A couple of months ago I held the Monarchy awards for the
Monarchs of England/Great Britain as a result of watching an episode of
Pointless Celebrities. So I decided to answer the same questions for the
monarch of Scotland from the year 1000 up until the merger of the thrones with
King James VI (of Scotland I of England) in 1603.
Monarchs not succeeded by their children:
Scotland has had 14 monarchs who were not directly succeeded
by their children. The first was King Malcolm II (1005 – 1034). He was
succeeded by his grandson Duncan I. Malcolm had only daughters and Duncan was
the son of his eldest daughter Bethoc and her husband Crinan the Thane. Duncan
I himself was not immediately succeeded by his sons but they had to get rid of
Macbeth first. The last of the Scottish monarchs not to be succeeded by a child
was David II (1329 – 1371). Despite 2 marriages David never had any children so
he was succeeded by his nephew Robert II.
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| King Malcolm II of Scotland |
Monarchs succeeded by more than one child:
Only 2 of the Scottish monarchs have this accolade. The
first was Duncan I (1034 – 1040). Duncan died in battle against Macbeth who
then became king followed briefly by his stepson Lulach. Lulach was killed and
Duncan I eldest son became King Malcolm III (1058 – 1093). His brother Donald
III later also became king (1093 – 1097) with a brief break when Malcolm III
son Duncan was king. The second monarch was King Malcolm III. 4 of his sons
became King of the Scots. They were Duncan II (1094), Edgar (1097 – 1107),
Alexander I (1107 – 1124) and David I (1124 – 1153).
Monarchs with no children:
Of the 27 monarchs of Scotland from 100 to 1603 7 had no
children. 3 were the children on Malcolm III. One was the famous Macbeth,
although he did have a stepson who succeeded him. Then there was Malcolm II and
finally Queen Margaret but she was only 3 when she came to the throne and 7
when she died.
Monarchs with most children:
The records with the Scottish monarchs goes to King Robert
II (1371 – 1390). With his wife Elizabeth Mure they had 10 children. After
Elizabeth died he married Euphemia de Ross and had a further 4 children. He is
also alleged to have had at least 13 illegitimate children.
Reign length:
The longest Scottish reigning monarch was James VI. He was
king of Scotland from 1567 until 1625. In total he was King for 57 years, 8
months and 4 days.
The shortest reign was King Duncan II. He was king for 6
months in 1097 when he temporarily usurped his Uncle who assumed the throne
when Duncan II’s father died.
Age at Accession:
In 1093 Donald III to the crown of Scotland when his brother
died usurping the rightful heir Duncan II. Donald was approximately 61 years
old.
The youngest person to become monarch of Scotland was Mary
Queen of Scots. She was just 6 days old when her father King James V died and
she became Queen.
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| King Donald III of Scotland |
Number of Marriages:
Well the winner in this category is Mary Queen of Scots. She
was married 3 times and widowed twice. He first husband was the dauphin of
France Francis who would become Francis II of France, thus making Mary Queen
consort of France as well as Queen of Scotland. After Francis death aged 16 in
1560, 18 year old Mary returned to Scotland.
In 1565 she married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. He died in an explosion
in February 1567 (probably murdered on Mary’s order or by James Hepburn) leaving
her widowed again with a young son. She next married (possibly by force) James Hepburn
the Earl of Bothwell in May 1567. It was a combination of the murder of Lord
Darnley and her marriage to James Hepburn that lead to her being forced to
abdicate. What was it with those of Tudor descent? Mary was the great
Granddaughter of Margaret Tudor, the sister of King Henry VIII of England.
The pointless questions and their answers
The names of the British monarchs since 1707 are: Anne,
George, William, Victoria, Edward and Elizabeth.
The decade in which a monarch died from 1000 to 2000 were:
1030’s, 1040’s, 1050’s, 1090’s, 1100’s, 1120’s, 1150’s,
1160’s, 1210’s, 1240’s, 1280’s, 1290’s, 1310’ , 1320’s, 1370’s, 1390’s, 1400’s,
1430’s, 1460’s, 1480’s, 1510’s, 1540’s, 1580’s, 1620’s, 1640’s, 1680’s, 1690’s,
1700’s, 1710’s, 1720’s, 1760’s, 1820’s, 1830’s, 1900’s, 1910’s, 1930’s, 1950’s,
1970’s.
The monarchs who were never succeeded by their offspring
since 1154 are:
Malcolm IV (brother William I), Alexander III (granddaughter
Margaret), Margaret (John Balliol chosen by nobility), Charles II (brother
James II), Anne (cousin George I), George II (grandson George III), George VI
(brother William IV), William IV (niece Victoria), Edward VIII (brother George
VI).
If you want to read the other blogs in the monarchy awards
you can find them at:
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