The Ancient Honours of Scotland
A History of the Crown Jewels of Medieval Kings
© Kim Rush
Aug 11, 2009
The first account of a coronation ceremony of a Scottish king was written in 574 C.E. According to the account, an angel appeared to the Abbot of Iona, St. Columba, and commanded him to proclaim Áedán mac Gabhráin King of Scots of Dál Riata. There is no mention of Columba crowning or anointing the new king. Instead, mac Gabhráin was ordained by Columba.
Kings in early medieval Scotland were more like tribal warlords, but as time passed, the nature of kingship changed. The scepter and the sword were recognized as symbols of sovereignty. In 842, Kenneth mac Alpin, the King of the Scots, also became the King of the Picts. The Scottish royal house was now a dynasty. No regalia have survived from this time period.
The next account of coronation ceremony is from 1249. In his Chronicle, John of Fordun wrote of the coronation of King Alexander III. The coronation was held outside. The central act was the setting of the King on a stone. This symbolized the king’s union with the land and its people. There is no mention of King Alexander being crowned or invested with any other symbol of sovereignty.
Permission from the Pope
By the 13th century, Scottish kings were determined to give the Christian rites of coronation and anointment a more central place in the coronation. King Alexander II asked the pope on many occasions for the privilege for the Kings of Scots to be crowned and anointed. The English king, however, wanted to limit the authority of the Scottish kings and sent representatives to the Pope. All of Alexander’s requests were rejected. In 1251, two years after Alexander III’s coronation, Pope Innocent IV declared that the permission English kings was not needed before the Scottish kings could be anointed and crowned. However, it would be a further 78 years before full Papal recognition was granted.
John Balliol
The first written record of a crown and regalia is from 1296, the end of the reign of John Balliol. Balliol had been placed on the throne by King Edward I of England. At a ceremony in 1296, Balliol lost his throne and, in a ceremony at Montrose Castle, gave the Honours of Scotland to the English king. The regalia, along with the Stone of Scone, upon which the Scottish thrones sat during the coronation, were taken to England.
Robert the Bruce
In 1306, Robert the Bruce seized the Scottish throne. On March 25, atop the ancient Moot Hill of Scone, he was crowned with a hastily made circlet of gold. After his victory over the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, he had a new set of Honours made.
In 1321, Robert the Bruce’s ambassador, Alexander Kinninmonth, finally won the Pope’s consent for Scottish kings to be crowned and anointed. The bull was issued six days after King Robert died. It was the final recognition of the independence of the Scottish kingdom by the highest authority in Christendom. From this point on, the crowning of the king was now the pre-eminent part of the coronation.
Scottish Independence
On November 24, 1331, David, the son of Robert the Bruce was crowned King David II at Scone. King David’s coronation confirmed Scotland’s status as an independent nation. A crown, sword of state, and scepter were used during the ceremony. These symbols of sovereignty were used by each of David’s successors until the reign of King James IV in 1488. King James and his son, James V, replaced the ancient regalia with the Honours that are now on display in the Crown Room in Edinburgh Castle. It is unknown what became of the ancient regalia.
Sources:
Burnett, Charles J. and Christopher J. Tabraham. The Honours of Scotland: The Story of the Scottish Crown Jewels. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, 1993.
VisitScotland.com. “The Honours of Scotland” (accessed August 11, 2009)
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