Sovereigns of Scotland

▪ Table

Sovereigns of Scotland¹

name reign

Kenneth I MacAlpin (Kenneth I) 843–858

Donald I 858–862

Constantine I 862–877

Aed (Aodh) 877–878

Eochaid (Eocha) and Giric (Ciric)² 878–889

Donald II 889–900

Constantine II 900–943

Malcolm I 943–954

Indulf 954–962

Dub 962–966

Culen 966–971

Kenneth II 971–995

Constantine III 995–997

Kenneth III 997–1005

Malcolm II 1005–34

Duncan I 1034–40

Macbeth 1040–57

Lulach 1057–58

Malcolm III Canmore 1058–93

Donald Bane (Donalbane) 1093–94

Duncan II 1093–94

Donald Bane (restored) 1094–97

Edgar 1097–1107

Alexander I 1107–24

David I 1124–53

Malcolm IV 1153–65

William I the Lion (William I) 1165–1214

Alexander II 1214–49

Alexander III 1249–86

Margaret, Maid of Norway (Margaret) 1286–90

Interregnum 1290–92

John de Balliol (John) 1292–96

Interregnum 1296–1306

Robert I the Bruce (Robert I) 1306–29

David II 1329–71

House of Stewart (Stuart)³

Robert II 1371–90

Robert III 1390–1406

James I 1406–37

James II 1437–60

James III 1460–88

James IV 1488–1513

James V 1513–42

Mary, Queen of Scots (Mary) 1542–67

James VI (James I)⁴ 1567–1625

¹Knowledge about the early Scottish kings, until Malcolm II, is slim and is partly based on traditional lists of kings. The dating of reigns is thus inexact.

²Eochaid may have been a minor and Giric his guardian; or Giric may have been a usurper. Both appear in the lists of kings for the period.

³"Stewart" was the original spelling for the Scottish family; but, during the 16th century, French influence led to the adoption of the spelling Stuart (or Steuart), owing to the absence of the letter "w" in the French alphabet.

⁴James VI of Scotland became also James I of England in 1603. Upon accession to the English throne he styled himself "King of Great Britain" and was so proclaimed. Legally, however, he and his successors held separate English and Scottish kingships until the Act of Union of 1707, when the two kingdoms were united as the Kingdom of Great Britain.

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