Community and Public Authority in Later Fifteenth-Century Scotland
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COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC AUTHORITY IN LATER FIFTEENTH-CENTURY SCOTLAND Claire Hawes A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2015 Full metadata for this item is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/7812 This item is protected by original copyright Community and Public Authority in Later Fifteenth-Century Scotland Claire Hawes Abstract This thesis offers a reassessment of the political culture of Scotland in the later fifteenth century, from c. 1440 to c. 1490, through an examination of communitarian discourses and practices. It argues that the current understanding of political relations is limited by too great a focus upon personal relationships. While these were undoubtedly important, it is necessary also to consider the structures of law and governance which framed political interactions, and the common principles and values which underpinned action, in order to gain a fuller picture. In particular, it is argued that the current model, which assumes a more or less oppositional relationship between crown and ‘political community’, ought to be replaced with a public domain in which claims to authority were asserted and contested. This approach allows the familiar political narrative to be firmly connected to the ideas expressed in contemporary advice literature, while also situating political authority spatially, by asking how it was experienced as well as how it was projected. The focus upon language and space allows for clear parallels to be drawn between different local political cultures, and allows connections and contrasts to be made between those cultures and the norms of kingship and lordship. It argues that reforms to civil justice made during James III’s reign have played a far more important part in the turbulent politics of the time than has been appreciated, that both royal and aristocratic authority could be presented as acting both for the common good and for the interests of the crown, and that Scotland’s towns not only had a vibrant political culture of their own, but were an important part of the politics of the realm. ii 1. Candidate’s declarations: I, Claire Hawes hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 80,000 words in length, has been written by me, and that it is the record of work carried out by me, or principally by myself in collaboration with others as acknowledged, and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in September 2011 and as a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in September 2011; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2011 and 2015. Date 14 August 2015 signature of candidate ……… 2. Supervisor’s declaration: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date 14 August 2015 signature of supervisor ……… 3. Permission for publication: (to be signed by both candidate and supervisor) In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. I have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the publication of this thesis: PRINTED COPY a) Embargo on all or part of print copy for a period of one year on the following ground(s): Publication would preclude future publication Supporting statement for printed embargo request: I intend to seek to publish the majority of the thesis as a monograph, and the immediate publication of the printed thesis would harm the prospects of doing so. ELECTRONIC COPY a) Embargo on all or part of electronic copy for a period of three years on the following ground(s): Publication would preclude future publication Supporting statement for electronic embargo request: I intend to seek to publish the majority of the thesis as a monograph, and the immediate electronic publication of the thesis would harm the prospects of doing so. Date 14 August 2015 signature of candidate …… signature of supervisor ……… iii Acknowledgements No scholar interested in community could hope to find a better home than the Institute of Scottish Historical Research at the University of St Andrews. It is probably fair to say that undertaking doctoral study as a mature student gives one a fuller appreciation of the contributions made by others to the success of the project, and perhaps also a greater inclination to seek such contributions out. The list of those I’d like to thank is therefore rather long. My greatest thanks go to Professor Michael Brown, for allowing me to draw deeply and often upon his sound advice, encyclopaedic knowledge, good humour and endless patience throughout the course of the Ph.D. His generous supervision and unfailing encouragement have allowed me to meet the many challenges presented by this work to the best of my ability. I would also like to thank in particular Professor Roger Mason, for spotting the ‘glint’ in my eye and letting me loose on the academy, as well as for his continued encouragement ever since, and Dr Jacqueline Rose, whose support both intellectual and moral, as mentor and colleague, has been essential in bringing this project to fruition. I am grateful also to Dr Katie Stevenson for providing numerous opportunities to expand my historical skill-set and for all her help and advice along the way, and to Dr Christine McGladdery, in whose class I first encountered the Stewart kings, for the chance to learn from her again as a tutor on the same module. The enthusiasm, advice and suggestions for reading offered by Professor Elizabeth Ewan were well-timed and welcome. I acknowledge with gratitude both the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Dr Jamie Stuart Cameron Trust, which provided the funding that allowed me to undertake this work. The earlier stages of my research were brought to life by conversations with postgraduate colleagues, and I’d especially like to thank Wayne Cuthbertson, Dr Martyna Mirecka, Dr Malcolm Petrie and Dr Matt McHaffie, whose willingness to discuss the politics of fifteenth- century Scotland, and much more besides, allowed me to engage with a plethora of perspectives which I would never otherwise have encountered. The ‘Politics and the Public in Scotland’ project was especially helpful. I have also derived an enormous benefit from the postgraduate community in the School of History, and would like to thank Amy Eberlin, Morvern French, Dr Bess Rhodes, Dr Claire McLoughlin, Dr Beth Tapscott, Darren Layne, Dawn Hollis, Dr Kelsey Jackson Williams, Liz Hanna, Caitlin Flynn, Dr Cynthia Fry, Marie iv Ventura, John Condren, Caleb Karges, Sean Murphy, Piotr Potocki, Andrew Carter, Miriam Schneider, Jason Varner, Mattias Eken, Alex Burckhardt, Dr Alan MacFarlane, Neil McIntyre and Lizzie Swarbrick for their companionship, solidarity and inspiration. Outside St Andrews, I’m grateful to Dr Eliza Hartrich, Dr Lucy Dean, Dr William Hepburn, Amy Hayes, Adrienne Miller, Katherine Basanti, Simon Egan, Dr Tom Johnson and Tom Crewe for their varied and stimulating contributions to a variety of conferences that I attended during the course of the Ph.D. My work has benefited enormously from the chance to be involved in two research projects. I’d like to thank Dr Jackson Armstrong for his support during the early stages of my research, and for the opportunity to present my work as part of the Burgh in the North project at the University of Aberdeen, which has closely informed the thoughts on community offered here. I’m also very grateful to Dr Phil Astley and the archivists at Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire archives, in particular Fiona Musk who helped me to find the bellman. Thanks again to Dr Jacqueline Rose for the opportunity to take part in her project on the Politics of Counsel in England and Scotland and for her invaluable assistance in the preparation of my article for the related volume. The lines of argument developed as part of that process resonate throughout this work. I’d also like to express my gratitude to Dr Sally Mapstone for sharing with me an unpublished chapter on ‘The Harp’, to Dr Steve Boardman for the chance to present my work at the University of Edinburgh Scottish History seminar, to Professor Jan Dumolyn for his comments on the Scottish urban community, to Dr Alan MacDonald for sharing with me an unpublished article on urban archives and for his willingness to discuss the more arcane points of parliamentary procedure, to Dr Laura Stewart for her generosity in answering a couple of rather extended emails on the subject of the early modern public sphere, to Dr Roland Tanner for his suggestions on language analysis software and for his hospitality on a visit to Toronto, and to Professor Phil Withington, for everything.