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On April 6th 1320, the Declaration of Arbroath was drawn up by the monks of Arbroath Abbey.

The Declaration was probably drawn up by Bernard, Abbot of Arbroath. It was authenticated by seals, as documents at that time were not signed. Only 19 seals now remain of what might have been 50 originally, and many are in poor condition.

The top picture show 18 of the seals, I put this together ten years ago and I recall I could only find 18, which suited me as it made it look neater!

Sources differ a wee bit, one tells me it opens with a list of 40 nobles, another says 39, so if you find discrepancies don’t point them out, just accept the post as the work of a guy trying his best to tell a story as best he can.

There are 39 (40?) names (eight earls and thirty one barons) at the start of the document. Presumably their seals were all to be appended, but it is too difficult to tell now if that did happen, certainly the ribbons are there for all the named people.

The Declaration of Arbroath is a modern name given to the document, originally I doubt it had a name, it was after all just a letter to the then head of the church Pope John XXII. I say just, but it was much more than “just a letter” it was a statement the Scots were sending out.

Many look at Bannockburn as the end of Scotland’s fight for independence, but it was only the beginning of the end.

Scottish raids on the north of England, Edward II of England would not drop the long-standing English claim to overlordship of Scotland. Neither Edward nor the Pope recognised Robert I as king of Scots, he had been excommunicated after the murder of John Comyn in a church.

A papal attempt to secure peace failed when The Bruce recaptured the border town of Berwick in 1318. The Pope issued letters in November 1319 summoning the King and four Scottish bishops to attend the papal court. Their refusal to obey the summons led to their excommunication. The Declaration was part of their diplomatic counter-offensive.

The Declaration’s content was probably planned at a meeting of the King and his council of advisers at Newbattle Abbey, just south of Edinburgh, in March 1320. Arrangements were presumably made then for the barons to seal the letter. The Declaration was written in Latin on sheep-skin, and is dated at the monastery of Arbroath in Angus, the location of the king’s chancery or writing-office. King Robert’s chancellor, Bernard, was abbot of Arbroath. The letter was written by one of the chancery scribes. It is about 1000 words long. Its author included short quotations from the Bible and from the 1st century BC Roman author and politician, Sallust, re-phrased to emphasise the argument.

The Declaration emphasises Scotland’s long history as an independent Christian kingdom. It contains a brief account of the mythical origins of the Scots: they had overcome many difficulties in their journey from Greater Scythia (to the north of the Black Sea) via Spain to Scotland. It explains that they had lived in freedom and peace until King Edward I (father of the present King Edward II) invaded Scotland and caused widespread havoc.

The Declaration asserts that the Scots were saved by their present King, Robert Bruce, whom they will defend as their king unless he seeks to make their kingdom subject to the English king. The Pope is asked to persuade Edward II to leave the Scots in peace, and Scotland’s support for a crusade is pledged if peace should be achieved. The letter closes with a threat to the Pope – that he would be answerable to God should war continue!

The letter implies that all Scots were steadfast in their support of Robert I as king. But in reality that support was not universal. The majority of the barons named in the Declaration were King Robert’s loyal supporters, but not all. Furthermore, Robert’s dynasty was fragile – his heir, grandson Robert Stewart, was only four years old.

It famously said: “For as long as 100 of us shall remain alive, we shall never in any wise consent submit to the rule of the English, for it is not for glory we fight, nor riches, or for honour, but for freedom alone, which no good man loses but with his life.”

I think most of us know the quote, or at least part of it, most Scots that is, not that we were taught it at School, although that has changed somewhat with education now being a devolved matter and Scottish history is being introduced to our bairns, it’s not perfect yet, but is getting there.

Back in medieval times seals were used in the same way signatures are nowadays, documents like this were never signed.

So why send it to the Pope, well at the time, in Christendom, which was mainly in Europe, the Pope was the main mediator, everyone believed in God, to question him and his messengers, it was heresy, Pope John XXII was the head honcho!

I’ve mentioned in previous posts about Robert the Bruce not having the full support of the Scottish people, and even when the letter was drawn up this was true, yes he had the majority, but we know that later in the summer of 1320 there was a conspiracy quelled against Robert Bruce. Some of the barons that signed this letter were later shown to have been part of this conspiracy against him. Of those named in the letter Lord David de Brechin, who didn’t’ plot but knew of the plot and never told anyone, was executed and drawn through the streets of Perth. William II de Soules was found guilty, and incarcerated in an act of clemency, only to be found dead later in mysterious circumstances. Bruce was ruthless in putting the plot down. Roger de Mowbray’s end was perhaps the most gruesome. He died in custody before his trial and yet his body was brought before the parliament and made to stand in order to receive judgement and sentencing of being drawn, hung and beheaded! Bruce did however intervene at the end to allow a decent burial, probably to enhance his own reputation after a merciless coup of dissenters.

As I said earlier the “Declaration” is a newer title given to the document, beforehand it was given a long and literal description along the lines of ‘A letter to the Pope by the barons and freeholders of Scotland’. So how did we get the name that it is known as today.

There have been comparisons made with the 1776 US Declaration of Independence. There is no evidence that the Americans used our document as a template, in fact there are historians who point to the US Declaration actually being the inspiration for The Declaration of Arbroath getting it’s new name. It’s an interesting take and we can’t really discount it, or why would the document suddenly get a name after hundreds of years?

So was the letter a success? Well we know that the Pope replied on 28th of August In his reply to the letter, the Pope urged a reconciliation between the warring sides. It would be some years before this came about.

Following the deposition of Edward II in 1327 and consequent discord in England, an opportunity arose to negotiate a settlement. The treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton in March 1328 was supposed to effect a “final and perpetual peace”. It included the recognition of Robert I as king, and of Scottish independence.

In 1329 the Pope issued a bull permitting the anointing and crowning of the king of Scots by the bishop of St Andrews as the Pope’s representative, a very important concession, originally, not only Robert the Bruce was excommunicated, Scotland as a Nation was, the 1229 bull was the end of a long road in reconciling with the church.

List of signatories

Duncan, Earl of Fife (changed sides in 1332)

Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray (nephew and supporter of King Robert although briefly fought for the English after being captured by them, Guardian of the Realm after Robert the Bruce's death)

Patrick Dunbar, Earl of March (or Earl of Dunbar) (changed sides several times)

Malise, Earl of Strathearn (King Robert loyalist)

Malcolm, Earl of Lennox (King Robert loyalist)

William, Earl of Ross (earlier betrayed King Robert's female relatives to the English)

Magnús Jónsson, Earl of Orkney

William de Moravia, Earl of Sutherland

Walter, High Steward of Scotland (King Robert loyalist)

William de Soules, Lord of Liddesdale and Butler of Scotland (later imprisoned for plotting against the King)

Sir James Douglas, Lord of Douglas (one of King Robert's leading loyalists)

Roger de Mowbray, Lord of Barnbougle and Dalmeny (later imprisoned for plotting against King Robert)

David, Lord of Brechin (later executed for plotting against King Robert)

David de Graham of Kincardine

Ingram de Umfraville (fought on the English side at Bannockburn but then changed sides to support King Robert)

John de Menteith, guardian of the earldom of Menteith (earlier betrayed William Wallace to the English)

Alexander Fraser of Touchfraser and Cowie

Gilbert de la Hay, Constable of Scotland (King Robert loyalist)

Robert Keith, Marischal of Scotland (King Robert loyalist)

Henry St Clair of Rosslyn

John de Graham, Lord of Dalkeith, Abercorn & Eskdale

David Lindsay of Crawford

William Oliphant, Lord of Aberdalgie and Dupplin (briefly fought for the English)

Patrick de Graham of Lovat

John de Fenton, Lord of Baikie and Beaufort William de Abernethy of Saltoun

David Wemyss of Wemyss

William Mushet

Fergus of Ardrossan

Eustace Maxwell of Caerlaverock

William Ramsay

William de Monte Alto, Lord of Ferne

Alan Murray D

onald Campbell

John Cameron

Reginald le Chen, Lord of Inverugie and Duffus

Alexander Seton

Andrew de Leslie

Alexander Straiton

In addition, the names of the following do not appear in the document's text, but their names are written on seal tags and their seals are present:

Alexander de Lamberton (became a supporter of Edward Balliol after the Battle of Dupplin Moor, 1332)

Edward Keith (subsequently Marischal of Scotland; d. 1346)

Arthur Campbell (Bruce loyalist)

Thomas de Menzies (Bruce loyalist)

John de Inchmartin (became a supporter of Edward Balliol after the Battle of Dupplin Moor, 1332; d. after 1334)

John Duraunt

Thomas de Morham

In 2016 the Declaration of Arbroath was placed on the UK Memory of the World Register, part of UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme.

2020 was the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath's composition; an Arbroath 2020 festival was arranged but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh displayed it last year for the first time in fifteen years, I visited a couple of times, but was unable to take a photo as they banned photography. 😳

#scotland #scottish #history #document #arbroath

Ian Fleming (British, 1906-1990), The Brown Sail, Arbroath. Oil on canvas, 30 x 40 in.

#ian fleming #scottish art #british art #sail #boats #arbroath