2021-05-24 Mon

David I one of the most powerful Scottish kings reigning from 1124 to 1153.

The youngest son of Malcolm III and Margaret of Wessex, David spent most of his childhood in Scotland but was exiled to England temporarily in 1093.

He admitted into Scotland an Anglo-French (Norman) aristocracy that played a major part in the later history of the kingdom. He also reorganized Scottish Christianity to conform with continental European and English usages and founded many religious communities, mostly for Cistercian monks and Augustinian canons.

The term "Davidian Revolution" is used by many scholars to summarise the changes which took place in Scotland during his reign. These included his foundation of burghs and regional markets, implementation of the ideals of Gregorian Reform, the foundation of monasteries, Normalisation of the Scottish government, and the introduction of feudalism through immigrant French and Anglo-French knights.

David's acquisition of the mines at Alston on the South Tyne enabled him to begin minting the Kingdom of Scotland's first silver coinage.

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