Abstract
This article explores early modern petitioning in the context of urban Scotland. It focuses on prosaic rather than political petitioning, on the basis that the former was more truly characteristic of what the purpose of petitioning was understood to be by most of those who engaged in it. The burghs of Scotland provide an added dimension to the history of petitioning because of the role of their national assembly (the Convention of Royal Burghs), which was simultaneously a recipient of petitions, a conduit for its members’ petitions to the crown, and a petitioner of the crown in its own right. This article also reveals how changing practices of petitioning shed light on the development of the early modern Scottish state, as the Convention of Royal Burghs found its members increasingly bypassing it and instead they resorted directly to central government institutions.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 293-306 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Parliaments, Estates and Representation |
Volume | 38 |
Issue number | 3 |
Early online date | 12 Oct 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2018 |
Keywords
- Scotland
- towns
- Convention of Royal Burghs
- state formation
- petitioning
- Towns
- State formation
- Petitioning
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Arts and Humanities
- Sociology and Political Science
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Neither inside nor outside the corridors of power: the burghs and petitioning
MacDonald, A. (Speaker)
1500 → 1700Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk