Does David I deserve his reputation as the “king who made Scotland”? Inaugurated as king of Scotland in 1124, it is clear that David I had a huge impact on Scotland, but is it accurate to describe him as the 'king who made Scotland'? His medieval reputation holds him as a king devoted to religion, whose goal was to civilize what was perceived as a barbaric country. Modern historians, however, tend to focus on the progress he made in the development of Scottish culture. He achieved such cultural progress through his dedication to the expansion of religion in medieval Scotland. David was infamous for his founding of monasteries and towns and is often called “the so-called holy donkey of the Croune”. He even granted land to Anglo-Norman immigrants, who in turn anglicized southern Scotland. David I had further impact through his government reform. He brought great Norman influence to Scotland when he began his reign. Although David spent much of his early years in Scotland, he was forced into exile due to the death of his parents in 1093. He then spent much time under the government. the court of Henry I, gaining Anglo-Norman influence from the English court. It was therefore inevitable that in 1124, when David claimed the throne of Scotland, there would be a huge change in the governance of the country. Many refer to these changes. carried out by David under the name “Davidian Revolution”. This summarizes the changes David brought to the Scottish kingdom, whether through reform or expansion. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned.” '?Get the original essayTo analyze the claim that David was the "king who created Scotland", one must first examine the enormous impact he had through his founding of the religious order . He had great admiration for religion and encouraged monasticism in the forms of Premonstratensian, Tironian and Cistercian worship. Many of these houses would become economic goldmines in the future with colossal sheep farming undertaken by the border abbeys. He invested a lot of money in establishing a large number of monasteries such as Melrose and Holyrood. Sources of the time agree that his devotion was great, Ailred de Rievaulx proclaimed: "He found three or four bishops throughout the kingdom of Scotland, and the others hesitated without a pastor to the point of losing both morals and property; when he died, he left nine, both old bishoprics that he restored himself and new ones that he erected. » This enormous investment in religious expansion had a massive impact on Scottish culture. This changed and adapted people's moral beliefs. It also laid the foundations for the Church as a social instrument in Scotland. The Church becoming a source of local gathering. It is a well-known fact that David I did not create the structure of the late medieval Scottish church, but it was during his reign that it began to take its crucial form. Something that might not have been possible without his devoted support and help in the propagation of the monasteries. David made great use of recreating the diocesan structure. Not only did this bring Scotland in line with the rest of Europe, but it also allowed bishops spread across the kingdom to become valuable royal agents. David also had the power to appoint, or at least recommend, bishops, meaning he created power within the Scottish Church. Many have claimed that David may have had inner motivations for his religious expansion, but there is no evidence forprove these assertions. Scotland had such a dispersed population that such expansion was indeed necessary. So to conclude, David I may not have created the structure or trends of the medieval Scottish Church, he had a huge influence on its growth and success, as well as its impact on the country in its together. But it was David's founding of numerous Burghs that had the greatest social impact. This allowed the country to truly expand, with a new economic boost crucial to Scotland's development. David also invested much of Scotland's new wealth in the creation of many royal burghs, such as Edinburgh and Perth. There was also great social progress, as the Burghs began to develop, so did their social structure. “Let all you beloved know that we, with the help of God and the license of our King David, have established a burgh at St Andrew's and in this burgh we have made this man Mainard the Flemish provost with the consent of the king and his firm intention. peace…” David had created an opportunity to advance the functioning of communities, focusing much more on how they could be managed effectively. This would show its obvious effects in the near future, with the creation and progression of many bourgeois laws and customs. The Burghs soon began to have a sense of new self-government with lively import and export activity, particularly with England. Bartlett describes the need for a constitutional form in his writings on Norman-style towns. “It also meant the creation and diffusion of new types of legal status and corporate identity, as the European charter city slowly took shape. The new economic life demanded a new constitutional form.” David knew this: it allowed merchants to have a form of self-government in which they could support their own internal and external governance. It was these new forms of community responsibility that allowed the Burghs to truly develop under David I. Although it is important to remember that these Burghs were not large in size, their brilliant geographical location allowed them to prosper both economically and socially. David had them placed specifically near the new royal castles, to allow them to help their civilization. Of course, all of this went hand in hand with the religious expansion of the time, with new social advances within the Burgh creating even more religious support. It is not difficult to understand why many praised David I as a saint sent by God. A majority of them were educated with enormous religious influence, which echoes their records with biblical connotations such as David killing Goliath. David I's emphasis on the establishment of new Scottish burghs was extremely important to the development of the country and provides real evidence for the claim that he was the 'king who made Scotland'. Another crucial impact David had on Scotland was the way it was created. was governed. He had spent the better part of forty years immersed in southern England at the Anglo-Norman court, even acquiring a Norman wife and the title of earl. It is therefore not surprising that it brought such Norman influence to Scotland. The key aspect of this is the introduction of feudalism. This meant that in return for military service, the Scottish nobility would be granted land by the crown. The lords could then acquire "vassals" who were generally allocated a castle or land in order to help the.