Family Card - Person Sheet
Family Card - Person Sheet
NameWilliam I “The Lion” Dunkeld , King of Scots
Birth1143
Death4 Dec 1214, Stirling Castle, Scotland
BurialArbroath Abbey, Tayside, Scotland
MotherAdelicia de Warenne (~1120-1178)
Misc. Notes
NickNames:
The Lion

Coronation :
24 Dec 1165 Scone, Perth, Tayside, Scotland

Titles:
King of Scots (1165 - 1214)

William, King of Scotland, was nicknamed "The Lion" due to the rampant (standing on hind legs) red lion on a yellow field, which he had as his standard. It would go on to become Scotland's Royal Heraldic colours and is easily recognizable even today.

He was the second son of Henry, Earl of Huntingdon (died 1152), a son of King David I, he became king of Scotland on the death of his brother, the weak-willed Malcolm IV. In December 1165, William was crowned at Scone. Shortly after his accesssion to the throne, he spent some time at the English court of Henry II; then quarrelling with Henry, he arranged an alliance between the two countries, Scotland and France, which would take root again over 100 years later (in 1294) and last until 1746, known as the "Auld Alliance." The oldest mutual self-defence treaty in Europe. He arranged this treaty with French King Louis VII; and even assisted Henry's sons in their revolt against their father (Henry II of England) in 1173. In return for this aid, the younger Henry granted him Northumberland, a possession which William had sought in vain from the English king.
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Born in 1143, William succeeded his brother Malcolm at the age of twenty-two and held the throne against all comers for the next forty-nine years. Physically robust, he was known as 'the Lion', probably because of the lion rampant on his coat of arms. William strengthened the government of his predecessors and was the first king to bring the north of Scotland fully under control. He built a string of castles in Galloway and subdued his enemies by blinding and castrating their sons. He also founded a number of royal burghs to consolidate his hold on the country. Abroad he was less successful. He attempted to regain Northumbria by giving military aid to a rebellion in 1173 and 1174 against Henry II of England. In 1174 William was taken prisoner and compelled, by the provisions of the Treaty of Falaise, to swear fealty to the English king. Although Richard I of England annulled the treaty, in 1189, in exchange for 10,000 marks of silver, English claims to sovereignty over Scotland were based thereafter on precedent as well as the 10th-century alliances against the Vikings.
Spouses
ChildrenIsabel (~1165-)
Last Modified 25 Feb 2006Created 12 Oct 2023 using Reunion for Macintosh
Created Thursday, October 12, 2023 by Mike Perry

using Reunion for Macintosh