ABSTRACT
The superintendent's court, like the kirk session before it, met in many different guises. As an exclusive court of first instance the superintendent's court heard all cases involving kirk personnel and, between June 1561 and August 1563 all petitions for divorce. The court also functioned as a court of appeal where a local kirk session could not enforce its own discipline. Such appeals were only made by a kirk session complaining about an individual within its parish. The fact that those cases were discussed on many occasions over the weeks and months rendered it inevitable that they would, on occasion, be discussed on days when the St Andrews session met as the superintendent's court in light of its other business that day. It was local people who were approached to give evidence as part of the extensive and painstaking preparation of cases, which was a third factor contributing to the effective discipline.
