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UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
MODULE HIS9Q6: The Stewart Kings of Scotland, 1424-1513
Spring 2008
Please use this handout in conjunction with the Student Handbook and the Academic Skills Booklet
1. INTRODUCTION
This handout provides information about:
· the module aims and learning outcomes
· teaching methods and assessment
· lectures and seminars
· essay questions and examination
· bibliography
2. MODULE AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES
(i) Aims
The module aims to build on the historical skills and transferable skills promoted in earlier semester modules. There will be a greater emphasis on the in-depth discussion of themes and the promotion of an awareness of the historiographical context of both primary sources and secondary works. Equally, students will be given the opportunity to acquire or refine skills relating to group work and the presentation of oral and written work.
(ii) Learning Outcomes
This module offers the following learning outcomes:
Knowledge and understanding
· An understanding of the key political events of fifteenth century Scotland and of the changing nature of kingship, royal government and baronial lordship in the independent medieval kingdom.
· A familiarity with a selection of relevant contemporary sources.
· A capacity to evaluate conflicting historical interpretations.
Historical skills
· An understanding of the problematic nature of the past.
· An appreciation of the complexity and diversity of the past.
· An understanding of the limitations of historical knowledge.
· A capacity to collect evidence to test or support a historical case.
· An awareness of the importance of debate in history.
· The ability to evaluate source material critically.
Transferable skills
· The ability to argue a persuasive case.
· A capacity for working independently and in groups, and for effective time management.
· Literature searching skills.
· An ability to analyse and solve problems.
· A capacity for organisation, clarity and fluency in written expression.
· Oral communication skills.
· Inter-personal skills.
3. MODULE STRUCTURE
There are no formal lectures and the module is taught through eight weekly seminars lasting two hours each with a final two-hour session for group presentations. The first seminar will include an introductory lecture. Attendance is compulsory and preparation essential. All seminars are prescribed classes since students are assessed for their oral performance at them. Students who are absent from more than a third of prescribed classes will receive no grade. If a student is unable to attend a particular seminar, the tutor should be notified of the circumstances without delay. Individual reading may be allocated for each seminar and some primary material handouts may be distributed a week in advance. Students will be required to make one formal presentation of roughly 10 to 15 minutes on a question of their choice from the outlined seminar topics. Students will also contribute to small group presentation projects (of roughly 15 to 20 minutes in total) in the last week of the module. Generally students are expected to prepare for and contribute to each session.
All inquiries about any matter relating to the module should be addressed to Dr. Michael Penman, Room A66, Pathfoot, at the consulting hours as advertised on the notice on his office door. His direct line number is (01786) 467575; his e-mail address is:- .
4. ASSESSMENT
The grade is based on one essay of 3000 words, worth 45% of the final assessment. There will be an end of semester examination of two hours, worth 45% of the final assessment. The remaining 10% will be based on attendance at and contribution to seminars.
The criteria for the oral assessment component will be participation in discussion, and the depth of knowledge, coherence of argument and clarity of communication demonstrated in the contributions made. Students should note that the most important issue is to attend and to participate - the skills involved in oral communication will be developed through practice.
5. SEMINARS – Mondays 3-5 p.m.
Student preparation for seminars is essential and a guide to reading is provided below.
1. Introductory Meeting
Monday 18 February
Covering:-
Meet the group; nuts and bolts of the module; student choice of presentation topics;
Introductory Lecture: ‘Scottish Kingship before 1406: David II and the Early Stewarts.’
General discussion of concepts of kingship and Scottish national identity.
General Introductory Reading
M. Lynch, Scotland: A New History (1989) chs. 9, 10.
Dickinson/Duncan, Scotland from the Earliest Times to 1603 (1977)
M. Brown, The Wars of Scotland: 1214-1371 (2004)
M. Brown, ‘Scotland Tamed?’, Innes Review, xlv, 1994 [RBR]
Nicholson, chs. 6, 7, 8 or ‘Crown in Jeopardy’ in G. Menzies ed., The Scottish Nation (1972)
A.D.M. Barrell, Medieval Scotland (2000)
Records of the Scottish Parliament database - http://www.rps.ac.uk/
2. The Albany Stewarts and the Return of James I, 1406-c.1429
Monday 25 February
Presentation questions:-
- How did the Albany Stewarts govern Scotland?
- What methods did James I use to destroy the Albany Stewarts?
- Assess James I’s relations with the Highlands and islands to c.1430.
- DEBATE/DOCUMENT: ‘Bower is an untrustworthy source for the events of this period.’
Reading assignments:-
General
Nicholson, chs. 9, 11; Grant, 184-91; D.E.R. Watt ed., Walter Bower’s Scotichronicon, vol. 8 [handout].
Detailed
S. Boardman, The Early Stewart Kings: Robert II and Robert III, 1371-1406 (1996)
A. MacDonald, Border Bloodshed: Scotland, England and France at War, 1369-1403 (2000)
M. Brown, James I (1994)
E.W.M. Balfour-Melville, James I, King of Scots (1936)
A.A.M. Duncan, James I, 1424-37 (1984 pamphlet)
M. Brown, The Black Douglases (1998)
S. Boardman, The Campbells (2005)
R. Tanner, The Late Medieval Scottish Parliament (2001)
Records of the Scottish Parliament database - http://www.rps.ac.uk/
M. Brown, ‘That Old Serpent and Ancient of Evil Days’, Scottish Historical Review, lxxi (1992) and [RBR]
M. Brown, ‘Public Authority and Factional Conflict, 1424-1455’, in K.Brown and R. Tanner eds., Parliament and Politics in Scotland, 1235-1560 (2004)
A. Grant, ‘Scotland’s Celtic Fringe in the Middle Ages’ in R.R. Davies ed., The British Isles, 1100-1500 (1988) [RBR]
3. Tyrannical Kingship? The Reign of James I, c. 1429-37
Monday 3 March
Presentation questions:-
- DEBATE: Was James I ‘greedy and vindictive’ in government or a great ‘law-giver king’?
- Assess James I’s foreign relations in this period.
- Why was James I nearly arrested in 1436 and then assassinated in 1437?
- DOCUMENT: How valuable are Bower’s Scotichronicon and John Shirley’s The Dethe of the Kynge of Scots as sources for the last year of this reign?
Reading assignments:-
General
Nicholson, ch. 11; Grant, 187-95, ch. 8; D.E.R. Watt ed., Walter Bower’s Scotichronicon, vol. 8 [handout]; M. Connolly, ‘The Dethe of the Kynge of Scotis: A New Edition’, Scottish Historical Review, lxxi (1992) [handout].
Detailed
M. Brown, James I (1994)
E.W.M. Balfour-Melville, James I, King of Scots (1936)
A.A.M. Duncan, James I, 1424-37 (1984 pamphlet)
M. Brown, The Black Douglases (1998)
R. Tanner, The Late Medieval Scottish Parliament (2001)
R. Tanner, ‘‘I Arest You, Sir, in the Name of the Three Asttates in Perlement’: The Scottish Parliament and Resistance to the Crown in the Fifteenth Century’, in T. Thornton ed., Social Attitudes and Political Structures in the Fifteenth Century (2000)
Records of the Scottish Parliament database - http://www.rps.ac.uk/
M. Brown, ‘That Old Serpent and Ancient of Evil Days’, Scottish Historical Review, lxxi (1992) and [RBR]
M. Brown, ‘‘I have thus slain a tyrant’: The Dethe of the Kynge of Scotis and the right to resist in early fifteenth century Scotland’, Innes Review, xlv (1996) and [RBR]
M. Brown, ‘Public Authority and Factional Conflict, 1424-1455’, in K.Brown and R. Tanner eds., Parliament and Politics in Scotland, 1235-1560 (2004) [RBR]
Bower’s Scotichronicon, vol 9 – short studies about the author and his chronicle (1999) [RBR]:-
‘Biography of Bower’
‘Bower the chronicler’
‘Bower as a source for his own times’
‘Bower’s patron’
‘Two additional epitaphs on James I’
R. Wiess, ‘The Earliest Account of the Murder of James I of Scotland’, English Historical Review, lii (1937)
S. Boardman, ‘The Man Who would be King’, in 1. and [RBR]
S. Boardman, The Campbells (2005)
A. Grant, ‘Scotland’s Celtic Fringe in the Middle Ages’ in R.R. Davies ed., The British Isles, 1100-1500 (1988) [RBR]
K. Stevenson, Chivalry and Knighthood in Scotland, 1424-1513 (2006)
N. Macdougall, An Antidote to the English: the Auld Alliance, 1295-1560 (2001)
C.J. Neville, Violence, Custom and Law: the Anglo-Scottish Border Lands in the Later Middle Ages (1998)
E. Bonner, ‘Scotland’s Auld Alliance with France, 1295-1560’, History 84, Jan 1999, and [RBR]
F. Downie, She is But a Woman: Queenship in Scotland 1424-1463 (2006)
A. Hiatt, ‘Forgery Across Borders: John Hardyng’, in Hiatt, The Making of Medieval Forgeries (2004) [photocopy]
4. The Minority of James II, 1437-1450
Monday 10 March
Presentation questions:-
- Compare and contrast Scotland’s relations with England and Europe in this period.
- DEBATE: ‘The Black Douglases were the real power behind parliament and the crown c. 1437-49.’
- DOCUMENT: What do the parliamentary oaths of 1445 tell us?
- What role did Scotland’s churchmen play in this period?
- Why did James II attack the Douglases in 1450 and how did he fare?
Reading assignments:-
General
Nicholson, ch. 12; Grant, 191-200, chs. 2, 4; The Auchinleck Chronicle [handout]
Detailed
C. McGladdery, James II (1987)
M. Brown, The Black Douglases (1998)
R. Tanner, The Late Medieval Scottish Parliament (2001)
Records of the Scottish Parliament database - http://www.rps.ac.uk/
S. Boardman, The Campbells (2005)
N. Macdougall, James III (1982), ch. 1.
W. Ferguson, Scotland’s Relations with England (1979)
A.I. Dunlop, The Life and Times of James Kennedy, bishop of St Andrews (1950)
J. Durkan, William Turnbull, bishop of Glasgow (1951)
N. Macdougall, ‘Foreign Relations: England and France’, in 2. and [RBR]
A. Goodman, ‘The Anglo-Scottish Marches in the Fifteenth Century’ in 7.
M. Brown, ‘’Vile Times’: Walter Bower’s Last Book and the Minority of James II’, Scottish Historical Review, lxxix (2000)
F. Downie, ‘La Voie quelle menace tenir: Annabella Stewart , Scotland and the fifteenth century marriage market, 1444-56’, Scottish Historical Review, lxxviii (1999) and [RBR]
F. Downie, She is But a Woman: Queenship in Scotland 1424-1463 (2006)
E. Bonner, ‘Scotland’s Auld Alliance with France, 1295-1560’, History 84, Jan 1999, and [RBR]
E. Bonner, ‘Charles VII’s Dynastic Policy and the ‘Auld Alliance’: the marriage of James II and Marie de
Gueldres’, Innes Review, 54 (2003)
P. Contamine, ‘Scottish Soldiers in France in the Second Half of the Fourteenth century’ in G.G. Simpson ed., The Scottish Soldier (1992 )
D. Ditchburn, ‘The Place of Gueldres in Scottish Foreign Policy, c. 1449-52’, in 9. and [RBR]
N. Macdougall, An Antidote to the English: the Auld Alliance, 1295-1560 (2001)
M. Brown, ‘Public Authority and Factional Conflict: Crown, Parliament and Polity, 1424-1455’ in K.M. Brown and R.J. Tanner eds., Parliament and Politics in Scotland, 1235-1560 (2004) [RBR]
A. Hiatt, ‘Forgery Across Borders: John Hardyng’, in Hiatt, The Making of Medieval Forgeries (2004) [photocopy]
5. James II, the Black Douglases and War with England, 1450-60
Monday 17 March
Presentation questions:-
- DOCUMENT: How valuable a source is the Auchinleck Chronicle for this period?
- DEBATE: ‘James II was lucky to get away with murder and so many mistakes in 1452’.
- Why did James III have to wait three years before he could destroy the Black Douglases in 1455?
- What were the key developments of 1455-60?
- Was the Scottish crown stronger in 1460 than it had been in 1424?
Reading assignments;-
General
Nicholson, ch. 12; Grant, 195-210; The Auchinleck Chronicle [handout]
Detailed
C. McGladdery, James II (1987)
M. Brown, The Black Douglases (1998)
R. Tanner, The Late Medieval Scottish Parliament (2001)
Records of the Scottish Parliament database - http://www.rps.ac.uk/
S. Boardman, The Campbells (2005)
N.A.T. Macdougall, James III (1982), ch. 1.
A.I. Dunlop, The Life and Times of James Kennedy, bishop of St Andrews (1950)
J. Durkan, ‘William Turnbull, bishop of Glasgow’, Innes Review, ii (1951).
F. Downie, She is But a Woman: Queenship in Scotland 1424-63 (2006)
J. Wormald, Lords and Men in Scotland (1985)
A. Grant, ‘The Development of the Scottish Peerage’, Scottish Historical Review, lvii (1978) and RBR
A. Grant, ‘The Revolt of the Lord of the Isles and the Death of the Earl of Douglas, 1451-2’, Scottish Historical Review, lx (1981)
J. Brown/Wormald, ‘Taming the Magnates?’ in 3. and 10. [and RBR]
M. Brown, ‘Scotland Tamed?’, Innes Review,, xlv (1994) [RBR]
N.A.T. Macdougall, ‘Bishop James Kennedy of St Andrews: a reassessment of his political career’, in 6. and [RBR]
M. Brown, ‘Public Authority and Factional Conflict: Crown, Parliament and Polity, 1424-1455’ in K.M. Brown and R.J. Tanner eds., Parliament and Politics in Scotland, 1235-1560 (2004) [RBR]
6. The Minority and Early Reign of James III, 1460-80
Monday 24 March
Presentation questions:-
- DEBATE: ‘The Boyds were much more careful in their control of affairs that the Livingstones’.
- What was the importance of James III’s marriage?
- Assess the effectiveness and popularity of James III’s foreign policies 1470-80.
- DOCUMENT: What does the parliamentary record for 1470-80 tell us?
- Why did James III kill one of his brothers, Mar, and try to destroy the other, Albany?
Reading assignments:-
General
Nicholson, ch. 13-16; Grant, 191-200; ‘A Short Life of Margaret of Denmark’ [handout]; ‘The Short Chronicle of 1482’ [handout].
Detailed
N.A.T. Macdougall, James III: a political study (1982)
N.A.T. Macdougall, James IV (1988), ch. 1.
R. Tanner, The Late Medieval Scottish Parliament (2001)
Records of the Scottish Parliament database - http://www.rps.ac.uk/
S. Boardman, The Campbells (2005)
L.J. Macfarlane, William Elphinstone and the Kingdom of Scotland (1985)
A.I. Dunlop, The Life and Times of James Kennedy, bishop of St Andrews (1950)
R.S. Rait, The Parliaments of Scotland (1924)
W. Ferguson, Scotland’s Relations with England (1979)
C.J. Neville, Violence, Custom and Law: the Anglo-Scottish Border Lands in the Later Middle Ages (1998)
N. Macdougall, An Antidote to the English: the Auld Alliance, 1295-1560 (2001)