The name Kingdom of Alba pertains to the Kingdom of Scotland between the deaths of Donald II (Domnall mac Causantin) in 900, and of Alexander III in 1286 which then led indirectly to the Scottish Wars of Independence. The name is one of convenience, as throughout this period the elite and populace of the Kingdom were predominantly Pictish-Gaels or later Pictish-Gaels and Scoto-Norman, and differs markedly from the period of the Stuarts, in which the elite of the kingdom were for the most part speakers of Middle English or Lowland Scots. The article concerns only the political history of the Kingdom of Scotland in the High Middle Ages, rather than the culture or society of the country.
There is no precise Gaelic equivalent for the English terminology 'Kingdom of Alba' as Gaelic Rìoghachd na h-Alba means 'Kingdom of Scotland'. Here, English speakers are adapting the use of the Gaelic name for Scotland by applying it to a particular political period.
Read more about Kingdom Of Alba: Royal Court
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