History of Scotland

History is people. People living their lives and doing their thing. And in so doing, some of them changed the lives of those around them and our lives today. That's the importance of history, of course, this fact that actions hundreds or thousands of years ago impact our lives today.

As my enthusiastic young teacher in my first-year college survey course put it: "The past puts the present into context." We are who we are because of those who went before. The more we understand of the past, the more we understand ourselves. History is people and the history of Scotland is the story of the Scottish people.

Their story is long, lively and as pertinent today as it ever was. Some of the most highly prized American cultural beliefs are shared by the Scots - individual freedom, stubborn independence, and a love for a good "meat and potatoes" meal. Our Scottish history articles provide a general or overview look at the history of Scotland. Please click on the links below to read about the Scots and their amazing history.

Pre-history through 843 AD (Picts, Celts, Norse and Angles)

843 AD - 1296 AD (the Canmore kings, Macbeth, medieval Scotland)

1296 AD - 1603 AD (Wallace and Bruce, the Stewart kings, high medieval through Renaissance/Reformation)

1603 AD - 1746 AD (Union of the crowns through Culloden, English Civil War and Jacobite Uprisings)

1746 AD - Present (modern Scotland and the Scottish diaspora)

You may also want to check out Celtic Mythology (Druidism and pre-Christian spirituality) and Celtic Christianity articles. See the sidebar to your left for short biographies of some famous Scottish historical figures and authors.

For recommended Scottish history books, please see Celtic and Ancient Scotland Books or Medieval to Modern Books.