ABSTRACT
The population of Catholic Europe came into contact with a number of peoples whom, for one reason or another, they saw as different as outsiders. At one end of the scale of barbarians were the Celts of the British Isles. They were Christian, but the economies of Scotland, Ireland and Wales were far less advanced than that of England. Although the term “barbarian” was applied to Muslims from time to time, the Church viewed them as heretics, although laymen seem to have regarded them as pagans. In the Holy Land, Western Christians were only present out of deep ideological hatred of Islam. For the most part, the thirteenth century saw peace between England and Scotland. When war came again, it was the result of Edward’s intervention in the succession dispute in Scotland. In Scotland, Edward faced a strong unit with its own sense of political community, which was in many ways comparable to, if poorer than, his own.
