Scotland in The Early Middle Ages

Scotland in the early Middle Ages, between the end of Roman authority in southern and central Britain from around 400 and the rise of the kingdom of Alba in 900, was divided into a series of kingdoms. Of these the four most important to emerge were the Picts, the Scots of Dál Riata, the Britons of Strathclyde and the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia. After the arrival of the Vikings in the late 8th century Scandinavian rulers and colonies were established along parts of the coasts and in the islands. In the 9th century the Scots and Picts were combined under the House of Alpin to form a single kingdom which formed the basis of the kingdom of Scotland.

Scotland has an extensive coastline and large areas of difficult terrain and poor agricultural land, with more becoming marginal due to climate change, leading to relatively light settlement, particularly in the interior and highlands. North Britain lacked urban centres and settlements were based on farmsteads and around fortified positions such as brochs, with mixed-farming largely based on self-sufficiency. In this period changes in settlement and colonisation meant that the Pictish and Brythonic languages began to be subsumed by Gaelic, English, and at the end of the period by Old Norse. Life expectancy was relatively low, leading to a young population, with a ruling aristocracy, freemen and relatively large numbers of slaves. Kingship was multi-layered, with different kings surrounded by their war bands that made up the most important elements of armed forces, who engaged in both low level raiding and occasional longer range major campaigns.

One key event during the period is the expansion of Christianity from the margins of Scotland to become the religion of many inhabitants. Initially influenced by the Celtic tradition originating from what is now Ireland, by the end of the era it had become integrated into the structures of Rome. This period produced some of the highly distinctive monumental and ornamental art, culminating in the development of the Insular art style, common across Britain and Ireland. The period also saw the beginnings of Scottish literature in British, Old English, Gaelic and Latin languages.