| dc.description.abstract | The origins and development of a sense of Scottish national identity have long been
a matter of critical importance for historians of medieval Scotland. Indeed, this was
also the case for historians in medieval Scotland itself: this period saw the
composition of a number of chronicles that sought to describe the history of
Scotland and the Scottish people from their earliest origins until the chroniclers’
own time. The dissertation explores ideas of national identity within two medieval
Scottish chronicles, known today as Gesta Annalia I and Gesta Annalia II.
Taken together, these two chronicles, one written before the Wars of
Independence, the other after, can offer valuable insights into the development of
the identity of the Scottish kingdom and its people, and the way in which this was
affected by the Wars of Independence, providing evidence both of continuity and of
contrast. This is of particular interest with respect to their portrayals of the role of
the Scottish king and his relationship with the kingdom, given the way in which
Robert I and his supporters later apparently attempted to shape the narrative of
Scotland’s past and the position of its king to their own ends.
The dissertation therefore seeks to investigate how such issues of Scotland’s
identity are presented in Gesta Annalia I and Gesta Annalia II. The first section of
the study discusses the construction of these texts. The second then looks at how
terms such as ‘Scotland’ and ‘Scot’ are understood in the two chronicles, and the
relationship between these ideas of the Scottish kingdom and the Scottish people.
The third section examines the presentation of the crown, church and language in
the chronicles, and the role of these elements in uniting the kingdom and fostering
this sense of identity, arguing that the continuity of these ideas between the two
texts suggests that many elements of Scotland’s national identity were well-established
by the later thirteenth century. | en |
