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The
Declaration of Arbroath
1320
LETTER OF BARONS OF SCOTLAND TO POPE JOHN XXII, otherwise
called THE DECLARATION OF ARBROATH
To
our most Holy Father in Christ, and our Lord, John, by Divine
Providence chief Bishop of the most holy Roman and Universal
Church, your humble and devoted sons: Duncan Earl of Fife, Thomas
Randolph Earl of Moray, Lord of Man and Annandale, Patrick of
Dunbar, Earl of March, Malise Earl of Strathearn, Malcolm Earl
of Lennox, William Earl of Ross, Magnus Earl of Caithness and
Orkney, William Earl of Sutherland, Walter, Steward of Scotland,
William of Soulis, Butler of Scotland, James Lord of Douglas,
Roger of Mowbray, David Lord of Brechin, David of Graham, Ingelram
of Umfravil, John of Menteith, Guardian of the earldom of Menteith,
Alexander Fraser, Gilbert of Hay, Constable of Scotland, Robert
of Keith, Marischal of Scotland, Henry of St Clair, John of
Graham, David of Lindsay, William Oliphant, Patrick of Graham,
John of Fenton, William of Abernethy, David of Wemyss, William
Muschet, Fergus of Ardrossan, Eustace of Maxwell, William of
Ramsay, William Mowat, Allan of Moray, Donald Campbell, John
Cambrun, Reginald le Cheyne, Alexander of Seton, Andrew of Leslie,
Alexander of Straton, and the rest of the barons and freeholders,
and whole community, of the kingdom of Scotland, send all manner
of filial reverence, with devout kisses
of your blessed and happy feet.
Most
holy Father and Lord, we know and gather from ancient acts and
records, that in every famous nation this of Scotland hath been
celebrated with many praises: This nation having come from Scythia
the greater, through the Tuscan Sea and the Hercules Pillars,
and having for many ages taken its residence in Spain in the
midst of a most fierce people, could never be brought in subjection
by any people, how barbarous soever: And having removed from
these parts, above 1,200 years after the coming of the Israelites
out of Egypt, did by many victories and much toil obtain these
parts in the West which they still possess, having expelled
the Britons and entirely rooted out the Picts, notwithstanding
of the frequent assaults and invasions they met with from the
Norwegians, Danes, and English; And these parts and possessions
they have always retained free from all manner of servitude
and subjection, as ancient histories do witness.This kingdom
hath been governed by an uninterrupted succession of 113 kings,
all of our own native and royal stock, without the intervening
of any stranger.The true nobility and merits of those princes
and people are very remarkable, from this one consideration
(though there were no other evidence for it) that the King of
Kings, the Lord Jesus Christ, after His Passion and Resurrection,
honoured them as it were the first (though living in the outmost
ends of the earth) with a call to His most Holy Faith: Neither
would our Saviour have them confirmed in the Christian Faith
by any other instrument than His own first Apostle [in calling]
(though in rank the second or third) St Andrew, the most worthy
brother of the Blessed Peter, whom He would always have to be
over us, as our patron or protector.Upon the weighty consideration
of these things our most Holy Fathers, your predecessors, did
with many great and singular favours and privileges fence and
secure this kingdom and people, as being the peculiar charge
and care of the brother of St Peter; so that our nation hath
hitherto lived in freedom and quietness, under their protection,
till the magnificent King Edward, father to the present King
of England, did under the colour of friendship and alliance,
or confederacy, with innumerable oppressions infest us, who
had in mind no fraud or deceit, at a time when we were without
a king or head, and when the people were unacquainted with wars
and invasions. It is impossible for any whose own experience
hath not informed him to describe, or fully to understand, the
injuries, blood and violence, the depredations and fire, the
imprisonment's of prelates, the burning, slaughter and robbery
committed upon holy persons and religious houses, and a vast
multitude of other barbarities, which that king executed on
this people, without sparing of any sex or age, religion or
order of men whatsoever.But at length it pleased God, who only
can heal after wounds, to restore us to liberty, from these
innumerable calamities, by our most serene prince, king, and
lord Robert, who, for the delivering of his people and his own
rightful inheritance from the enemy's hand, did, like another
Joshua or Maccabeus, most cheerfully undergo all manner of toil,
fatigue, hardship, and hazard.
The
Divine Providence, the right of succession by the laws and customs
of the kingdom (which we will defend till death) and the due
and lawful consent and assent of all the people, made him our
king and prince. To him we are obliged and resolved to adhere
in all things, both upon the account of his right and his own
merit, as being the person who hath restored the people's safety
in defence of their liberties. But after all, if this prince
shall leave these principles he hath so nobly pursued, and consent
that we or our kingdom be subjected to the king or people of
England, we will immediately endeavour to expel him, as our
enemy and as the subverter both of his own and our rights, and
we will make another king, who will defend our liberties: For
so long as there shall but one hundred of us remain alive we
will never give consent to subject ourselves to the dominion
of the English. For it is not glory, it is not riches, neither
is it honours, but it is liberty alone that we fight and contend
for, which no honest man will lose but with his life.For these
reasons, most Reverend Father and Lord, We do with earnest prayers
from our bended knees and hearts, beg and entreat Your Holiness
that you may be pleased, with a sincere and cordial piety, to
consider that with Him whose Vicar on earth you are there is
no respect nor distinction of Jew nor Greek, Scots nor English,
and that with a tender and fatherly eye you may look upon the
calamities and straits brought upon us and the Church of God
by the English; and that you may admonish and exhort the king
of England (who may well rest satisfied with his own possessions,
since that kingdom of old used to be sufficient for seven or
more kings) to suffer us to live at peace in that narrow spot
of Scotland beyond which we have no habitation, since we desire
nothing but our own, and we on our part, as far as we are able
with respect to our own condition, shall effectually agree to
him in every thing that may procure our quiet.It is your concernment,
Most Holy Father, to interpose in this, when you see how far
the violence and barbarity of the pagans is let loose to rage
against Christendom for punishing of the sins of the Christians,
and how much they daily encroach upon the Christian territories.
And it is your interest to notice that there be no ground given
for reflecting on your memory, if you should suffer any part
of the Church to come under a scandal or eclipse (which we pray
God may prevent) during your times. Let it therefore please
Your Holiness to exhort the Christian princes not to make the
wars betwixt them and their neighbours a pretext for not going
to the relief of the Holy Land, since that is not the true cause
of the impediment: The truer ground of it is, that they have
a much nearer prospect of advantage, and far less opposition,
in the subduing of their weaker neighbours. And God (who is
ignorant of nothing) knows with how much cheerfulness both our
king and we would go thither, if the king of England would leave
us in peace, and we do hereby testify and declare it to the
Vicar of Christ and to all Christendom.But if Your Holiness
shall be too credulous of the English misrepresentations, and
not give firm credit to what we have said, nor desist to favour
the English to our destruction, we must believe that the Most
High will lay to your charge all the blood, loss of souls, and
other calamities that shall follow on either hand, betwixt us
and them. Your Holiness in granting our just desires will oblige
us in every case where our duty shall require it, to endeavour
your satisfaction, as becomes the obedient sons of the Vicar
of Christ.We commit the defence of our cause to Him who is the
Sovereign King and Judge, we cast the burden of our cares upon
Him, and hope for such an issue as may give strength and courage
to us and bring our enemies to nothing.
The
Most High God long preserve your Serenity and Holiness to His
Holy Church.Given at the Monastery of Arbroath in Scotland, the
sixth day of April in the year of Grace I320, and of our said
king's reign the 15th year.
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