Description
Book SynopsisStudies the manifestation of the chivalric ideal in medieval Scotland, casting much light on a hitherto unexplored area. For decades, the study of Scotland in the fifteenth century has focused on the complex relationships between crown and magnates. However, the importance of the chivalric ideal to the Scottish knightly class, and the use of chivalry as a political tool by the Stewart kings, has been overlooked by scholars. This book aims to fill this gap. It considers how chivalry was interpreted in fifteenth-century Scotland and how it compared with European ideas of chivalry; the responsibilities of knighthood in this period and the impact that this had on Scottish political life; the chivalric literature of the fifteenth century; the relevance of the Christian components of chivalric culture; and the use of chivalry by the increasingly powerful Scottish crown. It also brings to light, and investigates further, a variety of tournaments held in Scotland by the Stewart kings. It will be of considerable significance to all those interested in the manifestations of chivalric culture at the close of the Middle Ages, in a kingdom beginning to make its mark amongst the prominent and fashionable European courts. KATIE STEVENSON is a teaching fellow in the Department of Scottish History, University of St Andrews
Trade ReviewStevenson has provided a thorough overview of her subject which puts late medieval Scotland firmly on the chivalric map of Europe. * SIXTEENTH CENTURY JOURNAL *
Dr Stevenson has provided a fresh and illuminating angle on Scottish aristocratic society. * HISTORY *
Offers an interesting and informative discussion of the nature of late medieval chivalry. * MEDIUM AEVUM *
A thorough, scholarly, and informative research monograph. By opening a fresh line of approach to this story, Stevenson makes a major contribution to the political, social, and cultural history of late-medieval Scotland. [...]There are many English medievalists who, like myself, are culpably under informed about the independent kingdom that in the middle ages lay beyond England's northern border; Stevenson's book offers us an excellent opportunity for some useful self education. -- Maurice Keen * REVIEWS IN HISTORY *
A thorough re-assessment of Scottish chivalry. * NORTHERN HISTORY *
A groundbreaking study that offers a fresh perspective on the late medieval Scottish realm. [...] A book that may be read with profit by students not merely of late medieval Scotland but of late medieval Europe as a whole. * THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW *
