Land, Law and People in Medieval Scotland

This ambitious book examines the encounter between Gaels and Europeans in Scotland in the central Middle Ages, offering new insights into an important period in the formation of the Scots’ national identity. It is based on a close reading of the texts of several thousand charters, indentures, brieves and other written sources that record the business conducted in royal and baronial courts across the length and breadth of the medieval kingdom between 1150 and 1400. Under the broad themes of land, law and people, this book explores how the customs, laws and traditions of the native inhabitants and those of incoming settlers interacted and influenced each other. Drawing on a range of theoretical and methodological approaches, the author places her subject matter firmly within the recent historiography of the British Isles and demonstrates how the experience of Scotland was both similar to, and a distinct manifestation of, a wider process of Europeanisation.

Reviews of Land, Law and People in Medieval Scotland

…a work of diligent scholarship that makes a material and perceptive contribution to our knowledge of law, lordship, and cultural relations in medieval Scotland. — A. D. M. Barrell Speculum: a journal of medieval studies An extremely scholarly work that fills a major hole in the historiography of medieval Scotland. Highly recommended. — J. J. Butt, James Madison University Choice …a work of diligent scholarship that makes a material and perceptive contribution to our knowledge of law, lordship, and cultural relations in medieval Scotland. An extremely scholarly work that fills a major hole in the historiography of medieval Scotland. Highly recommended.