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James IV is the best-known of all the late medieval Scottish rulers. Widely praised by his contemporaries, he combined the qualities of successful medieval monarch with a wide interest in the arts and sciences, while remaining acutely conscious of the need to enhance the prestige of his dynasty throughout Europe. This excellent study examines all aspects of James IV's sovereignty, explains his popularity and his highly successful kingship and assesses reasons for the disastrous end to the reign when the king and a large population of the Scottish nobility were eliminated in a single afternoon in 1513 at Flodden. This book represents Scottish historical research at its very best. It is meticulously researched and sensitively written.
James III is the most enigmatic of the Stewart kings of Scotland. Variously characterised as artistic, peace-loving, morbidly suspicious, treacherous, pious, lecherous and lazy, King James was much criticised by contemporaries and later chroniclers for his failure to do his job in the manner expected of him, and particularly for his reliance on low-born favourites to the exclusion of his 'natural' counsellors, the nobility. Specific complaints included debasement of the coinage, royal hoarding of money, failure to staunch feuds and to enforce criminal justice. Yet James III has also been seen as a major patron of the arts, as Scotland's first Renaissance king, and as the architect of an intelligent and forward-looking foreign policy. In this new study, the author explores all these areas and seeks to explain why King James was challenged by a huge rebellion in 1482, which he narrowly survived, and why he succumbed to a further rising in 1488, which placed his eldest son on the throne as James IV.
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The 'Auld Alliance' originated as an offensive and defensive treaty made by John, King of Scots, and Philip IV of France, directed against Edward I of England, in 1295-6. Remarkably, this original treaty of Paris/Dunfermline was frequently renewed throughout the course of the next two-and-a-half centuries, becoming latterly a cornerstone of Scottish foreign policy. Combining narrative and analysis, this book covers the uncertain beginnings of the Alliance, moving on to the major military commitment of the Scots to the French side in the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) with England, the subsequent settlement of Scots in France in the fifteenth century, the close naval and military links between James IV and Louis XII of France in the early sixteenth century, and the climax and end of the Alliance following the marriage of Francis II of France to Mary, Queen of Scots (1558).
Written by leading historians, the essays in this unique volume focus on individual reigns of Medieval Scottish kings and explore particular themes within this context. Kingship during the 14th and 15th centuries is chiefly discussed, illuminating the surge of power that monarchs experienced during that time as well as the challenges that they faced concerning questions of authority and legitimacy. By synthesizing research from the last quarter century and giving fresh insights into the particulars of the late medieval realm, this record also pays tribute to historian Norman MacDougall. Detailed and dynamic, this overview of Scottish sovereignty is sure to enthrall.
The MacDowalls traces the glories, tragedies, and amazing accomplishments of MacDowall kindred from their beginnings in Scotland and Ireland hundreds of years ago to their illus-trious present in such countries as the United States, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, and Russia. The cast of characters ranges from kings and barons to artists and generals, farmers, homemakers, and teachers. Their stories unfold as a history in progress, as each has made a unique and significant impact on the world.
Insiders/Outsiders', published to accompany a UK-wide arts festival of the same name in 2019, examines the extraordinarily rich and pervasive contribution of refugees from Nazi-dominated Europe to the visual culture, art education and art-world structures of the United Kingdom. In every field, emigres arriving from Europe in the 1930s - supported by a small number of like-minded individuals already resident in the UK - introduced a professionalism, internationalism and bold avant-gardism to a British art world not known for these attributes. At a time when the issue of immigration is much debated, the book serves as a reminder of the importance of cultural cross-fertilization and of the deep, long-lasting and wide-ranging contribution that refugees make to British life. Exhibition: Arts festival throughout Britain (May 2019 - May 2020).
This definitive history traces the origins and evolution of Methodism in Scotland, through the breakaway 'Connexions' of the nineteenth century to wartime and ecumenical activity in the twentieth century. In the broad context of Christian activity in Scotland, 1750-2000, it looks at the activity of lay 'Local Preachers' and Sunday School teachers, men and women who broke new ground as they shared the gospel in light of their workaday experience. The book brings to light many otherwise unknown local characters, telling a human story, which shows how personal aspirations and disappointments fitted into the larger picture. Based on extensive original archival research, Scotland's Methodists makes a strong and distinctive contribution to the history of religion in Scotland over the last three centuries. It will appeal to academic historians and students of religion, to Methodists in local communities across Scotland, as well as to the wider community of Methodist scholars in the UK and USA.
James V suffered the fate of many a son of a famous father in being somewhat overshadowed not only by his father James IV but also by his internationally renowned daughter Mary Queen of Scots. But no-one would deny the importance of his reign, embracing as it did the establishment of the Court of Session, the birthpangs of religious dissent, and the growth of royal power to such a remarkable extent that this king could leave his kingdom for nine months in 1536-7 without fear of rebellion. Jamie Cameron concentrates on James V's style of government and relations with his nobility, and challenges the widely held view of a vindictive and irrational king, motivated largely by greed, who antagonised most of his leading magnates and met his just deserts when they refused to support him in 1542. This book offers a different view, and presents us with a rounded picture of a king whose approach to government, in spite of some personal defects, closely resembles that of his supposedly more popular father; and, like James IV himself, retained impressive magnate support to the end of his reign.
The stigmatization as 'bastards' of children born outside of wedlock is commonly thought to have emerged early in Medieval European history. Christian ideas about legitimate marriage, it is assumed, set the standard for legitimate birth. Children born to anything other than marriage had fewer rights or opportunities. They certainly could not become king or queen. As this volume demonstrates, however, well into the late twelfth century, ideas of what made a child a legitimate heir had little to do with the validity of his or her parents' union according to the dictates of Christian marriage law. Instead a child's prospects depended upon the social status, and above all the lineage, of both pa...