Walter Bower facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Walter Bower
Inchcolm Abbey
Personal details
Born	c. 1385 Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland
Died	24 December 1449 (aged about 65)
Nationality	Scottish
Occupation	Canon regular and chronicler

Walter Bower (also known as Bowmaker) was an important Scottish church leader and historian. He was born around 1385 in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland. He became a canon regular, which is a type of priest who lives by certain rules, and later an abbot, who is the head of a monastery. Walter Bower is best known for writing a huge history book called the Scotichronicon. This book tells the story of Scotland and is considered a national treasure.

Walter Bower's Life

Walter Bower started his religious training when he was about eighteen years old. He studied at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. After finishing his studies there, he traveled to Paris to learn about law.

In 1417, Walter Bower was chosen to be the abbot of the Augustinian community on Inchcolm, an island in the Firth of Forth. As abbot, he was in charge of the monastery there.

He also helped Scotland in other ways. In 1423 and 1424, he was one of the people who helped collect the money needed to free James I of Scotland, who was held captive. Later, in 1433, he went on a special trip to Paris. His job was to talk about the possibility of King James's daughter marrying the French prince, known as the Dauphin of France. In 1432, he also played a key role at a meeting called the Council of Perth, where he helped defend Scotland's rights.

Writing the Scotichronicon

During his last years, Walter Bower worked on his most famous book, the Scotichronicon. He started this big project in 1440 because a friend, Sir David Stewart, asked him to. Bower's book was a continuation of an earlier history of Scotland written by John of Fordun.

The Scotichronicon was a very long book, with sixteen parts. The first five parts, and some of the sixth, were mostly John of Fordun's work, but Bower added his own notes. For the parts covering history up to the time of King Robert I (who died in 1329), Bower used Fordun's notes. But for the history from that point until the death of James I of Scotland, the book was all Bower's original work. This part is very important because it tells us about events that happened during Bower's own time. He finished writing the Scotichronicon in 1447.

Later Versions of the Book

In the two years before he died, Walter Bower worked on a shorter version of his big book. This shorter version is known as the Book of Cupar. Other shorter versions were also made around the same time by different writers. Today, several copies of the full Scotichronicon still exist in libraries.

Studying Bower's Work Today

More recently, a new and updated translation of Walter Bower's Scotichronicon was created. This huge project, led by Professor D. E. R. Watt, was published in nine volumes between 1987 and 1997. This new edition helps people today understand Bower's important historical work better.

Images for kids

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  Inchcolm Abbey