Features - Notable Dates in History

7 June 1329	Death of Robert I, The Bruce, King of Scots, at Cardross Castle.
25 August 1330	Sir James Douglas, comrade-in-arms of Robert I, King of Scots, died in battle in Andalusia, Spain, while taking the king's heart to the Holy Land. The heart was returned to Scotland and buried in Melrose Abbey.
24 November 1331	David II, son of Robert I, was crowned King of Scots and anointed by the Bishop of St Andrews.
20 July 1332	Death of Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, one of the heroes of the Wars of Independence and Regent following the death of Robert I, King of Scots, at Musselburgh.
6 August 1332	Supporters of Edward, son of John Balliol, formerly King of Scots, landed at Kinghorn, Fife, prior to the Battle of Dupplin Moor near Perth.
12 August 1332	Battle of Dupplin Moor where the Scots led by the regent Earl of Mar squandered their numerical advantage and following a confused attack were routed with heavy losses by Edward Balliol's army.
24 September 1332	Edward Balliol, son of King John Balliol, with English support, was crowned King of Scots at Scone, following his victory at Duppling Moor.
17 December 1332	Scots forces raised by Sir Archibald Douglas, Guardian for David II, launched a dawn attack on Edward Balliol's camp and routed his army in the Battle of Annan. Taken by surprise, the half dressed Balliol was forced to leap on the nearest horse and make an undignified dash south to safety in Carlisle.
28 May 1333	Army of King Edward III of England maintained a land blockage of Berwick dspite success of Scottish defenders in dispersing a seabourne attack.
19 July 1333	Battle of Halidon Hill at Berwick where an English army under Edward III and Edward Balliol defeated the Scots forces led by Sir Archibald Douglas. English archers devastated the Scottish army and inflicted terrible losses, including six earls, seventy barons and over 500 knights.
30 November 1335	An army commanded by Sir Andrew Moray defeated the Earl of Atholl and other supporters of Edward Balliol in the Battle of Kilblain.
7 October 1337	Edward III, King of England, declared his claim to the throne of France but his pleas to the Scots for a lasting peace, which would have secured his northern flank, were rejected.
16 June 1338	Seige of Dunbar by the English was raised. 'There was no other captain in command there but the Countess of March, commonly called Black Agnes of Dunbar. She herself, in mockery of the English, would (in sight of all) dust with a fair cloth the place where a stone from their engines had struck the ramparts ... The Earl [of Salisbury] escaped and Black Agnes, standing on the wall, called out to him mockingly "Adieu, adieu, Monsieur Montagu!" And so having seen the letters bidding him leave all and return to England, he withdrew without ceremony taking no leave of his hostess.' From the Latin of Liber Pluscardensis ix. 36.
17 October 1346	Scottish army under command of David II, King of Scots, was defeated by an English force at the Battle of Nelville's Cross in Durham, England. Some 15,000 Scots were slain and the King captured and held prisoner by the English for eleven years.
12 November 1347	Scottish Staple or entrepôrt for trade with The Low Countries established at Middelburg in Zeeland.
3 October 1357	Under the Treaty of Berwick, David II, King of Scots, was freed after eleven years captivity in England following his capture at Neville's Cross. The Scots agreed to a ransome of £100,000.
6 November 1357	Parliament of David II, King of Scots, ordered ale and bread-merchants not to over-charge visitors to Scotland.
28 March 1364	David II, King of Scots, presented the burghs of Scotland with a charter outlining their privileges.
18 February 1369	Burgesses and merchants were banned from leaving Scotland without the express permission of the king or chamberlain.
22 February 1371	Death of David II, son of Robert I, who succeeded as King of Scots in 1329 as a minor and was soon faced with a serious challenge to Scottish Independence from the new English king, Edward III. He invaded England in 1346 and was defeated at Nelville's Cross and held prisoner by the English for eleven years. He died childless.
26 March 1371	Coronation of Robert II, King of Scots, at Scone. He succeeded his uncle David II and is best known for fathering 21 children, only four of whom were indisputably legitimate.
4 April 1373	Robert II, King of Scots, decided that his son, the Earl of Carrick, at a meeting of the Scottish Parliament, The Three Estates, at Scone. Although his son was baptized as John, he ruled as Robert III.
24 March 1374	Walter Wardlaw, Bishop of Glasgow, was sent to France as an ambassador to renew ancient links between the kingdoms.
30 May 1385	A French army of 2000, including many nobles arrived at Leith. They were billeted around Scotland from Kelso to Dunfermline.
2 January 1387	Sir Thomas Erskine was granted grazing and hunting rights for the forrest of Clackmannan.
5 August 1388	Battle of Otterburn in which Scots under James, 2nd Earl of Douglas, and George Dunbar, Earl of March, defeated English forces led by Henry Percy, Hotspur', son of Earl of Northumberland. Douglas was mortally wounded at the height of the battle and the victorious Scots captured Percy.
27 January 1389	The Scottish Parliament, The Three Estates, meeting at Perth elected the Duke of Rothesay as the King’s Lieutenant and discussed the maintenance of peace with England.
19 April 1390	Death of Robert II, King of Scots, grandson of Robert I, at Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire. He was succeeded by his eldest son John, who was crowned as Robert III.
17 June 1390	Alexander Stewart (c1342-1406), Earl of Buchan and Ross, 'The Wolf of Badenoch', fourth son of Robert II, burnt the rich and splendid Cathedral of Elgin after Bishop Bur of Moray refused to pay him 'protection money'.
13 March 1395	Death of John Barbour, student of Oxford and Paris, Auditor of Exchange, Archdeacon of Aberdeen, author of The Brus, A! Fredome is a noble thing! Fredome mayss man to haiff liking; Fredome all solace to man giffis, He levys at es that fely levys. A noble hart may haiff nane es Na ellys nocht that may him ples Gyff fredome failyhe. From The Brus 1.
28 September 1396	Thirty of Clan Chattan, with the loss of 19 men, slew 29 out of 30 of the Clan Kay or Quhele, in a battle on the North Inch at Perth in the presence of Robert III.
12 April 1398	Robert II, King of Scots, held a Great Council at Perth and raised his sons, David and Robert, to the rank of Duke, the first in Scotland.
28 August 1400	King Henry IV of England, having failed to capture Edinburgh castle and suffering from a shortage of supplies for his army, crossed back into England.
3 February 1401	The Earl of March and Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy led 2,000 men into East Lothian ‘burning and looting’; they were surprised in a night attack at East Linton and driven back into England.
22 June 1402	At the Battle of Nesbit Moor, near Duns, an English army led by the Earl of March and Henry 'Hotspur' Percy defeated a small Scots force under Sir Patrick Hepburn of Hailes.
14 September 1402	A Scottish army led by the Earl of Douglas returning from raiding in the north of England was heavily defeated by English forces under "Hotspur" Percy at the Battle of Homildon Hill, near Wooler in Northumberland. The Scottish ranks were broken by the deadly accuracy of the English bowmen - many of the Scottish nobility were taken prisoner and some 1,500 of the fleeing foot-soldiers are said to have drowned in the Tweed.
28 April 1403	Bishop Henry Wardlaw, founder of St Andrews University (1411), arrived from France to take up the see of St Andrews which he held for 37 years,
30 March 1406	Future King of Scots, James I, was captured by the English near Flamborough Head, while on passage to safety in France, following the death of his elder brother, in the care of Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney. The 12-year-old prince was handed over as a prisoner to Henry VI of England. He was held prisoner in England for 18 years, mostly in the Tower of London.
4 April 1406	Death of Robert III, King of Scots, and succession of his son James I. The new king was not actually crowned until 1424 due to being held prisoner by the English.
4 March 1407	Burgh of Stirling accidently burnt to ground, a common occurrence in the timber-built towns of fifteenth century Scotland.
24 July 1411	Battle of Harlaw, Inverurie, where the Crown forces under the Earl of Mar faced a Highland Host led by Donald Lord of the Isles. Heavy casualties were inflicted on both sides but victory went to the Lowlanders as the Highlanders withdrew. Aberdeen suffered heavy losses with the death of Provost Robert Davidson and many of the City Burgesses fighting on the Crown side.
6 January 1412	Birth of Joan of Arc, Maid of Orleans, French patriot and martyr, whose fight to regain France from English hands was aided by Scottish forces.
25 February 1412	Bishop Henry Wardlaw formally incorporated masters and students at the centre of higher education at St Andrews as a 'University', although it was not officially inaugurated until 4 February 1414, when Pope Benedict XIII's (of Avignon) Bull of Foundation was promulgated.
28 August 1413	Bull of Pope Benedict XIII ( of Avignon ) ratifying the founding of St Andrews University.
22 March 1421	Scottish and French troops under the Earl of Buchan defeated English forces at Bauge in Anjou, France.
20 August 1421	James I, King of Scots, held prisoner in England was present at the capture by English forces of the town of Dreux in northern France.
11 June 1423	A Scots and French army was heavily defeated at Crevant by an English and Burgundian force led by the Earl of Salisbury.
5 August 1423	Much of Aberdeen was destroyed in a huge blaze.
4 December 1423	Treaty of London provided for the release of James 1 from English captivity, for ransom of £40,000 paid in 6 annual instalments, and for the sessation of reinforcements to Scottish troops in France.
2 February 1424	King James I married Lady Jane Beaufort, daughter of the Earl of Somerset, in the Church of St Mary Overy, Southwark. He first saw from his prison window whilst imprisoned in England.
12 March 1424	Poor Advocate was appointed by the Scottish Parliament, The Three Estates. “Gif that be ony pur creatur that for defalt of cunnyng or dispense can nocht or may nocht follow his cause, the king for the lufe of God sall ordaine that the juge before quham the cause suld be determyt purvey and get a lele and a wyse advocate to follow sic pur creatures cause and gif sic cause be obtenyt the wranger sall assyth bath the party scathit and the advocates costis and travale.” Acts of Parliament, 2 James 1, c. 45.
24 March 1424	The Scottish Parliament meeting in Perth ordered quarterly wappinschaws, military musters, in the burghs.
26 May 1424	Gold and silver mines in Scotland became Crown property under Acts passed by a Parliament held in Perth - the first presided over by James I, King of Scots, following his release from English captivity. "Gif ony myne of golde or silver be fundyn in ony lordis landis of the realm and it may be provyt that thre halfpennys of silver may be fynit owt of the punde of leide the Lordis of Parliament consentis that sik myne be the kingis as is usuale in uthir realmys." Acts of Parliament James I
17 August 1424	French and Scots troops under the command of John, Earl of Buchan, and Archibald, Earl of Douglas, defeated in the Battle of Verneuil by English forces under Duke of Bedford.
21 March 1425	At the order of James I, King of Scots, his cousin Murdoch Stewart, 2^nd Duke of Albany, two of his sons, Walter and Alexander, and Murdoch’s father-in-law the Earl of Lennox were arrested. They were tried for various crimes including extortion and beheaded in front of Stirling Castle. A third son, James, fled into exile in Ireland.
13 September 1427	Andrew de Kirkcaldy was elected and consecrated as Lord Abbot of Dunfermline.
29 April 1429	French heroine Joan of Arc, with Scottish assistance, entered Orleans and won victory over the English.
16 October 1430	Birth of James II, King of Scots, at Holyrood. Known as 'James of the Fiery Face' from a birthmark, he was considered to be a wise but impetuous ruler.
30 May 1431	Joan of Arc, the French peasant girl who became a national heroine after leading French armies, with Scottish assistance, against the English occupiers of France, was burnt at the stake for heresy. She was made a saint in 1920.
6 July 1436	Marriage at Tours of the Dauphin Louis to Margaret, daughter of James I, King of Scots.
15 September 1436	Battle of Piperden where Scots under William, 2nd Earl of Angus, defeated English forces led by Percy and Sir Robert Ogle, near Berwick.
21 February 1437	James I, King of Scots (1394-1437), murdered in the Dominican Friary at Perth.
25 March 1438	Coronation of six-year-old James II, King of Scots, 26 days after the murder of his father, James I, at Perth.
1 May 1438	A nine-year truce was agreed between Scotland and England shortly after the coronation of the infant James II, King of Scots.
6 April 1440	Death of Bishop Henry Wardlaw, founder of St Andrews University, at St Andrews Castle.
8 March 1445	A pact of mutual protection was signed and sealed between the Earls of Douglas and Crawford and Donald Lord of the Isles.
23 October 1448	The Battle of Sark was fought on the north bank of the tiny River Sark which feeds into the Solway Firth near Gretna. An invading English army under the Earl of Northumberland was defeated by the Scots led by Hugh Douglas, Earl of Ormande.
18 June 1449	Mary of Gueldres, bride-to-be of James II, King of Scots, arrived in the Forth in a fleet of 13 ships and was accompanied by many noble lords and ladies. She was a princess noted for her piety and whose dowry included cannons superior to any cast in Scotland.
7 January 1451	Glasgow University founded by a bull of Pope Nicolas V, at the suit of James II and Bishop Wiliam Turnbull.
22 February 1452	James II, King of Scots, summoned William, 8^th earl of Douglas, under safe conduct to a meeting in Stirling Castle. When Douglas refused to forego an alliance with the Earl of Ross and the Lord of the Isles, the king, losing his temper, stabbed him to death. This provoked an open feud between Douglas and Stewart supporters which resulted in victory for James II.
1 May 1455	Battle of Arkinholm, Dumfriesshire, where three brothers of 9th Earl of Douglas were defeated on the Esk, near Langholm, by an army composed of leading Border families; marked downfall of the Black Douglasses.
9 June 1455	The forfeiture of all lands and property of the rebellious Douglas family was ordered after their rout at the Battle of Arkinholm, Dumfriesshire, on 1 May 1455.
6 March 1457	Act of Parliament of James II decreed regular target practice and military parades and "that the futball and the golf be utterly cryit doune and nocht usyt." It was the first mention in Scottish history of those games.
3 August 1460	James II killed by the bursting of a cannon at the seize of Roxburgh Castle.
10 September 1462	Robert Henryson admitted to Glasgow University as Licentiate in Arts and Batchelor of Law. Probably the poet Robert Henryson, schoolmaster at Dunfermline, author of the ‘Moral Fabillis’, ‘The Testament of Creisseid’, etc. “Quha wait gif all that Chauceir wrait was trew? Nor I wait nocht gif this narratioun Be authoreist, of fenyeit of the new Be sum poeit, throw his inventioun, Maid to report the lamentatioun And wofull end of this lustie Creisseid, And quhat distress scho thoillit and quhat deid.” From his ‘Testament of Cresseid x,’
10 July 1469	15-year-old Margaret of Denmark, bride-to-be of James III, King of Scots, arrived at Leith.
20 February 1472	Orkney and Shetland annexed to the crown of Scotland as security for the dowry of Princess Margaret, daughter of Christian I, King of Norway and Denmark, and wife of James III of Scotland.
17 August 1472	The see of St Andrews was made an archbishopric by bull of Pope Sixtus IV.
17 March 1473	Birth of James IV, King of Scots, probably in Stirling. A ‘Renaissance Monarch’, he modernised Scotland and played a greater role in European politics than his predecessors.
23 August 1482	English army retook Berwick which had been in Scottish hands for 21 years.
11 February 1483	Treaty signed at Westminster, England, promising backing from Edward IV, King of England, for the Duke of Albany, if he assumed the crown of Scotland.
22 March 1483	Longstanding band of friendship and support between Scotland and France - The Auld Alliance - was renewed.
22 July 1484	A rebellious raiding party led by Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany, and James Douglas, 9^th Earl of Douglas, were defeated by Scots forces loyal to Albany’s brother James III, King of Scots, at Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire.
11 July 1487	A large force of Mackays under John Mackay assisted by Robert Sutherland, uncle of the Earl of Sutherland, defeated Clan Ross at Aldy-Charrish in Strathoirkell. Clan Chief Alexander Ross of Balnagowan and 17 other principal men of the clan were slain. The victors returned home with a large amount of booty, having avenged the death of John Mackay’s father, Angus Mackay, who had been burnt to death in Tarbert Church by Ross clansmen in 1475.
11 June 1488	Battle of Sauchieburn between James III, King of Scots, and the victorious confederate nobles supporting his son. The king was murdered after the battle and succeeded by his son James IV.
27 July 1488	James IV, King of Scots, passed a charter under the Great Seal confirming all the former grants of land to Sir Andrew Wood of Largo which he had received from his father James III.
27 April 1490	Grant by James IV, King of Scots, to Henry the Minstrel, author of The Actis and Diedis of the Illustere and Vailyeand Campioun, Schir William Wallace, Knicht of Ellerslie. "The saim da, at the Kingis commande, to blinde Hary... xviii schillingis." From the Lord High Treasurer's Accounts.
10 August 1490	Sir Andrew Wood of Largo routed an English fleet under Sir Stephen Bell off the mouth of the Forth. He captured five vessels and returned in triumph to Leith.
14 May 1491	A Charter under the Great Seal entitled outstanding seaman Sir Andrew Wood of Largo – ‘to build a castle at Largo with iron gate, on account of the great services done and losses sustained by the said Andrew, for the services it was confidently hoped he would yet render, and because the said Andrew had, at great personal expenses, built certain houses and a fortalice on the lands of Largo, by the hands of Englishmen captured by him, with the object of resisting and expelling pirates.’
18 May 1491	The Scottish Parliament, The Three Estates, confirmed the alliance and confederation with France.
9 January 1492	The Diocese of Glasgow was elevated to an Archdiocese by Pope Innocent VIII.
10 February 1495	Bull from Pope Alexander VI to confirm the foundation of the University of Aberdeen. "Because in the northerly parts of the kingdom there are some places separated from the rest of the realm by arms of the sea and very steep mountains, in which regions dwell men who are uncultivated, and ignorant of letters and almost wild ... the king has caused us to be humbly petitioned that there be henceforth, to flourish in all time coming, a University of general study, as well in theology and canon and civil law, and medicine and the liberal arts, as in every other lawful faculty, as at Paris and Bologna and any other universities so privileged." From the original bull
13 June 1496	An Act for compulsory education in Scotland for the sons and heirs of all barons and freeholders was passed. ‘It is statute and ordanit throw all the realme that all barronis and frehaldaris that ar of substance put thair eldest sonis and aires to the sculis fra thai be aucht or nyne yeiris of age and till remane at the gramer sculis quhill thai be competentlie foundit and have perfite latyne.’ Acts of Parliament Scotland James IV
17 June 1497	Heavy taxes imposed by the English Parliament to sustain war against the Scots led to a Cornish rebellion. The Scots were supporting the pretender and imposter, Perkin Warbeck, against the Tudor Henry VII, King of England. The Cornish army led by blacksmith Michael Joseph, An Gof, from St Keverna and Bodmin lawyer Thomas Flamank were quickly defeated and scattered by an English army under King Henry VII at Blackheath, London. The two Cornish leaders were brutally executed shortly after the battle.
15 August 1500	William Dunbar, formerly a priest in government service, was appointed court poet to James IV, King of Scots.
24 January 1502	Marriage treaty between James IV, King of Scots, and Margaret, the 11-year-old daughter of the English king, Henry VII, was signed in the Palace of Richmond, England, after prolonged negotiations.
8 August 1503	The Marriage of the Thistle and the Rose - the wedding of James IV and Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII from which the Stewarts made claim to the English crown.
1 July 1505	Seal of Cause granted by Edinburgh Town Council to the Incorporation of Barbers and Surgeons to practise their craft. This body is now the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh.
15 September 1507	James IV, King of Scots, granted a patent to Walter Chapman and Andrew Miller authorising them to set up a printing press in Edinburgh. The earliest known dated output from their press ‘The Complaint of the Black Knight’ is dated 4 April 1508.
4 April 1508	The earliest known book printed in Scotland by Edinburgh printers Walter Chapman and Andrew Millar.
22 October 1509	Action begun by the burgomasters of Bruges to recover a cargo of sugar said to have been taken illegally by a Scots vessel called The Lion.
16 October 1511	Launch of the Great Michael at Newhaven in the Firth of Forth after five years construction. Described as 'the grettest schip ... that ever saillit in Ingland or France.' The Great Michael cost £30,000 Scots, but after the death of James IV at Flodden in 1513, the Great Michael was sold to the French for just £18,000. She ended her days as a rotting hulk in Dieppe.
10 April 1512	Birth of James V, King of Scots, elder and only surviving son of James IV and Margaret Tudor, at Linlithgow Palace. He succeeded his father when he was only 17 months, following the death of James IV at Flodden (1513).
29 November 1512	To mark the ancient bond between Scotland and France, James IV, King of Scots, was presented with a 35-gun warship by the French ambassador, de La Motte.
22 August 1513	A Scottish army led by James IV, King of Scots, and numbering between 30,000 and 40,000 crossed the Tweed into England.
29 August 1513	A Scottish army, led by James IV, King of Scots, which had invaded England on behalf of France, accepted the surrender of Norham Castle on the Tweed.
9 September 1513	Battle of Flodden took place near Branxton, in Northumberland, in which James IV, King of Scots, was killed, with the flower of Scotland, by English troops under Thomas Howard, the Earl of Surrey.
21 September 1513	James V, King of Scots, aged one year, five months and ten days, crowned at Stirling following the death of his father, James IV, at Flodden
25 October 1514	Death of Bishop William Elphinstone, Chancellor of James III and founder of King's College, Aberdeen.
15 January 1516	Death of Alexander, Duke of Rothesay, infant brother of James V, at Stirling Castle.
21 January 1521	Scottish Parliament resolved that if the Duke of Albany did not return from a prolonged stay in France, he should forfeit his Regency.
1 May 1522	England declared war on France and Scotland.
24 September 1523	After a gallant defence, Ferniehirst Castle, near Jedburgh, surrendered to an English army led by the Earl of Surrey and Lord Darce.
16 January 1524	Death at Perth of Alexander, Third Earl of Huntly, who commanded vanguard of the defeated Scottish army at Flodden.
25 April 1525	Ambassadors returned from England with details of an Anglo-Scottish peace treaty designed to last for three years and three months.
24 July 1526	Defeat in the battle of Melrose ended an attempt by Walter Scott of Bransholm to rescue James V, King of Scots, from the control of Archibald Douglas, 6^th Earl of Angus.
4 September 1526	John, 3^rd Earl of Lennox, whilst trying to rescue James V, King of Scots, from the control of Archibald Douglas, 6^th Earl of Angus, was defeated and killed at the Battle of Linlithgow. James escaped Douglas control in 1528 and took his revenge on the family. Douglasses were outlawed, their lands forfeit and their power destroyed.
29 October 1526	Sir Archibald Douglas of Kilspindie, a great favourite of James V, King of Scots, when a child, was appointed High Treasuer of Scotland.
29 February 1528	Patrick Hamilton, student of Parid, Louvain, St Andrews, Marburg, Abbot of Fearn, burned at St Andrew for heresy, the first Reformation martyr in Scotland.
14 December 1528	Five year peace treaty signed between Scotland and England. The Peace of Berwick gave control of the strategic Douglas stronghold of Tantallon Castle in East Lothian to James V, King of Scots.
5 July 1530	John Armstrong of Gilnockie, a Border reiver, and 50 of his men were hanged for blackmail by James V at Carlanrig.
17 May 1532	The Court of Session, the highest civil tribunal in Scotland, was instituted by James V, King of Scots.
2 September 1536	James V, King of Scots, sailed from Kirkcaldy for France with a squadron of five ships. He was to combine an official visit with the search for a bride.
1 January 1537	Marriage of Madelaine, daughter of Francis I of France to James V, King of Scots, in Paris.
27 May 1537	James V, King of Scots, returned to Scotland with his new bride Magdelaine, daughter of King Francis I of France. The sickly queen died within weeks.
7 July 1537	Death of Madelaine, wife of James V, King of Scots, shortly after her arrival in Scotland.
17 July 1537	Janet Douglas, Lady Glamis, was burnt at the stake as a witch in Edinburgh.
2 March 1539	Scotland and Antwerp began negotiations on a major trade deal which obtained many privileges in using the port for the Scots.
6 January 1540	First performance of Sir David Lyndsay's play 'Ane Satyre o the Thrie Estaites' in Linlithgow
17 February 1540	A Gypsy Kingdom recognised in Scotland by writ of the Privy Council in the name of James V, King of Scots - the gypsy kingdom of Little Egypt under its monarch, Johnnie Faw. "James, be the grace of God King of Scottis, to oure Shireffis, &c., Greting: Forsamekill as it is humlie menit and schewin to us be oure lovit Johnne Faw, lord and erle of Litill Egipt, that quhair he obtenit oure Lettres under oure Grete Seile direct to yow all and sundry oure saidis Shireffis, &c. havand autoritie within oure realme to assist to him in execution of justice upon his cumpany and folkis conforme to the lawis of Egipt, and in punissing of all thame that rebellis aganis him". From the writ of the Privy Council
24 August 1542	Battle of Hadden Rig ( Roxburghshire ) where Scots under Earl of Moray defeated an English force led by Sir Robert Bowes and took him and 600 of his men prisoner.
24 November 1542	A Scottish force commanded by Oliver Sinclair of Pitcairns, a favourite of James V, King of Scots, was routed by an English army under Lord Darce at the Battle of Solway Moss. Few were killed but around 1200 Scots were captured including Oliver Sinclair and many Scottish nobles.
8 December 1542	Mary, Queen of Scots, was born at Linlithgow Palace. When the news was given to her father, James V, on his deathbed at Falkland Palace, that he had "ane fair douchter", the King said: "Adew, fair weill, it come with ane lass, it will pas with ane lass." He died soon afterwards.
14 December 1542	Death of James V, King of Scots, at Falkland Palace, only six days after the birth of his daughter and heir Mary, Queen of Scots.
1 July 1543	Treaties of Greenwich provided for Anglo-Scottish peace and for marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, to Edward, heir to Henry VIII; repudiated before by Scots before end of year.
2 June 1544	Hugh, 4^th Lord Fraser, and his son Hugh, Master of Lovat, were killed in an engagement with Macdonalds of Clanranald at Lochlochy, Inverness-shire.
6 September 1544	Forty-four Scots were killed at the village of Eckford, south of Kelso, by an English Border raiding party.
27 February 1545	A Scottish army led by the Earl of Angus defeated English forces under Sir Ralph Eure and Sir Brian Layton at the Battle of Ancrum Moor.
1 August 1545	Birth of Andrew Melville, reformer, founder of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, Principal of Glasgow University and St Mary's College, St Andrews.
1 March 1546	George Wishart, Protestant martyr, burned at the stake at St Andrews.
29 May 1546	David Beaton, Cardinal Archbishop of St Andrews, Lord High Chancellor of Scotland, murdered in St Andrews Castle by a band of Protestant Reformers.
7 June 1546	Peace of Ardres ended England's war with France and Scotland.
30 July 1547	Surrender to French forces of St Andrews Castle by Protestants responsible for murder of Cardinal David Beaton.
10 September 1547	The Scots, under James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, gave up a strong position and were heavily defeated by an English army led by the experienced Duke of Somerset in the Battle of Pinkie, near Musselburgh. The battle, also known as Falside and Pinkie Cleugh, resulted in some 15,000 Scots slain and a further 1,500 taken prisoner.
7 July 1548	Treaty of Haddington signed between Scots and French at Haddington, East Lothian, where their joint forces were laying seige to an English garrison. The treaty confirmed the betrothal of Mary, Queen of Scots, to the Dauphin of France and provided for French assistance in driving the English out of Scotland.
7 May 1554	Earl of Hertford invaded Scotland in an attempt to force the marriage of Edward, son of Henry VIII, and Mary, Queen of Scots. Known as "The Rough Wooing", it led to the burning and destruction of Border towns and abbeys and of Edinburgh.
20 December 1555	Ships from plague-hit Bordeaux were refused permission to land cargo at Leith unless guarantees that the vessels were sick-free were given.
10 November 1556	Russian treasure ship Edward Bonaventure, carrying Ivan the Terrible's ambassador to Elizabeth I of England, was wrecked off Rosehearty, Aberdeenshire.
3 December 1557	Signing of the Common or Godly Band by the Earls of Argyll, Glencairn and Morton and others, the 'Lords of the Congregation', the first manifesto of the Reformation in Scotland. 'We persaving how Sathan in his membris the Antechristes of oure tyme, crewellie dois Raige seiking to downethring and to destroye the Evangell of Christ and his Congregatioune, awght according to our bownden dewtys in oure maisteres Cawss, even unto the deth, Being certane of the victorye in Him. The quhilk our dewtie being weill consyderit, we do promis before the Majestie of God, and his congregatioune, that we be his grace sall with all diligence continewallie applie oure hoill power, substannce and oure very lyves to mentene sett forward and establische the maist blissed worde of God abnd his Congregatioune.'
24 April 1558	Aged 16, Mary, Queen of Scots, married the Dauphin of France.
28 April 1558	Walter Mylne burnt at the stake at St Andrews for heresy, the last Protestant martyr in Scotland. "It makis not mekill for I ame fourescoir of yeirs bygaine, thairfor be nature have nocht lang to leif, bot gif I be brunt at this tyme thair sall ane hunder ryse in the asse of my bones better nor I and sall skatter the proude pak of yow hiepocreitis that perturbis the servandis of God." Pitscottie Croniclis XXII.24.
15 December 1558	James, Fourth Lord Fleming, who accompanied Mary Queen of Scots to her wedding in Paris to the Dauphin of France, died with three others of the Scottish Court at Dieppe. Poisoning was suspected.
13 June 1559	A confrontation at Cupar Muir between French troops and those of the Lords of the Congregation was avoided. Negotiations by John, 5^th Lord Lindsay, on behalf of the Queen Regent, Mary of Guise, averted hostilities and led to a truce.
26 June 1559	Protestant Reformers took Perth from a French garrison in the wake of John Knox’s fiery May sermon at St John’s Church, Perth, launching the Reformation.
11 June 1560	Death of Mary of Guise, wife of James V, King of Scots, and mother of Mary, Queen of Scots. She played an active part in her daughter's minority and was installed as Regent of Scotland in 1554.
6 July 1560	Treaty of Edinburgh between England and France agreed that French troops would be withdrawn from Scotland and that France acknowledged Elizabeth Tudor as Queen of England.
1 August 1560	The Scottish Parliament abolished Papal jurisdiction and approved a Calvinistic Confession of Faith, thus founding the Presbyterian Church of Scotland under the leadership of John Knox.