The way in which saints' cults operated across and beyond political, ethnic and linguistic boundaries in the medieval British Isles and Ireland, from the sixth to the sixteenth centuries, is the subject of this book. In a series of case studies, the contributions highlight the factors that allowed particular cults to prosper in, or that made them relevant to, a variety of cultural contexts. The collection has a particular emphasis on northern Britain, and the role of devotional interests in connecting or shaping a number of polities and cultural identities (Pictish, Scottish, Northumbrian,...

Inspired by Jenny's work, the contributors tackle questions including: How far can medieval themes such as 'lordship' function in the late 16th-century world of Reformation and state formation? How did the Scottish realm fit into wider British and European patterns? What did it mean for Scotland to be a 'medieval' kingdom, and when did it cease to be one?
Ranging from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century the book analyses the ties that bound together pre-modern societies. New insights are offered into the reigns of, amongst others, James II, James III, Mary, queen of Scots and James...