1286

March 19

Alexander III of Scotland died leaving no male heir. The King died because he ignored advice from his men to not travel in bad weather back from Edinburgh Castle back to see his wife across the Firth of Forth where she was living. The King managed to take the ferry across the river but at midnight disappeared into the dark and was found dead the next day. Margaret the 'Maid of Norway' was next in line for the Scottish throne because her mother was the only one of Alexander's children that had any offspring.

1314

...

To prevent Scottish castles falling into English hands, Robert Bruce ordered that the castles at Roxburgh, Linlithgow and Edinburgh should be destroyed. ¹

1341

April

The Scots took Edinburgh Castle back from English control.

1341

May 4

After the fall of Edinburgh Castle and the liberation of the northern areas of Scotland it was safe for the Scottish King to return from exile in France.

1560

July

This treaty, signed by Scotland, England and France saw the French leave Scotland and the port of Leith near Edinburgh. Mary of Guise had been trying to make Scotland a French territory, but after her death and some limited fighting between English troops and French troops the French agreed to leave peacefully.

1567

August

James Stewart, the illegitimate son of King James V of Scotland, and half-brother of Mary Stewart, was escorted from France through England to Edinburgh where he was declared Regent of Scotland to the young King James VI.