Welcome to the British History Podcast. My name is Jamie, and this is episode 468.

Regicides back on the menu, boys. This show is ad-free due to member support, and as a way of thanking members for keeping the show independent, I offer members-only content, including extra episodes and rough transcripts, and you can get instant access to all the members' extras by signing up

for membership at the British History Podcast.com for about the price of a latte per month. And thank

you very much to Christine, Tina, and Julie for signing up already. King Malcolm Canmore had hit

his breaking point. For years, Malcolm had tried to strike

some sort of friendship with the new Norman rulers of England. And when Rufus claimed the throne,

those efforts had continued. On the advice of Duke Robert and others, Malcolm had even tried to just submit to the new English king's demands in hopes that there would be some sort of peace between the kingdoms.

Now, granted, he was still a medieval king. And so he was no stranger to raiding his neighbors when diplomacy broke down or he just kind of felt like it.

But if you look through the records, you can't avoid the fact that King Malcolm Canmore

had clearly been trying to work with his southern neighbor.

I've even read one historian who thinks that Malcolm may have even placed his daughter in Wilton specifically

to keep her as an option for Rufus's future wife.

Now, personally, I don't think that was the case given everything else that was going on,

but it is possible.

And the fact that this is even plausible to historians speaks of just how clearly Malcolm had been trying to forge a diplomatic solution to the tensions that existed between him and Rufus.

But none of that mattered.

Nothing that Malcolm offered was going to change the real problem here, which was that Rufus was a lying, belligerent

oath who never had any interest in a peaceful relationship between their kingdoms,

and certainly had no interest in diplomacy.

The reality was that Rufus was simply a dangerous man,

and that situation at Wilton and the intervention

of the Abbas had revealed just how far Rufus was willing to go to attack his enemies and grasp

...