Descendants of Malcolm III Vaught-Jasper-Trusty-Molloy, Genealogy Tree Melrose Abbey in the Scottish Borders, one of the great abbeys built during the reign of David I. At the start of the twelfth century, Scotland saw a religious revival and improved administration under David I, the most successful of Malcolm Canmore's sons to become king. He organised the building of the great Border abbeys, the granting of town charters and the first standard coinage. In this period and subsequently, the close relationship of Scottish kings with the English court, often reinforced by marriage, led to the expansion of English as the language of government and the rise of Anglo-Norman aristocracy in Scotland. By the end of the thirteenth century, quarrels among Scottish nobles about who should inherit the Throne after the death of Alexander III led to the aggressive intervention of King Edward I of England and the Wars of Independence. A nobleman from Renfrewshire, William Wallace, led the struggle for Scottish independence from England, winning an important battle against the English at Stirling Bridge in 1297, but he was ultimately executed in London. The conflict with England was not finished yet, and lasted on and off for the next 300 years.

David I (r. 1124-53)   Born about 1080, David was the sixth and youngest son of Malcolm III and St Margaret. He spent his youth at the Court of his brother-in-law Henry I of England and in about 1113-14 married Matilda, daughter of Walthe of, Earl of Huntingdon and widow of Simon de Senlis. As a result of the marriage, he held the Earldom of Northampton and the Honour of Huntingdon, with a legitimate claim to a large part of England. David succeeded his brother Alexander as King of Scots in 1124. He was by then in his mid-40s, and was famous for his piety. Indeed, he was later criticised as being 'a sair sanct for the croun' [too pious to make a successful monarch] but in fact his generosity to the Church and his foundation of many abbeys including Holyrood, Melrose and Dryburgh, and sees such as Caithness, Dunblane and Aberdeen, had sound practical reasons too. The monks improved the country's economy by engaging in sheep farming, coal working and salt making. David issued the first Scottish coinage; he also reorganised civil institutions and founded royal burghs (such as Stirling, Perth and Dunfermline). David extended feudal tenure by granting land to Anglo-Normans in return for feudal services, and appointed them as royal officials such as sheriffs and justiciars. David encouraged Anglo-French immigration. In the 1130s, David met with resistance in Moray and the north; hitherto ruled by an independent dynasty, Moray was annexed and reorganised by David. When Henry I of England died in 1135, and the succession of his daughter Matilda was disputed by King Stephen, David I invaded England, ostensibly on behalf of his niece Matilda. However, he was also taking advantage of the confusion resulting from the civil war in England, and using the opportunity to try to extend his kingdom southwards. Although he was defeated at the Battle of the Standard, near Northallerton in Yorkshire, on 22 August 1138, he continued his campaign until, in 1139, the Treaty of Durham confirmed his possession of Northumberland. In 1149 he persuaded Henry II, Matilda's son, to give him an undertaking that Scotland could retain Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland. David's surviving son Earl Henry (named after Henry I of England) died in 1152. David died at Carlisle, Cumberland on 24 May 1153, aged about 73. He was buried in Dunfermline, where he had extended the church into an abbey in commemoration of his parents. Ailred of Rievaulx wrote 'who can estimate the good done to the world by this gentle, just, chaste and humble ruler, loved for his gentleness, feared for his justice...' Silver penny of David I King of Scotland. David I King of Scotland is the 26th great grandfather of the Molloys.

William the Lion Avenel   (r. 1165- 1214) Lowland Scotland and England had been having a series of battles over possession of Northumbria in North England. William the Lion wanted it back, (his predecessor Malcolm IV had returned it to England under threat of invasion), and started the alliance with France leading to a conflict with Anglo-Norman England. He launched a grand invasion of England in 1174 to reclaim Northumbria. Henry II was now King of England and involved in France, so William the Lion invaded. But the enterprise misfired, due to Scots own rashness and to an east coast mist, attributed by both sides to be divine intervention. The Scots were heavily defeated at Alnwick and William the Lion himself, taken prisoner and sent to Normandy. There he was forced to sign the Treaty of Falaise. By this humiliating document, Scotland was placed under feudal subjection to England, the Scottish church put under the jurisdiction of the English Primate (highest order of Bishops), Northumbria confirmed as English territory and the castles of Southern Scotland garrisoned by English troops. William the Lion died in 1214 and was succeeded by his son Alexander II William the Lion of Scotland is the 24th great grandfather of the Molloys.

Alexander II   William the Lion died in 1214 and was succeeded by his son Alexander II, a capable ruler who put to good use the administrative machinery created by David I. The down side of his reign is the inherited domestic Clan problems. There were insurrections in Galloway (again), Argyll, Moray and Caithness in the far north. He died in 1249 while on his way to attempt conquest of the Western Isles whose Lords still chose to give their allegiance to the kings of Norway. (If any was given to anyone). So, next comes Alexander III who took up his father's cause and launched raids at the Hebrides (part of the Western Isles). It wasn't long before old King Hakon of Norway decided to retaliate. Alexander II King of Scotland is the 24th great grand uncle of the Molloys.

Alexander III   In the summer of 1263, King Hakon assembled a great fleet with which he sailed to Scotland. Alexander III, a shrewd man, managed to open negotiations with the Norwegians and Islanders and delayed it until October. This was the season of autumn gales, and as he'd hoped, played havoc with Hakon's fleet as it lay in the Firth of Clyde. The Norwegians fought their way ashore at Largs in Ayrshire, where they were defeated on land and at sea by the Scots and had to withdraw in disorder. King Hakon of Norway died from injuries from battle at Kirkwall on his way home. His successor, Magnus, signed a peace under which the Hebrides became officially part of Scotland, though remaining in practice, an independent kingdom under the Lords of the Isles, who for their part paid no more heed to their Scottish rulers than they had to their Norwegian overlords. Orkney and the Shetland Islands were left, for the time being, in Norwegian hands. The remainder of Alexander III's reign was peaceful and prosperous. His marriage to Margaret, daughter of English King Henry III, secured peace with England, while their daughter Margaret married to the King of Norway in 1283, set the seal on the peace treaty of 20 years before, between Norway and Scotland, and established after four centuries of war and strife, a friendly relationship between the two countries which has lasted ever since. The home trade improved, revenue increased, law and order were fairly well maintained, education within limits prospered. Building was up, both domestic and ecclesiastical, and for the most part life became less dangerous than it had been. However, fate intervened when the King of Scotland Alexander III, was riding his horse home one rainy night. He'd been thrown from his horse over a cliff, and now, Scotland was leaderless. Alexander III King of Scotland is the 20th great grand uncle of the Molloys.