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David succeeded his brother, Alexander I, as king of Scots 25 April 112 4 . H i s r e ign was to last for twenty-nine years. He represented a new e r a i n S c o tland's history in a number of ways:
First, King David, who had spent his most formative years growing up in a N o r m a n h ousehold, moved immediately to feudalize large areas of Scotland b y g r a n t ing charters to Norman barons and settling them in Scotland. One o f h i s f i r st charters, granted at Scone probably on the occasion of his e n t h r o nement, was to one of the senior Normans in his court, Robert of B r u s , g i ving him the lordship of Annandale (a holding of 200,000 acres a d j a c e nt to the English border north of Carlisle).
Second, he either introduced or greatly developed a number of practices w h i c h w e re new to Scotland at that time. He was the first king of Scots t o s t r i k e his own coins, silver pennies (or 'sterlings') which were equa l t o E n g l ish sterlings. he established a new type of sheriffdom which w a s s i m i lar to the system used by the Norman kings in England
He introduced the office of 'justiciar' (also modeled on Norman England ) ; a n d h e established many flourishing trading communities including Be r w i c k , Roxburgh, Edinburgh, Rutherglen, Renfrew, and Irvine.
Third, King David completely transformed the church in Scotland through h i s u n p r ecedented generousity and support. He founded Tironensian, Ciste r c i a n , and Augustinian orders, and enlarged the Benedictine priory of D u n f e r mline until it was the second richest abbey in Scotland. He also f o u n d e d an Augustinian cathedral priory at St Andrews. He famously creat e d a s y s t em by which bishoprics were defined by territory, and encourag e d p a r i sh churches to be built within these territories, served by prie s t s w h o w ere supported by tithes.
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1080 - 1153 (73 years)