Illegitimacy in Medieval Scotland, 1100-1500

First full-length examination of bastardy in Scotland during the period, exploring its many ramifications throughout society.

The question of illegitimacy was as important and complex in Scotland as elsewhere in the Middle Ages. This book examines its legal, political, and social implications there between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries. It explores illegitimacy in relation to royal succession and to the inheritance of ordinary estates; investigates the role it played in major politica...