Not Braveheart, but Smartbrain: We should remember the king who revolutionised Scotland

The list of historic Scottish kings is long. However, after Robert the Bruce, Macbeth, six guys called James, and perhaps Malcolm Canmore, many people would struggle to name more. Somehow, an extraordinary monarch like David I, who reigned from 1124 to 1153, living into his early 70s, has slipped from popular memory.

So great was his impact on Scotland that it has been described as the “Davidian Revolution”. His achievements included issuing the first Scottish royal coins, one of which is coming up for auction; setting up the first Scottish ‘burghs’, including Edinburgh; and taking over Cumberland and Northumbria, where he established a ‘Pax Scotia’, in contrast to the civil strife further south.

According to the Royal Family’s website, he had his critics, with one opining that he was “a sair sanct for the croun”, ie “too pious to make a successful monarch”. However, clergyman Ailred of Rievaulx wrote “who can estimate the good done to the world by this gentle, just, chaste and humble ruler, loved for his gentleness, feared for his justice”. Less Braveheart, more Smartbrain, he’s a medieval ruler who should be better known.