Auld Alliance

The Auld Alliance, established in 1295, was a pivotal treaty between Scotland and France, formed primarily as a mutual defense agreement against the common threat of England. Rooted in shared interests and the challenges posed by English expansionism, this alliance saw periods of active cooperation: France provided Scotland with diplomatic backing and occasional military support, while also serving a diversionary role by engaging England in conflicts on the European mainland. Though the alliance's active support varied over the years, its symbolic significance remained a consistent counterbalance to English ambitions, reminding England of potential French intervention whenever it threatened Scotland.

This aggreement effectively concluded with the Treaty of Edinburgh in 1560. This treaty marked the withdrawal of French troops from Scotland following tensions arising from the Scottish Reformation and recognized the Scots' right to choose their monarch and religion, thus ending centuries of formal alliance between the two nations.