{"id":10122,"date":"2022-02-07T13:05:48","date_gmt":"2022-02-07T12:05:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=199346"},"modified":"2022-02-07T13:18:11","modified_gmt":"2022-02-07T12:18:11","slug":"who-is-britains-greatest-monarch","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/who-is-britains-greatest-monarch\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Britain\u2019s greatest monarch?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By jonathanwilkes\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 07 February 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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We asked 12 experts to offer their nominations for Britain\u2019s greatest monarch, and explain what made each one truly great. Here\u2019s who they chose, and why\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Richard Oram chooses David I, the king who founded modern Scotland<\/h3>\n

David I (reigned 1124\u201353) was medieval Scotland\u2019s greatest ruler, and is a towering figure in British history. During a reign lasting 29 years, he redrew the political map of these islands and laid the foundations both of the Scottish state that endured for four centuries and of the institutions that still frame Scottish society today.<\/p>\n

Youngest of the six sons of Malcolm III and St Margaret, David had never been expected to rule. Raised in England at the court of the future Henry I<\/a>, he trained as a knight and judicial agent of the crown. His reward was a marriage that brought the honour of Huntingdon and claims to Northumbria.<\/p>\n

Huntingdon gave him lordship over laymen and clerics whose military skills, literacy and administrative experience he brought north when he became king of Scots (following the early deaths of his five elder brothers) to form a new, English-influenced government. Many of them settled there to found some of medieval Scotland\u2019s greatest families, including the Bruces and the Stewarts.<\/p>\n

\""A\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
A 12th-century illumination from the Charter of Kelso Abbey depicting David I and his grandson Malcolm IV (Picture by Bridgeman)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Though remembered as a saintly man who advanced the religious reform programme begun by his parents and brothers, during his early reign he used warfare to crush challenges to his power. By the 1130s he had mastered mainland Scotland, controlling a larger realm than his predecessors.<\/p>\n

When civil war erupted in England on the death of Henry I, David marched south in support of Empress Matilda<\/a>, his niece, against her rival, Stephen. By the 1140s, David controlled most of England north of the rivers Tees and Ribble, almost capturing York and realising his wife\u2019s claim to Northumbria. That these gains barely outlasted David\u2019s life should not obscure his achievement, reflected in chroniclers\u2019 contrast of his government to the \u201cAnarchy\u201d in the south.<\/p>\n

Listen | Matt Lewis answers your questions on the Anarchy \u2013 a 12th-century civil war for the English crown that pitted Empress Matilda against Stephen of Blois \u2013 on an episode of the HistoryExtra<\/em> podcast<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n