Declaration of Arbroath

Scotland's medieval Declaration of Arbroath is too important for cherry picking by politicians

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, July 11, 2023
Freedom, Declaration of Arbroath, Life, Politics, National Museum of Scotland, History, Scots, Democracy, Time, SNP, Propaganda, Magna Carta, Letter, Family, Mail, Arbroath

From The Declaration of Arbroath

Key Points: 
  • From The Declaration of Arbroath
    As long as a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be subjected to the lordship of the English.
  • From The Declaration of Arbroath Medieval Scotland’s most iconic document, the Declaration of Arbroath, recently went on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh for the first time in 18 years.
  • Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser claimed a few years ago that Scots who opposed independence should celebrate the Declaration of Arbroath.
  • For Cherry, this statement of popular sovereignty means the Declaration of Arbroath is incompatible with the “peculiarly English doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty”.

Why the declaration really matters

    • Both unionist and nationalist views of the declaration tell us very little about the declaration itself.
    • The Declaration of Arbroath was not a law or a treaty but a letter to the pope.
    • A few months after the declaration was sent to the pope, several individuals were executed or imprisoned for conspiracy to assassinate the king.
    • The declaration really gives us an insight into the development of written agreements to ensure loyalty and support.
    • It is only when considered in their immediate historical context that documents like the Declaration of Arbroath, can be understood.