On street and scaffold: the people and political culture in Restoration Scotland, c.1678-1685

Doak, Laura Isobel (2020) On street and scaffold: the people and political culture in Restoration Scotland, c.1678-1685. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis examines political culture in Scotland between 1678 and 1685. Its specific focus is the presence of the people at events like processions, protests, and public executions. Print is considered as just one aspect of these multifaceted displays, illuminating ways in which this newly emerging means of communication interacted with - and even altered - these older participatory media, but also demonstrating that print was not imperative for popular political participation. Following chapters thus contend that any evaluation of early modern mass engagement is best structured by investigation of such multimodal cultural media, rather than any existing abstract theory or conceptual model.
These were tense and turbulent years for the Scots, yet they remain under-represented in existing secondary literature. Inspired by work on early modern Europe and introducing new archival discoveries, following chapters also offer a fresh interpretation of Scottish history in these years. This thesis will question the idea that the Stuart dynasty was secure in its control of Scotland after 1660, and explore the kingdom’s diverse spectrum of ideological opposition.
Through the key thematic lenses of ‘space’ and ‘spectatorship’, each chapter addresses a previously overlooked or unexamined medium, or channel, of communication. Chapter three explores royal celebration, entries, and progresses, whilst chapter four appraises the crown and Privy Council’s use of proclamations as political street theatre. Chapter five then considers protest activity, like rioting and mock processions, and chapter six examines the appropriation of proclamation conventions to stage treasonous declarations. Finally, chapter seven concludes analysis with a detailed investigation of public executions, which can be considered prominent platforms for conflicting interpretations over what constituted legitimate authority. These exchanges, staged on street and scaffold, were the politics of ordinary men and women in late Restoration Scotland, and it is their participation with the rich, cross-media debates that these performances built around their spectators that this thesis takes as its central concern.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: Early Modern, Scotland, Scottish, Popular politics, political engagement, political culture, print, proclamations, public execution, space, spectatorship, protests, rebel declarations, riots, processions, progresses, street theatre, Stuart, Restoration, multi-monarchy, archipelago, multimodal, multimedia, discourse, public sphere.
• Subjects: D History General and Old World > D History (General); D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > History
• Supervisor's Name: Bowie, Dr. Karin
• Date of Award: 2020
• Embargo Date: 23 October 2023
• Depositing User: Laura I Doak
• Unique ID: glathesis:2020-81752
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 23 Oct 2020 15:24
• Last Modified: 06 Sep 2022 08:34
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.81752
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/81752