The shape of the state in medieval Scotland, 1124-1290 / Alice Taylor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Taylor, Alice, 1983- author.

Series:

Oxford studies in medieval European history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Scotland--History--1057-1603.

Scotland.

History.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 525 pages : maps ; 25 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2016.

Summary:

This is the first full-length study of Scottish royal government in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries ever to have been written. It uses untapped legal evidence to set out a new narrative of governmental development. Between 1124 and 1290, the way in which kings of Scots ruled their kingdom transformed. By 1290 accountable officials, a system of royal courts, and complex common law procedures had all been introduced, none of which could have been envisaged in 1124. The Shape of the State in Medieval Scotland, 1124-1290 argues that governmental development was a dynamic phenomenon, taking place over the long term. For the first half of the twelfth century, kings ruled primarily through personal relationships and patronage, only ruling through administrative and judicial officers in the south of their kingdom. In the second half of the twelfth century, these officers spread north but it was only in the late twelfth century that kings routinely ruled through institutions. Throughout this period of profound change, kings relied on aristocratic power as an increasingly formal part of royal government. In putting forward this narrative, Alice Taylor refines or overturns previous understandings in Scottish historiography of subjects as diverse as the development of the Scottish common law, feuding and compensation, Anglo-Norman 'feudalism', the importance of the reign of David I, recordkeeping, and the kingdom's military organisation. In addition, she argues that Scottish royal government was not a miniature version of English government; there were profound differences between the two polities arising from the different role and function aristocratic power played in each kingdom. The volume also has wider significance. The formalisation of aristocratic power within and alongside the institutions of royal government in Scotland forces us to question whether the rise of royal power necessarily means the consequent decline of aristocratic power in medieval polities. The book thus not only explains an important period in the history of Scotland, it places the experience of Scotland at the heart of the process of European state formation as a whole. Book jacket.

Contents:

The Expansion of Royal Power over North Britain 4

The Aims of This Book 12

Part I Rulers and Ruled, 1124-1230

1 The Early Scottish State? 25

An Early State? 26

The More Maximalist Views 27

The More Minimalist Views 31

Earls and Earldoms 33

Terminological Problems 34

Rank and Hierarchy 37

Succession 42

Provincia and Comitatus 45

Thanes and Thanages 54

Thane as Estate Manager 54

Thane as Rank 56

Thanes and Kin-groups 59

Thanes, Knights, and Landed Estates 60

Thanages 66

The Landed Patronage Strategies of the Kings of Scots 69

Conclusion 81

2 Common Burdens in the Regnum Scottorum 84

The Problem: Cain and Coinnmed 84

Royal Service 91

The Tripartite Obligation 93

Mechanisms for Raising Common Burdens 102

Conclusion 111

3 Written Law and the Maintenance of Order, 1124-1230 114

Written Law and Legal Specialism 117

Leges Inter Brettos et Scotos: Ethnic Assimilation or Lawyers' Tractate? 123

The Promulgation of Written Law in the Late Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries 132

Crime, Punishment, Feud and Fines 135

Crime in Leges Scocie 140

Crime and Enforcement 142

Homicide and Compensation: Separate Legal Orders? 147

Charters, Fines, and Jurisdictions 152

The Delineation of Jurisdictions 157

The King's Peace 164

Brieves of Peace and Protection 165

Oaths 169

Conclusion 172

Conclusion: The Anglo-Norman Era Revisited 176

Part II The Emergence of a Bureaucratic State, c.1170-1290?

4 The Institutions of Royal Government, c. 1170-1290 191

Sheriffs 192

The Sheriffdom 195

Shrieval Courts and Jurisdiction 205

Justiciars 210

The Regional Divisions 212

Mael Coluim IV, Indices and Royal Justices 218

William the Lion, Earl Donnchad, and the Regional Divisions 224

The Ayre 233

The Justiciar's Ayre: The Evidence of the 1263-66 Account Roil 234

Justice Courts and the Justiciar's Ayre 238

Chamberlains 244

Who Were the Chamberlains? 245

The Chamberlains Account of 1264 in Context 254

The Chamberlain and the Rurghs in the Thirteenth Century 259

Conclusion 263

5 The Development of a Common Law, 1230-90 266

Views on the Thitteenth-Century Common Law 267

The Legislation of Alexander II 271

The 1230 Legislation 273

Replegiation and Aristocratic Jurisdiction (SA, c. 4) 274

Theft and the Problem of Trial by Battle (SA, c. 5) 277

Theft, Robbery and Further Issues of Proof (SA, c. 6) 280

Novel Dissasine (SA, c. 7) 285

The Remainder of Alexander IPs Legislation 293

Conclusion 295

Brieve Collections and the Alexandrian Leap Forward 297

Pleadable Brieves, Retourable Brieves, and Non-Pleadable Brieves 298

Brieve Formulae in the Ayr Manuscript 301

Legal Brieves in the Thirteenth Century 307

Dissasine and Mortancestry 308

Recognition and Perambulation 309

Right 315

Inquests 318

The Different Forms of Process 319

Conclusion 321

Inquests and Dispute Settlement 323

The Kilpatrick Case, 1270-73 326

The Development of Retourable Brieves 332

Aristocratic and Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions 334

Conclusion 344

6 Accounting and Revenue, c. 1180-1290 349

The Growth of Auditing and Accounting 351

The Development of Probative Accounting 361

Sources of Income and Expenditure 366

Income 367

Ferms, Renders, and Wardships 368

Fines and Reliefs 371

Profits of Justice from the Sheriff and Justiciar 374

Expenditure 379

Second Teinds 379

Hosting, Entertainment, and Financial Remuneration 385

Conclusion 387

Control over the Coinage 389

Conclusion 397

7 A Bureaucratic Government? 399

Enrolment and Recordkeeping 399

A Snapshot of Government, 1263-66 417

Conclusion 434

Conclusion: The Shape of the State in Medieval Scotland 438

Appendix 457

A Note on the Legal Sources 457

The Relationship between LS, LW, SA, CP, and the texts published mAPS, volume 1 460.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 465-501) and index.

ISBN:

0198749201

9780198749202

OCLC:

920724491