ABSTRACT
George Buchanan (1506-82) was the most distinguished Scottish humanist of the sixteenth century with an unparalleled reputation as a Latin poet, playwright, polemicist, historian and political theorist. Aspects of his political thought have received considerable attention from historians, not least his espousal of a remarkably radical theory of popular sovereignty, and he is generally recognized as a thinker whose importance extends well beyond the confines of Scottish history to the broader fields of British and Continental Renaissance and Reformation studies.1 Recent years have seen important steps in the production of modern editions of his writings, with the publication of English translations of his political poetry and of his short but incendiary political tract, De Iure Regni apud Scotos.2 Yet, while Buchanan’s significance in the ideological battles of the sixteenth century has long been recognized, little attempt has been made to explore the subsequent influence of his writings. The purpose of this volume, therefore, is to explore Buchanan’s legacy in the two centuries following his death, focusing primarily on his political, historical and polemical output.
