1371-1603 CE
From 1371 to 1603 CE, the Scots clung to independence through sheer stubbornness — the Stewarts inheriting a throne surrounded by English enemies, their kings dying at Flodden and in English prisons, their queen losing her head at Elizabeth's command. The Auld Alliance with France bought time but not security; in the end, it was a Scottish king who inherited England, achieving through patience what war had never won.