History, Ethnicity and Masculinity: models of authority in ‘Anglo-Norman’ Scotland

Twelfth-century Scotland is often presented as having undergone a ‘soft’ Norman conquest. In contrast to England where Norman dominance came through conquest and battle, in Scotland Normans were invited in by Scots kings (particularly David I 1124-53 and his grandsons Malcolm IV and William I) bringing, or coinciding, with the arrival of wider European cultural change including castle building, monasticism, burghs, knight service and fees. Since the period also saw the growth of government in Scotland, Anglo-Norman has a tendency to imply modernisation and that authority was based on ethnicity. Historiography, mostly associated with Geoffrey Barrow, has often tended to focus on the success of Norman or Anglo-French influence, leading to a historiographical challenge which stresses the strength and preservation of native or Gaelic lordships. Nearly all these terms are contentious in modern historiography so the purpose of this session is to consider one of the few narrative sources for this period and its purpose in more detail. Ailred of Rievaulx’s De bello standardii (Battle of the Standard) is often approached as a narrative showing ethnic tensions in Scotland between Gaels and Anglo-Norman newcomers. It could be more fruitfully considered by focusing on the nature of kingship, Ailred’s purpose in producing his text and if it fits with a wider context of clerical writings in mid-twelfth century Europe, particularly in Ailred’s use of masculinity as a tool of his narrative. What kind of kingship is he promoting and to what audience, and what is the purpose of his praise of David I’s son earl Henry who features so prominently in the text?

Since the current historiography treats the source as a narrative history, it will be useful to see how different methodological approaches can illuminate texts. The essential secondary reading by K. Lewis focuses on kingship and masculinity in the late medieval period but the concepts and approach she uses are worth applying to Ailred’s work.

Essential reading:

Ailred of Rievaulx’s De bello standardii (Battle of the Standard) in Scottish annals from English chroniclers, A.D. 500 to 1286 by Anderson, Allan Orr (1908), pp. 191-5, 197-207available as pdf from me and on Archive .org https://archive.org/details/scottishannalsfr00andeuoft

K. J Lewis, Chapter 1, ‘Kingship and Masculinity in Late Medieval England’ in her Kingship and Masculinity in Late Medieval England (Abingdon: Routledge, 2013).Not in University of Manchester library but available from me.

Further reading:Grant, A. 2013 Norman Expansion: Connections, Continuities and Contrasts. Stringer, K. & Jotischky, A. (eds.). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, p. 49-85 for a quick discussion of Ailred.

Aird, W. ‘ Frustrated masculinity: the relationship between William the Conqueror and his eldest son’ in Masculinity in Medieval Europe ed. D Hadley (Harlow, 1999)

Barrow, G, The Anglo-Norman Era (Oxford , 1980)

Hammond, M.H, ‘Ethnicity and the Writing of Medieval Scottish History’, Scottish Historical Review, 2006, Vol. 85 (1). pp. 1-27

Questions to consider:

1. What kind of kingship does Ailred present; does his account indicate the growth of government?

2. What role does ethnic difference play in political culture in the mid 12 th cen? How important is it? Is there an Anglo-Norman era in 12th cen northern Britain?

3. What is Ailred’s purpose with this text?

4. How does Ailred use masculinity?

5. Is masculinity a useful tool for analysing kingship?

6. Is Ailred promoting hegemonic masculinity and why might he do so?

Ailred [Ælred, Æthelred] of Rievaulx (1110–1167), religious writer and abbot of Rievaulx, was probably the youngest of the three sons of Eilaf, the last hereditary priest of the church of St Andrew at Hexham, grandson of Eilaf, treasurer of Durham, and great-grandson of the learned Alfred, son of Westou, sacristan of Durham and guardian of the shrine of St Cuthbert.

After 1124 he joined the court of David I, king of Scots, as a companion to David's eldest son, Henry, with whom he developed a deep friendship, and David's stepson, Waldef, another saint in the making. Here he sowed his wild oats, and here too he was elevated to the position of David's seneschal and was employed by his royal master on numerous diplomatic missions in Scotland and northern England.

It was on one such mission to Archbishop Thurstan of York about 1134 that Ailred first learned of the Cistercians of Rievaulx. With his entry into Rievaulx there is no doubt that Ailred had found his true home. The new postulant, however, was unusual: he was familiar with the court, accustomed to power, and practised in diplomacy; and it would have been strange had William, abbot of Rievaulx, not profited from his talents. Thus, in 1138, during the war between Stephen and Matilda, Ailred probably accompanied William to Wark on the Scottish border to negotiate the surrender of Walter Espec's castle to King David.

His earliest historical work is the Vita Davidis Scotorum regis written in 1153 on the death of his friend and former patron. The work is a paean in praise of David's virtues and a plea for loyalty to his grandson and heir, Malcolm IV. Between the Genealogia and the Vita came De bello standardii (1155–7), an account of the battle of the Standard fought near Northallerton between the Scots and the English on 22 August 1138. Ailred's account, however, was written at least seventeen years after the affray and the roles played by certain of the protagonists were not quite as Ailred wished to remember them. [from ODNB]

The maps below are just for info.

Centres of power: royal and noble

Scotland – local government 1100

Scotland – local government 1200

Scots Royal acta suggesting ethnic interpretations of political society

Charter of earl David to all of his friends, French, English and Scots: founding an abbey at Selkirk (later Kelso) granting land at Selkirk; Midlam, Bowden, Eildon, Melrose and Sprouston (ROX); one ploughgate and a toft in Berwick below the church running to the Tweed, half a fishery, the seventh part of the mill and 40s. from earl David’s ferm of the burgh; land in ROX and England plus various rights. Witnesses: John bishop of Glasgow; countess Maud; earl Henry; Gualchelino chaplain; Osbert the chaplain; Alwin the chaplain; William nephew of the earl; Robert de Bruce; Robert de Umfraville; Walter de Bolbec; Robert de Paintona; Cospatric brother of Dolfin; Hugh de Moreville; Pain de Braose; Robert Corbet; Reginald de Muschamp; Walter de Lindsay; Robert de Burneville; sheriff Cospatric; Cospatric son of Alden; Uhtred son of Scot; Macchus; Colban; Gillemicheil (earl of Fife); Odard sheriff of Bamburgh; Loulf son of Uhtred; Ralph the Englishman; Aimar the Frenchman; Roger of Lerecestria; Adam the chamberlain. (1114x24, prob. 1120x21 or 1123x24).PRINTED: David I Charters, no. 14

David I king of Scots to his bishops, abbots, earls, barons and all the good men of the whole of his kingdom, French, English, Scots and Galwegians, greetings.. Know that I, for my soul and the souls of my father and mother and my brother Edgar, and all my brothers and sisters, and my wife Matilda, and also for the soul of Henry my son and heir and my ancestors and successors; I grant and give to St Mary of Melrose and the monks serving there; granting with henry my son and heir and by his charter confirmed; in pure alms; lands mainly in Roxburgh, and pasture and wood in the forests of Selkirk and Traquair (PEB) between the Gala and Leader [founding the monastery]. Witnesses to the gift: John bishop (of Glasgow); William the king’s nephew; Hugh de Moreville; William de Somerville; Henry son of Swain; Gervase Ridel. Witnesses: Henry the king’s son; John bishop (of Glasgow); William the king’s nephew; William the chancellor; earl Matad (of Atholl); Robert de Umfraville; Hugh de Moreville; Walter son of Alan; Hugh Breton; Osbert de Arden; Gervase Ridel; William de Somerville; Richard Gernon; Richard the Englishman; William de Lindsay; Ascelin archdeacon (of Glasgow); Jordan the clerk; Estmund the almoner. Hence (now), the men of the same land, earl Cospatric; Ulchel son of Alstan Osolf son of Uhtred; Macchus son of Undweyn; Uhtred son of Scot; Uhtred son of Cospatric; Orm son of Eilaf; Eilaf son of Cospatric; Eadulf son of Norman; Osolf son of Eadive; Osolf son of Elfstan; Robert Bruce the younger; Ralph son of Thurston; Roger nephew of the bishop. Earlston (1143x47).David I Charters, no. 120