Advanced Higher History exam - 2008 (marking instructions)

2008 History
Advanced Higher
Finalised Marking Instructions
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Northern Britain from the Romans to AD 1000
Part 1
Each question is worth 25 marks
Question 1
How far does the evidence support the view that Agricola’s achievements are still “of great
renown”?
The candidate is expected to be familiar with the achievements claimed for Agricola by his son in law
Tacitus and to evaluate them critically in the light of the available evidence. Candidates who are
familiar with the most recent research on the Gask Frontier may well not take the traditional view of
Agricola but candidates unaware of this research may still score high marks depending on how well
they argue their case.
The candidate might be expected to use such evidence as:
Evidence for Agricola’s achievements still being “of great renown.”
• Candidates who have persevered to the end of The Agricola will recognize that the quotation in the
question comes from the third last sentence of the book, referring to the Governor’s achievements.
• Tacitus, a primary source, painted a brilliant picture of five years’ campaigning in North Britain,
culminating in a sweeping victory at Mons Graupius.
• There is masses of archaeological evidence for a long, geographically widespread and substantial
Roman presence in North Britain in Flavian (which includes Agricolan) times.
• Nothing like the success of Agricola was attributed in contemporary sources to the two other
invaders of North Britain, Lollius Urbicus, the Governor for Antoninus Pius, and Emperor Severus,
who campaigned in person with his son Caracalla.
• According to Tacitus, Agricola’s fleet was the first to circumnavigate Britain, proving it was an
island.
• According to Tacitus, Agricola was awarded the ornaments of a triumph by Emperor Domitian, the
highest possible honour.
Evidence against Agricola’s achievements still being “of great renown.”
• Tacitus, the Roman Historian and significantly the son in law of Agricola, was never the less
writing four years after the death of Agricola and four years after he had last seen him. It’s not as if
he had carefully checked his facts with the former Governor of Britain. Indeed he proclaimed in his
book The Agricola that he had set out to “honour” his father in law.
• Tacitus is generally recognized as having put style before substance and as having painted a
stereotypical picture of a great Governor and General rather than a rigorous historical portrait.
• There are hints in The Agricola that two of Agricola’s predecessors as Governor, Cerealis and
Frontinus, had campaigned in North Britain. There is now undisputed archaeological evidence for
a Roman presence in North Britain before Agricola’s appointment as Governor.
• The poet Statius referred to another of Agricola’s predecessors, Vettius Bolanus, as having
campaigned in the “Caledonian plain” and having erected “watch towers and strongholds,” not a
bad description of the Gask Frontier.
• Pliny the Elder referred to Roman arms reaching the “Caledonian Forest,” a reference which has
been dated to the time of Cerealis and Frontinus.
• Tacitus was one of the top 500 Romans, with unrivalled access to written sources and movers and
shakers. He may well have known what is now becoming ever clearer, that Agricola was not first
on the scene in North Britain and that his campaigns, far from being daring and arduous, were a
walkover. Is The Agricola “a dodgy dossier?” Tacitus’ motives for writing The Agricola are still a
mystery.

• Hanson in his Agricola and the Conquest of the North, first published as long ago as 1987, did
begin to chip away at Agricola’s reputation. For example he demolished Tacitus’ claim that
Agricola was a genius at personally choosing fort sites: “none of the sites quoted by Dorey as
supporting evidence for Agricola’s supposed skill in selecting fort sites can now be claimed
unequivocally as Agricolan foundations.” Hanson also pointed out that Dendrochronological
evidence dated the Roman fort at Carlisle to pre Agricolan times. Even Tacitus states that Agricola
did not meet “fresh peoples” until he reached the Tay, suggesting/conceding pre-Roman contacts.
Hanson concluded in an earlier book, written with Maxwell in 1983, Rome’s North West Frontier:
the Antonine Wall, that, as he put it in 1987, “the end result was rarely in doubt.” Agricola made no
impression on other Roman authors: he was in Hanson’s opinion “a man of honest mediocrity.”
Pretty damning and about as far as you can get from Tacitus’ multi-faceted genius.
• The Gask frontier was until recently attributed to Agricola; Hanson thought it must have been built
during Agricola’s fourth year of campaigning, his second in N. Britain.
• Wooliscroft and Hoffmann have demonstrated beyond doubt that the Gask Frontier was actually
constructed 10-15 years before that! Dendrochronology and excavation: some ditches were recut
and watchtower timbers were replaced once if not twice. Clearly there was a Roman presence
Forth to Tay and beyond, long before Agricola’s arrival, strongly suggesting, to put it mildly, that his
arrival there and indeed further North was a walkover. Perhaps there was no battle of Mons Graupius:
we have only Tacitus’ word for it.
• Pre Agricolan dates have been confirmed for several Roman forts in modern Scotland, Castledykes,
Newstead (perhaps as early as the late 60s AD!) Camelon, Strageath on the Gask Frontier, and
Cardean.
• A Roman amphora reached Orkney not long after Claudius’ invasion of Britain, suggesting very
early peaceful contacts with far North Britain.
• Agricola’s three immediate predecessors were all distinguished soldiers: it looks as if he was not:
just a competent administrator sent in when things had quietened down. Indeed Tacitus devotes a
chunk of The Agricola to the Governor’s civic responsibilities, which may have been his
outstanding achievement.
Candidates may bring a range of appropriate historians’ commentary to support their views.
These may include reference to:
• Tacitus: The Agricola Hagiography (successful until recently) but excellent reading.
• WS Hanson: Agricola and the Conquest of the North.
“He had followed quite a successful career, but one suspects it owed as much to his early
adherence to the Flavian dynasty as to any particularly outstanding qualities in the man himself.”
• David Breeze: The Roman Frontiers of Northern Britain slightly dated but still valuable.
• Hanson and Maxwell: The Antonine Wall covers all Roman contacts with N Britain.
• Wooliscroft and Hoffmann: Internet; Roman Gask Project fascinating!
• Wooliscroft: Agricola: He came, he saw, but did he conquer? “Agricola was not the first Roman
Governor to occupy Scotland.” “Agricola was simply not the sort of person who got the job of
Governor of Britain, at least at a time when serious fighting was contemplated.” Agricola’s
previous career, apart from two brief periods on military service, was one “of wall to wall
administration.” The battle of Mons Graupius, if it took place, was “little more than a skirmish.”
Wooliscroft’s opinion of The Agricola, “to what extent can we trust it at all?”
• Wooliscroft and Hoffmann: Rome’s First Frontier: the Flavian Occupation of Roman Scotland.

Question 2
“Separating Romans from Barbarians.” To what extent does this explain why there were two
major Roman frontiers in North Britain?
The candidate is expected to demonstrate detailed knowledge of the reasons for the Romans building
one major linear barrier and then replacing it, temporarily as it turned out, with another further North,
which was itself soon given up completely.
Background
• Hadrian eschewed some of his predecessor Trajan’s conquests: his policy was peace, stable
controlled frontiers and a well-trained and disciplined army which he would inspect on his imperial
travels.
• Literary sources suggest trouble in North Britain at his accession, but they tended to do so at every
accession.
• He apparently/clearly had no desire either to conquer the whole island or to re-advance to the Forth-
Clyde isthmus or the Tay, both of which had been held in Flavian times. “By the end of the [First]
century ...the most northerly Roman forts lay on the Tyne-Solway isthmus. The status quo was
recognized by Hadrian, who ordered the construction of his Wall on that line.” Ritchie and Breeze
‘Invaders of Scotland’.
• Trajan’s shadowy Stanegate Frontier was a good enough base for a linear barrier, perhaps reflecting
the Great Wall of China?
• Hadrian’s wall was not the first artificial frontier of this type to be constructed in the empire.
“Hadrian came to Britain in 122 from Germany and in both Upper Germany and in Britain he was
responsible, according to his biographer, for the construction of artificial frontiers.” Breeze ‘The
Northern Frontiers of Roman Britain’.
• The only motive given in classical times, but after the event, in the Scriptores Historiae Augustae,
was the one quoted in the question, to separate the Romans from the barbarians. “This is manifestly
correct for the barbarians beyond the province were separated from the empire by the most obvious
and clear method: a wall”. Breeze ibid.
• However, Hanson and Maxwell in ‘Rome’s North West Frontier: the Antonine Wall’ make the
point. “There is nothing to indicate that the tribes north of Hadrian’s Wall were any more
barbarous than those immediately south of it. This surely implies….an intention to romanize all the
people within the new frontier, for it was the very act of building the wall which caused the
distinction.”
• “In origin, Hadrian’s Wall served as a physical demarcation of the Roman province – a political as
well as military dividing line – and the scale of its construction was doubtless intended to impress
the northern barbarians as much as it hoped it would discourage. Hanson and Maxwell ibid.
• It was a form of “early political apartheid.” Hanson and Maxwell ibid.
• A wall would clearly delineate the Empire’s boundary as well as delimiting it without prejudice to
forts and patrols north of it.
• Work probably began C 122 AD on a part stone, part turf wall from the bridge on the R Tyne to
modern Bowness on Solway, 76 Roman miles in length. Later there was a four Roman mile
extension to the East at Segedunum, Wallsend, and a forty mile extension, minus the wall, down the
Cumbrian coast.

Specific purposes
• It also kept the troops busy and fit.
• It was built to a massive scale, ornate in places, a monument to Hadrian: apparently his statue
graced the Eastern end.
• It enabled peaceful economic development to the South.
• Allowed close supervision of small-scale movements of people.
• Customs duties/taxation? “The wall, although probably not the actual boundary of the province for
all or even part of its length, may well have become the customs boundary…Foreign trade…was
charged a duty of 12 ½ percent.” Breeze ibid.
• It did not stop movement. “It would be a hindrance to movement, but that was all.” Breeze ibid.
• It controlled peaceful movement.
• Stopped petty raiding and smuggling. “Hadrian’s Wall was concerned, not with the major attacks
on the province…but with the more small-scale, day to day problems of frontier control.” Breeze
ibid. “the curtain walls were intended to prevent, or at least hinder, minor infiltration or raiding.”
Hanson and Maxwell op cit.
• Hindered large-scale attacks.
• The great forts were a base for troops and for patrols to the North and to the outpost forts at Birrens,
Netherby and Bewcastle.
• Completely novel: huge psychological effect.
Hadrian died “hated by all” or more specifically by his generals who had been starved of battles.
He was succeeded by his adopted son Antoninus Pius, who had no military credentials.
Background
• “There are two schools of thought on the reason for the abandonment of Hadrian’s Wall and the
construction of the Antonine Wall: they might be termed the insular and the empire solutions.”
Breeze ibid.
• Insular. There were the usual reports of trouble from the barbarians in North Britain: they had to
be driven back. “for he [Antoninus Pius] conquered the Britons through the governor Lollius
Urbicus and after driving back the barbarians built a new wall of turf.” Life of Antoninus Pius.
Primary source.
• Empire. The new Emperor may have been desperate to achieve a quick and easy victory to raise his
prestige and consolidate his position in Rome. Britain ideal.
• Hanson and Maxwell op cit give three possible reasons for the new wall: “a douceur to the
marshals of the emperor Trajan, who had experienced twenty years of inactivity under Hadrian:”
“An attempt by Antoninus to win military prestige for himself:” “local strategic or tactical
reasons.”
• Lollius Urbicus was sent as Governor to advance the frontier and build a new wall: anything
Hadrian could do, Antoninus Pius could do.
• He only once took the title Imperator, victorious general, for his campaign in North Britain.
• Hadrian’s Wall was a tactical success but a strategic failure: too far from the real source of trouble,
the Caledonii in the Highlands.
Specific purposes
• “Although the wall was primarily a military frontier built by and for the army … it was intended to
fulfil political and socio-economic roles, to encourage the native peoples within the area now
clearly defined to accept Roman rule and advance towards self-government.” Hanson and
Maxwell op cit.
• The spur to the Tay may have been designed to protect the Venicones in agriculturally rich Fife and
to protect the pro Roman Votadini from cross Forth raids.
• All the generic purposes for Hadrian’s Wall, above, had still to be fulfilled.
• The first wall needed refinement: better design features of the second wall included Lilia, man
traps, a wider, deeper ditch, a greater density of forts and men, a military way running behind it and
outposts on both flanks.
• Assuming the second wall was built for purely personal reasons, these did not apply to Antoninus
Pius’ successor, Marcus Aurelius, and his Governor, Sextus Calpurnius Agricola, who immediately
abandoned the wall: back to square one.

• S Ireland: Roman Britain. A Sourcebook. All Classical references.
• Maxwell: The Romans in Scotland “the Romans wished to take direct control of the good
agricultural land of the Lothians.” Antonine Wall motive.
• Hanson and Maxwell: The Antonine Wall “Antoninus needed to establish his credibility with the
body of the army and gain military prestige.” There probably was, at the very least, “a perceived
threat” from the Brigantes.
• Smyth: Warlords and Holy Men good on the move North.
• Ritchie and Breeze: Invaders of Scotland.

Question 3
To what extent was the emergence of tribes and kingdoms in North Britain c 300 AD to c 550 AD
influenced by external factors?
The candidate is expected to show knowledge of the emergence of new tribal patterns and kingdoms in
North Britain c 300 AD − approximate first mention of Picts – and c 550 AD and to discuss the
importance of external factors in the process.
Background
• Baseline: Ptolemy’s mid second C AD. Geography, based on the work of Marinus of Tyre who
had used a Flavian military map, showed a fragmented society of fifteen tribes: four in the
Lowlands; Votadini, Selgovae, Novantae, Damnonii and eleven in the North, including the
Caledonii: possibly a confederation Tacitus added another, the Boresti.
• By Severan times there are references to the Caledonii and the Maeatae as major groupings, able to
enter treaty relations with Rome.
• Later references are to Dicalydones and Venturiones.
Evolution of tribes and kingdoms
• 297 AD first reference to Picts: Classical authors seemed to mean by that term all the indigenous
people North of the Forth.
• Pictavia or Pictland evolved into a highly organised kingdom.
• The Votadini of the Lothians and Berwickshire evolved into the warlike, heroic Gododdin with
strongholds at Din Eidyn and Stirling.
• The Novantae of Dumfries and Galloway continued as the kingdom of Rheged around and NW of
Carlisle.
• There are shadowy traces of a kingdom of the Selgovae in the upper Tweed.
• The Damnonii emerged as the Britons of Strathclyde: stronghold on Dumbarton Rock.
• “the genealogies of the British kings … demonstrate the existence of two, possibly four, native
kingdoms in Lowland Scotland during the fourth century.” Breeze The Roman Frontiers of Roman
Britain.
• “An identifiable kingdom of Dalriada emerged in Argyll around 500.” Sally M Foster Picts, Gaels
and Scots.
• Angles arrived in the SE and established the kingdom of Bernicia around Bamburgh.
• The kingdom of the Dal Riata, the indigenous inhabitants, emerged in Argyll.
Reasons connected with external factors
• Sustained Roman pressure over centuries.
• “The Picts self-awareness as a people seems to have been first stimulated by the conquest of Roman
Britain to the south of them. The feeling of “otherness” in the people of north-east
Scotland…evolved to a feeling of being a confederacy, as the Roman province began to show its
stress in the fourth century.” Carver Surviving in Symbols.
• John Mann: “the Pictish kingdom was a product of the Roman presence in Britain.”
• Romanitas: memory of Roman presence: desire to emulate; strongholds: capitals: titles - eg that
of the first king of the Manau Gododdin, Patern or Paternus Pesrut = Patern of the Red Cloak.
“This garment has been considered a symbol of office, Patern being invested with it by Theodosius.
It has accordingly been proposed that Theodosius established two or more kingdoms in Lowland
Scotland to govern the people and act as buffer states between Rome and the Picts.” Breeze ibid.
• Appearance of King Lists linked to Romanitas: cottage industry in faking King Lists after the
event.
• Aitchison: ‘The Picts and the Scots at War’: claims that new kingdoms emerged partly to protect
their areas from Roman aggression and partly to more effectively plunder the rich Roman province
to the South. This led to raids “supporting socio-economic elites, the development of emergent
kingdoms and a society organised for war.”

Reasons connected with other factors
• The Church, as it believed in one Kingdom of God, also believed ideally in one secular kingdom.
There was no disunity in Heaven: so should there not be any on Earth.
• The Church also believed in good governance and arguably a larger kingdom was better governed
than a number of lesser ones.
• Native society was hierarchical and heroic, with a warrior elite at the helm. Tribes were always
rubbing up against each other and raiding/fighting each other to steal and expand. “Migration of
the Dalriadic Scots from Ireland, if it happened at all, was probably little more than the movement
of a few powerful families.” Graham and Anna Ritchie Scotland; Archaeology and Early
History.
• Breeze: The Roman Frontiers of Northern Britain
• Smyth: Warlords and Holy Men points out that unchanged thoroughly Celtic kingdoms emerged
unscathed from Roman occupation and reverted to raiding type.
• Sally M Foster: Picts Gaels and Scots
• Ritchie: Invaders of Scotland
• Campbell: Saints and Sea King Dal Riata not the result of Irish migration
• Graham and Anna Ritchie: Scotland: Archaeology and Early History
• Aitchison: The Picts and the Scots at War
• Carver: Surviving in Symbols

Question 4
How far was the conversion of North Britons to Christianity due to the activities of a few
outstanding individuals?
The candidate is expected to show knowledge and understanding of the course of the conversion of
North Britain to Christianity and to weigh up the importance of the role of outstanding individuals in
that process, comparing it to other important factors.
Background
• Everybody in N. Britain was religious in the sense that people believed in Gods, spirits, cults,
totems, sacred/numinous places, cosmic forces, sacrifices, votive offerings: there was a fertile seed
bed for new religious ideas.
• Evidence for this in votive offerings, Pictish symbol stones, carvings of bulls at Burghead,
analogies with Irish and Gaulish/Celtic religious practices.
• The Picts had “a great diversity of deities, including local ones which would have presided over
rivers, lochs, forests, mountains and even trees associated in some cases with particular animals,
and certain animals too would have been regarded as sacred.” Lloyd and Jenny Laing ‘The Picts
and the Scots’.
• Describing the Pictish well at Burghead Anna Ritchie made the point, “given the importance of
water gods to their Celtic ancestors, the pagan Picts may also have had water rituals that could have
been modified and absorbed into a Christian Pictland.” Anna Ritchie ‘Picts’.
• Christianity was added without great difficulty to the existing belief systems.
• Indeed the two existed side by side.
Role of outstanding individuals
• St Ninian (Nynia) is a rather shadowy figure but it is accepted he was sent as a Bishop in perhaps
395 AD to an existing Christian community at a late Roman period trading settlement which we
now call Whithorn in the Mull of Galloway.
• The real importance of this lay in the introduction into N Britain of the structures of an organised
Church.
• Ninian or his successors may have converted some of the Southern Picts near the Forth and the Tay.
• “Nynia’s fame, like Patrick’s, grew mainly after his death. The ripples of it spread out among
...largely illiterate communities, something about Nynia was cherished and transmitted.” Thomas
‘Christianity in Roman Britain. Shows the huge impact he had.
• Also in the Borders: there is an inscribed stone to a Bishop in Peebles.
• The work of St Columba on Iona was another highly important factor. “Columba is a key figure in
any study of the Church in Celtic areas.” Lloyd and Jenny Laing ‘The Picts and the Scots’.
• Rather like Ninian, he apparently arrived in a Christian community of Dal Riata people, perhaps did
rather little in the way of conversion, but established the Abbey on Iona as a powerhouse of
education, training and production of Psalters and Bibles. He was also an adviser to the rulers of
Dal Riata: he had royal blood himself, which helped. He was the first Patron Saint of Scotland.
His burial place, Iona, became that of scores of kings from Scotland, England, Ireland and Norway.
The political role he took was taken up by later churchmen. Christianity introduced to North
Britain literacy, numeracy, a written lingua franca, aspiration towards good government, patronage
of the arts and links with Europe – all arguably traceable in large part to Columba’s life and
example.
• Adomnan’s (he was a later Abbot of Iona) Life of Columba was widely circulated and had a huge
influence.
• The conversion of the kingdom of Strathclyde is attributed to St Kentigern (St Mungo).
• Differences between Ninian’s Roman Church and Columba’s Celtic Church have been exaggerated:
there were no doctrinal differences, just some different practices.

• Columba’s arrival, like Ninian’s, is hugely significant as laying the foundations of an organised
Church.
• Since the Church supported good governance it supported kingship.
• Kings likewise looked to the Church to give support and authenticity to their rule.
• In Viking Orkney Earl Sigurd was at least nominally baptised in 995 when King Olaf Tryggesson
called after raids on England and gave him a choice between baptism and death. “I want you and
all your subjects to be baptised. If you refuse, I’ll have you killed on the spot, and I swear that I’ll
ravage every island with fire and steel. The earl could see what kind of situation he was in” and
was baptised at once.
Influence of the Roman Empire
• The Roman conquest of Britain was a factor in the conversion of North Britain: it opened Britain to
wider influences, made it more accessible to travellers/merchants/traders, coming and going of
officer class.
• First Christians in Britain may have been Jews or Greeks in Roman Britain.
• 312 AD Emperor Constantine decreed official toleration of Christianity (Allegedly born in York: good
story: modern statue there to prove it, but more likely born in Moesia, latterly Yugoslavia).
• After that date Bishops from sees in Britain attended Councils of the Church, eg Arles 314 AD.
• There must have been an underground Church for some time for that to happen.
• Army very conservative but traces of Christianity did appear at Hadrian’s Wall, in N Britain, even
before Constantine’s decree of toleration: more after it.
• St Patrick’s Confessio described himself as a third generation Christian growing up perhaps near
Carlisle.
• The Christian community there and the one at York must have influenced N Britain.
• Romanitas, the memory of the Roman presence, included a memory of Christianity.
Irish connection
• Western Scotland’s, esp Argyll’s cultural links with Christian Antrim aided spread of Christianity.
Ireland was converted before most of North Britain. Columba and many other monks came from
Ireland.
• The Church in Ireland had many links with the one in North Britain: cross traffic of churchmen.
Viking connection
• More Viking men than women came over to N Britain: the men took Pictish wives, whose children
took in Christianity with their mothers’ milk.
• Campbell: Saints and Sea King good on links Argyll and Dal Riata
• Smyth: Warlords and Holy Men Significant title!
• S Ireland: Roman Britain A Sourcebook
• Thomas: Christianity in Roman Britain to AD 500
• Sally M Foster: Picts, Gaels and Scots
• Martin Carver: Surviving in Symbols
• Lloyd and Jenny Laing: The Picts and the Scots
• Anna Ritchie: Viking Scotland
• Anna Ritchie: Picts.

Question 5
Who contributed more to the emergence of the kingdom of Alba, the Picts or the Scots of Dal
Riata?
The candidate is expected to show knowledge of the parts played in the emergence of the kingdom of
Alba by the Picts and the Scots of Dal Riata as well as taking into account other factors.
Background
• When Donald II, son of Constantine I, King of Fortriu, died in 900 AD the Annals of Ulster
attributed to him a new title, ri Albann, King of Alba: first mention of this new name for the united
kingdom of Picts and Scots, previous rulers were known as Kings of Fortriu or of Picts/Pictland.
• The conventional view of the creation and emergence of this new state tends to give all the credit to
the Scots in general and to Kenneth Mac Alpin in particular, with a walk on part for the Vikings.
Actually there was no political revolution, no unification caused by one man; rather there was an
evolutionary process lasting hundreds of years which involved the Picts as much as it did the Scots.
Contribution of the Picts
• The kingdom of the Picts was larger than Dal Riata in Argyll and both more populous and
agriculturally richer, which was of course part of the attraction for the Scots and the Vikings.
“Undoubtedly the agricultural wealth of Pictland was an enormous temptation to power-hungry
warlords”. Sally M Foster ‘Picts, Gaels and Scots’
• It was in fact the Dal Riata kingship which disappeared, not the Pictish one.
• The Pictish kingdom was highly organised: an army, a navy, an obligation to military service,
taxation, judges, powerful royal officers, mormears, thanes, all supported by the Church. The
wealth and power of the new Alba was no doubt predominantly Pictish.
• The primacy of St Andrews, the head church of Pictland, was not eclipsed, despite the growing
importance of Dunkeld, where Kenneth Mac Alpin installed the relics of St Columba in a new
church.
• Dunkeld had long-standing significance as an early historic power centre and had become a
prehistoric tribal centre, “fortress of the Caledones.”
• Scone was an important Pictish centre. Kenneth Mac Alpin made it his new royal centre, perhaps
bringing to it the Stone of Destiny.
• Several men before Kenneth Mac Alpin were kings of both kingdoms simultaneously and some of
them were from the Pictish royal house, eg Oengus, son of Fergus, King of the Picts 729-61, who
also ruled the Scots 741-750 and Constantine (Romanitas !) who ruled both kingdoms for a while at
the end of the 8th
C. There was no real reason why the two kingdoms should not have been
permanently united by one of them.

Contribution of the Scots
• Kenneth Mac Alpin clearly made a huge personal contribution as war leader and tactician. He may
have been in league with the Vikings. He may have had a claim to the Pictish throne through his
mother. However, all his achievements could well have died with him, leaving him a minor
footnote in history. No man can bind the future.
• Kenneth Mac Alpin’s descendents’ trick was to keep the united kingdom in the hands of a narrow
dynasty instead of letting it fall apart again and eventually to change the name of the kingdom to
Scotland, the land of the Scots. Kenneth himself installed the relics of St Columba in a new church
in Dunkeld, in the heart of his new united kingdom, breaking the Scots’ umbilical cord that
connected them to Iona and the West. It was in fact the Dal Riata kingship which disappeared, not
the Pictish one.
• Lot of intermarriage between the ruling elites: increasing appearance of Gaelic names among the
Pictish kings.
• Common cultural heritage, as shown, by eg a comparison of Pictish sculpture with illuminated Gaelic
manuscripts and of decorated metalwork from Ireland and northern Britain.
• The appearance of St Columba and other saints from Gaelic Ireland among the Picts from 590s on
introduced a major cultural influence and brought the Picts within the Gaelic cultural sphere for the
next 200 years, producing a Christian society heavily influenced by Gaelic models. Bruide, son of
Derile, King of the Picts, was present along with 50 Gaelic Kings at Birr when the Law of the
Innocents was promulgated.
• Dal Riata colonisers gradually infiltrated Pictish territory from the West.
• Dal Riata kings had ruled the Picts from Pictish territory. “Since seven rulers appear to have been
of Dalriadic origin, though ruling Pictland from Forteviot, inside Pictish territory, it might be
guessed that the Scots had in the early ninth century pushed eastwards into Pictland” Lloyd and
Jenny Laing The Picts and the Scots
• Dal Raita was a warrior society, with a system of military obligation − see the Senchus fir nAlbann
– highly organised for war and conquest.
• The Church favoured political union, especially if led by the Dal Riata, the people of St Columba.
Other factors
• The Viking incursion was important; it weakened gradually the Picts and lost them the Northern Isles
and Caithness: also there was a Viking victory over the Picts in 839 just before Kenneth took over the
Pictish throne. “a battle was fought by the gentiles against the men of Fortriu and a large number fell in
the engagement. Annals of Ulster.
• Similarly, Viking pressure on the coast of Dal Riata put pressure on the people there to move East.
• Smyth: Warlords and Holy Men: “Dal Riata ascendancy … evolved as a gradual process of
infiltration of the Pictish east, which must have escalated under pressure from Vikings in the
Hebrides and Argyll in the early ninth century.”
“There does indeed seem to have been a takeover process at work perhaps as early as the late eighth
century, but it was the Scots who were taking over Pictish kingship and not the otherway round.”
“Medieval Scottish sources were right in seeing Kenneth as a new type of king who hailed from the
Gaelic west and who crossed the Spine of Britain to take power in Pictland.”
• Ritchie: The Vikings
• Crawford: Scandinavian Scotland
• Ritchie: Invaders of Scotland
• Aitchison: The Picts and the Scots at War
• Walker: Lords of Alba Kenneth Mac Alpin “was completing a gradual process of the merging of
two cultures which had begun centuries before.” “a slow fusion of two cultural groups over a long
period of time.”

Question 6
What factors best explain why the peoples of North Britain were unable to mount effective
resistance to Viking incursions?
The candidate is expected to have knowledge of the Viking incursions into North Britain, and of the
factors which explain why the native peoples were unable, for the most part, to effectively resist them.
The candidate might use such evidence as:
• They did not know they were coming. Raids began out of nothing at very end 8th
C AD.
• 795 “devastation of all the islands of Britain by the gentiles (Vikings)” Annals of Ulster.
• First recorded raid, but there may have been others just before that.
• Though the Dal Riata and the Picts had armies and navies and the Britons and Gododdin had
warriors it was very difficult to stop people who appeared out of the blue anywhere on very long
coastlines or on a multitude of islands.
• The advantage always lay with the attackers.
• Peoples of N Britain were disunited. There was no united kingdom, no central authority, no means
of communication to arrange joint action, no common language indeed.
• The N Britons raided and fought each other, but that was different to trying to meet an enemy at sea
or on the coast or on islands.
• The raiders were so ruthless that they could not easily be bought off, though there is some evidence
of monks doing this.
• N Britain had a lot of portable loot: captives as slaves: livestock: precious metals and stones from
abbeys and churches; the Vikings were going to keep coming.
• Island communities had no chance: their small populations could not defeat all warrior forces and
they could not get help. Perhaps though there was some determined resistance by them as there are
references to fighting on the islands.
• Monastic centres did recover, or were deliberately left alone to allow them to recover, so that they
were worth raiding again.
• To be fair, the Vikings did not sweep all before them.
• The Western and Northern Isles were “lost” as was Caithness but the Picts and Dal Riata won some
battles and their heartlands were safe, though the Dal Riata were impelled Eastwards.
• “The Scottish kingdom was in the long run very successful in defending itself against Viking
attack, to judge at least from the sparsity of settlements apparently established in south Scotland.”
Barbara Crawford.
• “Any hopes that the Norseman may have had of establishing a power-base in the southern Scottish
kingdom were consistently thwarted.” Anna Ritchie and David Breeze.

• Ritchie: The Vikings
• Smyth: Warlords and Holy Men… refers to, ‘the exposed and relatively defenceless Gaelic and
Pictish population caught up in the fury of heathen Viking attacks at the close of the eighth
century.” “massive military expeditions which were coordinated with the characteristic speed and
ruthlessness of the later Viking period.”
• Aitchison: The Picts and The Scots at War… The Vikings could raise and easily move by sea large
forces with which the Picts, Britons and Scots could not compete. “In probably one of the largest
military actions involving a fortress in northern Britain, the Dublin Vikings… besieged Dumbarton
Rock for four months…capturing it when its defenders were forced to surrender because their water
supply dried up.”
There was no respite from attacks and no knowing from whence would come the next one.
“Of all seaborne raiders, the Vikings are notable for the frequency of their attacks and for the extent
of the areas they laid waste.”
• Crawford: Scandinavian Scotland.
• Anna Ritchie and David Breeze: Invaders of Scotland… Until the Viking raids, the sea had been
a peaceful means of communication between, eg Ireland and Dal Riata. Suddenly that all changed.
“Never before has such a terror appeared in Britain as we have now suffered from a pagan race, nor
was it thought possible that such an inroad from the sea could be made.” Primary source quoted by
Ritchie and Breeze.

Northern Britain from the Romans to AD 1000
Part 2
Question 1
How useful is Source A for understanding pre-Roman Iron Age society in North Britain?
(12 marks)
The candidate may be awarded up to 3 marks for the quality of their evaluation of the provenance of
the source.
The candidate may be awarded up to 2 marks for their ability to establish the views of the source and
accurately support that evaluation with comment from the source.
The remaining marks will be awarded for the quality and depth of the immediate and wider context
recall, including historians’ views, that the candidate provides in their overall interpretation of the
source’s value.
The candidate offers a structured consideration of the usefulness of Source A in understanding pre-
Roman Iron Age society in North Britain in terms of:
Provenance: appropriate and relevant comments on provenance can earn credit. These may include:
• Primary source: Archaeologist’s scale drawing of the excavation of the remains of a crannog.
• Because crannog remains are usually waterlogged or underwater they can be exceptionally well
preserved, though constructed entirely of organic material – except for hearths.
• Absence of air (oxygen) and sunlight preserves the wooden structures.
• Some crannog remains are completely underwater, (Oakbank on Loch Tay) others are found in land
drained for agricultural purposes: the latter cases the same conditions for preservation are less good
though still remarkable.
• Anything thrown out because it was broken or not wanted landed in water and was preserved.
Points from source which show the candidate has interpreted the significant view(s)
• Immediately obvious that we have the remains of a very large, round, wooden circular hut built
round a hearth.
• Closer examination reveals a massive wooden platform built on piles sunk into the loch bed.
• Joinery skills of a high order are apparent in the jointing/dovetailing of the timbers.
• Massive midden: suggests long occupation and possibly lots of finds.
Points from recall which support, develop and contextualise those in the source
• Finding a dwelling house tells you more about non-literate people than anything else.
• The builders of these houses were wealthy farmers, of great skill, able to organise complex building
schemes.
• Remains of everyday objects used domestically and for farming, hunting, boatbuilding, and fishing
are found in abundance.
• When Oakbank was reconstructed there was considerable difficulty in obtaining hazel of the right
diameter: the original builders must have known all about coppicing.
• The midden reveals what people ate, meats, fruits, cereals; eg cloudberries at Oakbank, which grow
at considerable heights on the mountains.

Points from recall which offer wider contextualisation of the view in the source
• Crannogs are similar to brochs, round-houses, wheel-houses, ring-ditch houses and duns in that
they are massive, built to dominate the landscape, display the family’s wealth (though wheel-
houses, being underground impress in a different way; entering them and seeing the complex and
massive stone structure was what was impressive).
• Weapons are not found, which strongly suggests peaceable people getting on quietly with life,
though of course the last people out may have taken their weapons with them, but surely that would
have applied to domestic items as well.
• Of all house types in early historic N Britain, crannogs are the most enduring: clearly rebuilding
and repairs were easy; one excavated crannog had six hearths superimposed one on another. “In
Scotland, as in Ireland, the use of crannogs is not restricted to the prehistoric period, but continues
until the seventeenth century AD.” Morrison
• Why site them on water? Protection from attack? “Although refuge was not the only function of
the islets, it was certainly an important one.” Morrison. “The defensive role of crannogs is
illustrated in the Tale of Cano mac Gartnain in which Aedan mac Gabra killed Gartnan son of Aed
mac Gabrain in the crannog of Inis-Meic-Uchen in Skye and would have killed Cano mac Gartnan,
had Cano not escaped with his followers in currachs.” Morrison. Ensured safety of livestock from
predators at night: more convincing; evidence has been found of animal pens. Good farming land
was scarce, save it by not building on it. Plenty of water available! Perhaps they preferred
throwing all the rubbish into the water rather than having a stinking heap at the door.
• The Buston canoe; candidates may comment on the dugout canoe: means of escape: for fishing:
travel.
• Morrison: Landscape with Lake Dwellings
• Campbell: Saints and Sea Kings
• Lloyd and Jenny Laing: The Picts and the Scots
• Aitchison: The Picts and The Scots at War
The candidate is therefore able to come to a conclusion, using a range of evidence, about the degree to
which a consideration of Source A is useful for understanding pre-Roman Iron Age society in North
Britain.
Marks
1-3 Vaguely written, merely re-describing the source; not answering the question or showing
understanding of the views in the source. The candidate may show minimal understanding of
immediate or wider context. Candidate may make relevant and appropriate provenance
comments.
4-5 The candidate’s answer shows a limited understanding of the views in the source, and little if any
sense of context. Answer may lack clear structure with points made randomly, indicating little
grasp of significance, although in places the candidate’s interpretation may be fairly well-written
with some relevant points of explanation made. Candidate may make relevant and appropriate
provenance comments.
6-8 The candidate makes relevant and appropriate provenance comments and the interpretation is clearly
written and sensibly structured. The explanation ranges over several relevant points and shows an
understanding of the views of the source, sets material in context, shows a good factual grasp of
topic and a reasonably developed analysis, which may include reference to historians’ views.
9-12 The candidate’s interpretation offers accurate, wide-ranging and convincing argument; showing
a clear understanding of the provenance of the source and the views in it. There is a solid grasp
of immediate and wider context, and well developed levels of relevant analysis. Appropriate
reference to historians’ views will be credited highly.

Question 2
How fully does Source B illustrate the problems of understanding the nature of Pictish life and
culture? (12 marks)
recall, including historians’ views, that the candidate provided in their overall interpretation of the
source’s fullness in explaining/analysing the issue.
The candidate offers a structured explanation of the evidence in Source B on how fully it explains the
problems of understanding the nature of Pictish life and culture in terms of:
Appropriate reference to Martin Carver may earn marks under historiography. Candidates may know that
Prof. Carver is a Professor at York University, specialising in the Picts, and also Director of the Tarbet
Discovery Programme, the major Pictish excavation underway.
Points from source which show candidate has interpreted the significant views
• Passage is about Pictish Class II Christian stones, as opposed to the earlier Class I stones.
• Carvings are a mix of Christian and secular content.
• Carvings of Christian subjects were copied from somewhere.
• Content of some carvings may have originated outwith Pictland, as far away as Byzantium.
• Picts in touch with tides of European culture.
• Some scenes, such as hunting ones, must have been taken straight from life.
• On one level hunting scenes were obviously secular and had secular meaning, depicting the noble
status of the patron who had erected the stone.
• Hunting scenes might also allude to the Christian soul in pursuit of Christ (the deer) and salvation.
• Popular Christian scenes were King David, Samson smiting the Philistines with the jawbone of an ass,
Jonah and the whale and Daniel in the Lions’ den.
• Class II stones represent some sort of deal struck between the Church and the nobility.
Points from recall which offer wider contextualisation of the view in the source
• Class II stones appeared about 700AD on.
• They are done in relief on upright slabs cut to a rectangle and sometimes tapering to the top.
• They were popular around the power-centres in the Moray Firth and Tayside.
• Local aristocracy gave Church its full support and vice versa.
• Most Class II stones are near or at sites of later medieval parish churches or burial grounds: they
were very likely early centres of Christian worship and/or burial.
• They did not mark individual burials.
• They were very public statements about the beliefs of the whole community and about the taste and
sophistication of the patrons, who may have been depicted.
• Probably often near the caput of a thanage and at estate centres.
• Did the Church, out of deference, accept the secular carving or did the patrons insist upon it?
• Clever pieces of propaganda, testimonies to the rights of the Church to both land and jurisdiction.
• Designs serve three purposes: evoke status and ritual authority of secular patrons, aspects of which
have now passed to the Church: still votive, asking God for favours: refer to sense of Pictish
identity.
• Just one kind of source, therefore limited.
• There are no surviving Pictish literary sources, apart from king lists, and even if there were we can
not translate the language.
• We rely therefore on written comments of non Picts: Romans, Dal Riata, Anglo-Saxons, with all
the problems of bias.
• The source tells us nothing about kingship, economy, not much about society, nothing about
housing and forts, the material culture.

• Ritchie: Picts “Typically the Picts made the cross-slab an art-from of their own. Instead of
carving free-standing crosses…Pictish sculptors created a cross against the backcloth of an almost
rectangular slab, thereby doubling the surface area of the stone available for decoration.” “They
were … free-standing monuments, and they were probably prayer-crosses, placed beside tracks or
on boundaries as a focus of devotion.”
• Smyth: Warlords and Holy Men
• Sally M Foster: Picts, Gaels and Scots: “their content encapsulates the changing political scene.
On one side of them can be found a magnificent cross, glorifying God. The reverse is usually
reserved for images of the secular patrons (usually male), whose status is reinforced by their
depiction in the noble pursuits of hunting and riding.”
• Lloyd and Jenny Laing: The Picts and the Scot. “The main series of Class II stones belongs to
the eight and ninth [centuries.]
• Carver: Surviving in Symbols
The candidate is therefore able to come to a conclusion, using a range of evidence, about the extent to
which a consideration of Source B is helpful in offering a full explanation of the problems facing
historians in trying to understand the nature of Pictish life and culture.
Marks
comments.

Question 3
How much do Sources C and D reveal about differing views on the success of the Severan
invasion of North Britain? (16 marks)
Interpretation (maximum 6 marks)
Candidates may be awarded up to 3 marks for their ability to establish the views of each source and
Contextual and historical interpretations (maximum 10 marks)
These 10 marks will be awarded for:
• the quality and depth of the contextual recall
• the quality and depth of the wider perspectives
• the range and quality of Historians’ views
• provenance comment (if appropriate).
The candidate considers the views in Sources C and D on the success of the Severan invasion and
offers a structured evaluation of the two perspectives in terms of:
Source C
• Roman Historian, never in Britain, like all of them.
• Well informed about Imperial matters in Rome and the Empire.
• Some of what he says can be verified independently.
Points from source which show the candidate has interpreted the significant views
• Emperor Severus was intent on total conquest.
• Initial success: enemy came to terms.
• Terms broken.
• Caledonians united with the Maeatae.
• Severus would lead his army in person.
Points from recall which develop and contextualise those in the source
• Classical sources, Dio again and Herodian, make it clear there was a second campaign and there is
archaeological evidence for this.
• Development of points about the great physical difficulties the Romans faced.
• Further knowledge about the guerrilla tactics by the natives.
• Marching camps, of different areas but for each standard size, do indicate two campaigns to the
North East, from the Forth to the North Esk.

Source D
• Accurate comment on Hansen and Maxwell will receive credit under historiography.
Points from source which show the candidate has interpreted the significant views
• Severus may indeed have had conquest in mind.
• A new fortress was built and two previous fort sites were built upon.
• Sound system of bases.
Points from recall which develop and contextualise those in the source
• Severus brought his wife, Julia Domna, an Arab princess, his two sons, Caracalla and Geta and
considerable forces to Britain, after the usual allegations of troubles in the North.
• Carpow, a vexillation (part of) legionary fortress, was the second largest Roman fortress in N
Britain. (fortresses were larger than forts)
• Cramond, re-built, had a substantial garrison, 1,000 men.
• They appear to be part of a short-lived scheme to dominate/control the North from the Tay, the key
to the Flavian and Antonine occupations, and the Forth.
• It used to be thought that Caracalla returned to Rome immediately after the death/murder of his
father but he may have remained longer to oversee the programme above.
• Even without the bases, whatever Severus and his son Caracalla did, it brought peace for 100 years.
Points which offer a wider and more critical contextualisation of the view in the sources
• Dio presumably had little interest in British affairs once the Imperial family had returned.
• The Caledonians may have been bought off or have re-entered into some treaty relationship.
• The Maeatae returned into the mists of History from whence they briefly sprang.
• The owl of Minerva spreads his wings at dusk: only now do we see what Severus’ expedition
apparently achieved: Archaeology may cast new light in years to come.
• Hanson and Maxwell: Rome’s North West Frontier: the Antonine Wall. They compare Severus’
strategy with the one he employed in Syria/Mesopotamia, a forward strategy relying on a secure
base – with two bases in the case of North Britain. Even though abandoned, “The effect of the
Severan campaigns was such as to bring peace to north Britain for close on a hundred years.”
• Maxwell: The Romans in Scotland whatever the accusation that Caracalla abandoned his father
Severus’ campaign and scuttled back to Rome before total conquest, “there can be no doubt that the
hard-fought Severan campaigns led to almost a century of peace on the northern frontier.”
• Breeze: The Northern Frontiers of Roman Britain refers to “the increased Roman control over
southern Scotland from the Severan period.”
The candidate is therefore able to come to a conclusion, offering a range of evidence, about the extent
to which a consideration of the two sources is helpful in offering a full perspective on the success of the
Severan invasion of North Britain.

Marks
1-3 Vaguely written, merely re-describing the sources; not answering the question or showing
understanding of the views in the sources. The candidate may show minimal understanding of
immediate or wider context or any historical interpretations on the issue.
5-7 The candidate’s answer shows a limited understanding of the views in the sources, and a weak
with some relevant points of explanation made. Candidate may offer relevant and appropriate
historical interpretations.
8-11 The candidate makes relevant and appropriate comments of interpretation, and the answer is clearly
understanding of the views of the sources, sets material in context, shows a good factual grasp
of topic and a reasonably developed analysis, which may include reference to historical
interpretations or specific historians’ views.
a clear understanding of the views of the sources and their value as interpretations on the issue.
There is a solid grasp of immediate and wider context, and well developed levels of relevant
analysis. Appropriate reference to historical interpretations and/or historians’ views will be
credited highly.

Scottish Independence (1286-1329)
Part 1
Question 1
To what extent were Anglo-Scottish relationships marked more by friendship than hostility
before 1291?
The candidate is required to make a balanced judgement about whether or not relationships between the
English and Scots were marked more by friendship than by hostility before 1291. Candidates may
concentrate mainly on an analysis of the events of Alexander III and the subsequent guardianship, but
reference to earlier exemplification, such as The Treaty of Falaise, 1174 should be credited.
The candidate may use evidence such as:
Evidence of ‘friendship’ in the Anglo-Scottish relationship
• Personal friendship between Alexander III and King Edward I.
• Alexander III married Edward I’s sister.
• Edward I did not attempt to enforce overlordship when Alexander III rejected his claim in 1278.
• King Henry III had intervened in Scottish affairs during the Minority of Alexander III only really to
secure his daughter’s rights and maintain stability; no hint of overlordship.
• Edward I’s messages of condolence and sympathy on the death of Alexander III.
• The Treaty of Birgham seemed to enshrine the independence of Scotland in the event of a ‘Union of
the Crowns’.
• It is possible to analyze Edward’s actions during the Process of Norham sympathetically.
Earlier exemplification may include:
• reference to the Treaty of Northampton 1244
• reference to the Quitclaim of Canterbury 1189
• close relations between the Anglo-Norman ruling class in England and those, such as King David I
and King William I, who wished to feudalise Scotland.
Evidence of ‘enmity’ in the Anglo-Scottish relationship
• King Henry III’s intervention in the minority of Alexander III.
• King Edward I’s claim of overlordship in 1278.
• Edward I ‘reserved his rights’ in the Treaty of Birgham.
• King Edward’s apparent desire to enforce his rights after the death of the Maid of Norway.
• Edward’s demand that the Scots prove that he was not Overlord of Scotland; his decision to ignore
the refusal of the guardians to do so.
• Edward’s extraction of recognition of his overlordship from the Competitors.
• Edward’s sasine of Royal Castles in Scotland.

Geoffrey Barrow
• argues that relations between England and Scotland were basically very good during the reign of
Alexander III. He sees the Treaty of Northampton as central to this stability, though the removal of
the issue of Northumbria would, in the long term strengthen Scotland’s strategic position
• argues that the atmosphere in 1290 before the death of Margaret was ‘hopeful, even joyful’
following the Treaty of Birgham
• argues that Edward I’s involvement in Scotland following the death of Margaret was far from
benign and that he was intent on establishing his authority from the Process of Norham in 1291.
Fiona Watson
• points out that even in the Treaty of Birgham Edward ‘reserved his rights’.
AAM Duncan
• has argued that English Kings really only wanted stability from their northern neighbour, and that
whilst Alexander III provided this then relations would be cordial. He notes however, that the
English claim to Scotland was never allowed to lapse.
Alan Young
• emphasises the crucial role of Henry III in supporting the Comyns and reducing faction in the
period.
Michael Prestwich
• has argued that Edward acted cautiously and with a sensible regard to his own position after 1290.
Norman Reid
• praises Alexander III for his achievements in securing stability but warns that his reputation has
been exaggerated by medieval chroniclers comparing his reign with the turmoil of later years.

Question 2
Why did it take so long for the ‘Great Cause’ to be settled in favour of John Balliol?
The candidate is required to analyze the possible explanations for the length of time it took for John
Balliol to be chosen as King of Scots, in order to arrive at a balanced conclusion. Candidates may
restrict their answer to the events of 1292, or begin their discussion with the death of the Maid of
Norway in 1290. Candidates may examine the degree to which the lengthy delays reflect Edward’s
scrupulous approach to the case or whether they amounted to a sustained assault on Scottish
independence.
Evaluation of the choice of John Balliol as King
• No clear heir following the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway.
• Risk of faction or civil war in Scotland made the political situation very dangerous.
• Bishop Fraser’s letter to Edward I.
• Lack of clear process as to how a new monarch should be chosen given that the succession was
unclear.
• Reluctance of the Guardians to accept Edward’s demands for overlordship in return for his
intervention in the ‘Great Cause’.
• Edward’s attempts to manipulate the process in order to extract and exert overlordship was his
priority, rather than the speedy appointment of a King.
• Need to decide the composition of the Court of auditors.
• Delay in hearing the decision of the Paris lawyers on which legal system to use.
• 13 competitors needed to have their claims recorded and heard.
• Consideration of the claim of Robert Bruce, the Competitor, and others, including John Hastings.
• The delay caused by the claim of Florence of Holland; Bruce’s machinations.
FM Powicke
• argued that Edward acted with proper regard to Scotland’s traditions throughout the proceedings at
Norham and during the Great Cause.
Geoffrey Barrow
• views Edward’s involvement as designed to undermine Scottish independence, and that the lengthy
period of his sasine of royal castles strengthened his position. As a result Edward I was prepared to
tolerate the 10 month adjournment to investigate the ‘frivolous’ claim of Florence of Holland while
he consolidated his grip.
Caroline Bingham
• has been more inclined to accept the legitimacy of Bruce’s claim, in line with a more traditional
interpretation of the period, and thus views Edward’s role at Norham as an attempt to pervert the
system to favour his preferred candidate, John Balliol.
Michael Penman
• argues that Edward required sasine of royal castles in order to be able to enforce his judgment and
that this was only sensible
• sees the distinction between judgment and arbitration as critical in the case, therefore the lengthy
delay in order to acquire the judgment of the Paris lawyers was necessary.

Question 3
How successfully did the Scots resist English occupation between 1296 and 1298?
The candidate is required to make a balanced judgement about the success of Scottish resistance
between 1296 and 1298. Candidates may define ‘success’ in a number of ways; whilst the English
occupation was not ended, nor Balliol restored, neither did the English establish the control which they
desired.
Aspects of the English Occupation and the Scottish resistance
• Significance of the omission of Wallace from the ‘Ragman’s Roll’.
• Failure of Cressingham to raise taxes by Spring of 1297.
• Spontaneous nature of uprisings around the country.
• Wallace’s murder of Heselrig.
• Wallace’s raid on Scone.
• Moray’s rising in the North.
• Difficulties of the English occupation in establishing its authority; esp. north of the Forth.
• Role of the nobility: Bruce’s defection to the ‘Scottish side’; the Comyns’ defiance of English rule;
the ‘surrender’ at Irvine.
• Nature of Wallace’s support.
• Battle of Stirling Bridge.
• Achievements of Wallace’s guardianship: The Lubeck letter; appointment of Lamberton; raids on
northern England.
• The effect of the Battle of Falkirk – not as decisive for either side as it first appeared.
• The establishment of the Bruce/Comyn guardianship.
Geoffrey Barrow
• sees the revolt of 1297/98 as part of a general continuation of Scottish resistance though ‘under new
leadership’ following the defeat at Dunbar
• sees the main success of the rebellion in strengthening a sense of ‘national’ identity: ‘the peasants
had, temporarily, gained their place in the Community of the Realm’
• questions the longer term significance of Wallace in comparison with the later career of King
Robert.
Andrew Fisher
• has argued that Wallace’s rebellion spurred the nobility into more active resistance, and that this
was the crucial success of the rebellion.
Michael Penman
• argues that Wallace may have been more successful had he been supported by the Balliol-Comyn
faction after Stirling Bridge
• criticises Wallace’s decision to fight at Falkirk.
Fiona Watson
• has argued that William Wallace’s campaigns showed the nobles what could be achieved when
‘unorthodox’ tactics were used
• emphasises the weakness of the English administration in 1296, arguing that Edward I had little real
control north of the Forth.
Ranald Nicholson
• argues that Wallace’s significance in promoting the ‘national’ cause outlasted his defeat.

Question 4
How far do the actions of Robert the Bruce before 1306 undermine his reputation as a great
patriot?
The candidate is required to make a balanced judgement about whether or not Bruce’s actions before
1306 undermine his reputation as a great patriot.
Evidence which supports the view that Bruce’s actions before 1306 undermine his reputation as a
great patriot
• Bruce’s family had a long tradition of supporting King Edward I of England.
• The Bruce family never supported or fought for King John.
• Bruce’s defection to the Scottish side in 1297 may simply have been to pursue his family’s dynastic
ambitions rather than to preserve Scottish independence.
• Bruce’s support for the Scottish side was never very vigorous – he was present at the surrender at
Irvine in 1297.
• Bruce’s joint guardianship with John Comyn (and later Lamberton) was short-lived and dominated
by factional infighting.
• Bruce’s resignation from the Guardianship.
• Bruce’s defection to the English in 1302; his concern at the prospect of a Balliol restoration.
• Bruce’s willingness to serve under Edward I according to the terms of the Ordinance for Scotland
1305.
Evidence which contradicts the view that Bruce’s actions before 1306 undermine his reputation
as a great patriot
• Bruce’s support for the Scottish cause from 1297.
• He may have been present on the Scottish side at the Battle of Falkirk.
• Bruce joined the guardianship in 1298, putting aside differences with Comyn.
• Bruce’s defection to the English in 1302 may not have been genuine; concerned at the threat to his
own lands in Carrick.
• The ‘Secret Band’.
Geoffrey Barrow
• argues that Bruce’s actions demonstrate an underlying consistency in his support of the national
cause; his defection in 1302 to the English was not genuine.
Alan Young
• stresses the element of personal or dynastic ambition which drove Bruce and that his support of the
‘national’ cause was only when it suited his own interests.
Ranald Nicholson
• argues that “Bruce’s cause was Bruce”.

Question 5
To what extent were King Robert’s skills in diplomacy and propaganda as important as his
military achievements in winning independence for Scotland?
Candidates are required to analyse and evaluate whether King Robert’s diplomacy and propaganda
contributed more to the achievement of Scottish independence than his military efforts. Candidates
may focus their answers on one aspect (diplomatic, propaganda or military) more than the others, but
are nonetheless required to come to a balanced conclusion.
Diplomacy
• Bruce’s achievement of recognition from the King of France 1310
• Bruce’s response to his excommunication
• Robert’s refusal to see the Papal legate in 1319 without a recognition of his kingship
• The Declaration of Arbroath
• The truces of the 1320s
• The Treaty of Edinburgh/Northampton 1328
Propaganda
• The nature of Robert’s coronation
• The Declaration of the Clergy 1310
• Bruce’s speech and personal conduct at Bannockburn
Military conflict with the English
• Campaign against castles
• Raids on the North of England
• ‘Secret War’
• Battle of Bannockburn
• The Irish Campaign
• Campaigns in the 1320s
Geoffrey Barrow
• has emphasised the importance of Bruce’s diplomatic activity
• suggests that Bruce knew that victory was unlikely to come through military victory alone
• praises Robert I for his willingness to pay a high price for peace in 1328.
Michael Penman
• has argued that the Wars of Independence can be viewed largely as a Scottish civil war, and that
this was an important factor in the peace settlement. Diplomacy was therefore vital in winning
foreign recognition of his kingship.

Question 6
“A period of prolonged crisis.” How accurate is this description of King Robert I’s government
of Scotland between 1314 and 1329?
Candidates are required to analyse and evaluate King Robert I’s government of Scotland between 1314
and 1329, in order to arrive at a balanced conclusion about whether or not the period can be described
as one of ‘prolonged crisis’.
Evidence which supports the view that there was a ‘prolonged crisis’
• Statute of Cambuskenneth 1314 reveals continued opposition of some members of the nobility.
• Persistent opposition of some churchmen.
• Failure of the Irish campaign.
• Impact of Bruce’s excommunication.
• Debate over the significance of the Declaration of Arbroath.
• The De Soules plot.
• Instability in the succession arrangements, 1315, 1317, 1326.
Evidence which contradicts the view that there was a ‘period of prolonged crisis’
• General acceptance of Bruce’s kingship affirmed by Parliament.
• Noblemen continued to ‘come to Bruce’s peace’ throughout his reign.
• Re-establishment of the machinery of government and of the Great Offices of State.
• Support for King Robert from the Church despite his excommunication.
• Legislation passed by Bruce’s parliaments.
• The succession eventually secured in 1326 and approved by parliament.
GWS Barrow
• has described Robert the Bruce’s government in very positive terms
• praises the resurrection of the machinery of government; esp. the work of Bernard de Linton
• argues that Bruce’s legislation was forward looking
• emphasises the continuing role of the ‘Community of the Realm’ in forging stable, national
government
• has tended to regard the De Soules plot as not being a serious challenge to Bruce’s supremacy.
Michael Penman
• argues that the De Soules plot represented a serious threat to Bruce and the survival of the
Comyn/Balliol faction
• argues that Bruce never had effective control of large parts of the country, especially in the west
• emphasises the disastrous nature of the campaign in Ireland.
Fiona Watson
• has argued that Bruce never overcame his origins as a ‘usurper’.

Scottish Independence (1286-1329)
Part 2
Question 1
How useful is Source A for understanding the downfall of King John? (12 marks)
The candidate may be awarded up to 3 marks for the quality of their evaluation of the provenance of
the source.
source’s value.
The candidate offers a structured evaluation of the usefulness of Source A as evidence of the downfall
of King John in terms of:
• An extract from King John’s letter of surrender to Edward I which would form the basis of later
caricatures of King John as weak and craven.
• At this time Balliol was stripped of the symbols of kingship; an event which would later give rise to
the ‘Toom Tabard’ epithet.
• Written at the time of the collapse of Scottish resistance following the sack of Berwick and the
defeat at Dunbar earlier in the year.
• May reflect coercion on the part of King Edward I rather than the views of King John, or of the
‘Council of 12’.
• Surrender may have taken place at Stracathro.
• A document of surrender which was used by Edward I to vindicate his invasion of Scotland in
1296.
• King John’s admission of having received ‘bad advice’ and acting ‘foolishly’.
• Breaking of homage and fealty to Edward I.
• King John’s alliance with the French, 1295.
• Reference to the Scottish attacks on England, 1296.
• John’s renunciation of homage may have been forced on him by the ‘Council of 12’.
• Alliance with France was made in response to King Edward’s demand for military service in 1294.
• King John had argued that his homage to Edward I had been extracted under coercion.
• The surrender is a direct rebuttal of King John’s earlier renunciation of homage.
• Scots had attacked northwest England in early 1296 – a Comyn led force besieged Carlisle Castle.
• Edward had defeated a Scottish army at Dunbar/collapse of military resistance.
Points from recall which offer a wider contextualisation of the view in the source
The source does not mention:
• The disquiet of King John’s own nobles at his repeated humiliation by King Edward
• Reference to the Appeals cases heard in England
• Reluctance of Scottish nobles to fight for King Edward in France
• Continued factionalism within Scotland; lack of support from the Bruces
• Other weaknesses of John Balliol; he may have originally been intended for the Church.

• Geoffrey Barrow: argued that Balliol’s failure must be seen in the light of the strength and
determination of Edward I.
• Fiona Watson: believes that historians have been overly influenced by later ‘propaganda’
accounts produced by ‘Brucean’ chroniclers.
• Michael Penman: supports Watson’s revisionist view of Balliol.
which a consideration of Source A is useful for understanding the reasons for the downfall of King
John.
Marks
comments.

Question 2
How fully does Source B illustrate the attitude of King Edward I towards Scotland between 1298
and 1306? (12 marks)
source’s fullness in explaining/analysing the issue.
The candidate offers a structured analysis of how fully Source B illustrates the attitude of King Edward
I towards Scotland in terms of:
• King Edward summoning the representatives of the Scottish Community.
• Sheriffs may be Scottish or English.
• Sheriffs to be appointed by King Edward.
• Sheriffs to be appointed on basis of suitability and ability.
• The Ordinance was the first time since 1297 that King Edward had attempted to include the
Scottish Community of the Realm in the government of Scotland.
• The Lieutenant of Scotland was to be John of Brittany.
• The Ordinance itself made alterations to Scots law, including outlawing the use of Breton in official
documents.
• Ordinance goes on to say that the Council to be made up of English and Scots.
• King’s lieutenant to take the views of the Council to the King.
• Aim to reform the laws of Scotland, subject to approval by the English King.
• The Ordinance reduced the status of Scotland to a ‘land’, rather than a kingdom.
Points from recall which offer a wider contextualisation of the view in the source
The source does not mention:
• Edward’s attempts to subdue Scotland by force – the Battle of Falkirk 1298
• Subsequent English campaigns, 1299, 1300
• The nature of English ‘direct rule’
• Edward’s reluctance to accept the surrender of Stirling Castle in 1303; use of the ‘warwolf’
• The surrender of the Comyns at Strathord.
• Geoffrey Barrow: sees the Ordinance of Scotland as “mild and statesmanlike”.
• Fiona Watson: regards the Ordinance for Scotland as a serious assault on the kingdom, reducing
its status to a ‘land’. She also sees the English occupation as having little real impact, especially
north of the Forth.
• Michael Prestwich: has argued that the extent of Edward I’s military failure in Scotland between
1298 and 1306 has been exaggerated.
which a consideration of Source B is helpful in illustrating the attitude of King Edward I towards
Scotland between 1298 and 1306.

Marks
comments.

Question 3
How much do Sources C and D reveal about differing views on the nature of support for King
Robert I during the Scottish Civil War 1306 and 1309? (16 marks)
Interpretation (maximum 6 marks)
Candidates may be awarded up to 3 marks for their ability to establish the views of each source and
Contextual and historical interpretations (maximum 10 marks)
These 10 marks will be awarded for:
• the quality and depth of the contextual recall
• the quality and depth of the wider perspectives
• the range and quality of historians’ views
• provenance comment (if appropriate).
The candidate considers the differing interpretations in Sources C and D, of the nature of support for
King Robert I during the Scottish Civil War 1306 − 1309, offering a structured critique in terms of:
Points from Source C
contemporary eye-witness and participant; as a supporter of Edward, he points up the threat of Bruce,
rather than down-playing it.
• A great deal of support for Bruce in 1307.
• People believe Bruce will ‘carry all before him’.
• ‘False preachers’ spreading support for Bruce.
• If Bruce can break away from the south west then he will find more supporters in the North.
• Only more English troops will prevent support for Bruce growing.
• Bruce had weakened Edward’s support in the southwest since his return to the mainland at
Turnberry; evidence of ‘popular’ support in his own earldom of Carrick.
• Bruce had attracted more support following the raid at Glen Trool, which may have provided more
cash to attract supporters.
• Bruce did attract support from Ross as the source suggested he would; after defeating the Earl of
Ross, he became a staunch supporter of Bruce.
• Bruce’s victory at Oldmeldrum helped to strengthen Bruce’s growing aura of invincibility.
• The herschip of Buchan shows that Bruce was prepared to treat defeated enemies harshly.

Points from Source D
Accurate comment on Colm MacNamee will be credited under historiography.
• Earls of Athol, Menteith and Lennox, and the bishops of Moray and Glasgow were the most
prominent supporters of Bruce.
• Support from James the Stewart.
• Many lesser nobles supported Bruce, and became his close companions.
• Many supported Bruce only through fear or intimidation.
• Many aristocrats would not support Bruce.
• Comyns and MacDougalls of Argyll wanted revenge for the murder of John Comyn.
• The Earls of Dunbar and Strathearn were loyal to Edward I.
• Most Scots considered resistance to Edward I as futile.
• Bishop Wishart of Glasgow had pardoned Bruce for the murder of Comyn and provided the robes
for his coronation.
• James Stewart was a vassal of Robert the Bruce.
• His close companions later included Thomas Randolph and James Douglas, as well as Keith and
Hay.
• Bruce had to crush Comyn power in Buchan as well as defeat the MacDougalls of Argyll in order
to secure his position.
• Bruce would be defeated by the MacDougalls at Dalry.
• Bruce allowed the Earl of Strathearn’s son to inherit the earldom on condition that he support the
Bruce monarchy.
• Barrow: has argued that Bruce had the support of most Scots by 1309.
• Penman: has shown that Bruce inspired ‘propaganda’ has exaggerated the level of support for
Bruce throughout his reign.
• Watson: has argued that many of Bruce’s actions as King reveal his concern about the weakness
of his position and lack of support.
• Young: has shown that the Comyn/Balliol faction remained active even after the defeat at
Oldmeldrum.
which a consideration of the two sources is helpful in offering a full perspective on the nature of
support for King Robert I during the Scottish Civil War between 1306 and 1309.

Marks
1-4 Vaguely written, merely re-describing the sources; not answering the question or showing
understanding of the views in the sources. The candidate may show minimal understanding of
immediate or wider context or any historical interpretations on the issue.
5-7 The candidate’s answer shows a limited understanding of the views in the sources, and a weak
with some relevant points of explanation made. Candidate may offer relevant and appropriate
historical interpretations.
8-11 The candidate makes relevant and appropriate comments of interpretation, and the answer is clearly
understanding of the views of the sources, sets material in context, shows a good factual grasp
of topic and a reasonably developed analysis, which may include reference to historical
interpretations or specific historians’ views.
a clear understanding of the views of the sources and their value as interpretations on the issue.
There is a solid grasp of immediate and wider context, and well developed levels of relevant
analysis. Greater awareness and development of historical interpretations and/or historians’
views will be credited highly.

The Renaissance in Italy in the Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries
Part 1
Question 1
To what extent did artistic developments in Florence in the first half of the fifteenth century
represent a break with the past?
The aim of the essay is to enable candidates to assess the extent to which the changes in the arts in
Florence in the first part of the fifteenth century were wholly new and to what extent there was
continuity with the past, or a development of earlier methods and subjects.
The candidates may use evidence such as:
What were the artistic developments?
• Changes in artistic technique as exemplified by the work of Masaccio, Brunelleschi and Donatello.
• The introduction or reintroduction of perspective, bronze casting, classical architecture and
composition.
• The shift from the International Gothic to the early Renaissance style.
What was “a break with the past”?
• Influence of humanism. Portraiture inspired by human individuality and worth.
• Leonardo Bruni tried to provide a programme for Ghiberti’s Doors of Paradise.
• Leon Battista Alberti took humanist ideas and codified them in his treatises on painting,
architecture and sculpture, giving a new humanist slant to artistic creativity.
• Competition between guilds for status leading to new and exciting commissions, as seen in the
doors of the Baptistery, Orsanmichele and the Duomo.
• Human realism said to arrive in art through innovations combining modelling by light with new
mathematical perspective to create a naturalism hitherto unseen. This is seen in frescoes by
Masaccio in the Brancacci Chapel of Santa Maria del Carmine.
What evidence is there of continuity or development of earlier methods and subjects?
• Revival of style of classical antiquity as seen in the Ospedale delli Innocenti, San Lorenzo (like a
late Roman basilica) or the Pazzi Chapel.
• Rediscovery of Vitruvius’ “On Architecture” in 1416.
• Influence of Giotto, who died in 1337. His art was naturalistic and lifelike, grandiose and
monumental (Brucker).
• Influence also of Cimabue, who predates the accepted dates for the beginning of the Renaissance by
one hundred years.
• Brunelleschi and Donatello journeyed to Rome to study classical ruins. A desire to ape the
achievements of the classical world. Brunelleschi discovered the principles of classical buildings
and the “qualities of mind and spirit (Brucker) of classical artists”. Through his measurement of
columns, pediments and arches, he worked out the mathematical ratios used by Roman architects.
This was then applied in his Church of San Lorenzo (the Medici Chapel), Dome of the Cathedral
and the Pazzi Chapel in the Church of Santa Croce. Also in the Hospital of the Innocents, a loggia
constructed in a Roman style. Donatello produced statues of David and various prophets and saints
in a Roman style for the Duomo and Orsanmichele.

• Margaret L. King: on impact of classical revival on the visual arts.
• Evelyn Welch: on the importance of the guilds and on the artistic innovations of Masaccio and
Donatello.
• Evelyn Welch: also argues that we should not be too rigid in seeking to define which works of art
show continuity or transition and which are wholly original. There are works which do not fit into
a neat pattern. Change in style and a continuity of purpose need equal consideration. Indeed, the
two were quite closely connected. There are examples of traditional iconography and styles, yet at
other times artists sought to startle the viewer and ask him to look anew at old stories.
• Gene Brucker: on the open and tolerant cultural climate of Florence and the relatively low profile
of the church in the hierarchy of Florentine intellectual concerns.
• Brucker: also comments that Giotto’s frescoes made a profound impact upon the revolutionary
generation of Florentine artists of the Quattrocento, who recovered Giotto’s sense of the
monumental, which had disappeared from the Florentine art of the preceding age.

Question 2
How important was competition between the city states of Italy to the flowering of the arts during
the fifteenth century?
The aim of this essay is to give candidates the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of the city
states in Italy and to discuss the relative importance of competition between the city states in bringing
about the artistic Renaissance in the fifteenth century.
The candidates may use evidence such as:
Competition between city states
• Economic rivalry between city states. The importance of the wealth accumulated in city states such
as Florence, Milan and Venice, which was channelled into artistic projects.
• Political rivalry between city states. The many wars which were fought between the states in their
attempt to expand their influence and power.
• Military struggles between city states involved the hiring of mercenaries, such as Federigo da
Montefeltro. He used his wealth to make Urbino a Renaissance court where the arts flourished.
• Rivalry between city states such as Florence, Siena and Milan as to which was the most free, leading
to artistic projects and humanist treatises which tried to demonstrate that freedom.
• Rivalry in claiming a classical inheritance as exemplified by Leonardo Bruni and civic humanism
in Florence.
Other factors which might explain the flowering of the arts
• Artistic genius and inspiration. Individual artists who came up with something entirely new.
Consider Masaccio, Brunelleschi and Donatello.
• Patronage. For example the personal sponsorship of Donatello by the Medici family. The role of
commission contracts. The extent to which patrons were creative partners in the process of cultural
development. Patronage by governments, guilds, lay confraternities, ecclesiastical and private
individuals such as Cosimo de’ Medici or Giovanni Rucellai. Cosimo served on boards like the
Opera del Duomo supervising the construction of the Cathedral and Orsanmichele as public
religious buildings. He also paid for the renovations to the Monastery of San Marco (building by
Michelozzo and frescoes by Fra Angelico), and the Church of San Lorenzo.
• Artistic competition drove on the flowering of the arts. An example might be Brunelleschi and
Ghiberti competing for the commission for the North Doors of the Florentine Baptistry. Vasari
certainly saw the importance of such competition between artists.
• Richard MacKenney’s: “Renaissances” in which he sees Florence trying to absorb the Roman
republican tradition but sees Venice as lacking a civic myth linking it with ancient Rome, at least
until 1527 and the sack of Rome.
• Margaret L. King: who stresses the importance of a strong economy to the flowering of the
Renaissance in the city states.
• Alison Brown: on ‘campanilismo’, the strong sense of belonging felt by citizens of Renaissance
cities and how this led to a desire to furnish the city with the finest art and public buildings.
• Evelyn Welch: ‘Art in Renaissance Italy’
• J.R Hale’s: “Renaissance Europe 1480-1520”

Question 3
To what extent has the perception of women during the Renaissance been distorted by historians
focusing on a few exceptional examples?
The aim of this essay is to give candidates the opportunity to show what they know about the lives of
Italian women during the Renaissance and to debate whether or not historians’ perceptions about such
women are accurate. Candidates will be expected to show to whom the phrase ‘a few exceptional
examples’ might refer.
Candidates may use evidence such as:
What are historians’ perceptions of women during the Renaissance?
Role in the family
• The view that Italian society was patriarchal and the role of women was largely domestic and
therefore their contribution to Renaissance society was marginal. This was especially the case
amongst unskilled and unmarried women, who had few occupations available to them beyond the
Church (as nuns), domestic service or prostitution.
• Property descending through the male line reduced the influence of women in the family and
society.
• Females needing either to marry or enter a convent.
• The role of women in educating young children and hence influencing their values and behaviour.
For example Francesco Barbaro’s “On Wifely Duties” and Leon Battista Alberti’s “On the Family”.
• Castiglione devoted one book of ‘The Courtier’ to the social role of women.
• Growth of interest in women’s history may tell subsequent generations more about our
preoccupations than about women in the cultures of the Renaissance.
Political importance of women
• The importance of political alliance being sealed through marriage, with the need for a dowry
which during a woman’s lifetime remained at the disposition of her husband.
• Women were seen to possess the power of reason, which to Cicero was the vital factor
distinguishing man from the beasts. Hence Renaissance humanism raised the status of women.
‘A few exceptional examples’
• Women who participated fully in the humanist movement include Isotta Nogarola of Verona, Laura
Cereta of Brescia, Cecilia Gonzaga, Vittoria Colonna and Cassandra Fedele of Venice.
• Isabella d’Este, consort of Francesco Gonzaga of Mantua, became one of Italy’s most important
patrons, minutely prescribing the content of her artistic projects. Commissioned Andrea Mantegna
and Giovanni Bellini. Caterina Sforza was also an important patron.
• Lucrezia Borgia was influential in politics.

Advanced Higher History exam - 2008 (marking instructions)

Advanced Higher History exam - 2008 (marking instructions)

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