Franco-Scottish Society
promoting French & Scottish Culture

Tuesday 11th January 2022, 7.00pm

Title: The Auld Alliance in the Late Middle Ages

Venue: Online Zoom Meeting

For Non-Members: A Zoom invitation will be provided upon request

Speaker: Professor Michael Hunter-Brown

(Talk delivered in French and English)

The Auld Alliance
About the Talk

For Scots in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the alliance with the king and kingdom of France provided a vital connection with the world beyond the British Isles.

It began as a source of external support in the struggle to secure the status and liberties of the Scottish realm against the ambitions of the rulers of England.

But in the fifteenth century it developed a broader significance, especially after thousands of Scottish soldiers served in the wars of the Dauphin (later Charles VII), against the English.

For Scottish soldiers and courtiers who fostered the special relationship between the two realms, France became a land of opportunity, even as the world of European politics became more complex.

By examining the different aspects of this bond, political, personal and cultural, the roots of an enduring relationship become apparent.

Michael Hunter-Brown
About the Speaker

Michael Hunter-Brown is Professor of Scottish History and head of the Institute of Scottish Historical Research at the University of St Andrews.

After spells working at University College Dublin, the University of Aberystwyth, and the University of Aberdeen, he returned to St Andrews where he was a student.

His published books include: James I (1994), The Black Douglases (1998), The Wars of Scotland (2004) and Disunited Kingdoms: Politics and Peoples in the British Isles, 1280-1460 (2013).