Introduction: Parliament and Politics in Scotland, 1567-1707

Abstract

First paragraph: Early modern parliaments and representative assemblies found themselves responding to the financial requirements of assertive monarchies that demanded funds to wage increasingly costly war, to expand patronage networks, and to underscore royal prestige and courtly life. But in spite of common external forces, these assemblies were diverse bodies in which powers varied widely, as did representational composition, procedural characteristics and the political culture of governance in which they operated. Furthermore, the nature of the relationship between those national, or provincial, assemblies and individual rulers varied as one crowned head succeeded another. Much of the time that relationship was one of co-operation as parliaments assembled to do their job of offering counsel and granting aid to kings. However, unsurprisingly, debates and disputes also arose over the assertion and protection of the ancient privileges of representative assemblies in the face of princely ambitions. In this respect early modern Scotland was no different from any other European kingdom in the period.