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The Declaration of Arbroath was a letter dated 6th April 1320 to Pope John XXII in the name of the Community of the Realm. It was written in the Abbey of Arbroath and sealed by eight earls and thirty-one barons. Bernard of Linton, Abbot of Arbroath and Chancellor of Scotland wrote the Declaration itself. It is one of the world's great documents and should be treasured by all the people of Scotland and beyond. The central purpose was to persuade the pope to lift the excommunication of King Robert, The Bruce, for killing John Comyn in a church in Dumfries in 1306. The Liberty Pride web site gives you insight into the issue of Robert the Bruce's role. Underlying the document were many issues related to its development which are not evident unless you know a great deal about the history of the times. The issue of liberty was for most part tied up with feudal right and overlordship or, after 1306, the moral legitimacy of one King of Scots against another. The document lapsed into obscurity until it was rediscovered in the seventeenth century. It is only in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that it has acquired the status of a surrogate Scottish constitution. The Declaration's simple language has much to do with its timeless appeal. In the simple 1,200 words the declaration manages to condense: the mythology of Scotland's past; provide a vision of the relationship of kings of Scots and the Scottish people; and summarize the struggle of the time "for liberty alone that we fight and contend for, what no honest man will lose but with his life." The terminology of the period is often inadequate to deal with the complexity of the situation. The "Great Cause"and "War of Independence" are terms often applied to the activities around the development of this document. These terms were created later and fail to deal with the fundamental truth of the horror of the times between 1296-1424 when Scotland was involved in a war with England. The people of modern Scotland use the Declaration as a backbone of the their argument that Scotland should be free. I do not intend to get into an argument about whether Scotland should be independent but want to point out that we should treasure the Declaration for what it meant at the time it was written and the insight it gives us into the desire of people who wrote it. Its moving words should be appreciated for the great prose they are and the history they represent. You can see both the original Latin and the English translation here .Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Declaration of Arbroath in Scottish Culture is owned by Sharma Krauskopf. Permission to republish Declaration of Arbroath in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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