Todd,

Wow, never seen such a responsive thread on this forum before. Cool!

Anyway, I would agree that the idea of nationalism didn't really exist in the feudal 13th and 14th Century. I wrote a paper for a history class when at Uni on this very point. My thesis was that Scotland was possibly the very first nation, in the modern sense. The idea was this, that after the death of Alexander III, the throne past to the Maid of Norway. Guardians of the Realm were appointed to rule for her in the name of the "Community of the Realm". Later, when Bailol was taken captive by the English and Wallace and Moray were named as Gaurdians of the Realm, they were again appointed by the "Community of the Realm". My pitch in my paper (as I recall, I haven't seen it for years) that the idea of the Community of the Realm was basically the same idea as a nation. The Scots saw themselves as something more than subjects of a king. They saw that, absent a monarch, they had a community or a nation.

In this period, the Scots had an idea that they were a community and wished to have the community identifiable regardless of who sat on the Scottish throne. Case in point, when Edward I negotiated marriage of the Maid of Norway (wish I could remember her name) to the future Edward II, the agreement included that Scottish law would continue, there would be a Scottish Parliament and the Scotland would continue to be a separate Kingdom. I don't think anything like this was negotiated when Mary Queen of Scots married the future Francis II.

Obviously there was tensions. People like the Comyns and the Bruces were fighting and conniving for what a feudal lord would seek -- more lands and benefits from an overlord. But we also see the people of Scotland acting in a way that looks much like a nation -- seeking to have their "Community of the Realm" identifiable even if the throne is swallowed up by another throne.

It is quite possible that Bruce and/or Comyns were guided by feelings of nationality. I think the Scots could be the very first patriots.