This collection of essays demonstrates the vitality of the political, cultural and religious history of Scotland in the era of the Renaissance and Reformation. It includes essays on politics, religion and towns, and on the literature and culture of the royal court and the common people. The essays all illuminate the ‘long sixteenth century’, c.1500-1650, which has been established as a distinct period. Contributors include: Sharon Adams, Steve Boardman, Jane E. A. Dawson, E. Patricia Dennison, Helen Dingwall, David Ditchburn, Julian Goodare, Ruth Grant, Theo van Heijnsbergen, Amy L. Juhala, Roderick J. Lyall, Alasdair A. MacDonald, Alan R. MacDonald, Maureen M. Meikle, Jamie Reid-Baxter, Laura A. M. Stewart, Andrea Thomas, Jenny Wormald, and Michael J. Yellowlees. Publications by Michael Lynch: Edited by A.A. MacDonald, Michael Lynch and Ian B. Cowan, The Renaissance in Scotland, ISBN: 978 90 04 10097 8

A study of the actions and responsibilities of those taking temporary power during the minority of a monarch.

Civic Reformation and Religious Change in Sixteenth-Century Scottish Towns demonstrates the crucial role of Scotland's townspeople in the dramatic Protestant Reformation of 1560. It shows that Scottish Protestants were much more successful than their counterparts in France and the Netherlands at introducing religious change because they had the acquiescence of urban populations. As town councils controlled critical aspects of civic religion, their explicit cooperation was vital to ensuring that the reforms introduced at the national level by the military and political victory of the Protestants were actually implemented. Focusing on the towns of Dundee, Stirling and Haddington, this book argues that the councillors and inhabitants gave this support because successive crises of plague, war and economic collapse shook their faith in the existing Catholic order and left them fearful of further conflict. As a result, the Protestants faced little popular opposition, and Scotland avoided the popular religious violence and division which occurred elsewhere in Europe.

Deals with the legal history of Scotland from 1488 to 1603 - this period includes two major events, the institution of the College of Justice and the religious Reformation. This book attempts to write a chronological narrative account of the development of the Scottish legal system from early times.

Analyses the relations between nobility, crown and state, first in Scotland and then in the first courts of the unified kingdoms.

The Protestant Reformation of 1560 is widely acknowledged as being a watershed moment in Scottish history. However, whilst the antecedents of the reform movement have been widely explored, the actual process of establishing a reformed church in the parishes in the decades following 1560 has been largely ignored. This book helps remedy the situation by examining the foundation of the reformed church and the impact of Protestant discipline in the parishes of Fife. In early modern Scotland, Fife was both a distinct and important region, containing a preponderance of coastal burghs as well as St Andrews, the ecclesiastical capital of medieval Scotland. It also contained many rural and inland parishes, making it an ideal case study for analysing the course of religious reform in diverse communities. Nevertheless, the focus is on the Reformation, rather than on the county, and the book consistently places Fife's experience in the wider Scottish, British and European context. Based on a wide range of under-utilised sources, especially kirk session minutes, the study's focus is on the grass-roots religious life of the parish, rather than the more familiar themes of church politics and theology. It evaluates the success of the reformers in affecting both institutional and ideological change, and provides a detailed account of the workings of the reformed church, and its impact on ordinary people. In so doing it addresses important questions regarding the timescale and geographical patterns of reform, and how such dramatic religious change succeeded and endured without violence, or indeed, widespread opposition.

The intellectual legacy of Andrew Melville (1545-1622) as a leader of the Renaissance and a promoter of humanism in Scotland has been obscured by "the Melville legend." In an effort to dispense with 'the Melville of popular imagination' and recover 'the Melville of history,' this work situates his life and thought within the broader context of the northern European Renaissance and French humanism and critically re-evaluates the primary historical documents of the period, namely James Melville's Autobiography and Diary and the Melvini epistolae. By considering Melville as a humanist, university reformer, ecclesiastical statesman, and man, an effort has been made to determine his contribution to the flowering of the Renaissance and the growth of humanism in Scotland during the early modern period.

What use is it to be given authority over men and lands if others do not know about it? Furthermore, what use is that authority if those who know about it do not respect it or recognise its jurisdiction? And what strategies and 'language' -written and spoken, visual and auditory, material, cultural and political - did those in authority throughout the medieval and early modern era use to project and make known their power? These questions have been crucial since regulations for governance entered society and are found at the core of this volume. In order to address these issues from an historical perspective, this collection of essays considers representations of authority made by a cross-section of society within the British Isles. Arranged in thematic sections, the 14 essays in the collection bridge the divide between medieval and early modern to build up understanding of the developments and continuities that can be followed across the centuries in question. Whether crown or noble, government or church, burgh or merchant; all desired power and influence, but their means of representing authority were very different. These essays encompass a myriad of methods demonstrating power and disseminating the image of authority, including: material culture, art, literature, architecture and landscapes, saintly cults, speeches and propaganda, martial posturing and strategic alliances, music, liturgy and ceremonial display. Thus, this interdisciplinary collection illuminates the variable forms in which authority was presented by key individuals and institutions in Scotland and the British Isles. By placing these within the context of the European powers with whom they interacted, this volume also underlines the unique relationships developed between the people and those who exercised authority over them.

The Scottish People, 1490-1625 is one of the most comprehensive texts ever written on Scottish History. All geographical areas of Scotland are covered from the Borders, through the Lowlands to the Gàidhealtachd and the Northern Isles. The chapters look at society and the economy, Women and the family, International relations: war, peace and diplomacy, Law and order: the local administration of justice in the localities, Court and country: the politics of government, The Reformation: preludes, persistence and impact, Culture in Renaissance Scotland: education, entertainment, the arts and sciences, and Renaissance architecture: the rebuilding of Scotland. In many past general histories there was a relentless focus upon the elite, religion and politics. These are key features of any medieval and early modern history books, but The Scottish People looks at less explored areas of early-modern Scottish History such as women, how the law operated, the lives of everyday folk, architecture, popular belief and culture.