Kings and Queens of Scotland

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Malcolm II of Scotland, engraving by Bannerman

Kings and Queens of Scotland

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Article History

Scotland, now part of the United Kingdom, was ruled for hundreds of years by various monarchs. James I, who in 1603 became king of England after having held the throne of Scotland (as James VI) since 1567, was the first to style himself “king of Great Britain,” although Scotland and England did not formally merge to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain until the Act of Union of 1707.

The table provides a chronological list of kings and queens of Scotland.

Sovereigns of Scotland¹
	name	reign
¹Knowledge about the early Scottish kings, until Malcolm II, is slim and is partly based on traditional lists of kings. The dating of reigns is thus inexact.
²Eochaid may have been a minor and Giric his guardian, or Giric may have been a usurper. Both appear in the lists of kings for the period.
³"Stewart" was the original spelling for the Scottish family, but, during the 16th century, French influence led to the adoption of the spelling Stuart (or Steuart), because of the absence of the letter "w" in the French alphabet.
⁴James VI of Scotland became also James I of England in 1603. Upon accession to the English throne, he styled himself "King of Great Britain" and was so proclaimed. Legally, however, he and his successors held separate English and Scottish kingships until the Act of Union of 1707, when the two kingdoms were united as the Kingdom of Great Britain.
	Kenneth I MacAlpin	843–858
	Donald I	858–862
	Constantine I	862–877
	Aed (Aodh)	877–878
	Eochaid (Eocha) and Giric (Ciric)²	878–889
	Donald II	889–900
	Constantine II	900–943
	Malcolm I	943–954
	Indulf	954–962
	Dub	962–966
	Culen	966–971
	Kenneth II	971–995
	Constantine III	995–997
	Kenneth III	997–1005
	Malcolm II	1005–34
	Duncan I	1034–40
	Macbeth	1040–57
	Lulach	1057–58
	Malcolm III Canmore	1058–93
	Donald Bane (Donalbane)	1093–94
	Duncan II	1093–94
	Donald Bane (restored)	1094–97
	Edgar	1097–1107
	Alexander I	1107–24
	David I	1124–53
	Malcolm IV	1153–65
	William I the Lion	1165–1214
	Alexander II	1214–49
	Alexander III	1249–86
	Margaret, Maid of Norway	1286–90
	Interregnum	1290–92
	John de Balliol	1292–96
	Interregnum	1296–1306
	Robert I the Bruce	1306–29
	David II	1329–71
House of Stewart (Stuart)³
	Robert II	1371–90
	Robert III	1390–1406
	James I	1406–37
	James II	1437–60
	James III	1460–88
	James IV	1488–1513
	James V	1513–42
	Mary, Queen of Scots	1542–67
	James VI⁴	1567–1625

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.