Writing on a small island in the Firth of Forth in the 1440s, Walter Bower set out to tell the whole story of the Scottish nation in a single huge book, the Scotichronicon--'a history book for Scots'. It begins with the mythical voyage of Scota, the Pharaoh's daughter, from Egypt with the Stone of Destiny. The land that her sons discovered in the Western Ocean was named after her: Scotland. It goes on to describe the turbulent events that followed, among them the wars of the Scots and the Picts (begun by a quarrel over a dog); the poisoning of King Fergus by his wife; Macbeth's usurpation and uneasy reign; the good deeds of Margaret, queen and saint; Bruce's murder of the Red Comyn; the founding of Scotland's first university at St Andrews; the 'Burnt Candlemas'; and the endless troubles between Scotland and England.

Weaving in and out of the events of Bower's factual history, like a wonderful pageant, are other subjects that fascinated him: harrowing visions of hell and purgatory, extraordinary miracles; the exploits of knights and beggars, merchants and monks; the ravages of flood and fire; the terrors of the plague; and the answers to such puzzling questions as what makes a good king, and why Englishmen have tails.

• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction to Books VII and VIII
  • The Manuscripts
  • Content and Sources
  • Methods of Editing
• Lists of Abbreviations
  • I. Sigla
  • II. Words
  • III. Names of Counties
  • IV. Publications
• Scotichronicon - Volume 5
  • Book IX
    • 1. The beginning of the reign of King Alexander II; the Emperor Otto
    • 2. The appointment of Frederick II as emperor and other events
    • 3. The counts of Boulogne and Flanders break their oath of fealty to King Philip
    • 4. The tyrannical King John crushes the barons of England
    • 5. Peter the prophet is put to death and [some] barons of England flee the country
    • 6. How the kings of England are descended on the one side from the race or family of the devil
    • 7. More on the above-mentioned generations of the wicked family
    • 8. King Philip prepares to go to England on the orders of the pope
    • 9. A quite terrible example of an abbot’s ambition to become a bishop — a quite useful cautionary tale for our readers
    • 10. More about the same
    • 11. How he saw all sorts of food etc.
    • 12. The advice given him by Mary
    • 13. John king of England sails to Aquitaine; and the Children’s Crusade
    • 14. How King Philip drove all [gamesters], parasites and jesters from his court for good
    • 15. A person who is relaxing should strive after appropriate and decent amusement
    • 16. King Philip’s preparation for war
    • 17. How [Philip] found the count of Boulogne guilty of ingratitude and put him in prison
    • 18. The planned division of the kingdom amongst the counts; and the sorceress mother of Ferrand
    • 19. How King John made the kingdoms of England and Ireland feudal fiefs of the Roman church
    • 20. The golden charter
    • 21. The error of the Albigensians, their cruelty and their heresiarch
    • 22. The saintly deceptive behaviour of the blessed Dominic and his argument against the heretics
    • 23. About the same man and his saintly deceptive behaviour
    • 24. St Francis and the first stage of his conversion
    • 25. The battle which our men fought against the Albigensians
    • 26. James de Vitry
    • 27. David of Huntingdon earl of that ilk, and his death
    • 28. Dissension between the barons of England and the king, and their acquisition of friends from foreign parts
    • 29. The arrival in England of Louis Dauphin of the French
    • 30. Louis returns to England
    • 31. The kingdom of Scotland is placed under an interdict; the king and prelates are excommunicated
    • 32. The absolution of the clergy
    • 33. More about these and other events
    • 34. The capture of Jerusalem by Corradin sultan of Turkey; and the marriage of our king
    • 35. Sir Radulf abbot of Kinloss
    • 36. The mission from the Georgians
    • 37. The martyrdom of the bishop of Caithness and other events
    • 38. Bishop Adam’s successor
    • 39. The death of the noble Philip king of the French and how he was able to become an ideal and a model for kings
    • 40. More about the same
    • 41. More about the same
    • 42. The return of the kingdom of the French to the lineage of Charlemagne
    • 43. The tax levied for the marriages of the king’s sisters
    • 44. The storming of Albigensian Avignon
    • 45. The death of King Louis and the coronation of his son St Louis
    • 46. The tyranny of the bishop of Durham, who ruined the monks of Durham, and other events
    • 47. Some events
    • 48. Some other events
    • 49. How the king subdued the Galwegians
    • 50. Helinand’s letter sent to a certain apostate monk
    • 51. The same
    • 52. A warning to the lapsed monk to bestir himself
    • 53. A treaty between the kings and the death of the queen of Scotland
    • 54. Otto legate to England and Scotland and his merits; a false councillor
    • 55. The same topic and King Alexander’s second wife
    • 56. Other events
    • 57. The integrity of the French against the Tartars
    • 58. The mutual preparations of the kings of France and England for war against each other
    • 59. The burning of Patrick earl of Atholl at Haddington
    • 60. The turbulent agitation of the Atholl men against the Bissets
    • 61. The banishment of the Bissets from the kingdom and the agitation of the king of England against the king of Scotland
    • 62. Other events and occurrences
    • 63. The death of the noble king Alexander II
    • Notes for Book IX
  • Book X
    • 1. The coronation of Alexander III, the noble king of Scots
    • 2. How a certain highland Scot greeted the king as he sat upon the royal seat of stone
    • 3. The translation of the mortal remains of the most holy Queen Margaret
    • 4. King Alexander married Margaret daughter of Henry III king of the English
    • 5. The replacement of the king’s counsellors. Concerning good counsellors
    • 6. What sort of counsellors a king ought to have, and ten moral precepts
    • 7. The same continued
    • 8. Concerning the same
    • 9. The removal of the king’s counsellors for the second time
    • 10. The monasteries of Scotland are put under an interdict and King Alexander is seized
    • 11. Other events and the poisoning and death of Walter Comyn earl of Menteith
    • 12. The institution of the feast of Corpus Christi and the indulgence [granted]
    • 13. The doubling of all the aforesaid indulgences etc.
    • 14. The finding of the holy cross at Peebles, and the appeal of the countess of Menteith
    • 15. The battle of Largs and the victory granted by Saint Margaret queen of Scotland
    • 16. The same battle, and the death of the king of Norway together with other events
    • 17. How the king of the Picts triumphed over the Norsemen and burned their fleet and freed his country
    • 18. Homage done to the king of Scots by the under-king of Man
    • 19. The agreement entered into between the kings of Scotland and Norway concerning the islands, and the outbreak of fighting between the king of England and Simon de Montfort
    • 20. The escape of Prince Edward and the battle of Evesham
    • 21. Ottobono the papal legate is refused entry to Scotland and other events
    • 22. Other events, and dissension between the king and the clergy [of Scotland]
    • 23. How a good bishop or prelate ought to behave towards princes and tyrants
    • 24. How the prelates and clergy of Scotland were summoned by the legate. The crusaders and others
    • 25. Various events; and excommunication is not to be treated lightly
    • 26. Other events
    • 27. More about St Louis; and other events
    • 28. Other events; and vacancy in five bishoprics
    • 29. The marriage of [Marjorie] countess of Carrick to Robert Bruce
    • 30. Various events
    • 31. The danger to those holding many benefices
    • 32. Brabantinus continues on the same subject
    • 33. Some events
    • 34. The general council of Lyons and other events
    • 35. The coronation of King Edward the tyrant and other events
    • 36. More about the ways of cardinals and legates
    • 37. The dispute between the kings of Scotland and England; and the marriage of Alexander son of the king of Scotland
    • 38. The ruthlessness of King Edward and the miserable servitude of the Welsh
    • 39. How the expedition to the Holy Land is obstructed by the consuming greed of the tyrant
    • 40. The wedding of King Alexander III and Yolanda the daughter of the count of Dreux
    • 41. Praise of the good government of King Alexander III; his progress through the kingdom and justice shown everywhere
    • 42. How the king ensured that merchandise would not be jeopardised abroad
    • 43. Lament on the death of the king and the prophecy of Thomas the Rhymer
    • 44. How human life is compared to transitory and fleeting things and nothing lasting is found beneath the heavens
    • Notes for Book X
• Index