Abstract
Scholars have long recognized that petitioning played a central role in early modern political systems. Analysis of the practice, particularly in a British context, has tended to emphasize its function in developing the concept of the ‘public sphere’, and thus, by extension, in laying the groundwork for the emergence of modern nation-states. Yet this perspective risks overlooking the importance of petitioning as a prosaic, everyday feature of early modern governance. Building upon recent research into banal forms of petitioning in Scotland, this article uses hitherto overlooked evidence from the central criminal jurisdiction, the Justiciary Court, to explore the practice of everyday petitioning during the Restoration period (1660–88). It begins by assessing basic patterns around the identity of petitioners and the aims of their petitions, before moving on to explore the range of rhetorical and presentational strategies used to press individual cases. The article argues that petitioning should not be seen reductively as either a relic of ‘feudalism’ or a harbinger of the modern state. Instead, it was one of the most vital mechanisms of interaction between ruler and ruled, as well as a means of testing and renegotiating the relationship of one to the other.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 345-362 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Parliaments, Estates and Representation |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 29 Sept 2025 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2025 |
Keywords
- Justiciary Court
- Scotland
- early modern
- judicial system
- petitioning
- state
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- History
- Sociology and Political Science
