Editing David I of Scotland (section)

== Early years ==
David was born on a date unknown in 1084 in Scotland.<ref>Oram, ''David: The King Who Made Scotland'', p. 49.</ref> He was probably the eighth son of [[King Malcolm III]], and certainly the sixth and youngest borne by Malcolm's second wife, [[Margaret of Wessex]]. He was the grandson of [[King Duncan I]].<ref>Malcolm seems to have had two sons before he married Margaret, presumably by [[Ingibiorg Finnsdottir]]. [[Duncan II of Scotland]] was one, and there was another called Domnall who died in 1085, see ''[[Annals of Ulster]]'', s.a. 1085.2, [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100001A/text656.html here]; see also Oram, ''David'', p. 23; and Duncan, ''The Kingship of the Scots'', p. 55; the possibility that Máel Coluim had another son, also named Máel Coluim, is open, G. W. S. Barrow, "Malcolm III (d. 1093)".</ref>

In 1093, King Malcolm and David's brother Edward were killed at the [[River Aln]] during an invasion of [[Northumberland]].<ref>Duncan, ''Scotland: The Making of the Kingdom'', p. 121.</ref> David and his two brothers [[Alexander I of Scotland|Alexander]] and [[Edgar of Scotland|Edgar]] were probably present when their mother died shortly afterwards.<ref>See A.O. Anderson, ''Scottish Annals'', p. 114, n. 1.</ref> According to later medieval tradition, the three brothers were in [[Edinburgh]] when they were besieged by their paternal uncle [[Donald III]],<ref>e.g. John Fordun, ''Chronica gentis Scotorum'', II, 209.</ref> who made himself king.<ref>Oram, ''David'', p. 40.</ref> It is not certain what happened next, but an insertion in the ''[[Chronicle of Melrose]]'' states that Donald forced his three nephews into exile, although he was allied with another of his nephews, [[Edmund of Scotland|Edmund]].<ref>A. O. Anderson, ''Early Sources'', vol. II, p. 89.</ref> John of Fordun wrote, centuries later, that an escort into England was arranged for them by their maternal uncle [[Edgar Ætheling]].<ref>John Fordun, ''Chronica gentis Scotorum'', II, 209–210.</ref>

[[File:William2.jpg|thumb|upright|[[William II of England|William]] "Rufus", the Red, King of the English, and partial instigator of the Scottish civil war, 1093–1097.]]

[[King William Rufus of England]] opposed Donald's accession to the northerly kingdom. He sent the eldest son of Malcolm, David's half-brother [[Duncan II of Scotland|Duncan]], into Scotland with an army. Duncan was killed within the year,<ref>''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', MS. E, s.a. 1094; A. O. Anderson, ''Scottish Annals'', p. 118; see also A. O. Anderson, ''Early Sources'', vol. II, pp. 90–91.</ref> and so in 1097 William sent Duncan's half-brother Edgar into Scotland. The latter was more successful and was crowned by the end of 1097.<ref>''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', MS. E, s.a. 1097; A. O. Anderson, ''Scottish Annals'', p. 119.</ref>

During the power struggle of 1093–1097, David was in England. In 1093, he may have been about nine years old.<ref>Oram, ''David'', p. 49.</ref> From 1093 until 1103, David's presence cannot be accounted for in detail, but he appears to have been in Scotland for the remainder of the 1090s. When William Rufus was killed, his brother [[Henry Beauclerc]] seized power and married David's sister, [[Matilda of Scotland|Matilda]]. The marriage made David the brother-in-law of the ruler of England. From that point onwards, David was probably an important figure at the English court.<ref>For David's upbringing and transformation of fortune at the Anglo-Norman court, see the partially hypothetical account in Oram, ''David'', pp. 59–72.</ref> Despite his Gaelic background, by the end of his stay in England, David had become a fully Normanised prince. [[William of Malmesbury]] wrote that it was in this period that David "rubbed off all tarnish of Scottish barbarity through being polished by intercourse and friendship with us".<ref>William of Malmesbury, ''Gesta Regum Anglorum'', W. Stubbs (ed.), ''Rolls Series'', no. 90, vol. II, p. 476; trans. A. O. Anderson, ''Scottish Annals'', (1908), p. 157.</ref>