History of Scotland

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History of Scotland
Eras Prehistoric (timeline) 12,000 BC–700 BC Iron Age During the Roman Empire 69–384 Middle Ages Early High Late Early Modern Modern History (timeline)
Rule House of Alpin (843–878; 889–1040) House of Moray (1040–1058) House of Dunkeld (1058–1286) House of Balliol (1292–1296) House of Bruce (1306–1371) House of Stuart (1371–1652) (1660–1707) Commonwealth (1652–1660) Acts of Union 1707
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Culture Architecture Art The Kilt Literature Philosophy
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Before Roman times, prehistoric Scotland entered the Neolithic Era about 4000 BC, the Bronze Age about 2000 BC, and the Iron Age around 700 BC. The recorded history of Scotland begins with the arrival of the Roman Empire in the 1st century, when the province of Britannia reached as far north as the Antonine Wall. North of this was Caledonia, inhabited by the Picti, whose uprisings forced Rome's legions back to Hadrian's Wall. As Rome finally withdrew from Britain, a Gaelic tribe from Ireland called the Scoti began colonising Western Scotland and Wales.

The Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata was founded on the west coast of Scotland in the 6th century. In the following century, Irish missionaries introduced the previously pagan Picts to Celtic Christianity. Following England's Gregorian mission, the Pictish king Nechtan chose to abolish most Celtic practices in favour of the Roman rite, restricting Gaelic influence on his kingdom and avoiding war with Anglian Northumbria.^[1] Towards the end of the 8th century, the Viking invasions began, forcing the Picts and Gaels to cease their historic hostility to each other and to unite in the 9th century, forming the Kingdom of Scotland.

The Kingdom of Scotland was united under the House of Alpin, whose members fought among each other during frequent disputed successions. The last Alpin king, Malcolm II, died without a male issue in the early 11th century and the kingdom passed through his daughter's son to the House of Dunkeld or Canmore. The last Dunkeld king, Alexander III, died in 1286. He left only his infant granddaughter, Margaret, as heir, who died herself four years later. England, under Edward I, would take advantage of this questioned succession to launch a series of conquests, resulting in the Wars of Scottish Independence, as Scotland passed back and forth between the House of Balliol and the House of Bruce through the late Middle Ages. Scotland's ultimate victory confirmed Scotland as a fully independent and sovereign kingdom.

In 1707, the Kingdom of Scotland united with the Kingdom of England to create the new state of the Kingdom of Great Britain under the terms of the Treaty of Union. The Parliament of Scotland was subsumed into the newly created Parliament of Great Britain which was located in London, with 45 Members of Parliament (MPs) representing Scottish affairs in the newly created parliament.^[2] In 1999, a Scottish Parliament was reconvened and a Scottish Government re–established under the terms of the Scotland Act 1998, with Donald Dewar leading the first Scottish Government since 1707, until his death in 2000.^[3] In 2007, the Scottish National Party (SNP) were elected to government following the 2007 election, with first minister Alex Salmond holding a referendum on Scotland regaining its independence from the United Kingdom. Held on 18 September 2014, 55% of the electorate voted to remain a country of the United Kingdom, with 45% voting for independence.^[4]

During the Scottish Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution, Scotland became one of the commercial, intellectual and industrial powerhouses of Europe. Later, its industrial decline following the Second World War was particularly acute. Today, 5,490,100 people live in Scotland,^[5] the majority of which are located in the central belt of the country in towns and cities such as Ayr, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paisley and Kilmarnock, and cities such as Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverness to the north of the country. The economy has shifted from a heavy industry driven economy to be become one which is services and skills based, with Scottish Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimated to be worth £218 billion in 2023, including offshore activity such as North Sea oil extraction.^[6]