1,721,085 research outputs found
Melville's Anti-Episcopal Poetry: the Andreae Melvini Musae
No full textThis chapter is the first comprehensive assessment of all of Melville's known writings on episcopacy, particularly the collection of poems published in the Andreae Melvini Musae (Amsterdam?, 1620). It argues that Melville's anti-episcopal poetry reflects his own narrative of engagement with the Scottish kirk, both before and after James VI became king of a united British Isles in 1603. It suggests that Melville's initial zeal for reform and hopes for the nascent presbyterian kirk soon give way to pessimism and despair as a result of growing royal and episcopalian control
Andrew Melville: a Bibliography
No full textThis is the first systematic bibliography of all of Melville's known writings, whether in print or in manuscript. As well as providing comprehensive listings of all his poems, letters and prose, it also provides locations for all known manuscript material and synopses of the contents of all items
France through the eyes of Scottish Neo-Latinists: snapshots from the Delitiae Peotarum Scotorum
No full textNo abstract available
Andrew Melville and Scottish Ramism: a re-assessment
No full textThis book chapter examines why Andrew Melville used Ramist pedagogy in his educational reform programme for the Scottish universities between 1574 and 1606. Comparing Scottish educational developments with reforms at Continental universities where Ramism was employed as a methodology, it argues that the Ramist 'method' provided an ideal model for making theology candidates effective preachers in an era when rapid training of a new ministry was required
Of bairns and bearded men: James VI and the Ruthven Raid
No full textThe Ruthven Raid was a 10-month coup d'etat that comprised the seizure of James VI by a coalition of nobility at the end of August 1582 and his forcible captivity, first outside Perth and then in Stirling and Holyrood, until the end of May 1583. This chapter is the first ever detailed exploration of this major event in James' early reign, and looks at who the Raiders were, what triggered them to act, and how they governed Scotland. Using previously unpublished archival evidence from the royal household accounts and Treasurer's accounts, it argues that perhaps the most important motivation for the Raid was financial, as the main ringleader (William Ruthven, first earl of Gowrie) was liable for crown debts which had rapidly spiraled during the ascendancy of Esme Stuart, Duke of Lennox (September 1579-August 1582). Gowrie took a series of steps to systematically reduce the deficit and protect himself from pursuit of debt before reliniquishing control over the young king, a fact which further challenges the idea that the raid was simply about removing Lennox from the king's inner circle as a potential pro-French and pro-Catholic influence. More significantly, the chapter argues that although James was only 16 when the raid occurred, he negotiated his way to freedom using the arrival of French ambassadors to court in early 1583 as a form of political leverage against the Raiders and their supporters in Elizabeth I's government. The major conclusion of the piece is that James had far more political agency and ability in the earliest years of his reign than we have previously assumed, and invites a further re-assessment of his 'long apprenticeship' between 1578 and 1585 as he gradually took full control of Scottish political life
Andrew Melville and the Law of Kingship
No full textThis chapter is the first comprehensive assessment of all of Melville's known writings on the subject of kingship, tyranny, and whether it was permissible for a subject to resist, imprison or kill their monarch. Previous historiography has suggested that Melville was a close follower of the ideas of George Buchanan on these issues (as laid down most clearly in his 'Dialogue on the Law of Kingship among the Scots [De Iure Regni apud Scotos Dialogus, 1579]). A review of Melville's poems on this subject - most notably the 'Stephaniskion', or 'Small Crown' delivered at the coronation of Queen Anna in 1590 - show that while Melville clearly believed tyrants deserved punishment, his Christian worldview - notably the doctrine of Romans 13 on obeying God's appointed magistrate - played a stronger role in his worldview, and he arguably did not support the idea of tyrannicide or of violent overthrow of monarchy
Introduction
No full textThis introduction reviews the current field of Melvillian studies and argues that, while Melville has been deconstructed as both a church and educational reformer, he has been overlooked as a poet and writer. It then gives an outline of his known extant works and their value as intellectual sources, before outlining and framing the contents of the volume
Introduction
No full textThe introduction begins by tracing the history of the major contributions to the debate over noble power versus the centralisation of government in early modern Scotland, and assesses how the contributions to the volume further add to this. It concludes that James' attitude to noble power and service had many continuities and parallels with his earlier Stewart predecessors such as James IV and James V, altered in line with his own expectations that they would serve him and the ideal of himself as a 'universal king'
Introduction
No full textThe introduction begins by tracing the history of the major contributions to the debate over noble power versus the centralisation of government in early modern Scotland, and assesses how the contributions to the volume further add to this. It concludes that James' attitude to noble power and service had many continuities and parallels with his earlier Stewart predecessors such as James IV and James V, altered in line with his own expectations that they would serve him and the ideal of himself as a 'universal king'
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