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 later, the close relationship of Scottish kings with the English court, 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.