William the Lion, 1143-1214

This biography reviews the known facts of the life of William the Lion, Scotland's longest reigning king, and presents them within the broad context of the country's early history and culture. While much of the story centres on the often brittle relationship with the English Plantagenets, Scotland emerges as a European power, respected not least for its now largely forgotten cultural flowering. This is demonstrated in the later chapters by an examination of a body of hiterto undervalued texts, notably a skit on the Grail legend. Set in Scotland, the romance was probably composed by a St Andrews' bishop for the court circle, and can claim to be the country's earliest surviving vernacular work. This interdisciplinary approach, by juxtaposing established facts with literary interpretations, offers historians and the general reader with a new and more rounded view of both the domestic conditions and the reputation abroad of William the Lion's Scotland. D.D.R. Owen is the author of "Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen and Legend".