What is Declaration of Arbroath?
[[File:Declaration of arbroath.jpg|thumb|300px|{{center|The 'Tyninghame' copy of the Declaration of Arbroath dated 1320 AD}}]] The '''Declaration of Arbroath''' is a [[:wikt:declaration|declaration]] of Scottish [[:wikt:independence|independence]], made in 1320. It was a letter sent to [[Pope John XXII]], [[:wikt:dated|dated]] 6 April 1320. The declaration [[:wikt:confirmed|confirmed]] [[Scotland]]'s status as a [[sovereign state|independent, sovereign state]] and [[:wikt:defended|defended]] Scotland's right to use military [[:wikt:action|action]] when unjustly [[attack]]ed. The letter was [[:wikt:signed|signed]] at Arbroath by eight [[earl]]s and thirty-one [[baron]]s. ==Background== When King [[Alexander III of Scotland]] died in 1286, his heir was his granddaughter [[Margaret, Maid of Norway]].<ref name=SPI7>''The Scots Peerage, Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland'', ed. James Balfour Paul, Vol. I (Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1904), p. 7</ref> In 1289, King [[Edward I of England]] [[:wikt:negotiated|negotiated]] to have his son, [[Edward II of England]] become her husband and share the crown of Scotland. <ref name=Mackie63>J. D. Mackie, ''A History of Scotland'', Second Edition, ed. Bruce Lenman; Geoffrey Parker (London; New York: Penguin Books Ltd., 1991), p. 63</ref> But Margaret died on her way from Norway to Scotland in 1290.<ref name=Mackie63/> This began a period in Scotland called the First [[Interregnum]] (1290–1292).<ref name=SPI7/> Scotland was without a monarch. Edward I stepped in to [[:wikt:choose|choose]] who would be king from among the [[:wikt:candidates|candidates]] who had any [[:wikt:claim|claim]] to the [[throne]]. He chose [[John of Scotland]].<ref name=SPI7/> But, Edward treated the Scottish king badly. When King John tried to break free, Edward put him in prison, then [[:wikt:allowed|allowed]] him to live in France. In 1296 Edward [[:wikt:invaded|invaded]] Scotland with his army to take everything for himself. Scotland remained without a king until 1306