1535944

[SUSANNA KEENE.FTW]

REF: Scottish History website: When Malcolm IV died in 1165,
his brother, known as William the Lion (for his red rampant
lion on a yellow field) was king of Scotland. These colors and
the red rampant
lion were to become Scotland's heraldic colours (Royal
Standard). William the Lion of Scotland began an alliance with
France that would eventually lead to the "Auld Alliance."
Lowland Scotland and England had been having a series of
battles over possession of Northumbria in North England.
William the Lion wanted it back, (as his predecessor Malcolm IV
had returned it to England under threat of invasion), and
started the alliance with France leading to a conflict with
Anglo-Norman England. He launched a grand invasion of England
in 1174 to reclaim Northumbria. Henry II was now King of
England and involved in
France, so William the Lion invaded. But the enterprise
misfired, due to their own rashness and to an east coast mist,
attributed by both sides to be divine intervention. The Scots
were heavily defeated at Alnwick and William the Lion himself,
taken prisoner and sent to Normandy. There he was forced to
sign the Treaty of Falaise. By this humiliating document,
Scotland was placed under feudal subjection to England, the
Scottish church put under the jurisdiction of the English
Primate, Northumbria confirmed as English territory and the
castles of Southern Scotland garrisoned by English troops.
Fifteen years would pass before William the Lion was able to
redress the balance. In 1189, Richard Coeur de Lion (Richard
the Lionhearted), needing money for a Crusade, agreed to give
back the castles and renounce his feudal
superiority over Scotland in return for 10,000 marks. This sum
was a huge sum of money for Scotland to pay and it took them
many years and much taxation before they were able to
repurchase their own castles and land. Three years later, Pope
Celestine III released the Scottish church from English
supremacy and declared that thenceforth, it should be under
direct jurisdiction of Rome. It was the beginning of nearly 100
years of relative peace between England and Scotland. Scots
kings had other problems to worry about though, Celtic
Chieftains of the west (who still enjoyed a great measure of
independence) were in a more or less state of insurrection
against the central monarchy. Fergus, Prince
of Galloway had rebelled no less than three times against
Malcolm IV, and now in the reign of William the Lion, Fergus's
sons rose again, massacring with particular gusto, the
Anglo-Norman garrisons which had been stationed in southeast
Scotland under the Treaty of Falaise. It was to be a long time
before this last Celtic stronghold in the southwest Lowlands
was to be pacified. Further north and west were the dominions
of the Lords of the Isles and the Lords of Lorne. They regarded
themselves as independent rulers of their own kingdoms. These
are the Norse/Scots, with no particular loyalty or obligations
to the Royal House of Scotland. Their allegiance (loosely)
being to the Kings of Norway. Remember that in the reign of
Malcolm IV, William the Lion's predecessor, the Norse/Scot
blooded Somerled, King of Morvern, Lochaber, Argyll and the
southern Hebrides and Uncle by marriage to the Norwegian King
of the Isles,
had shown his contempt for Scottish Kings by sailing up the
River Clyde in his ships and sacking Glasgow. They were
eventually overcome by Malcolm's High Steward, Walter FitzAlan,
and Somerled himself was laid low by an unlucky spear thrust.
But to the Norse/Scots hearty warriors, that was just a setback
and Somerled's descendants, the MacDougall Lords of Lorne or
Lorn, and the MacDonald's Lord of the Isles; as well as the
MacLeods (pronounced MacClouds) and the MacLeans (pronounced
MacClane) were, in their turn, to carry out the tradition of
independence.

REF: Scottish History website: 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 Northumberland,
a possession which William had sought, in vain, from the
English king. William was a ferocious fighter and military
commander, but of questionable ability as a tactician, by
English chronicle accounts. He led a band of well armed men, a
mix of wild Irish Kerns, Norman-Scots, Celts and Galloway men.
According to the chroniclers the kerns "slaughtered children,
ripped open pregnant women, and cut down priests at their
atlars." But, this type of description of William's actions
were written by frightened and highly
propagandized English chroniclers, whose prose was so
compelling that later chroniclers and writers would use this
same propaganda when they described the behaviour of William
Wallace's men. The scarlet rampant lion on its yellow field,
soon to be Scotland's own standard, was fixed outside Carlisle
Castle as William attacked. But the castle kept the gates shut
so William's horsemen raided manors on both sides of Hadrian's
Wall, burning and killing with the dedicated ferocity of
knightly valour.
In 1174, at Alnwick, William the Lion and a small detachment
reached Alnwick Castle which he attempted to beseige. It was
not a wise decision. William was outnumbered by the English
garrison and even worse, a relief force of English soldiers
under Ralf de Glanvil was approaching from the south. Exactly
what happened next depends, somewhat, on which version you
read. One version claims that in a severe mist (common to both
versions), William saw a group of knights on horseback
approaching, and thinking them to be his men he rode to them.
When he got closer, he saw they were instead a body of English
cavalry, he was said not to be afraid, but couched his lance
and exclaimed "Now it will appear who knows how to be a
knight!" according to this version, a spear from the English
brought down his horse, and with his feet securely tied beneath
the belly of another, this time as a prisoner, he was taken to
English King Henry II in Northhampton. The other version
differs only in the manner of his unhorsing. In it, he was
skirmishing valiantly in a deep mist when he was unhorsed.
Before he could get up from the ground, his own horse rolled on
top of him and pinned him down whence the English took him
prisoner.
He was sent in chains to Henry II at Northhampton, but Henry,
was said to be too busy to deal with the captive king, so
William the Lion of Scotland was taken through England to the
Kent coast and from there, across the Channel to Henry II's
castle at Falaise in Normandy. The English king had recently
scourged his own body in penance for the murder of Thomas
Becket. Henry, now feeling purified by this, accepted Williams
capture as a gift from God and the dead archbishop (Becket).
Henry sent the Scots king to a prison in Falaise and sent an
avenging English army to Scotland, where it took the castles of
Berwick, Roxburgh, Jedburgh and Edinburgh, wasting or taxing
all the country. In bitter exile in Falaise,
Normandy, The Lion became a sheep. William was not married and
his brother was also a prisoner, the line of Canmore (from
Gaelic Cean more - large or big head), faced extinction, or at
least expulsion, if both were imprisoned until death. Henry II
now extracted an oath of allegiance from William, that Henry
was his feudal superior (a claim that Edward I and other future
English kings would use on Scotland). This time the English
king spelled out exactly what the act of homage meant: William
held Scotland only by permission of Henry II. Scottish soldiers
were to be evacuated from the castles and garrisons, and
replaced by English troops. And the entire expense(s) of the
English garrisons, now all over Scotland, were to be paid by
the Scots for the English occupation! It was a bitter and
humilating treaty for Scotland, the Scots had to endure this
humiliating subserviance to England and all it meant for 15
years. It was to be known as the Treaty of Falaise, and was a
sour pill for Scotland to swallow. In fact, the payments to the
English, for the Scots own land and castles, so severly taxed
the population,
Scotland nearly reverted to a country of peasants. Already a
just a moderate nation, in terms of wealth, compared to their
English neighbours, this taxation nearly destroyed Scotland.
But, luckily for Scotland, after 15 years of this occupation
and taxation, a new king was on the throne of England. The new
English king, Richard Coer de Lion; Richard Lionheart (more
commonly known as Richard the
Lionhearted), was much more interested in fame, battle and
glory he might receive from battling the infidels in the Holy
Land. So much so, he made overtures to William the Lion.
Richard was badly in need of quick funds, to mount a Crusade
(the third). Richard Lionheart agreed that for 10,000 merks of
silver for supplies and transportation to the Holy Land, he
would release William the Lion of Scotland from the humiliating
Treaty of Falaise, and would also return to William all the
Castles the English Crown still held in Scotland. William
agreed and even comtemplated purchasing Northumbria from
Richard Lionheart, which he was willing to sell for an
additional 15,000 merks. But Richard insisted on keeping the
castles in Northumbria, and without them, William realised it
would be impossible for him to keep a hold on Northumbria and
he withdrew the offer to purchase Northumbria - but did
repurchase Scotland and all its castles for the high sum agreed
upon. Scotland was nearly bankrupt from 15 years of taxation
and William's repurchase of his own land and castles must have
been another particularly nasty pill to ingest. It had been a
humiliating experience for him, for Scotland and its people.
But, he did so and thus saved Scotland (after nearly losing
it), barely, from becoming a North English province. Scotland
ecame independent once again and the surrendered castles were
returned for the agreed price and replaced with Scottish
garrisons. Richard Lionheart set off for the Holy Land on the
Third Crusade where he gained much fame, and eventual
imprisonment in Austria and his absense during those years from
England and English affairs left England in a sorry state with
John taking over as the new king of England. At the age of 53,
William the Lion fathered an heir by the illegitimate
granddaughter of Henry I whom the English had forced upon him.
An indication of their affection towards each other is
evidenced by the fact that they had been married 13 years
before she bore their son, Alexander. William tried to get his
claim to the northern counties of England, including
Northumbria (again), recognised by the new English King John.
But when this was unsuccessful, old William tried an invasion
of the area again. A skirmish and then a strange war resulted
in which William, at the last moment, supposedly due to a
Divine warning that appeared to him, decided against full
invasion. That is the legend at least. Most likely, he was
forestalled by English King John, who crossed the Border
himself, demanding a compensation for all damage done by
Williams army to the English Border area. There followed an
even stranger incident. A set of meetings and conflicts,
councils and stakes laid -- passed across gambling tables as if
some game were in progress. Another manor was burnt, an apology
made along with a gift from William to John of a hunting
falcon. It was a very strange and bizarre Border war where the
dependents and vassals were more eager to fight than the
principals. In the end, two of William's daughters were sent
south to the English court so that John might find husbands for
them (or so it was claimed), and until he did, he made them
pets of his court, kept them well dressed and fed lavish foods
such as figs. The war or almost-war, ended in weary alliance
with the dowry of 15,000 merks. In 1209 war became imminent
again but a peace was made at Norham and three years later
another amicable
settlement was reached between the two countries. Old and
senile, William the Lion died at Stirling on 4 December 1214,
and was buried at Arbroath. His hopes of expanding his kingdom
long since abandoned, though he did invest his son Alexander
(who would become Alexander II) with his own estates in
England. It is somewhat ironic that Scotlands Royal Standard
and colours of a red rampant lion on a field of yellow came
from this nobly named, seemingly brave, but ineffective warrior
at best.

Records not imported into INDI (individual) Gramps ID I2542:

Line ignored as not understood Line 59466: 2 SOUR @S085410@
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Skipped subordinate line Line 59468: 4 TEXT Date of Import: Aug 7, 2000