David I or
Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim (
Modern:
Daibhidh I mac [Mhaoil] Chaluim;
[1] 1083 x 1085 – 24 May 1153) was a 12th-century ruler who was
Prince of the Cumbrians (1113–1124) and later
King of the Scots (1124–1153). The youngest son of
Máel Coluim III (Malcolm III) and
Margaret of Wessex, David spent most of his childhood in
Scotland, but was exiled to
England temporarily in 1093. 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 David's brother
Alexander I of Scotland died in 1124, David chose, with the backing of Henry I, to take the
Kingdom of Scotland (
Alba) for himself. He was forced to engage in warfare against his rival and nephew,
Máel Coluim mac Alaxandair. Subduing the latter seems to have taken David ten years, a struggle that involved the destruction of
Óengus,
Mormaer of Moray. David's 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 Henry's 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, despite his defeat at the
Battle of the Standard in 1138.
The term "
Davidian Revolution" is used by many scholars to summarise the changes which took place in the Kingdom of Scotland during his reign. These included his foundation of
burghs, implementation of the ideals of
Gregorian Reform, foundation of
monasteries, Normanisation of the Scottish government, and the introduction of
feudalism through immigrant
French and
Anglo-French knights.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_I_of_Scotlandhttp://hometown.aol.com/ttrim36387/douglas.htmlhttp://www.scotsheritage.co.uk/Timeline/Timeline2.htm1097 An English army under Edgar the Aetheling, now reconciled to the Normans, put Edgar, son of Malcolm and St. Margaret, on the Scottish throne.
1107 On Edgar's death he was succeeded by his brother Alexander I, who ruled personally Lothian north of the Lammermuirs and the northern purely Gaelic districts, while David, the youngest son of Malcolm and Margaret, governed the southern part of the kingdom.
o Maud de Senlis
David's time as
Prince of the Cumbrians and Earl marks the beginning of his life as a great territorial lord. His earldom probably began in 1113, when Henry I arranged David's marriage to
Maud, 2nd Countess of Huntingdon, who was the heiress to the Huntingdon–Northampton lordship. As her husband, David used the title of Earl, and there was the prospect that David's children by her would inherit all the honours borne by Matilda's father
Waltheof. 1113 is the year when David, for the first time, can be found in possession of territory in what is now Scotland.