Privy Council of Scotland

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Privy Council of Scotland (c. 1490 — 1 May 1708) was a body that advised the

gypsies, dealt with witches, recusants, Covenanters and Jacobites and tackled the problem of lawlessness in the Highlands and the Borders
.

History

Like the Parliament, the council was a development of the

King's Council
. The King's Council, or curia regis, was the court of the monarch surrounded by his royal officers and others upon whom he relied for advice. It is known to have existed in the thirteenth century, if not earlier, but has left little trace of its activities.

By the later fifteenth century the council had advisory, executive and judicial functions though surviving records are mainly confined to the last. It is at this period that the 'secret' or privy council makes its formal appearance when, in February 1490, parliament elected 2 bishops, an abbot or prior, 6 barons and 8 royal officers to form the king's council for the ostensioun and forthputting of the King's authorite in the administracioun of justice.

The Lords of Secret Council, as they were known, were part of the general body of Lords of Council, like the Lords of Session and Lords Auditors of Exchequer. After 1532 much of the judicial business was transferred to the newly founded College of Justice, the later Court of Session. The council met regularly and was particularly active during periods of a monarch's minority. A separate register of the privy council appears in 1545 and probably marks the point at which the secret council split off from its parent body.

After 1603

Covenanters and during the Cromwellian
period, the council ceased to act at all.

After the

Privy Council of Great Britain sitting in London.[2][3][4]

Until 1707, the Privy Council met in what is now the West Drawing Room at the

Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh
. It was called the Council Chamber in the 17th century.

The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland (1545–1689) was edited and published between 1877 and 1970 by John Hill Burton, David Masson, Peter Hume Brown and Henry Macleod Paton.

Lord President of the Privy Council

The President of the Privy Council was one of the

Great Officers of State in Scotland. The Lord Chancellor presided over the Council ex officio, but in 1610 James VI decreed that the President of the College of Justice should preside in the Chancellor's absence, and by 1619 the additional title of President of the Privy Council had been added. The two presidencies were separated in 1626 as part of Charles I's reorganisation of the Privy Council and Court of Session. The Lord President of the council was accorded precedence as one of the King's chief officers in 1661, but appeared in the Estates of Parliament
only intermittently.

office abolished in 1708

See also

External links

  1. ^ "Privy council records". Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  2. ^ "Privy Council Records". National Records of Scotland. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  3. ISBN 9781472507747
    .
  4. ISBN 0719037611
    .

The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland (edited and abridged) – 2nd Series (incomplete)

Other links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Privy_Council_of_Scotland&oldid=1165914378"