Publisher's Synopsis
This collection of 13 essays presents historical approaches to the links which have existed for over 800 years between Scotland and one of the areas of Continental Europe closests to her - the Low Countries. Topic include: Flemish settlers in 12th-century Scotland; the Count of Holland who claimed the Scottish throne in 1291; the Flesmish aspect of the Auld Aliance with France; the view of Scotland taken by a Netherlands-born chronicler, Jean Froissart; Scotland's late-medieval involvement with Guelders and in wool-export to the Netherlands; the contacts of Scottish patrons with Netherlandish painters in the 15th and 16th centuries. Scots pursuing military careers and studies in the arts and law in the Low Countries in early-modern times; parallels between Belian Art-Nouveau painting and the work of some Glasgow artists around 1900; and comparisons between Scotland and the Low Countries in the 20th century in the realsm of social housing and oil exploration. These varied studies add detailed background to the subject of Scotland within Europe - a question now much debated. This is the third in the "Mackie Monographs" series, based on the Mackie Symposia held in the University of Aberdeen, which have as their theme the historical study of Scotland's overseas contacts.
