The Declaration of Arbroath, 1320-2020: Scottish Historical Review: Volume 101, Issue 3 - Paperback

by Terry Brotherstone (Editor), David Ditchburn (Editor)

In 1977 Grant Simpson published a seminal article in the Scottish Historical Review: which asked if 'anything conceivably new can be said about a document so well known in Scotland as the Declaration of Arbroath?' The contributors to this volume demonstrate that there can. The text of the Declaration, written in 1320, followed closely an Irish prototype and was structured in the fashion that was expected at the papal court, where the letter was sent. It drew heavily on political ideologies and legal concepts with which English and continental intellectuals were familiar. And it was brought to papal attention through diplomatic means and practices which were commonly understood across Europe. Although the Declaration disappeared from political discourse in the centuries which immediately followed its dispatch, its rediscovery from the later seventeenth century is traced in hitherto unprecedented depth. Its relevance was not just to Scotland. The question of whether it influenced the American Declaration of Independence has oft been mooted but is here closely investigated. Today the Declaration remains a controversial document, inspirational to many, misappropriated by others, and even feared by some.

Back Jacket

In 1977 Grant Simpson published a seminal article in the Scottish Historical Review: which asked if 'anything conceivably new can be said about a document so well known in Scotland as the Declaration of Arbroath?' The contributors to this volume demonstrate that there can. The text of the Declaration, written in 1320, followed closely an Irish prototype and was structured in the fashion that was expected at the papal court, where the letter was sent. It drew heavily on political ideologies and legal concepts with which English and continental intellectuals were familiar. And it was brought to papal attention through diplomatic means and practices which were commonly understood across Europe. Although the Declaration disappeared from political discourse in the centuries which immediately followed its dispatch, its rediscovery from the later seventeenth century is traced in hitherto unprecedented depth. Its relevance was not just to Scotland. The question of whether it influenced the American Declaration of Independence has oft been mooted but is here closely investigated. Today the Declaration remains a controversial document, inspirational to many, misappropriated by others, and even feared by some. Sharper focus on context; new textual analysis; unsurpassed investigation of the afterlife of the declaration in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Terry Brotherstone is Emeritus Research Fellow in History at the University of Aberdeen. David Ditchburn is Associate Professor in Medieval History at Trinity College Dublin and co-editor of the Scottish Historical Review.

Author Biography

David Ditchburn is Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at Trinity College Dublin.