SOURCE: Johnson, Carol Clark, 1993, The Scotts of Balwearie (LeoncaPublications: Fairhope, AL.) 110p. BIOGRAPHY: Sir Michael Scott ofBalwearie, Kirkcaldy parish, Fife, was the second baron of Balwearieof the name Scott. Upon the death of his father he succeeded to allthe possessions of the ancient family of Balwearie. At Oxford he wasa fellow student of Roger Bacon. At the University of Paris he wasstyled Michael the Mathematician and also obtained the degree ofDoctor of Divinity. He was a student at the University of Padua, andat Toledo in Spain he translated into Latin from the Arabic thehistory of animals by the famous physician, Avicenna. EmperorFrederick II appointed him Astrologer Royal and at his request Michaeltranslated the greater part of the works of Aristotle, assisted byAndrew a Jew. In England he was cordially received by Edward II.Arriving back in his native Scotland he was knighted by King AlexanderIII. He was one of the four nobles deputized in 1292 to bring homeMargaret, the Maid of Norway. A man of State affairs as well as ascientist and philosopher he sailed again to Norway as ambassador torequest the cession of the Orkney Islands. It is believed that hedied in the year 1300 at age 86 and that his body lies in MelroseAbbey. Dante named him in THE INFERNO, and Sir Walter Scottimmortalized him in THE LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL.