Between AD 1100 and 1600 there were major changes in South East Scotland. The medieval period saw significant alterations to the region’s economy, settlement patterns, religious activity and military organisation. This is also the first period for which we have large numbers of written documents surviving from South East Scotland – texts which can often enhance understanding of the physical remains and makes study of the Middle Ages (and later) rather different from research into earlier centuries.
One notable trend of the medieval period was a growth in urban communities. With the encouragement of the Scottish crown and nobility, burghs were established at sites such as Edinburgh (granted royal charter AD 1124 x 1127), Haddington (royal burgh status probably granted before 1138), Dunbar (originally a baronial burgh which became a royal burgh in AD 1445), and Selkirk (probably recognised as a royal burgh in the 13th century). These medieval burghal foundations provided the framework for later urban development in South East Scotland and have influenced the region’s population centres right up to the present day. However, more research is needed to understand the relationship between these officially recognised medieval burghs and earlier settlements. It is, for instance, evident that both Edinburgh and Dunbar were places of significance long before they achieved official burghal status – but at many sites it is currently unclear whether the medieval burghs were new settlements or were instead an expansion and formalisation of pre-existing communities.
Many of the new (or perhaps expanded) burghs in South East Scotland were partly populated by immigrants from England and Continental Europe. During the medieval period South East Scotland’s elites also underwent cultural change, encouraged by the Scottish crown and by an influx of aristocratic families from England, France, and Flanders. This transformation of elite society helped reshape the region’s landscape and built environment. For instance, the twelfth-century motte at Hawick was probably constructed on the orders of Henry Lovel – who is thought to have moved to Scotland from Somerset around AD 1170 (Fleming and Mason 2019, 74).
Further research is required to understand the full impact of migration, particularly in rural areas, and the interactions between indigenous society and foreign settlers. Nevertheless, it is clear that foreign influences (driven by both migration and trade) helped shape material culture. Aspects as diverse as dress, ceramics and buildings show evidence of cultural exchange with Continental Europe and occasionally even further afield. Indeed, by the end of the Middle Ages the lands along the Forth were some of the most internationally connected in Scotland, with trading links across the North Sea and southwards to France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire.
Religion was another significant driver of cultural contact between South East Scotland and the rest of Western Europe. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries saw a transformation of the Scottish Church. New (or dramatically reorganised) monastic communities with connections to England and the Continent were established at sites across Lothian and the Borders. The South East was at the forefront of the introduction of new religious orders to Scotland during the Middle Ages, with the country’s two earliest Cistercian monasteries being founded at Melrose around AD 1136 and Newbattle around AD 1140, whilst Scotland’s first Praemonstratensian community was established at Dryburgh around AD 1150. The region’s major monastic houses have seen significant archaeological study during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. However, there is still a need for investigation into the impact of large monasteries on wider communities. There are also significant gaps in our understanding of female religious houses, smaller religious communities, and the mendicant orders (whose urban focus means that their sites have often seen major disruption). South East Scotland also had a wealth of collegiate churches, parish churches and smaller chapels, which were either established or redesigned during the medieval period. The uncertain future many religious buildings face, and likely associated changes of use, mean that the next decade may well prove critical for study of these sites.
For the majority of the medieval period, Roman Catholicism dominated religious observance in South East Scotland. However, the sixteenth century saw a growth in support for Protestant ideas and associated iconoclastic attacks on Catholic religious buildings and material culture. The region was heavily involved in the events of the Reformation of AD 1560, with Edinburgh becoming a focal point for the Protestant Lords of the Congregation, whilst Leith was occupied by French Catholic forces from the autumn of 1559 to the summer of 1560. Study of the physical evidence for disruption in the mid-sixteenth century, and of changes in religious practice in the decades that followed, might provide helpful insights regarding the complex processes by which Protestantism became embedded in Scottish society – something which is only partially documented by the written evidence.
It was of course not only the Reformation which led to attacks on churches and monasteries in the region – successive bouts of Anglo-Scottish conflict (particularly in the 1540s and during the invasions of Edward I) also led to the sacking of religious and secular sites. South East Scotland has an extensive border with England, which for much of the medieval period (and in particular from the 1290s onwards) saw intensive military activity. The region also experienced attack from the sea – with successive English invasions involving both naval and land forces. Whilst some medieval fortifications have received quite detailed study, many other aspects of warfare in South East Scotland, including the impact of conflict on local communities, are imperfectly understood.
The human tensions of the medieval period played out against a backdrop of environmental change. From around 1300 onwards the climate in South East Scotland appears to have become colder and wetter. Greater interdisciplinary study is required to assess the full impact of this change in conditions on medieval society. Dendrochronological and pollen evidence suggest that during the medieval period South East Scotland saw extensive deforestation and changes to agricultural practice, including the early introduction of large-scale sheep farming. Yet, there are still significant lacunae in our understanding of the interactions between medieval Scots and their surroundings.
The centuries between AD 1100 and 1600 saw the people of South East Scotland facing significant challenges. Nevertheless, during the medieval period the lands south of the Forth acquired an exceptional prominence in Scottish affairs. By the end of the Middle Ages Edinburgh was the richest urban centre in Scotland and the effective capital of the kingdom. Much of the wider region also enjoyed a high degree of prosperity and influence. For example, the sixteenth-century chronicler Bishop John Leslie described Lothian as the ‘chief’ province of Scotland and praised the ‘plentifulness of the ground’ and the ‘fairness’ of the buildings (Cody 1888, 1-22). At the end of the 1500s Lothian was adorned with major estate centres and enjoyed significant grain production, whilst Edinburgh (and its associated harbour at Leith) dominated Scotland’s international trade.
Yet the experience of the region was not uniform. A farming community in medieval Teviotdale will have had a different experience from a major burgh such as Haddington. In the medieval period (as today) resources and human activity were not equally distributed across South East Scotland. Some areas, particularly in the uplands and in settlements closer to the border with England, were much less prosperous. Further understanding of the diversity of economic structures and daily life within the region would be desirable.
The medieval period has left a wealth of physical evidence in South East Scotland. Settlement patterns and road networks remain profoundly influenced by the choices of the region’s medieval inhabitants. Traces of medieval agricultural practices can still be seen in the countryside. The region also has a relatively large number of medieval standing buildings, although most of these structures have undergone considerable alterations. Meanwhile, decades of highly productive excavations have furthered our understanding of diverse facets of medieval life.
That being said, the extensive human activity in much of South East Scotland in the centuries after AD 1600 has caused a degree of disruption to the archaeological record and impedes our understanding of some notable sites. For instance, the landscape of the battlefield at Pinkie has been changed by the construction of modern railways, roads, and housing, and physical investigation of the landscape has so far yielded little evidence of sixteenth-century military activity. It is likely that the next few decades will see even more development in South East Scotland, with most urban settlements expected to expand, and considerable new infrastructure planned for the region. This provides considerable opportunities for archaeological investigation. However, the intensity of upcoming building projects also means that we stand at a critical juncture in the choices we make about archaeology and heritage. The questions we ask today will have major implications for the ability of future generations to study South East Scotland’s medieval past.