Scottish Independence and the Idea of BritainFrom the Picts to Alexander III

Cultural contacts and ethnic origins in Viking Age Wales and northern Britain: the case of Albanus, Britain's first inhabitant and Scottish ancestor

“…However, the idea of continuity of descent connecting Albanus with contemporary Gaels was not adopted, since no genealogy linking contemporary rulers or nobles with Albanus exists. 108 As a result, the potential to give Alba a more prestigious place among the peoples of the world, by stressing brotherhood with the Romans, Britons and Franks, as found in the ' Table of Nations', or through a Trojan and Italian ancestry (as Brutus' brother), was not realised.…”

Planning for pilgrims: St Andrews as the second Rome

“…54 The Scottish Church and crown resisted such claims vigorously and one bishop of St Andrews around 1100 was already styling himself archbishop without papal sanction -a claim that David I first pursued in 1125. 55 A large part of the Scottish argument rested on the possession of corporeal relics believed to belong to Saint Andrew. How they came to be there is not known, but the earliest suggestion of their presence relates to the mid-tenth century and the Irish pilgrim who died at Kinrimund, which eventually in the twelfth century is renamed 'St Andrews'.…”

Britain and the beginning of Scotland

“…The long struggle by Scottish bishops-particularly Glasgow and St Andrews-to escape the claims of archbishops of York and Canterbury to their obedience was regarded from as early as 1120 as relating directly to the kingdom's freedom. 62 In this context, however, Henry II's overlordship did not, on the face of it, appear to lead to a heightened sense of regnal unity. In contrast to the lords who began to identify with the kingdom as a single country of shared laws and customs, the late 1170s saw a determined campaign by the bishop of Glasgow to establish the independence of his diocese as a special daughter of Rome.…”

“…It was only for this reason that they could be conceived of (with the exception of Galloway) as a discrete entity distinct from the English kingdom and church. 65 …”

“…In contrast to the lords who began to identify with the kingdom as a single country of shared laws and customs, the late 1170s saw a determined campaign by the bishop of Glasgow to establish the independence of his diocese as a special daughter of Rome. 63 When the kingdom was finally recognised as a province of the Church (probably in 1189), it was as a collection of bishops directly under the pope rather than with an archbishop of its own. 64 This extraordinary arrangement, however, was only possible because the bishoprics belonged to a kingdom.…”