The First Stewart Dynasty: Scotland, 1371-1488

By Steve Boardman

The volume begins with the shaky foundation of the Stewart dynasty during the reign of Robert II (1371-1390) and traces its development to the demise at the Battle of Sauchieburn of James III (1460-1488) together with his exalted vision of Stewart kingship. The author shows how and why the period is dominated by the growth of royal power and the concomitant eclipse of the regional aristocratic supremacies that had dominated fourteenth-century Scotland. His vivid accounts of the changing religious, economic, social and cultural life of the fifteenth century kingdom are woven into and around the central political narrative.

Reviews of The First Stewart Dynasty: Scotland, 1371-1488

'Beginning with a wholly original analysis of the impact of Scotland's fourteenth-century crisis of war, plague, and social change, Boardman sustains a fluent and convincing reassessment of the kingdom's emergence as a late medieval state and community. An indispensable volume which shines new light on Scotland's late medieval past.' – Michael Brown, University of St Andrews