List of heirs of Scotland details those people who have been either heir apparent or heir presumptive to the Kingdom of Scotland, according to the rules of cognatic primogeniture, except at times when other forms of inheritance were specified, for example from 1371 to 1542 when the succession was limited to agnatic primogeniture by Act of Parliament. Females are included in the list where appropriate; however, although the Crown could pass through the female line (for example to the House of Dunkeld in 1034), in the early middle ages it is doubtful whether a queen regnant would have been accepted as ruler.
David I, previously ruler of Lothian and Cumbria, became King of all Scotland on the death of his elder brother Alexander I, 23 April 1124. His heir apparent was his eldest surviving son,
David died on the 24 May 1153 and was succeeded by his grandson.
Malcolm IV, known as "Malcolm the Maiden", was unmarried and had no children. His heir presumptive was his next brother
William I was unmarried at the time of his accession, so the next heir was his younger brother,
William I, known as "William the Lion" from the lion rampant he adopted as his coat of arms, died on the 4 December 1214, and was succeeded by his son.
Alexander II was only sixteen and unmarried at the time of his succession, and so the heiress presumptive was his elder sister,
Alexander II died on the 8 July 1249 and was succeeded by his only legitimate child.
Alexander III became King at the age of eight, and the heiress presumptive to the Kingdom was once again his aunt
Alexander III, a widower since 1274, was now left with an infant girl as the only undisputed successor to his throne. In an attempt to beget a male heir, he married Yolande de Dreux on 14 October 1285, but died on the 19 March 1286 of a fall from his horse. Queen Yolande declared herself pregnant with the King's heir, but it soon became apparent that this was not the case, and Alexander's three-year-old granddaughter Margaret was recognised as heir.
Scotland was ruled by the six Guardians of Scotland on behalf of the child-heir Margaret. However, other powerful nobles claimed the throne, and in an attempt to avoid a civil war the Regents appealed to King Edward I of England for assistance. By the Treaty of Birgham, 1290, Margaret was placed under Edward's guardianship and betrothed to his eldest son, the Prince of Wales. Margaret set out from Norway for Scotland in the autumn of that year, but was taken ill on the voyage and died at Orkney on the 26 September 1290, age seven. Scotland was left without an heir and with two claimants, so the Guardians of Scotland again appealed to Edward I to act as an arbitrator between the Competitors for the Crown of Scotland. The two strongest claimants were
Though Bruce invoked proximity of blood and claimed to have been made Tanist of the Kingdom by the then-childless Alexander III, Balliol was the genealogically senior heir, and Edward declared in his favour following an election at Berwick-upon-Tweed, 3 August 1291.
King John was crowned at Scone on St Andrew's Day 1292. His heir apparent was his son by Isabella de Warenne,
In retaliation for this Treaty (the foundation of the Auld Alliance), Edward invaded Scotland, defeating the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar on 27 April 1296, and John was compelled to abdicate on the 10 July 1296. He and his son were taken as prisoners to England, but he was still regarded by the Scots as rightful King of Scotland. William Wallace led an uprising in John's name, winning the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297, but the rebellion was crushed after the Battle of Falkirk the following year. In 1299 John was released from captivity and went into retirement on his family estates in France, taking no further interest in the recovery of his kingdom. His heirs still exist.
After the Battle of Falkirk, William Wallace relinquished the position of Guardian of Scotland in favour of Robert de Bruce, Earl of Carrick and John Comyn of Badenoch ("the Red Comyn"), John Balliol's brother-in-law. These men had strong claims to the throne of Scotland themselves: Bruce was grandson of the Robert Bruce who had been a Competitor for the Crown in 1290, and Comyn had actually been a Competitor himself, as the senior descendant of the 11th century King Donald Bane. On 10 February 1306, Bruce murdered Comyn at what was supposed to be a parley between the two rivals, and set about claiming the throne for himself, being crowned at Scone on 27 March. Over the next years he gradually reconquered Scotland from the English, culminating in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. He was finally recognised by the English as King of independent Scotland by the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton, 1328. At the time he seized the throne, Robert I had no sons, and the succession was not set out until the Parliament held at Ayr, which, on 27 April 1315, made Robert's brother,
Robert I died on the 7 June 1329, and was succeeded by his only surviving son (a second son, John, had died in infancy).
David II was five years old when he became King. Though he married twice during his reign (firstly to Joan of the Tower and secondly to Margaret Drummond), he had no children, and so the heir presumptive for the duration of his reign was his older nephew
David II died on the 22 February 1371, and was succeeded by his nephew Robert the Steward.
Before he became King, Robert had married twice: firstly to Elizabeth Mure, by whom he had four sons and five daughters, and secondly to Euphemia, Countess of Moray, by whom he had a further two sons and two daughters. However, the children of the King's first wife had been born before the granting of the dispensation for the marriage, and were therefore of doubtful legitimacy, as the legal doctrine that children born out of wedlock are legitimated by their parents' subsequent marriage had not yet been fully established in Scotland. It was thus unclear whether the heir-apparent was Robert's eldest son by his first wife, John, or his eldest son by his second wife, David. On 27 March 1371, Parliament acknowledged John, as Robert's heir and subsequently on 4 April 1373 passed an Act specifically stating the order of succession to the throne, which was limited to the King's sons (named in the Act) and the heirs male of their bodies, failing which to the King's heirs whatsoever. The heir apparent was now indisputably
Despite his infirmity, John succeeded to the throne on Robert II's death, 19 April 1390, in accordance with the 1371 Act. He assumed the regnal name of Robert III to avoid associations with the House of Balliol.
At Robert III's accession, his heir apparent was his eldest son
Robert III died on 4 April 1406, allegedly of grief at his son's capture, and was succeeded as King by his only surviving son James (a second son, Robert, had died young).
The new eleven-year-old King had several sisters living, but under the 1371 Act of Parliament limiting the succession to males his heir presumptive was his uncle
King James I was assassinated on 21 February 1437 by a group of conspirators including his uncle and sometime ally the Earl of Atholl, whereupon his infant son became King as James II.
At the accession of James II the next male heir to the Crown was the late King's assassin
The only other unquestionably legitimate male member of the House of Stewart apart from the King was now Sir James "Mór" Stewart of Baldorran, son of the second Duke of Albany, who was in exile in Ireland. However as he was under attainder, the next heir according to the 1373 Act of Parliament was the "heir whomsoever" (i.e. including females) of King Robert II. It was still uncertain at this time as to who this would be, as the 1373 Act, while determining which of the King's sons should succeed him, had not pronounced on the legitimacy of the King's elder children one way or the other. If the children of Robert II by his first wife were legitimated by their parents' subsequent marriage (as later legal doctrine would have it), then the heir presumptive in 1437 was the King's eldest sister
However, if the children of Elizabeth Mure were not legitimate, then the heir whomsoever of Robert II during the period 1437 to 1451 was
In the event this potential problem over the succession never arose, as Queen Mary gave birth to a son and heir apparent,
After fathering three more sons, King James II, an artillery enthusiast, was killed by an exploding cannon while besieging Roxburgh Castle, 3 October 1460, and was succeeded by his eldest son.
James III was nine years old at his accession, and his heir-presumptive was his next brother
James III was killed in battle with the rebels at Sauchie Burn on 11 June 1488 and his son ascended the throne as James IV.
At the accession of James IV his heir-presumptive was his next brother
James IV died the next year in battle at Flodden, 9 September 1513, and was succeeded as King by his only son (though another was born posthumously).
The new King's mother Margaret Tudor was still pregnant at his accession, so the unborn child was heir-presumptive. He was born on 30 April 1514 and given the name
The King was now the only surviving male member of the Royal Family, as had been the case from 1437 to 1451, and it was arguable who should be legally next in line under the 1373 Act as heir general of Robert II (see above).
The senior representative of Robert II's legitimate children by his second wife was
The senior representative of Robert II's legitimated children by his first wife was
King James V died only days later on the 14 December 1542 and Mary succeeded as Queen of Scots under the Earl of Arran's regency. This was not disputed by the contemporary Earl of Menteith, the other potential claimant. However, when the third Earl's great-grandson William was confirmed as Earl of Strathearn and heir-of-line of Robert II's eldest unquestionably legitimate son David in 1631, he began to boast that he had a better claim to the throne than the then King, Charles I. He was swiftly removed from his offices and deprived of the Earldom of Strathearn in 1633, being given the inferior title of Earl of Airth.[1]
The new Queen was only a few days old when she succeeded her father. The heir-presumptive was her kinsman
After Mary's third marriage to the Earl of Bothwell, the Lords of Scotland rose in rebellion against her, and on 24 July 1567 she was forced to abdicate in favour of her son, who became James VI.
James VI was only one year old when he became King, and so the next heir at this time was once again
King James VI and I died on 27 March 1625 and was succeeded as King by his son Charles.
Charles I was unmarried at his accession, so his elder sister
After being captured by the Parliamentarians, escaping and being re-captured, King Charles I was tried for high treason, and beheaded on 30 January 1649.
Although prevented from succeeding in England, Charles II was proclaimed King in Scotland on 5 February 1649, although a promise was extracted from him to adhere to the terms of what became the Treaty of Breda. Despite disputes between the Royalists and the Covenanters, Charles was crowned on 1 January 1651. However, his forces were defeated in England at the Battle of Worcester and by the end of the year the King had fled to exile in France. Scotland ceased to be an independent nation and became part of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland under Oliver Cromwell on 16 December 1653. The deposition of Cromwell's son Richard in 1659 paved the way for the King's return, and Charles returned to the British Isles on 25 May 1660. Throughout the exile and reign of Charles II the heir-presumptive was his brother
Charles II died on 6 February 1685, leaving many illegitimate children but no legitimate ones. He was accordingly succeeded by his brother, who became James VII (II of England).
At the time of James's accession he had no heir-apparent; of the three sons born to his late wife Anne Hyde and the one born to second wife, Mary of Modena, only one had survived past the age of three. The heiress-presumptive to the throne was therefore the King's eldest daughter
The King's Roman Catholic faith and policy of religious tolerance towards Catholics, particularly the Declaration of Indulgence, alarmed the Anglican hierarchy in his realm of England. James's imprisonment of seven Bishops who protested at his policy, and then the birth of a Catholic male heir, which raised the prospect of a Catholic dynasty on the throne, led a group of English noblemen to invite the King's Protestant nephew and son-in-law, William of Orange, to invade. This became known as the Glorious Revolution, and resulted in James's flight to France in December 1688. The English Parliament declared the throne vacant and offered it to William and his wife Mary. All these events in England had no bearing on the constitutional situation in Scotland, and it was only on 11 April 1689, the day of William and Mary's coronation in England, that the Estates of Scotland declared that James VII was no longer King, and offered the Crown jointly to the King and Queen of England. They accepted on 11 May, becoming William II and Mary II of Scots.
Since an illness in 1679, the new Queen had been barren, so she and her husband had no children to carry on the line. The Claim of Right Act was passed in April 1689, establishing the constitutional basis for the accession of William and Mary, and that they would reign jointly, and then that the survivor would reign alone.
Queen Mary died on 28 December 1694, and King William became sole monarch of Scotland.
The Claim of Right Act had determined that after the death of both William and Mary, and failing any issue born to both of them (any children born to William by a subsequent wife were placed further down the list), the Crown would next pass to Mary's sister
William II died on 8 March 1702, and was succeeded by his sister-in-law.
At the time of her accession, Queen Anne was the last living descendant of Charles I who was a Protestant; her only child to survive past infancy, the Duke of Gloucester, had died in 1700. The succession aspect of the Claim of Right Act which had ensured her succession (and that of the Bill of Rights by which she succeeded in England) would therefore lapse on her death. The English Parliament had already found a solution to this by passing the Act of Settlement, which named Sophia, Electress of Hanover, the next-senior Protestant descendant of James I (VI of Scotland), as heiress after Anne. The Estates of Scotland had made no such provision, so there was no heir to the Scottish throne. In 1703 the Estates passed a Bill reserving to themselves the right to choose the monarch from among the Protestant descendants of the Kings of Scots in the event of Anne's death without issue, but stating that this would not be the same person as succeeded to the English throne unless the independence of Scotland as a separate Kingdom could be assured. Royal Assent to the Bill was initially withheld, but after the Scots threatened to withdraw their troops presently engaged in the War of the Spanish Succession it was passed in 1704, becoming known as the Act of Security. The Parliament of England then passed the Alien Act 1705, which stopped all Scottish exports to England and English colonies, and enacted that Scots would be treated as foreigners in England, with severe consequences for the inheritance of Scottish-owned property in England. The Alien Act also said that these measures would not be enacted if the Act of Security was repealed or if Scotland entered into parliamentary union with England. The latter eventually took place with the passage of the Act of Union, and Scotland became part of the Kingdom of Great Britain on 1 May 1707.