State and society in early modern Scotland
By: Julian Goodare.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 1999
Place of publication: Oxford; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 366
Subjects: Scotland -- Politics and government -- 16th century.; Scotland -- Politics and government -- 17th century.; Scotland -- Social conditions.
Description: "This is the first full scholarly study of state formation and the exercise of state power in Scotland. It sets the Scottish state in a British and European context, revealing that Scotland - like larger and better-known states - developed a more integrated governmental system in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It offers a fresh perspective on the history of Scotland." "Julian Goodare shows how the magnates ceased to exercise autonomous local power, and instead managed the new administrative structure through client networks. The state no longer drew its main revenues from land, but developed new taxes; its fighting forces were modernized and detached from landed power. With the Reformation, powerful church institutions were created, and were gradually integrated into the state. The state's territorial integrity increased, giving it a closer and more troubled relationship with the Highlands. Scotland remained a sovereign state even after the union of crowns in 1603, but it was finally absorbed by England in 1707, and Dr Goodare examines the long-term context of this development."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [343]-357) and index.
Table of contents: title: Sovereignty; title: The roots of authority; title: The absolutist state; title: Finance; title: Warfare; title: Religion; title: Territory; title: The Borders and Highlands; title: State power; title: Perspectives on state formation.