1.
Coronation
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The ceremony can also be conducted for the monarchs consort, either simultaneously with the monarch or as a separate event. A ceremony without the placement of a crown on the head is known as an enthronement. Coronations are still observed in the United Kingdom, Tonga, in addition to investing the monarch with symbols of state, Western-style coronations have often traditionally involve anointing with holy oil, or chrism as it is often called. Wherever a ruler is anointed in this way, as in Great Britain and Tonga, some other lands use bathing or cleansing rites, the drinking of a sacred beverage, or other religious practices to achieve a comparable effect. Such acts symbolise the granting of divine favour to the monarch within the relevant spiritual-religious paradigm of the country, in the past, concepts of royalty, coronation and deity were often inexorably linked. Rome promulgated the practice of worship, in Medieval Europe. Coronations were once a direct expression of these alleged connections. Thus, coronations have often been discarded altogether or altered to reflect the nature of the states in which they are held. However, some monarchies still choose to retain an overtly religious dimension to their accession rituals, others have adopted simpler enthronement or inauguration ceremonies, or even no ceremony at all. In non-Christian states, coronation rites evolved from a variety of sources, buddhism, for instance, influenced the coronation rituals of Thailand, Cambodia and Bhutan, while Hindu elements played a significant role in Nepalese rites. The ceremonies used in modern Egypt, Malaysia, Brunei and Iran were shaped by Islam, Coronations, in one form or another, have existed since ancient times. Egyptian records show coronation scenes, such as that of Seti I in 1290 BC, judeo-Christian scriptures testify to particular rites associated with the conferring of kingship, the most detailed accounts of which are found in II Kings 11,12 and II Chronicles 23,11. Following the assumption of the diadem by Constantine, Roman and Byzantine emperors continued to wear it as the symbol of their authority. Although no specific coronation ceremony was observed at first, one gradually evolved over the following century, the emperor Julian was hoisted upon a shield and crowned with a gold necklace provided by one of his standard-bearers, he later wore a jewel-studded diadem. Later emperors were crowned and acclaimed in a manner, until the momentous decision was taken to permit the Patriarch of Constantinople to physically place the crown on the emperors head. Historians debate when exactly this first took place, but the precedent was established by the reign of Leo II. This ritual included recitation of prayers by the Byzantine prelate over the crown, after this event, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the ecclesiastical element in the coronation ceremonial rapidly develop. This was usually performed three times, following this, the king was given a spear, and a diadem wrought of silk or linen was bound around his forehead as a token of regal authority
2.
Scone, Scotland
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Scone is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Hence the modern village of Scone, and the village of Old Scone. Both sites lie in the province of Gowrie, as well as the old county of Perthshire. Old Scone was the capital of the Kingdom of Alba. In the Middle Ages it was an important royal centre, used as a royal residence, around the royal site grew the town of Perth and the Abbey of Scone. Scotland itself was called or shown on maps as the Kingdom of Scone. A comparison would be that Ireland was often called the Kingdom of Tara, Tara, like Scone, Scone was therefore the closest thing the Kingdom of Scotland had in its earliest years to a capital. In either 1163 or 1164 King Malcolm IV described Scone Abbey as in principali sede regni nostri, in the principal seat of our kingdom. By this point, however, the rule of the King of the Scots was not confined to the Kingdom of Scotland, the king also ruled in Lothian, Strathclyde and the Honour of Huntingdon, and spent much of his time in these localities too. Moreover, the king was itinerant and had little permanent bureaucracy, but in the medieval sense Scone can in many ways be called the capital of Scotland and was often referred to as the Royal City of Scone. Many comparisons can be drawn between the City of Westminster and the City of Scone, both were medieval epicenters of Royal power. Both were located beside crossing points of major rivers - the highways of the medieval period -, the origins of a settlement of any kind at Scone are unknown, although thought to be early medieval. The origins could be pre-Roman as there is evidence of a well-established and sophisticated Iron Age people flourishing in this part of Scotland. Direct evidence however is lacking and so Scones story is thought to begin in the wake of the Roman exit from Scottish history, Scone at this point played a crucial role in the formation and governance of the ancient Kingdom of Alba and later Kingdom of Scotland. In the 12th century, various foreign influences prompted the Scottish kings to transform Scone into a more convincing royal center, many historians have argued that the monastery or Priory was founded specifically in 1114 by Alexander I of Scotland. There is growing evidence that there had been an early Christian cult called the Culdees based at Scone dating from at least the 9th century, the Culdees were eventually merged with the Augustinian canons who arrived from Nostell Priory in Yorkshire as part of the 1114 re-establishment. Scone at this time lay on a part of the river Tay. This advantage was at times a disadvantage as the Vikings came across the North Sea to launch their lightening raids
3.
Macbeth, King of Scotland
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Mac Bethad mac Findlaích was King of the Scots from 1040 until his death. Evidence indicates that he spent much of his time in and around the Forres area of Moray, defeating his cousin Duncan, then king of Moray, Macbeth is best known as the subject of William Shakespeares tragedy Macbeth and the many works it has inspired. Shakespeares play is based mainly upon Holinsheds Chronicles, and is not historically accurate, the name Mac-Bethad, from which the anglicized MacBeth is derived, means son of life. Although it has the appearance of a Gaelic patronymic it does not have any meaning of filiation, an alternative proposed derivation is that it is a corruption of macc-bethad meaning one of the elect. Some sources make Macbeth a grandson of King Malcolm II and thus a cousin to Duncan I and he was possibly also a cousin to Thorfinn the Mighty, Earl of Orkney and Caithness. Nigel Tranter, in his novel Macbeth the King, went so far as to portray Macbeth as Thorfinns half-brother, however, this is speculation arising from the lack of historical certainty regarding the number of daughters Malcolm had. When Cnut the Great came north in 1031 to accept the submission of King Malcolm II, Malcolm, king of the Scots, submitted to him, and became his man, with two other kings, Macbeth and Iehmarc. Whatever the true state of affairs in the early 1030s, it more probable that Macbeth was subject to the king of Alba, Malcolm II. The Prophecy of Berchan, apparently alone in near contemporary sources, says Malcolm died a violent death, tigernachs chronicle says only, Máel Coluim son of Cináed, king of Alba, the honour of western Europe, died. Malcolm IIs grandson Duncan, later King Duncan I, was acclaimed as king of Alba on 30 November 1034, apparently without opposition. Duncan appears to have been tánaise ríg, the king in waiting, so far from being an abandonment of tanistry, as has sometimes been argued. Previous successions had involved strife between various rígdomna – men of royal blood, far from being the aged King Duncan of Shakespeares play, the real King Duncan was a young man in 1034, and even at his death in 1040 his youthfulness is remarked upon. Because of his youth, Duncans early reign was apparently uneventful and his later reign, in line with his description as the man of many sorrows in the Prophecy of Berchán, was not successful. In 1039, Strathclyde was attacked by the Northumbrians, and a raid led by Duncan against Durham turned into a disaster. Duncan survived the defeat, but the year he led an army north into Moray, Macbeths domain. There he was killed in action, at Bothnagowan, now Pitgaveny, near Elgin, by the men of Moray led by Macbeth, on Duncans death, Macbeth became king. No resistance is known at time, but it would have been entirely normal if his reign were not universally accepted. In 1045, Duncans father Crínán of Dunkeld was killed in a battle between two Scottish armies, John of Fordun wrote that Duncans wife fled Scotland, taking her children, including the future kings Malcolm III and Donald III with her
4.
Malcolm III of Scotland
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Malcolm was King of Scots from 1058 to 1093. Malcolms long reign of 35 years preceded the beginning of the Scoto-Norman age and he is the historical equivalent of the character of the same name in William Shakespeares Macbeth. Malcolm III fought a series of wars against the Kingdom of England and these wars did not result in any significant advances southward. Malcolms second wife, St. Margaret of Scotland, is Scotlands only royal saint, Malcolm himself had no reputation for piety, with the notable exception of Dunfermline Abbey in Fife he is not definitely associated with major religious establishments or ecclesiastical reforms. Malcolms father Duncan I became king in late 1034, on the death of Malcolm II, Duncans maternal grandfather, Duncans reign was not successful and he was killed by Macbeth on 15 August 1040. Although Shakespeares Macbeth presents Malcolm as a man and his father as an old one, it appears that Duncan was still young in 1040. Malcolms family did attempt to overthrow Macbeth in 1045, but Malcolms grandfather Crínán of Dunkeld was killed in the attempt, soon after the death of Duncan his two young sons were sent away for greater safety—exactly where is the subject of debate. According to one version, Malcolm was sent to England, based on Forduns account, it was assumed that Malcolm passed most of Macbeths seventeen-year reign in the Kingdom of England at the court of Edward the Confessor. An English invasion in 1054, with Siward, Earl of Northumbria in command, had as its goal the installation of one Máel Coluim and this Máel Coluim has traditionally been identified with the later Malcolm III. This interpretation derives from the Chronicle attributed to the 14th-century chronicler of Scotland, John of Fordun, the latter reported that Macbeth was killed in the battle by Siward, but it is known that Macbeth outlived Siward by two years. A. A. M. Duncan argued in 2002 that, using the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry as their source, Duncans argument has been supported by several subsequent historians specialising in the era, such as Richard Oram, Dauvit Broun and Alex Woolf. It has also suggested that Máel Coluim may have been a son of Owain Foel, British king of Strathclyde perhaps by a daughter of Malcolm II. In 1057 various chroniclers report the death of Macbeth at Malcolms hand, Macbeth was succeeded by his stepson Lulach, who was crowned at Scone, probably on 8 September 1057. Lulach was killed by Malcolm, by treachery, near Huntly on 23 April 1058, after this, Malcolm became king, perhaps being inaugurated on 25 April 1058, although only John of Fordun reports this. If he did visit the English court, he was the first reigning king of Scots to do so in more than eighty years. If a marriage agreement was made in 1059, it was not kept, equally, Malcolms raids in Northumbria may have been related to the disputed Kingdom of the Cumbrians, reestablished by Earl Siward in 1054, which was under Malcolms control by 1070. The Orkneyinga saga reports that Malcolm married the widow of Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Ingibiorg, although Ingibiorg is generally assumed to have died shortly before 1070, it is possible that she died much earlier, around 1058. The Orkneyinga Saga records that Malcolm and Ingibiorg had a son, Duncan II, Malcolms son Domnall, whose death is reported in 1085, is not mentioned by the author of the Orkneyinga Saga
5.
Moray
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Moray is one of the 32 Local Government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with coastline on the Moray Firth, between 1975 and 1996 Moray, with similar boundaries, was a district of the then Grampian Region. The name, first attested around 970 as Moreb, and in Latinised form by 1124 as Morauia, derives from the earlier Celtic forms *mori sea and *treb settlement. During the middle ages the Mormaerdom of Moray was much larger than the council area, covering much of what is now Highland. During this period Moray may for a time have either an independent kingdom or a highly autonomous vassal of Alba. In the early 12th century the mormaerdom/kingdom was defeated by David I of Scotland following a conflict with Óengus of Moray, after that the title became defunct until the 14th century when Thomas Randolph was granted the title Earl of Moray. The earldom would subsequently be destroyed and recreated four times, with its last creation surviving to this day, currently held by John Douglas Stuart, over the centuries the territory of the County of Moray contracted to the area around Elgin. The modern day boundaries of Moray date from the 1975 reorganisation of government in Scotland. The old County of Moray was merged with parts of Banffshire to create an enlarged Moray district, some territory to the west was lost to the Highland Region. In 1996, under the Local Government etc, act 1994, Moray became a single-tier subdivision of Scotland. The lieutenancy area and registration county of Moray cover smaller areas that are similar to the old county, Moray Council currently has 26 members elected using single transferable vote in 8 wards. Currently the council is controlled by an Independent-Conservative coalition, for elections to the House of Commons, Morays boundaries match with the Moray constituency. The current MP is Angus Robertson of the Scottish National Party, Moray is one of the SNPs longest continuously-held seats. For the Scottish Parliament, the majority of Moray is in the Moray constituency, the eastern corner of Moray is instead in the Banffshire and Buchan Coast constituency and the North East Scotland electoral region. In the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Moray voted No by a percentage of 57. 6%. In the 2016 European Union membership referendum, Moray voted Remain by a 50. 1% margin and it had the biggest percentage for Leave out of all the Scottish council areas and the narrowest margin of victory for either side anywhere in the UK. The large majority of Morays population live in the part of the district. Elgin is by far the largest town, being home to 25% of the population at the 2011 census, there are 45 primary and eight secondary schools in Moray and the council currently has responsibility for educating more than 13,000 school pupils
6.
Rhynie, Aberdeenshire
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Rhynie is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland which the A97 road runs through, situated 14 miles northwest of Alford. The Rhynie Chert is named after the village as well as the plant genus Rhynia. The Rhynie Chert is a sediment deposited in the Devonian period which contains the oldest fossil insect in the world, the missionary, teacher and engineer Alexander Murdoch Mackay was born in Rhynie on 13 October 1849. The Station Hotel at Rhynie is mentioned in the sketch The Will by Scotland the What, the Rhynie Man now stands inside Woodhill House in Aberdeen. Among the finds at the site were fragments of a late 5th or 6th century Roman amphora that must have been imported from the Mediterranean region, archaeologists working at the excavation have speculated that the settlement may have been a royal site occupied by Pictish kings. Rhynie in the Gazetteer for Scotland
7.
Iona
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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 Gaelic monasticism for four centuries and is renowned for its tranquility. It is a popular tourist destination and a place for retreats and its modern Gaelic name means Iona of Columba. The Hebrides have been occupied by the speakers of languages since the Iron Age. Nonetheless few, if any, can have accumulated so many different names over the centuries as the now known in English as Iona. The earliest forms of the name enabled place-name scholar William J. Watson to show that the name meant something like yew-place. The element Ivo-, denoting yew, occurs in Ogham inscriptions and in Gaulish names and it is possible that the name is related to the mythological figure, Fer hÍ mac Eogabail, foster-son of Manannan, the forename meaning man of the yew. The possible confusion results from ì, despite its original etymology, eilean Idhe means the isle of Iona, also known as Ì nam ban bòidheach. The modern English name comes of yet another variant, Ioua, iouas change to Iona, attested from c.1274, results from a transcription mistake resulting from the similarity of n and u in Insular Minuscule. Iona lies about 2 kilometres from the coast of Mull and it is about 2 kilometres wide and 6 kilometres long with a resident population of 125. The geology of the island consists mainly of Precambrian Lewisian gneiss with Torridonian sedimentary rocks on the eastern side, like other places swept by ocean breezes, there are few trees, most of them are near the parish church. Ionas highest point is Dùn Ì,101 metres, an Iron Age hill fort dating from 100 BC – AD200. Ionas geographical features include the Bay at the Back of the Ocean and Càrn Cùl ri Éirinn, the main settlement, located at St. Ronans Bay on the eastern side of the island, is called Baile Mòr and is also known locally as The Village. The primary school, post office, the two hotels, the Bishops House and the ruins of the Nunnery are here. The Abbey and MacLeod Centre are a short walk to the north, port Bàn beach on the west side of the island is home to the Iona Beach Party. The steamer Cathcart Park carrying a cargo of salt from Runcorn to Wick ran aground on Soa on 15 April 1912, in the early Historic Period Iona lay within the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata. The island was the site of an important monastery during the Early Middle Ages. Columba and twelve companions went into exile on Iona and founded a monastery there, many satellite institutions were founded, and Iona became the centre of one of the most important monastic systems in Great Britain and Ireland
8.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
