David I of Scotland

David I Of Scotland

David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim (Modern: Daibhidh I mac Chaluim; 1084 – 24 May 1153) was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians (1113–1124), Earl of Northampton and Huntingdon and later King of the Scots (1124–1153). The youngest son of Máel Coluim III (Malcolm III) and Margaret of Wessex, David spent his early years in Scotland, but was forced on the death of his parents, in 1093, into exile by his uncle and new King, Donald III of Scotland. Perhaps after 1100, he became a dependent at the court of King Henry I of England. 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.