Parliament of Scotland

The article on the body established in 1999 is at Scottish Parliament.

The Fifteenth Century

After 1424 Parliament was often willing to defy the King—it was far from being simply a ‘rubber stamp’ of royal decisions. During the fifteenth century Parliament was called far more often than, for instance, the English Parliament—on average over once a year—a fact that both reflected and augmented its influence. It repeatedly opposed James I’s (1424-1437) requests for taxation to pay an English ransom in the 1420s, and was openly hostile to James III (1460-1488) in the 1470s and early 1480s. In 1431 Parliament granted a tax to James I for a campaign in the Highlands on the condition that it be kept in a locked chest under the keepership of figures deeply out of favour with the King. In 1436 there was even an attempt made to arrest the King ‘in the name of the three estates’. Between October 1479 and March 1482 Parliament was conclusively out of the control of the James III. It refused to forfeit his brother, the Duke of Albany, despite a royal siege of the Duke’s castle, tried to prevent the King leading his army against the English (a powerful indication of the estates’ lack of faith in their monarch), and appointed men to the Lords of the Articles and important offices who were shortly to remove the King from power. James IV (1488-1513), realised that Parliament could often create more problems than it solved, and avoided meetings after 1509. This was a trend seen in other European nations as monarchical power grew stronger—for instance England under Henry VII, France and some of the Spanish Cortes Generales.

Related Topics:
1424 - Fifteenth century - English Parliament - James I’s - 1437 - 1420s - James III - 1460 - 1488 - 1470s - 1480s - 1431 - Highlands - 1436 - 1479 - 1482 - Duke of Albany - James IV - 1513 - 1509 - England - Henry VII - France - Cortes Generales

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