1.
David I of Scotland
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David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots. The youngest son of Máel Coluim III and Margaret of Wessex, David spent most of his childhood in Scotland, perhaps after 1100, he became a dependent at the court of King Henry I. There he was influenced by the Norman and Anglo-French culture of the court, when Davids brother Alexander I of Scotland died in 1124, David chose, with the backing of Henry I, to take the Kingdom of Scotland for himself. He was forced to engage in warfare against his rival and nephew, subduing the latter seems to have taken David ten years, a struggle that involved the destruction of Óengus, Mormaer of Moray. Davids victory allowed expansion of control over more distant regions theoretically part of his Kingdom, after the death of his former patron Henry I, David supported the claims of Henrys daughter and his own niece, the former Empress-consort, Matilda, to the throne of England. In the process, he came into conflict with King Stephen and was able to expand his power in northern England, the term Davidian Revolution is used by many scholars to summarise the changes which took place in Scotland during his reign. The early years of David I are the most obscure of his life, because there is little documented evidence, historians can only guess at most of Davids activities in this period. David was born on an unknown in 1084 in Scotland. He was probably the son of King Máel Coluim mac Donnchada. He was the grandson of the ill-fated King Duncan I, in 1093 King Máel Coluim and Davids brother Edward were killed at the River Aln during an invasion of Northumberland. David and his two brothers Alexander and Edgar, both kings of Scotland, were probably present when their mother died shortly afterwards. According to later tradition, the three brothers were in Edinburgh when they were besieged by their uncle, Domnall Bán. It is not certain what happened next, but an insertion in the Chronicle of Melrose states that Domnall forced his three nephews into exile, although he was allied with another of his nephews, Edmund. John of Fordun wrote, centuries later, that an escort into England was arranged for them by their maternal uncle Edgar Ætheling, William Rufus, King of England, opposed Domnalls accession to the northerly kingdom. He sent the eldest son of Máel Coluim, Davids half-brother Donnchad, Donnchad was killed within the year, and so in 1097 William sent Donnchads half-brother Edgar into Scotland. The latter was successful, and was crowned King by the end of 1097. During the power struggle of 1093–97, David was in England, in 1093, he may have been about nine years old. From 1093 until 1103 Davids presence cannot be accounted for in detail, when William Rufus was killed, his brother Henry Beauclerc seized power and married Davids sister, Matilda
2.
Dunfermline
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Dunfermline is a town and former Royal Burgh, and parish, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground 3 miles from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The earliest known settlements in the area around Dunfermline likely date as far back as the Neolithic period, the area was not regionally significant until at least the Bronze Age. The town was first recorded in the 11th century, with the marriage of Malcolm III, King of Scotland, as his Queen consort, Margaret established a new church dedicated to the Holy Trinity, which evolved into an Abbey under their son, David I in 1128. Following the burial of Alexander I in 1160, the abbey graveyard confirmed its status as the place of Scotlands kings and queens up to. The town is a service centre for west Fife. Dunfermline retains much of its significance, as well as providing facilities for leisure. Employment is focused in the sector, with the largest employer being Sky UK. Other large employers in the area include Amazon, Best Western, CR Smith, FMC Technologies, Lloyds, there have been various interpretations of the name, Dunfermline. The first element, dun translated from Gaelic, has accepted as a hill. The rest of the name is problematic, the first record of a settlement in the Dunfermline area was in the Neolithic period. This evidence includes finds of an axe, some flint arrowheads. A cropmark which is understood to have used as a possible mortuary enclosure has been found at Deanpark House. By the time of the Bronze Age, the area was beginning to some importance. Important finds included an axe in Wellwood and a gold torc from the Parish Churchyard. The first historic record for Dunfermline was made in the 11th century, following her marriage to King Malcolm III, Queen Margaret encouraged her husband to convert the small culdee chapel into a church for Benedictine monks. The founding of new church of Dunfermline was inaugurated around 1072. The foundations of the church evolved into an Abbey in 1128, under the reign of their son, Dunfermline Abbey would play a major role in the general romanisation of religion throughout the kingdom. At the peak of its power the abbey controlled four burghs, Dunfermline had become a burgh between 1124 and 1127, if not before this time
3.
Stirling
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Stirling is a city in central Scotland. The market town, surrounded by farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its merchants and tradesmen, the bridge. Located on the River Forth, Stirling is the centre for the Stirling council area. It is proverbially the strategically important Gateway to the Highlands and it has been said that Stirling, like a huge brooch clasps Highlands and Lowlands together. Similarly he who holds Stirling, holds Scotland is often quoted, stirlings key position as the lowest bridging point of the River Forth before it broadens towards the Firth of Forth, made it a focal point for travel north or south. This invited control for, military advantage in times of unrest, unsurprisingly an excise man was installed in a covered booth in the centre of the bridge to collect tax from any entering the royal burgh with goods. According to a 9th century legend, when Stirling was temporarily under Anglo-Saxon sway, however the sound of a wolf roused a sentry who alerted his garrison to force a Viking retreat. This led to the wolf being adopted as a symbol of the town, even today it appears with a goshawk on the coat of arms along with the recently chosen motto, Steadfast as the Rock. Once the capital of Scotland, Stirling is visually dominated by Stirling Castle, the poet King was educated by George Buchanan and grew up in Stirling. He was later also crowned King of England and Ireland on 25th July 1603, modern Stirling is a centre for local government, higher education, tourism, retail, and industry. The 2011 census recorded the population of the city as 45,750, One of the principal royal strongholds of the Kingdom of Scotland, Stirling was created a royal burgh by King David I in 1130. In 2002, as part of Queen Elizabeths Golden Jubilee, Stirling was granted city status, Stirling was originally a Stone Age settlement as shown by the Randolphfield standing stones and Kings Park prehistoric carvings that can still be found south of the city. The site has been significant since at least the Roman occupation of Britain, due to its naturally defensible crag and tail hill. Coupled to this it enjoys a position which is not far from the Ochil Hills on the border between the Lowlands and Highlands. Its other notable feature is its proximity to the lowest ancient ford of the River Forth. It remained the rivers lowest crossing point until the construction of the Alloa Swing Bridge between Throsk and Alloa in 1885. It is supposed that Stirling is the fortress of Iuddeu or Urbs Giudi where Oswiu of Northumbria was besieged by Penda of Mercia in 655, as recorded in Bede and contemporary annals. Stirling was chartered as a burgh by King David in the 12th century
4.
Saint Margaret of Scotland
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Saint Margaret of Scotland, also known as Margaret of Wessex, was an English princess of the House of Wessex. Margaret was sometimes called The Pearl of Scotland, born in exile in the Kingdom of Hungary, she was the sister of Edgar Ætheling, the shortly reigned and uncrowned Anglo-Saxon King of England. Margaret and her returned to the Kingdom of England in 1057. In 1070 Margaret married King Malcolm III of Scotland, becoming Queen of Scots. Margaret was the mother of three kings of Scotland, or four, if Edmund of Scotland, who ruled with his uncle, Donald III, is counted, and of a queen consort of England. In 1250 Pope Innocent IV canonized her, and her remains were reinterred in a shrine in Dunfermline Abbey in Fife and her relics were dispersed after the Scottish Reformation and subsequently lost. Mary, Queen of Scots at one time owned her head, Margaret was the daughter of the English prince Edward the Exile, and granddaughter of Edmund Ironside, king of England. After the Danish conquest of England in 1016, King Canute the Great had the infant Edward exiled to the continent and he was taken first to the court of the Swedish king, Olof Skötkonung, and then to Kiev. As an adult, he travelled to Hungary, where in 1046 he supported the bid of King Andrew I for the Hungarian crown. King Andrew I was then known as Andrew the Catholic for his extreme aversion to pagans. The provenance of Margarets mother, Agatha, is legally disputed and her brother Edgar the Ætheling and sister Cristina were also born in Hungary around this time. Margaret grew up in a religious environment in the Hungarian court. When Edward the Confessor died in January 1066, Harold Godwinson was selected as king, according to tradition, the widowed Agatha decided to leave Northumbria, England with her children and return to the continent. However, a storm drove their ship north to the Kingdom of Scotland in 1068, the locus where it is believed that they landed is known today as St Margarets Hope, near the village of North Queensferry, Fife, Scotland. King Malcolm III was a widower with two sons, Donald and Duncan and he would have been attracted to marrying one of the few remaining members of the Anglo-Saxon royal family. The marriage of Malcolm and Margaret occurred in 1070, subsequently, Malcolm executed several invasions of Northumberland to support the claim of his new brother-in-law Edgar and to increase his own power. These, however, had little effect save the devastation of the County, Andrews, credits her with having a civilizing influence on her husband Malcolm by reading him narratives from the Bible. She instigated religious reform, striving to conform the worship and practices of the Church in Scotland to those of Rome and this she did on the inspiration and with the guidance of Lanfranc, a future Archbishop of Canterbury
5.
Scottish Gaelic
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Scottish Gaelic or Scots Gaelic, sometimes also referred to as Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish. The 2011 census of Scotland showed that a total of 57,375 people in Scotland could speak Gaelic at that time, the census results indicate a decline of 1,275 Gaelic speakers from 2001. A total of 87,056 people in 2011 reported having some facility with Gaelic compared to 93,282 people in 2001, only about half of speakers were fully literate in the language. Nevertheless, revival efforts exist and the number of speakers of the language under age 20 has increased, Scottish Gaelic is neither an official language of the European Union nor the United Kingdom. Outside Scotland, a group of dialects collectively known as Canadian Gaelic are spoken in parts of Atlantic Canada, mainly Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. In the 2011 census, there were 7,195 total speakers of Gaelic languages in Canada, with 1,365 in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island where the responses mainly refer to Scottish Gaelic. About 2,320 Canadians in 2011 also claimed Gaelic languages as their mother tongue, with over 300 in Nova Scotia, aside from Scottish Gaelic, the language may also be referred to simply as Gaelic. In Scotland, the word Gaelic in reference to Scottish Gaelic specifically is pronounced, outside Ireland and Great Britain, Gaelic may refer to the Irish language. Scottish Gaelic should not be confused with Scots, the Middle English-derived language varieties which had come to be spoken in most of the Lowlands of Scotland by the modern era. Prior to the 15th century, these dialects were known as Inglis by its own speakers, from the late 15th century, however, it became increasingly common for such speakers to refer to Scottish Gaelic as Erse and the Lowland vernacular as Scottis. Today, Scottish Gaelic is recognised as a language from Irish. Gaelic in Scotland was mostly confined to Dál Riata until the 8th century, when it began expanding into Pictish areas north of the Firth of Forth, by 900, Pictish appears to have become extinct, completely replaced by Gaelic. An exception might be made for the Northern Isles, however, however, though the Pictish language did not disappear suddenly, a process of Gaelicisation was clearly underway during the reigns of Caustantín and his successors. By a certain point, probably during the 11th century, all the inhabitants of Alba had become fully Gaelicised Scots, by the 10th century, Gaelic had become the dominant language throughout northern and western Scotland, the Gaelo-Pictic Kingdom of Alba. Its spread to southern Scotland, was even and totalizing. Place name analysis suggests dense usage of Gaelic in Galloway and adjoining areas to the north and west as well as in West Lothian, less dense usage is suggested for north Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, the Clyde Valley and eastern Dumfriesshire. In south-eastern Scotland, there is no evidence that Gaelic was ever widely spoken, the area shifted from Cumbric to Old English during its long incorporation into the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria
6.
Edward the Confessor
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Edward the Confessor, also known as Saint Edward the Confessor, was among the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England, and usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066. When Edward died in 1066, he was succeeded by Harold Godwinson, Edgar the Ætheling, who was of the House of Wessex, was proclaimed king after the Battle of Hastings in 1066, but never ruled and was deposed after about eight weeks. As discussed below, historians disagree about Edwards fairly long reign and his nickname reflects the traditional image of him as unworldly and pious. Confessor reflects his reputation as a saint who did not suffer martyrdom, some portray this kings reign as leading to the disintegration of royal power in England and the advance in power of the House of Godwin, because of the infighting after his heirless death. About a century later, in 1161, Pope Alexander III canonised the late king, Saint Edward was one of Englands national saints until King Edward III adopted Saint George as the national patron saint c. His feast day is 13 October, celebrated by both the Church of England and the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Edward was the seventh son of Æthelred the Unready, and the first by his second wife, Emma of Normandy. Edward was born between 1003 and 1005 in Islip, Oxfordshire, and is first recorded as a witness to two charters in 1005 and he had one full brother, Alfred, and a sister, Godgifu. In charters he was always listed behind his older half-brothers, showing that he ranked behind them, during his childhood England was the target of Viking raids and invasions under Sweyn Forkbeard and his son, Cnut. Following Sweyns seizure of the throne in 1013, Emma fled to Normandy, followed by Edward and Alfred, Sweyn died in February 1014, and leading Englishmen invited Æthelred back on condition that he promised to rule more justly than before. Æthelred agreed, sending Edward back with his ambassadors, Æthelred died in April 1016, and he was succeeded by Edwards older half-brother Edmund Ironside, who carried on the fight against Sweyns son, Cnut. According to Scandinavian tradition, Edward fought alongside Edmund, as Edward was at most thirteen years old at the time, Edmund died in November 1016, and Cnut became undisputed king. Edward then again went into exile with his brother and sister, in the same year Cnut had Edwards last surviving elder half-brother, Eadwig, executed, leaving Edward as the leading Anglo-Saxon claimant to the throne. Edward spent a quarter of a century in exile, probably mainly in Normandy and he probably received support from his sister Godgifu, who married Drogo of Mantes, count of Vexin in about 1024. In the early 1030s Edward witnessed four charters in Normandy, signing two of them as king of England, Edward was said to have developed an intense personal piety during this period, but modern historians regard this as a product of the later medieval campaign for his canonisation. In Frank Barlows view in his lifestyle would seem to have been that of a member of the rustic nobility. He appeared to have a slim prospect of acceding to the English throne during this period, Cnut died in 1035, and Harthacnut succeeded him as king of Denmark. It is unclear whether he was intended to have England as well and it was therefore decided that his elder half-brother Harold Harefoot should act as regent, while Emma held Wessex on Harthacnuts behalf. In 1036 Edward and his brother Alfred separately came to England, Alfred was captured by Godwin, Earl of Wessex who turned him over to Harold Harefoot
7.
Cuthbert
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Saint Cuthbert was a saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monasteries of Melrose, and the South East of Scotland. After his death he became one of the most important medieval saints of Northern England, Cuthbert is regarded as the patron saint of northern England. His feast days are 20 March and 4 September, Cuthbert grew up near Melrose Abbey, a daughter-house of Lindisfarne, today in Scotland. He had decided to become a monk after seeing a vision on the night in 651 that St. Aidan, the founder of Lindisfarne, died, but seems to have seen some military service first. He was quickly made guest-master at the new monastery at Ripon, soon after 655, about 662 he was made prior at Melrose, and around 665 went as prior to Lindisfarne. In 684 he was bishop of Lindisfarne but by late 686 resigned and returned to his hermitage as he felt he was about to die. This was around 635, about the time Cuthbert was born, Cuthbert himself, though educated in the Celtic tradition, followed his mentor Eata in accepting the Roman forms without apparent difficulty after the Synod of Whitby in 664. Unlike Wilfrid, his style of life was austere, and when he was able to he lived the life of a hermit, fostering is possibly a sign of noble birth, as are references to his riding a horse when young. One night while still a boy, employed as a shepherd, he had a vision of the soul of Aidan being carried to heaven by angels, and later found out that Aidan had died that night. Edwin Burton finds a suggestion of lowly parentage in the fact that as a boy he used to tend sheep on the mountain-sides near that monastery and he appears to have had military service but at some point joined the very new monastery at Melrose, under the prior Boisil. Upon Boisils death in 661, Cuthbert succeeded him as prior, Saint Cuthbert was possibly a second cousin of King Aldfrith of Northumbria, which may have been the reason for his later proposal that Aldfrith should be crowned as monarch. Cuthberts fame for piety, diligence, and obedience quickly grew, when Alchfrith, king of Deira, founded a new monastery at Ripon, Cuthbert became its praepositus hospitum or guest master under Eata. When Wilfrid was given the monastery, Eata and Cuthbert returned to Melrose, illness struck the monastery in 664 and while Cuthbert recovered, the prior died and Cuthbert was made prior in his place. He spent much time among the people, ministering to their needs, carrying out missionary journeys, preaching. After the Synod of Whitby, Cuthbert seems to have accepted the Roman customs and he is also said to have founded St Cuthberts Church in Edinburgh. Cuthbert retired in 676, moved by a desire for the contemplative life, shortly afterwards, Cuthbert removed to Inner Farne island off the Northumbrian coast, where he gave himself up to a life of great austerity. At first he received visitors, but later he confined himself to his cell and he could not refuse an interview with the holy abbess and royal virgin Elfleda, the daughter of Oswiu of Northumbria, who succeeded St. Hilda as abbess of Whitby in 680
8.
Durham, England
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Durham is a historic city and the county town of County Durham in North East England. The city lies on the River Wear, to the west of Sunderland, south of Newcastle upon Tyne, founded over the final resting place of St Cuthbert, its Norman cathedral became a centre of pilgrimage in medieval England. The cathedral and adjacent 11th-century castle were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, the castle has been the home of Durham University since 1832. HM Prison Durham is also located close to the city centre, the name Durham comes from the Celtic element dun, signifying a hill fort, and the Old Norse holme, which translates to island. The Lord Bishop of Durham takes a Latin variation of the name in his official signature. The city has been known by a number of names throughout history, the original Nordic Dun Holm was changed to Duresme by the Normans and was known in Latin as Dunelm. The modern form Durham came into use later in the citys history, archeological evidence suggests a history of settlement in the area since roughly 2000 BC. Local legend states that the city was founded in A. D.995 by divine intervention, Aldhun, Bishop of Chester-le-Street and leader of the order, decreed a holy fast of three days, accompanied by prayers to the saint. During the fast, Saint Cuthbert appeared to a monk named Eadmer. After Eadmers revelation, Aldhun found that he was able to move the bier, the legend of the Dun Cow, which is first documented in The Rites of Durham, an anonymous account about the Durham Cathedral, published in 1593, builds on Symeons account. According to this legend, by later that day, the monks came across a milkmaid at Mount Joy. She stated that she was seeking her lost dun cow, which she had last seen at Dun Holm, the monks, realising that this was a sign from the saint, followed her. They settled at a wooded hill-island – a high wooded rock surrounded on three sides by the River Wear, there they erected a shelter for the relics, on the spot where the Durham Cathedral would later stand. Symeon states that a modest wooden building erected there shortly later was the first building in the city, Bishop Aldhun subsequently had a stone church built, which was dedicated in September 998. It no longer remains, having been supplanted by the Norman structure, during the medieval period the city gained spiritual prominence as the final resting place of Saint Cuthbert and Saint Bede the Venerable. The shrine of Saint Cuthbert, situated behind the High Altar of Durham Cathedral, was the most important religious site in England until the martyrdom of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury in 1170, Saint Cuthbert became famous for two reasons. Firstly, the healing powers he had displayed in life continued after his death, with many stories of those visiting the saints shrine being cured of all manner of diseases. This led to him being known as the worker of England
9.
Kingdom of Strathclyde
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The kingdom developed during the post-Roman period. It is also known as Alt Clut, a Brittonic term for Dumbarton Castle and it may have had its origins with the Brythonic Damnonii people of Ptolemys Geography. Scottish toponymy and archaeology points to some later settlement by Vikings or Norse–Gaels, a small number of Anglian place-names show some limited settlement by Anglo-Saxon incomers from Northumbria prior to the Norse settlement. Due to the series of changes in the area, it is not possible to say whether any Goidelic settlement took place before Gaelic was introduced in the High Middle Ages during the 11th century. After the sack of Dumbarton Rock by a Viking army from Dublin in 870, in the same period, it was also referred to as Cumbria, and its inhabitants as Cumbrians. During the High Middle Ages, the area was conquered by the Goidelic speaking Kingdom of Alba in the 11th century, however, it remained a distinctive Brythonic area into the 12th and 13th centuries. As well as the Damnonii, Ptolemy lists the Otalini, whose capital appears to have been Traprain Law, to their west, the Selgovae in the Southern Uplands and, further west in Galloway, the Novantae. In addition, a known as the Maeatae, probably in the area around Stirling. The capital of the Damnonii is believed to have been at Carman, near Dumbarton, although the northern frontier appears to have been Hadrians Wall for most of the history of Roman Britain, the extent of Roman influence north of the Wall is obscure. Certainly, Roman forts existed north of the wall, and forts as far north as Cramond may have been in long-term occupation, moreover, the formal frontier was three times moved further north. In addition to contacts, Roman armies undertook punitive expeditions north of the frontiers. Northern natives also travelled south of the wall, to trade, to raid, Roman traders may have travelled north, and Roman subsidies, or bribes, were sent to useful tribes and leaders. The final period of Roman Britain saw an apparent increase in attacks by land and sea, the including the Picts, Scotti. These raids will have also targeted the tribes of southern Scotland, no historical source gives any firm information on the boundaries of the Kingdom of Strathclyde, but suggestions have been offered on the basis of place-names and topography. The Campsie Fells and the marshes between Loch Lomond and Stirling may have represented another boundary, to the south, the kingdom extended some distance up the valley of the Clyde, and along the coast probably extended south towards Ayr. Although often referred to as the Dark Ages, the period after the end of Roman rule in southern Scotland, archaeologists and historians have offered varying accounts of the period over the last century and a half. The written sources available for the period are largely Irish and Welsh, Irish sources report events in the kingdom of Dumbarton only when they have an Irish link. Some are informed by the political attitudes prevalent in Wales in the 9th century, bede, whose prejudice is apparent, rarely mentions Britons, and then usually in uncomplimentary terms
10.
Henry I of England
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Henry I, also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death. Henry was the son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin. On Williams death in 1087, Henrys elder brothers Robert Curthose and William Rufus inherited Normandy and England, respectively, Henry purchased the County of Cotentin in western Normandy from Robert, but William and Robert deposed him in 1091. Henry gradually rebuilt his power base in the Cotentin and allied himself with William against Robert, Henry was present when William died in a hunting accident in 1100, and he seized the English throne, promising at his coronation to correct many of Williams less popular policies. Henry married Matilda of Scotland but continued to have a number of mistresses. Robert, who invaded in 1101, disputed Henrys control of England, the peace was short-lived, and Henry invaded the Duchy of Normandy in 1105 and 1106, finally defeating Robert at the Battle of Tinchebray. Henry kept Robert imprisoned for the rest of his life, following Henrys victory at the Battle of Brémule, a favourable peace settlement was agreed with Louis in 1120. Considered by contemporaries to be a harsh but effective ruler, Henry skilfully manipulated the barons in England, Normandy was also governed through a growing system of justices and an exchequer. Many of the officials who ran Henrys system were new men of obscure backgrounds rather than families of high status. Henry encouraged ecclesiastical reform, but became embroiled in a dispute in 1101 with Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury. He supported the Cluniac order and played a role in the selection of the senior clergy in England. Henrys only legitimate son and heir, William Adelin, drowned in the White Ship disaster of 1120, Henry took a second wife, Adeliza, in the hope of having another son, but their marriage was childless. In response to this, Henry declared his daughter, Matilda, his heir, the relationship between Henry and the couple became strained, and fighting broke out along the border with Anjou. Henry died on 1 December 1135 after a week of illness, despite his plans for Matilda, the King was succeeded by his nephew, Stephen of Blois, resulting in a period of civil war known as the Anarchy. Henry was probably born in England in 1068, in either the summer or the last weeks of the year, possibly in the town of Selby in Yorkshire. His father was William the Conqueror, who had originally been the Duke of Normandy and then, following the invasion of 1066, became the King of England, the invasion had created an Anglo-Norman elite, many with estates spread across both sides of the English Channel. These Anglo-Norman barons typically had close links to the kingdom of France, Henrys mother, Matilda of Flanders, was the granddaughter of Robert II of France, and she probably named Henry after her uncle, King Henry I of France. Henry was the youngest of William and Matildas four sons, physically he resembled his older brothers Robert Curthose, Richard and William Rufus, being, as historian David Carpenter describes, short, stocky and barrel-chested, with black hair
11.
River Tweed
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The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is a river 97 miles long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed derives its name from its association with the River Tweed, the Tweed is one of the great salmon rivers of Britain and the only river in England where an Environment Agency rod licence is not required for angling. Tweed is a British name of uncertain meaning and it flows primarily through the scenic Borders region of Scotland, and eastwards from the settlements on opposing banks of Birgham and Carham forms the historic boundary between Scotland and England. It rises in the Lowther Hills at Tweeds Well near where the Clyde, draining northwest, Annan, Tweed and Clyde rise oot the ae hillside is a saying from the Border region. East of Kelso, it becomes a section of the part of the border. Entering England, its reaches are in Northumberland, where it enters the North Sea at Berwick-upon-Tweed. The rivers valley floor is a field and the relic of a paleo-ice stream that flowed through the area during the last glaciation. Major towns through which the Tweed flows include Innerleithen, Peebles, Galashiels, Melrose, Kelso, Coldstream and Berwick-upon-Tweed, where it flows into the North Sea
12.
Kingdom of Gwynedd
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The Principality or Kingdom of Gwynedd was one of several successor states to the Roman Empire that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. Based in northwest Wales, the rulers of Gwynedd repeatedly rose to preeminence and were acclaimed as King of the Britons before losing their power in civil wars or invasions and that realm lasted until the conquest of Wales by Edward I in 1283. The sons of their leader, Cunedda, were said to have possessed the land between the rivers Dee and Teifi, the modern preserved county of Gwynedd and principal area of Gwynedd are both somewhat smaller. The 5th-century Cantiorix Inscription now in Penmachno church seems to be the earliest record of the name and it is in memory of a man named Cantiorix and the Latin inscription is Cantiorix hic iacit/Venedotis cives fuit/consobrinos Magli magistrati, Cantiorix lies here. He was a citizen of Gwynedd and a cousin of Maglos the magistrate, the use of terms such as citizen and magistrate maybe cited as evidence that Romano-British culture and institutions continued in Gwynedd long after the legions had withdrawn. As early as the 2nd century, there may have been an Irish presence in the region as Ptolemy marks the Llŷn Peninsula as the Promontory of the Gangani which is also a name he recorded in Ireland, the region became known as Venedotia in Latin. The name was attributed to a specific Irish colony on Anglesey. According to traditional pedigrees, Cuneddas grandfather was Padarn Beisrudd, Paternus of the red cloak, nennius recounts how Cunedda brought order to North Wales and after his death Gwynedd was divided among his sons, Dynod was awarded Dunoding, another son Ceredig received Ceredigion, and so forth. According to Professor John Davies, here is a determinedly Brythonic, nevertheless, there was generally quick abandonment of Roman political, social, and ecclesiastical practices and institutions within Gwynedd and elsewhere in Wales. These early petty kings or princelings adopted the title rhi in Welsh, later replaced by brenin, genealogical lists compiled around 960 bear out that a number of these early rulers claimed degrees of association with the old Roman order, but do not appear in the official royal lineages. It may be assumed that the stronger kings annexed the territories of their weaker neighbors, other evidence supports Nenniuss claim that a leader came to north Wales and brought the region a measure of stability, although an Irish Gaelic element remained until the mid-5th century. During that peace he established a mighty kingdom, after Cadwallon, Gwynedd appears to have held a pre-eminent position amongst the petty Cambrian states in the post-Roman period. The great-grandson of Cunedda, Maelgwn Hir Maelgwn the Tall, was one of the most famous leaders in Welsh history, there are several legends about his life concerning miracles performed either by him or in his presence. Maelgwn was curiously described as the dragon of the island by Gildas which was possibly a title, Maelgwn eventually died in 547 from the plague leaving a succession crisis in his wake. His son in law, Elidyr Mwynfawr of the Kingdom of Strathclyde, claimed the throne and invaded Gwynedd to displace Maelgwns son, Elidyr was killed in the attempt but his death was then avenged by his relatives who ravaged the coast of Arfon. Rhun counter-attacked and exacted the same penalty on the lands of his foes in what is now central Scotland, Rhun returned to Gwynedd and the rest of his reign was far less eventful. He was succeeded by his son, Beli ap Rhun in c, on the accession of Belis son Iago ap Beli in c. 599, the situation in Britain had deteriorated significantly, most of the area today called northern England and been overrun by the invading Angles of Deira and Bernicia who were in the process of forming the Kingdom of Northumbria
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Chambers, Robert & Thomson, Thomas Napier (1857). Alexander I. A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen. 1. Glasgow: Blackie and son. pp. 46–47.
