Regiam Majestatem

When the Regiam Majestatem was discovered in the early fifteenth century after Scotland's legal provenance had been destroyed, it was immediately embraced as an authoritative source of law, surviving as such into the modern era.

[note 1] The writ was executed, and between that and the depredations during Edward's invasion of Scotland in 1296, virtually every important Scottish legal document was lost forever.

[1][5] The Tractatus was a work of originality intended to facilitate the implementation an effective judicial system in England, and it had proven to be a great success.

When the Regiam Majestatem was discovered in the fifteenth century, it was quickly embraced as a legal authority, the Parliament authorised commissions to examine it and repair defects (1425 c. 54, 1487 c. 115), and it was cited in statutes of the era.

It begins: This opening is based on that of the Institutes of Justinian: "Imperatoriam majestatem non solum armis decoratam sed legibus .

Whichever the case, it did not matter because Scotland would suffer a Second War of Scottish Independence (1332–1371) when it was invaded by Edward III of England, its king David II was captured by the English, and in the ensuing devastation the Regiam Majestatem became lost, not being rediscovered until the next century.

When found, it was hailed as an ancient Scottish relic that had somehow survived the confiscations of Edward I and the depredations and devastation caused by the two invasions.

Consequently, and not without chauvinism, some Scots insisted on a native origin for the Regiam Majestatem, offering it as another product of the dynamic David I (reigned 1124 – 1153).