Abstract
The thesis attempts to examine the author's aims and methods and
assess the Rerum Scoticarum Historia as a whole. The controversial
relationship between Buchanan and Yary Queen of Scots is discussed.
After information on Buchanan's career, the intellectual background
of the sixteenth century and the work of his predecessors Major and
Boece, consideration is given to the various editions and one
manuscript of the Historia and to the eighteenth-century dispute over
the state of the text. A summary of textual differences is contained
in an appendix. The evidence concerning exactly when the Historia
was written and what was the author's conception of his task is
reviewed. In the subsequent account of the content of the work,
starting from the anthropology and geography of the first two books,
special attention is paid to the use of sources, passages which^the
method of working and personal comments by the author. There follows
discussion of the tradition of Roman historiography, of the nature
and extent of its influence on Buchanan and of difficulties in
assessing style. The final chapter reviews Buchanan's attitude to
kingship as revealed in the Historia and notes some contrasting
estimates of the work. In view of sixteenth-century beliefs about
history, the conclusion is proposed that the Histcria was a serious
piece of historical work and that, although at times openly prejudiced,
it represented an advance in historiography in that, by comparison with
the more rhetorical approach of Boece, it showed closer interest in
understanding the real causes behind events.
