David I, King of
Scotland (PC)
Saint David was the son of
King Malcolm III and Queen Saint Margaret of Scotland. He was sent to the
Norman court in England in 1093. In 1113, he married Matilda, the widow of the
earl of Northampton, thereby becoming earl himself, and added the title earl of
Cumbria when his brother Alexander I became king. He waged a long war against
King Stephen for the throne of England on behalf of his niece Matilda, but was
defeated at Standard in 1138.
As King of Scotland from
1124, he was much more successful, ruling with firmness, justice, and charity.
David established Norman law in Scotland, set up the office of chancellor, and
began the feudal court. He also learned the spirit of Cistercian monks from
Ailred of Rievaulx, who for a time was David's steward. Scottish monasticism
began to flower from the start of David's reign and countless almshouses,
leper-hospitals, and infirmaries were established.
The monasteries founded
under David's patronage were superb architecturally as well as spiritually. The
king refounded Melrose Abbey on the main road from Edinburgh to the south, and
it remained one of the richest houses in Scotland. David also founded Jedburgh
Abbey in 1138, filling it was monks from Beauvais in France. At Dundrennan in
Dumfries and Galloway he founded in 1142 a splendid abbey and staffed it with
Cistercians from Rievaulx. The monks were so well managed that they even
started their own shipping line and traded from the Solway Firth less than two
miles away.
David
has never formally been canonized, though he is listed on both Protestant and
Catholic calendars (Attwater, Bentley, Delaney).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0524.shtml.JPG)
