On This Day In History: Declaration Of Arbroath – The Scots Reaffirm Their Independence – On Apr 6, 1320

AncientPages.com - On April 6, 1320, the Declaration of Arbroath was drafted and sent to Pope John XXII as a letter.

The document, written in Latin, declares Scotland's independence and the right to defend herself if attacked.

Declaration of Arbroath, 1320. Image credit: Scotland barons - Public Domain

Undoubtedly, the Declaration of Arbroath is the most famous document in Scottish history, being a part of a broader diplomatic campaign that sought to assert Scotland's position as an independent kingdom rather than being a feudal land controlled by England's Norman kings.

It also lifted the ex-communication of Robert the Bruce, who murdered his greatest rival for the crown, Sir John Comyn of Badenoch, before the altar in Greyfriars Church in Dumfries in 1306.

The Declaration made several rhetorical points:

• that Scotland had always been independent, indeed for longer than England;
• that Edward I of England had unjustly attacked Scotland and perpetrated atrocities;
• that Robert the Bruce had delivered the Scottish nation from this peril; and, most controversially,
• Scotland's independence was the prerogative of the Scottish people rather than the King of Scots.
• It stated that the nobility would choose someone else to be king if Bruce proved unfit to maintain Scotland's independence.
• It has also been argued that the Declaration was not a statement of popular sovereignty but information of royal propaganda supporting Bruce's faction.

On the nature of kings, the most critical clauses in the text replaced religious sentiments with political ones.

The notion that their king was divinely commanded - was essentially rejected. Instead, he was chosen in a political act by the people, who could as quickly choose another.

It is said that the Declaration's principles have inspired the American Declaration of Independence.

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