Lordship and Environmental Change in Central Highland Scotland c.1300–c.1400
Whilst there has been an increasing recognition of the infl uence of natural agency on human society in Scotland in the medieval period, conventional historiography has generally presented the wholesale reconfi guration of structures of secular lordship in the Scottish central Highlands in the 14th...
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2008
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1893/764 https://doi.org/10.3721/J080716 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/764/1/LordsHighlandsPaper_revised_version.pdf |
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ftunivstirling:oai:dspace.stir.ac.uk:1893/764 2023-05-15T16:39:17+02:00 Lordship and Environmental Change in Central Highland Scotland c.1300–c.1400 Oram, Richard Adderley, W Paul History Biological and Environmental Sciences orcid:0000-0001-8766-9345 orcid:0000-0001-5552-1696 2008-07 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1893/764 https://doi.org/10.3721/J080716 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/764/1/LordsHighlandsPaper_revised_version.pdf en eng Eagle Hill Foundation Oram R & Adderley WP (2008) Lordship and Environmental Change in Central Highland Scotland c.1300–c.1400. Journal of the North Atlantic, 1 (1), pp. 74-84. https://doi.org/10.3721/J080716 http://hdl.handle.net/1893/764 doi:10.3721/J080716 832784 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/764/1/LordsHighlandsPaper_revised_version.pdf Originally published in Journal of the North Atlantic by the Eagle Hill Foundation (http://www.eaglehill.us/programs/journals/jona/journal-north-atlantic.shtml). Also freely available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.3721/J080716 Scotland Highland Climate Ice-core data Tree ring data Nobility Scotland History To 1500 Highland (Scotland) History To 1500 Power (Social sciences) Scotland History To 1500 Environmental archaeology Scotland Journal Article AM - Accepted Manuscript 2008 ftunivstirling https://doi.org/10.3721/J080716 2022-06-13T18:46:04Z Whilst there has been an increasing recognition of the infl uence of natural agency on human society in Scotland in the medieval period, conventional historiography has generally presented the wholesale reconfi guration of structures of secular lordship in the Scottish central Highlands in the 14th century as an essentially political consequence of the sociopolitical dislocation associated with the Anglo-Scottish wars that occurred after 1296. The establishment within the region of militarised Gaelic kindreds from the West Highlands and Hebrides of Scotland has come to be regarded as either a symptom of efforts by externally based regional lords to bolster their authority, or an opportunistic territorial aggrandisement by newly dominant neighbouring lords. Feuding and predatory raiding associated with these kindreds is recognised as competition for resources but generally in a context of projection of superior lordship over weaker neighbours. Evidence for long-term changes in climate extrapolated from North Atlantic proxy data, however, suggests that the cattle-based economy of Atlantic Scotland was experiencing protracted environmentally induced stress in the period c.1300–c.1350. Using this evidence, we discuss whether exchange systems operating within traditional lordship structures could offset localised and short-term pressures on the livestock-based regime, but could not be sustained long-term on the reduced fodder and contracting herd sizes caused by climatic deterioration. Territorial expansion and development of a predatory culture, it is argued, were responses to an environment-triggered economic crisis. Article in Journal/Newspaper ice core North Atlantic University of Stirling: Stirling Digital Research Repository Journal of the North Atlantic 1 74 84 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Stirling: Stirling Digital Research Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivstirling |
language |
English |
topic |
Scotland Highland Climate Ice-core data Tree ring data Nobility Scotland History To 1500 Highland (Scotland) History To 1500 Power (Social sciences) Scotland History To 1500 Environmental archaeology Scotland |
spellingShingle |
Scotland Highland Climate Ice-core data Tree ring data Nobility Scotland History To 1500 Highland (Scotland) History To 1500 Power (Social sciences) Scotland History To 1500 Environmental archaeology Scotland Oram, Richard Adderley, W Paul Lordship and Environmental Change in Central Highland Scotland c.1300–c.1400 |
topic_facet |
Scotland Highland Climate Ice-core data Tree ring data Nobility Scotland History To 1500 Highland (Scotland) History To 1500 Power (Social sciences) Scotland History To 1500 Environmental archaeology Scotland |
description |
Whilst there has been an increasing recognition of the infl uence of natural agency on human society in Scotland in the medieval period, conventional historiography has generally presented the wholesale reconfi guration of structures of secular lordship in the Scottish central Highlands in the 14th century as an essentially political consequence of the sociopolitical dislocation associated with the Anglo-Scottish wars that occurred after 1296. The establishment within the region of militarised Gaelic kindreds from the West Highlands and Hebrides of Scotland has come to be regarded as either a symptom of efforts by externally based regional lords to bolster their authority, or an opportunistic territorial aggrandisement by newly dominant neighbouring lords. Feuding and predatory raiding associated with these kindreds is recognised as competition for resources but generally in a context of projection of superior lordship over weaker neighbours. Evidence for long-term changes in climate extrapolated from North Atlantic proxy data, however, suggests that the cattle-based economy of Atlantic Scotland was experiencing protracted environmentally induced stress in the period c.1300–c.1350. Using this evidence, we discuss whether exchange systems operating within traditional lordship structures could offset localised and short-term pressures on the livestock-based regime, but could not be sustained long-term on the reduced fodder and contracting herd sizes caused by climatic deterioration. Territorial expansion and development of a predatory culture, it is argued, were responses to an environment-triggered economic crisis. |
author2 |
History Biological and Environmental Sciences orcid:0000-0001-8766-9345 orcid:0000-0001-5552-1696 |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Oram, Richard Adderley, W Paul |
author_facet |
Oram, Richard Adderley, W Paul |
author_sort |
Oram, Richard |
title |
Lordship and Environmental Change in Central Highland Scotland c.1300–c.1400 |
title_short |
Lordship and Environmental Change in Central Highland Scotland c.1300–c.1400 |
title_full |
Lordship and Environmental Change in Central Highland Scotland c.1300–c.1400 |
title_fullStr |
Lordship and Environmental Change in Central Highland Scotland c.1300–c.1400 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Lordship and Environmental Change in Central Highland Scotland c.1300–c.1400 |
title_sort |
lordship and environmental change in central highland scotland c.1300–c.1400 |
publisher |
Eagle Hill Foundation |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1893/764 https://doi.org/10.3721/J080716 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/764/1/LordsHighlandsPaper_revised_version.pdf |
genre |
ice core North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
ice core North Atlantic |
op_relation |
Oram R & Adderley WP (2008) Lordship and Environmental Change in Central Highland Scotland c.1300–c.1400. Journal of the North Atlantic, 1 (1), pp. 74-84. https://doi.org/10.3721/J080716 http://hdl.handle.net/1893/764 doi:10.3721/J080716 832784 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/764/1/LordsHighlandsPaper_revised_version.pdf |
op_rights |
Originally published in Journal of the North Atlantic by the Eagle Hill Foundation (http://www.eaglehill.us/programs/journals/jona/journal-north-atlantic.shtml). Also freely available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.3721/J080716 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3721/J080716 |
container_title |
Journal of the North Atlantic |
container_volume |
1 |
container_start_page |
74 |
op_container_end_page |
84 |
_version_ |
1766029624096063488 |