Category: England and Scotland

17th Century history, Early modern history, England and Scotland, History, James I to Restoration, Royal family

James I and his favourites: sex and power at the Jacobean court

As LGBT History Month draws to a close Dr Paul M. Hunneyball of the Lords 1604-1629 Section discusses the nature of relationships between James I and his favourite courtiers, his sexuality and how this affected his ability to maintain unquestionable dominance as the monarch… ‘James I slobbered at the mouth and had favourites; he was thus a Bad King.’ This line from Sellar and Yeatman’s … Continue reading James I and his favourites: sex and power at the Jacobean court

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Conferences/seminars, Early modern history, England and Scotland

Parliaments, Politics and People seminar: Patrick Little, ‘The dressing of a cucumber‘: the Scottish Union Bill of 1656-7

The ‘Parliaments, Politics and People’ seminar has returned for the new academic year. To start things off, the History of Parliament’s own Dr Patrick Little, Senior Research Fellow in the Commons 1640-60 section, reports back on his paper ‘‘The dressing of a cucumber’: the Scottish Union Bill of 1656-7’… The constitutional relationship between England and Scotland was as topical in the mid-seventeenth century as it … Continue reading Parliaments, Politics and People seminar: Patrick Little, ‘The dressing of a cucumber‘: the Scottish Union Bill of 1656-7

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diplomatic history, Early modern history, England and Scotland, medieval history, Politics, social history

Back to the future: Scottish parliaments in context

In the last of our series of blogposts on Anglo-Scottish relations, Dr Alastair Mann, Senior Lecturer at the University of Stirling, describes the Scottish Parliament project… As we approach the momentousness of the 2014 referendum for Scottish independence the past seems to collide with the future in the oddest of ways. Seven years ago, in 2007/8, the Scottish Parliament Project, based at St Andrews University, … Continue reading Back to the future: Scottish parliaments in context

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19th Century history, England and Scotland, social history

The Eglinton Tournament 1839: A Victorian take on the Anglo-Scottish Rivalry

As the Scottish independence referendum draws nearer, Dr Gordon Pentland, of Edinburgh University, guestblogs for us in the latest of our series on Anglo-Scottish relations throughout the centuries. After a Scottish summer of medieval battle re-enactments, festivals and politics, he examines an event from 1839, which combined all three… 175 years ago, Archibald Montgomerie, the Earl of Eglinton (1812-61) resolved to provide what might now … Continue reading The Eglinton Tournament 1839: A Victorian take on the Anglo-Scottish Rivalry

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18th Century history, England and Scotland

Jonathan Swift and the Union with Scotland

In the latest in our series on Anglo-Scottish relations throughout the centuries, Dr Ruth Paley, editor of the House of Lords 1660-1832 section, discusses the satirist Jonathan Swift’s provocative attack on the Scots during the early days of union and the political consequences that followed… The winter of 1713-14 was fraught with political tension. The queen’s health, never good, was visibly deteriorating, sparking fears of … Continue reading Jonathan Swift and the Union with Scotland

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diplomatic history, Early modern history, England and Scotland, social history

Union with Scotland – Cromwellian Style

Today’s post is the next in our series looking at Anglo-Scottish relations in the run-up to the Scottish independence referendum. Our own Dr Patrick Little Senior Research Fellow on the Commons 1640-1660 Section, discusses attempts at union during the Protectorate… With the political spotlight on Scottish independence, historians have naturally tended to focus on the treaty and acts of union of 1707, when the Scots … Continue reading Union with Scotland – Cromwellian Style

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diplomatic history, Early modern history, England and Scotland

Scotland and the Jacobean Union of 1604-7

In the latest of our series on English-Scottish parliamentary relations throughout the centuries, guest blogger Dr Alan MacDonald (University of Dundee) discusses the Scottish parliament’s response to James VI and I’s attempt at union between England and Scotland in 1604-7… On 11 August 1604, a parliament at Perth passed the ‘Act anent the unioun of Scotland and England’, completing a process that began three years … Continue reading Scotland and the Jacobean Union of 1604-7

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