A study of the life and career of one of Scotland’s leading magnates during a turbulent period.
George Keith, fifth Earl Marischal, is an outstanding example of long-term successful Protestant Lordship in the reign of James VI. The founder of Marischal College in Aberdeen and the towns of Peterhead and Stonehaven, reputed tobe the richest earl in Scotland, Marischal and his kindred were witness to a Scotland reeling from the consequences of the Protestant Reformation and coming to terms with their ambitious new king, who would be whisked away to England in 1603.
This book explores Marischal’s political struggles in the north east and at court, and his strategies in managing the kindred throughout these storms. He was economically active in estate improvement, shippingand finance, and was prominent in regional activities such as feuding and upholding local justice. An exploration of the Keiths’ interaction with the Protestant Kirk redresses the notion of the ‘Conservative North East’ of Scotland, but also reveals the conflict between earthly lordship and godly reform. Marischal, King James’ ‘Little Fat Pork’, is thus a perfect window into noble society, religion and politics in Jacobean Scotland.
Dr MILES KERR-PETERSON is an affiliate in Scottish History at the University of Glasgow.
Tabella dei contenuti
Introduction
Inheritance and Education: 1513-1582
Three Feuds and Jacobean Politics: 1582-1595
Service to the State: 1595-1623
Defending the Borders of the Earldom: 1595-1623
Family Strategies and Crises: 1595-1623
Lordship and the Reformed Kirk: 1560-1623
Economic Activities: 1581-1623
Marischal College: 1593-1623
Conclusion
Appendix
Bibliography
Index