franciscans,

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the friars, however, remaining under the control of their English provincials until nearly a century later, David de Bernham of St. Andrews and Gilbert of Caithness were among the distinguished prelates of this time, and did much for both the material and the religious welfare of their dioceses. Alexander III, who succeeded his father in 1249, was also for- tunate in the excellent bishops who governed the Scottish Church during his reign, and he, like his pred- ecessors, made some notable religious foundations, including the Cistercian Abbey of Sweetheart, and houses of Carmelite and Trinitarian friars. An im- portant step in the consolidation of the kingdom was the annexation of the Isle of Man, the Hebrid(\s, ancl other western islands to the Scottish Crown, pecvmiary compensation being paid to Norway, and the Arch- bishop of Trondhjem retaining ecclesiastical juris- diction over the islands. Nearly all the Scottish bishops attended the general council convoked by Greg- ory X at Lj'^ons in 1274, which, among other measures levied a fresh tax on church benefices in aid of a new crusade. Boiamund, a Pied- montese canon, went to Scotland to collect thesubsidj', a.ssessing the clergy on a valu- ation known as Boiamund's Roll, wliioh gave great dissatisfaction, but nevertheless re- mained the guide to ecclesiastical taxa- tion until the Refor- mation. With the death of Alexander in 1286 the male line of his house came to an end, and he was succeeded by his youthful gran d- daughter of King Eric of

daughter, Margaret Norway.

Edward I, the powerful and ambitious King of England, whose hope was the union of the Kingdom of Scotland with his own, immediately began nego- tiations for the marriage of Margaret to his son. The proposal was favourably received in Scotland; but while the eight-year-old queen was on her way from Norway, she died in Orkney, and the realm was im- mediately divided by rival claimants to the throne, John de Baliol and Robert Bruce, both descended from a brother of William the Lion. King Edward, chosen as umpire in the dispute, decided in favour of Baliol; and relying on his subservience summoned him to .sup- port him when he d(>clared war on France in 1204. The Scottish parliament, however, entered instead into an alliance with France .against iMigland, who.se incensed king at once marched into Scotland with a powerful army, advanced as far as Perth, dethroned and de- gradefl B.-Uiol, and returned to England, carrying with him from Scone the coronation ston(> of the Scottish kings, which he placed in Westminster Abbey, where it still rcimains. The interposition of Pope Boniface VIII procured a temporary truce between the two countries in 1.300; but Edward soon renewed his efforts to subdue the Scotch, putting to death the valiant and patriotic William Wallace, and leaving no stone unturned to carry out his object. He died, however, in 1.307; and Robert Bruce (grandson of Baliol's rival) utterly routed the Fnglisli forces at Bannockburn in 1314, and secured the independence of .Scotland. After long negotiations peace was con- cluded between the two kingdoms, and ratified by the betrothal of Robert's only son to the sister of the