The Exercise of Power in Medieval Scotland, c.1250 - 1500

by Steve Boardman (Editor), Alasdair Ross (Editor), Matthew Hammond (Contributor)

Through detailed case studies this volume re-evaluates the notion that the Scottish kingdom experienced a rapid and revolutionary change in government and aristocratic society in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Despite the emphasis on the transformations wrought by Frankish aristocratic settlers in social, cultural and governmental terms, across most of the areas dominated by the Scottish monarch, power remained in the hands of established aristocratic dynasties. The various contributions suggest that far from being 'traditionally minded' and conservative, these native lords were ambitious, adaptable and capable of controlling innovation and change to their own benefit.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published December 5, 2003

About the author

Stephen I. Boardman, FRHistS, is a Scottish medieval historian. A graduate of the University of St. Andrews, he held the Glenfiddich Research Fellowship and a Post-Doctoral Fellowship of the British Academy at St. Andrews before being appointed Mackie Lecturer in History at the University of Aberdeen in 1995. He subsequently moved to the University of Edinburgh, where he is now Professor of Medieval Scottish History. Boardman's work focuses on kingship and the nobility in the later Middle Ages, and he has completed work on Scottish kings Robert II and Robert III, as well as Clan Campbell. The former is the only work to deal specifically with those monarchs.