Abstract
The curious letter delivered to Pope Alexander III, probably early in 1176, in which King William I of Scotland appears to acknowledge the subjection of his country's Church to the metropolitan authority of York, has been judged spurious, most recently by the editors of the Regesta regum Scotorum (RRS).1 The text of this document survives in a dual transmission. It is in the Red Book of the Exchequer (London, Public Record Office, E 164/2, fo 176; not seen);2 and it also exists in a letter from Pope Alexander III addressed to Archbishop Roger, and the dean and chapter at York, dated May 13 1176 (JL 12704).3 The authenticity of the latter document has been questioned, given the inclusion there of the pseudo-royal composition.4 That issue cannot be settled decisively; but a close examination of the Alexandrine text, and its transmission in Britain, yields a perspective tending to confirm the genuine character of this papal letter.
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