Auditing and Enrolment in Thirteenth-Century Scotland

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which Scottish pre-eminence in accounting texts in the eighteenth century was influenced by religion. By so doing, to add to the literature on the relationship between religion and accountability.Design/methodology/approach– An examination of religion as social practice is conducted by examining the relationship between formal, printed, sources and the extensive archives of the Church of Scotland. A sample of five administrative units of the church is used to explore local practice in detail.Findings– Accountability was at the heart of the theology of the Church of Scotland. It shaped local practices of accountability to give what is termed “systemic accountability”, which featured the detailed specification of roles and the recording of transactions. Lay involvement in this system was extensive amongst the “middling sort”. This system formed the backdrop to the Scottish pre-eminence in accounting texts, facilitated by w...

This is the first full-length study of Scottish royal government in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries ever to have been written. It uses untapped legal evidence to set out a new narrative of governmental development. Between 1124 and 1290, the way in which kings of Scots ruled their kingdom transformed. By 1290 accountable officials, a system of royal courts, and complex common law procedures had all been introduced, none of which could have been envisaged in 1124. The Shape of the State in Medieval Scotland, 1124-1290 argues that governmental development was a dynamic phenomenon, taking place over the long term. For the first half of the twelfth century, kings ruled primarily through personal relationships and patronage, only ruling through administrative and judicial officers in the south of their kingdom. In the second half of the twelfth century, these officers spread north but it was only in the late twelfth century that kings routinely ruled through institutions. Throughout this period of profound change, kings relied on aristocratic power as an increasingly formal part of royal government. In putting forward this narrative, Alice Taylor refines or overturns previous understandings in Scottish historiography of subjects as diverse as the development of the Scottish common law, feuding and compensation, Anglo-Norman 'feudalism', the importance of the reign of David I, recordkeeping, and the kingdom's military organisation. In addition, she argues that Scottish royal government was not a miniature version of English government; there were profound differences between the two polities arising from the different role and function aristocratic power played in each kingdom. The volume also has wider significance. The formalisation of aristocratic power within and alongside the institutions of royal government in Scotland forces us to question whether the rise of royal power necessarily means the consequent decline of aristocratic power in medieval polities. The book thus not only explains an important period in the history of Scotland, it places the experience of Scotland at the heart of the process of European state formation as a whole.

A review, published in Edinburgh Law Review 21 (2017)

Journal of Economics and Finance, 1993

In this paper we examine similarities that medieval English finance bears to modern systems of national finance. First, the medieval system afforded economic incentives which invited potential abuse by self-interested parties; second, while proposed solutions to such abuses were both administrative and fiscal, the fiscal monitoring solutions were largely accounting in nature. We discuss several of the medieval abuses and their accounting-based solutions instituted from, roughly, A.D. 1200 to 1375. We conclude that many of the economic factors and competing relationships of constituent groups are remarkably similar in principle and application to today's environment. By gaining a perspective on their historical bases, we can gain a richer understanding of current practices.

A discussion of the ideas and approaches informing the AHRC-funded 'Models of Authority' project 2014-2017 (a collaboration between the University of Glasgow, King's College London and the University of Cambridge).

iBook, 2012

As an experiment with a new form of publication, I converted a recent talk into a short iBook. The talk, to a seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, concerned the state of government finance before and during the period of baronial reform and rebellion in England, in the 1250s and 1260s. The iBook makes some modest use of interactive features such as the glossary, but was intended primarily as a test of how quickly and easily such a publication could be produced and made available. The book presents some new financial information, derived from unpublished records, particularly pipe rolls and memoranda rolls, to argue that: Henry III’s financial position, on the eve of the baronial coup of 1258, was healthier than is often assumed; Henry’s financial problems were largely of his own making, particularly his absurd commitment to the Sicilian venture; and the baronial reform regime of 1258-61 achieved some success in improving the administration of the Exchequer, and maintaining the flow of government income.

Northern Scotland, 1994

charters, episcopal registers, university records, medieval chronicles and place names from the Gough Map, Professor Barrow argues that however obscured by the difficult geography of the country, with its mountains, fast rivers, bogs, and its many arms of the sea running far inland, it is still possible to discern a complex pattern of routes which existed throughout medieval Scotland by land and water. His essay on 'Popular Courts' follows a similar pattern: an enquiry, stimulated by a question put by Cosmo Innes in one of his Lectures on Scotch Legal Antiquities, as to whether early Scotland ever had local gatherings which could be equivalated to the English Court of the Hundred or Tithing. Using the evidence of words like Couthal and CuthilJ (Gaelic, ComhdhaiT) meaning assembly, which can be found in some sixty place names scattered throughout Scotland, he suggests a number of these look very much like meeting places where law enforcements and settlements of disputes took place. Many tributes have rightly been paid to Geoffrey Barrow's contribution to medieval Scottish history since his recent retirement as Fraser Professor of Scottish History and Palaeography at the University of Edinburgh; nor is it difficult to see why, looking at this sample of his prodigious output. Scholarship like his will inspire historians for many years to come. LESLIE J. MACFARLANE Medieval Scotland. Crown, Lordship and Community. Essays presented to G.W.S. Barrow. Edited by Alexander Grant and Keith J. Stringer. Pp.xvi, 319. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 1993. £25.00. This magnificent tribute to Professor Barrow brings together the work of two generations of Scottish medieval historians. The first, represented by such luminaries as Grant Simpson, Archibald Duncan, Donald Watt and Bruce Webster (and epitomised by Geoffrey Barrow himself), came to prominence in the 1950s and '60s. It was responsible for establishing Scottish medieval studies as a subject in its own right, deserving of scholarly examination. The second, represented here by the editors, Alexander Grant and Keith Stringer, as well as by other contributors, has carried on that tradition, and continues to flourish in centres of higher education both in Britain and North America, thanks largely to the tutelage and influence of Professor Barrow. Geoffrey BarroWs seminal research has led him to explore virtually every region of the northern kingdom, and to turn his critical skills to a wide variety of areas of enquiry. Both facets of his efforts are well attested in the thirteen essays collected here. Traditions first created by medieval chroniclers, then perpetuated by antiquarian studies, are subjected to the scrutiny and re-evaluation which informs so much of Barrow's own writings. Thus, Alan Macquarrie's reconstruction of the genealogy of the kings of Strathclyde demonstrates that Fordun's claims for the office as a stepping stone to the throne of the king of Scots was erroneous, and his essay does much to bestow on the ancient kingdom a history of its own. Similarly, Bruce Webster's energetic review of the nature of the English occupation of Scotland in the 1330s shows that the episode was no mere 'aftermath' of the victory achieved by Robert Bruce, but rather that it was 'an integral part of the Wars of Independence'. One of the central themes of Professor Barrow's work has been the commingling of Celtic and feudal, or Anglo-Norman, influences in high medieval Scotland, nowhere more

2015

Economic historians conventionally date the origins of the English fiscal state to the foundation of the Bank of England in 1694. By European standards this was a belated innovation; the Spanish, Dutch and French had developed effective methods of debt service around a century earlier, based upon high tax revenues and borrowing. This study will explore the reasons why the English lagged behind their rivals in developing a fiscal state. England was not a poor country, and the reasons for its low tax base and poor creditworthiness were largely political. However, political historians, accustomed to analysing texts, rarely appreciate the significance of figures. This study will use financial data to contextualise debates about Crown finances, showing that a significant proportion of the political nation was dissatisfied with important areas of domestic and foreign policy. However, a political culture which sought to establish a consensus encouraged them to subvert, rather than confront...

Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Accounting, Auditing, and Taxation (ICAAT 2016), 2016

This paper investigates if accounting evolved as a result of the interaction of special economic, cultural and political institutions which prevailed in Medieval Italy. A two stepapproach is implemented by the Historical and Comparative Institutional Analysis. First we investigate the features of above institutions led to accounting institutionalization. We found business environment, political, social, economic and cultural factors which was significant to this process. Second we showed the institutionalization of accounting to be completed to the XIV century, when it became a system of codified technical standards, scholar discipline and professional field.