Overview

This is the third volume in The History of the Scottish Parliament. In volumes 1 and 2 the contributors addressed discrete episodes in political history from the early thirteenth century through to 1707, demonstrating the richness of the sources for such historical writing and the importance of parliament to that history. In Volume 3 the contributors have built on that foundation and taken advantage of the Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to discuss a comprehensive range of key themes in the development of parliament.The editors, Keith M. Brown and Alan R. MacDonald, have assembled a team of established and younger scholars who each discuss a theme that ranges over the entire six centuries of the parliament's existence. These include broad, interpretive chapters on each of the key political constituencies represented in parliament. Thus Roland Tanner and Gillian MacIntosh write on parliament and the crown, Roland Tanner and Kirsty McAlister discuss parliament and the church, Keith Brown addresses parliament and the nobility and Alan MacDonald examines parliament and the burghs. Cross-cutting themes are also analysed. The political culture of parliament is the subject of a chapter by Julian Goodare, while parliament and the law, political ideas and social control are dealt with in turn by Mark Godfrey, James Burns and Alastair Mann. Finally, parliament's own procedures are also discussed by Alastair Mann.The History of the Scottish Parliament: Parliament in Context offers the most comprehensive and up-to-date account of the workings and significance of this important institution to the history of late medieval and early modern Scotland.

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9781399563710

Table of Contents

Reviews

This volume is at once a brilliant illustration of the variety of studies that can draw upon the Records of the Parliaments of Scotland, whilst also opening the door towards future research in a number of areas. -- Lucy Dean, University of Dundee * History Scotland Volume 12 No 4 * The most detailed, authoritative and wide-ranging treatment of the Scottish parliament so far published. The organisation of the three volumes is ingenious and highly effective. The first two are arranged chronologically and contain analytical studies of particular parliaments, whereas the third is organised thematically, with articles on various aspects of the parliament's role and functions throughout its history. This combination of analytical and thematic approaches produces a rich variety of perspectives that are both illuminating and informative... Together, they bring our understanding of Scottish parliamentary history to an entirely new level of sophistication, and the editors and contributors are to be warmly congratulated on their achievement. -- David L Smith, Selwyn College, Cambridge * Scottish Historical Review *

Author Information

Alan MacDonald is a senior lecturer in History at the University of Dundee, with a particular interest in the history of early modern Scotland, especially the history of the church and of parliament. Keith Brown is Professor of History at the University of Manchester. He specializes in early modern Scottish History, particularly the history of parliament and of the nobility.

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