Rebellion and Reformation in Scotland: The Lords of the Congregation and the End of the Auld Alliance, 1547-1561
Abstract
This dissertation examines the rebellion of the Lords of the Congregation, who aimed to establish Protestant religion in Scotland and end the kingdom’s alliance with France in 1559–60, within the context of personal lordship. Indeed, a consideration of the relationships among lords, burgesses and commoners is the only way to explain the rapid, grassroots mobilization of the movement. Beginning in May 1559, rebel leaders, concentrated in four geographic clusters, mobilized tens of thousands of partisans in defiance of royal government by recruiting among their social peers, personal adherents and tenants. The primary aim of the rebels was religious and the rebellion was largely sustained by the same core group of Protestants throughout 1559–60. Wider appeals were made on the basis of the nobility’s culture of honor and the military customs pertaining to private armies. By August 1560, with the aid of Elizabeth I of England, they had accomplished their goals and Scotland was a Calvinist kingdom. Indeed, as this dissertation argues, lordship provided the mechanism through which the Scottish Reformation was initially achieved in Scotland.
Subject Area
Religious history|European history
Recommended Citation
Woods, Jonathan Phillip Ballantyne, "Rebellion and Reformation in Scotland: The Lords of the Congregation and the End of the Auld Alliance, 1547-1561" (2017). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI10624831.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI10624831
