Like other European countries during the
crisis of the late Middle Ages, Scotland suffered civil wars, and conflict between kingdoms with intermittent
wars of Scottish Independence against England.
William Wallace and
Robert the Bruce were prominent in campaigns, against
Edward I and
Edward II of England. Royal marriage was a part of diplomacy, and in 1502
James IV of Scotland agreed a
Treaty of Perpetual Peace before his marriage to
Margaret, eldest daughter of
Henry VII of England, which the poet
William Dunbar celebrated in
The Thrissil and the Rois. This brought the
Stuarts into England's
Tudor line of succession. In 1513
Henry VIII of England declared war on
France. Under the
Auld Alliance, James invaded England, and died at the
Battle of Flodden.
Protestant Reformations in
England and
Scotland were resisted by Catholic minorities. There were further
Anglo-Scottish Wars, but when succession to
Elizabeth I ended,
James VI of Scotland became king of England in the
Union of the Crowns. ==History of the lyrics==