Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations and tables
- List of contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Maps
- 1 Introduction: The paradox of medieval Scotland, 1093–1286
- 2 The Scottish ‘political community’ in the reign of Alexander II (1214–49)
- 3 Homo ligius and unfreedom in medieval Scotland
- 4 Scottish royal government in the thirteenth century from an English perspective
- 5 Neighbours, the neighbourhood, and the visnet in Scotland, 1125–1300
- 6 Cistercian identities in twelfth- and thirteenth-century Scotland: the case of Melrose Abbey
- 7 The language of objects: material culture in medieval Scotland
- 8 Structuring that which cannot be structured: a role for formal models in representing aspects of medieval Scotland
- Bibliography
- Index
- STUDIES IN CELTIC HISTORY
2 - The Scottish ‘political community’ in the reign of Alexander II (1214–49)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations and tables
- List of contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Maps
- 1 Introduction: The paradox of medieval Scotland, 1093–1286
- 2 The Scottish ‘political community’ in the reign of Alexander II (1214–49)
- 3 Homo ligius and unfreedom in medieval Scotland
- 4 Scottish royal government in the thirteenth century from an English perspective
- 5 Neighbours, the neighbourhood, and the visnet in Scotland, 1125–1300
- 6 Cistercian identities in twelfth- and thirteenth-century Scotland: the case of Melrose Abbey
- 7 The language of objects: material culture in medieval Scotland
- 8 Structuring that which cannot be structured: a role for formal models in representing aspects of medieval Scotland
- Bibliography
- Index
- STUDIES IN CELTIC HISTORY
Summary
Historians of the emerging ‘states’ of medieval Western Europe are generally agreed that the benchmarks of an effective polity included defined territorial frontiers, institutionalised governance, and the notion of the realm as a ‘community’, a concept closely linked with the development of parliamentary assemblies. It is usually accepted that Alexander II's Scotland had sufficient solidity to meet the first two requirements. Thus, the Tweed–Solway line was confirmed as a boundary between sovereign polities by the Treaty of York of 1237, and the crown had the entire Scottish mainland within its grasp by 1249. Again, while regal government was relatively simple, there is no mistaking its unitary aspects. Nor indeed was it any coincidence that, in imitation of English practice, Alexander II began to be referred to as dominus rex, ‘the lord king’ – an official form that was standardised from 1229 in order to stress his unifying authority as ‘universal lord’ of and to all his free subjects, irrespective of their other bonds of lordship and loyalty.
But the nature of the Scottish ‘political community’ during Alexander II's reign, and the role played by his kingship in shaping its coordinates, have yet to receive the attention they merit. Of course, the trouble with the idea of ‘community’ is that it is a notoriously elusive concept for historians and social scientists alike. The phrase communitas regni was nonetheless part of the political vocabulary of contemporary England, normally in contexts where political society set itself against the power of overmighty kings.
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- New Perspectives on Medieval Scotland, 1093-1286 , pp. 53 - 84Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2013