Scottish Capital

[Israelite9191]

Prior to 1437 and the move to Edinbourgh, does anyone know what the capital of Scotland was?

 

[shortguy]

Scone, perhaps? It seems to at least have had large symbolic importance.

 

[Aigburth]

I think it was Stirling or Perth

 

[luiz]

Edinbourgh was regarded as the capital of Scotland since at least the 14th Century, though it only became official in 1437. Before that I think Scotland did not have a capital in the traditional sense of the word.

 

[shortguy]

In the early middle ages (and beyond, in the case of rather sparsely populated lands like Scotland) there were very few "capitals" in the traditional sense. The "capital" was where the king was, and kings spent a lot of time on the road and on campaign. You might be best served looking for biographies of kings in the relevant period, trying to figure out what places they especially favored.

 

[Disenfrancised]

Edinburgh since 1437, before that it was the royal castle at Stirling, and before that there wasn't really a capital, and a'for that there wasn't a kingdom of scotland.

 

[DNK]

I vaguely remember something to this respect while visiting Stirling castle, but was more impressed with the view than the history.

 

[Pangur Bán]

Scone was the "chief seat" of the kingdom of the Scots in the early and high middle ages. An early term for the Kingdom of Scotland was "Kingdom of Scone". Perth was actually built to service the king at Scone, but government was itinerant; it would be misleading to think of a "capital" in the modern sense. Scone was the symbolic center of the kingdom though. Scone-Perth, Stirling-Cambuskenneth and Edinburgh-Holyrood were clearly the main seats of Scottish kingship until the 15th century.

Remember also that Edinburgh was thought of as "in England" until the end of the 13th century. It was an important residence, but no-one thought of it as "in Scotland" until the decades preceding the Wars of Scottish Independence.

See, for references,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scone

See, for a comparison of issue locations of royal charters (favor southern locations btw because that's were most monasteries were introduced):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Deacon_of_Pndapetzim/Sandbox_Templates

 

[Israelite9191]

Thank you all. I did some research on Wikipedia, but the lack of a history section in the Edinbourgh article made finding that information rather difficult.

 

[cthom]

don't forget Dunfermline!