Foreword
 The
“Auld Alliance” has generally been held to have
ended with the death on 5 December 1560 of Mary,
Queen of Scots first husband, Francis II, who was
the first and last king of both France and Scotland.
 The
origin of the Anglo-Franco-Scottish relationship are
to be found in 1295 when the Scots formed the first
defensive/offensive alliance with France against the
English king, Edward I. But from its very shaky beginnings, as a mutually offensive/defensive military alliance against England, the “Auld Alliance” gradually developed other familial, personal, social and cultural associations. This did not die with Francis II, nor entirely ever disappeared.
 However, it was the advent of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Anglo-French competition for her hand in marriage; the treaties, alliances and military engagements this provoked, the resulting role of France in the Government of Scotland, culminating in the union of the French and Scottish crowns, and the effect of the Habsburg/Valois conflicts of the 1550s, which inevitably included England and Scotland, which ultimately led to the end of the formal military “Aud Alliance” in 1560.
 Our online coverage of the Auld Alliance will explore and highlight aspects of this shared history both great and small, ancient and modern, with contributions or suggestions from historians - amateur or professional - warmly welcomed. Family lore, local place-names, proverbs, folk-songs, building styles: alongside the headline stories of treaties and dynasties, politics and trade, all these and more can contain an Auld Alliance connection. |
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Documents on the Auld Alliance.
Discours
Charles de Gaulle 23/06/1942 (French)
Auld
Alliance Canada (English)
Discours
Jacques Chirac 16/05/1996 (French)
The
Auld Alliance and the times of the Great Mercenaries
Armies (English)
The Auld
Alliance : 20 Things you didn't know - 20 Faits que
vous ignorez peut-être. (English - French)
The
Auld Alliance...
With a legacy of political, military, economic and cultural amity stretching back over 700 years, to the original Auld Alliance treaty of 1295 ("the oldest alliance in the world," according to General de Gaulle), the interconnections between France's and Scotland's history are many and colourful.
Avec un héritage politique, militaire, économique et culturel commun remontant à plus de 700 ans, lors de la signature du traité de la Vieille alliance en 1295 (« la plus vieille alliance du monde » selon le Général de Gaulle), les relations historiques entre la France et l’Écosse sont nombreuses et pittoresques.
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