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WILLIAM (1143-1214)

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 665 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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WILLIAM (1143-1214)  , See also:king of See also:Scotland, surnamed " the See also:Lion," was the second son of See also:Henry, See also:earl of See also:Huntingdon (d . 1152), a son of King See also:David I., and became king of Scotland on the See also:death of his See also:brother, See also:Malcolm IV., in See also:December 1165, being crowned at See also:Scone during the same See also:month . After his See also:accession to the See also:throne See also:William spent some See also:time at the See also:court of the See also:English king, Henry II.; then, quarrelling With Henry, he arranged in 1168 the first definite treaty of See also:alliance between See also:France and Scotland, and with See also:Louis VII. of France assisted Henry's sons in their revolt against their See also:father in 1173 . In return for this aid the younger Henry granted to William the earldom of See also:Northumberland, a: See also:possession which the latter had vainly sought from the English king, and which was possibly the cause of their first estrangement . However, when ravaging the See also:country near See also:Alnwick, William was taken prisoner in See also:July 1174, and after a See also:short captivity at See also:Richmond was carried to See also:Normandy, where he soon See also:purchased his See also:release by assenting in December 1174 to the treaty of See also:Falaise . By this arrangement the king and his nobles, clerical and See also:lay, undertook to do See also:homage to Henry and his son;this and other provisions placing both the See also:church and See also:state of Scotland thoroughly under the See also:suzerainty of See also:England . William's next See also:quarrel was with See also:Pope See also:Alexander III., and arose out of a See also:double choice for the vacant bishopric of St See also:Andrews . The king put forward his See also:chaplain, See also:Hugh; the pope supported the See also:arch-See also:deacon, See also:John the See also:Scot, who had been canonically elected . The usual interchange of threats and defiances followed; then after the death of Alexander in 1181 his successor, See also:Lucius III., consented to a See also:compromise by which Hugh got the coveted bishopric and John became See also:bishop of See also:Dunkeld . In 1188 William secured a papal See also:bull which declared that the Church of Scotland was directly subject only to the see of See also:Rome, thus rejecting the claims to supremacy put forward by the English See also:archbishop . This step was followed by the temporal See also:independence of Scotland, which was one result of the continual poverty of See also:Richard I . In December 1189, by the treaty of See also:Canterbury, Richard gave up all claim to suzerainty over Scotland in return for 10,000 marks, the treaty of Falaise being thus definitely annulled .

In 1186 at See also:

Woodstock William married Ermengarde de See also:Beaumont, a See also:cousin of Henry II., and See also:peace with England being assured three years later, he turned his arms against the turbulent chiefs in the outlying parts of his See also:kingdom . His authority was recognized in See also:Galloway which, hitherto, had been practically See also:independent; he put an end to a formidable insurrection in See also:Moray and See also:Inverness; and a See also:series of See also:campaigns taught the far See also:north, See also:Caithness and See also:Sutherland, to respect the See also:power of the See also:crown . The See also:story of William's relations with King John is interesting, although the details are somewhat obscure . Soon after John's accession in 1199 the Scottish king asked for the earldom of Northumberland, which Richard I., like his father, had refused to restore to Scotland . John, too, refused this demand, but the threatened See also:war did not take See also:place, and in 1200 William did homage to the English king. at See also:Lincoln with the ambiguous phrase " saving his own rights." After a See also:period of inaction war between the two countries again became imminent in 1209; but a peace was made at Norham, and about three years later another amicable arrangement was reached . Both these See also:treaties seem to have been more favourable to England than to Scotland, and it is possible that William acknowledged John as overlord of his kingdom . William died at See also:Stirling on the 4th of December 1214 and was buried at See also:Arbroath . He See also:left one son, his successor Alexander II., and two daughters, See also:Margaret and See also:Isabella, who were sent to England after the treaty of 1209, and who both married English nobles, Margaret becoming the wife of See also:Hubert de See also:Burgh . He also left some illegitimate See also:children . William's reign is a very important period in the See also:early See also:history of Scotland, and may almost be said to See also:mark an See also:epoch in every See also:department of public See also:life . The relations of England and Scotland and of Scotland and France; the rise of towns, the development of See also:trade and the See also:establishment of See also:order in Scotland itself; and the attitude of the Scottish Church, both to the papal see and to England, were all vitally affected by the events of this reign . William founded and richly endowed the See also:abbey at Arbroath, and many of the Scottish towns owe their origin to his charters .

See E . W . See also:

Robertson, Scotland under her Early See also:Kings (See also:Edinburgh, 1862); See also:Lord See also:Hailes, See also:Annals of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1819); A . See also:Lang, History of Scotland, vol. i . (1900) ; also SCOTLAND : History .

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