Convention of the Estates of Scotland

The Convention of Estates of Scotland was a sister institution to the Scottish Parliament which sat from the early sixteenth century. Initially it was only attended by the clergy and nobles, but the burgh commissioners were later added. Like its predecessor General Council it played an important role in political and legislative affairs in Scotland in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

See also

Further reading

R. S. Rait, The Parliaments of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1920).

K. M. Brown, R. J. Tanner and A. J. Mann (eds), The History of the Scottish Parliament, volumes 1 and 2 (Edinburgh, 2004-6)

Convention of Estates (1689)

The Convention of Estates of 1689 was a Convention of Estates of Scotland that sat between 16 March 1689 and 5 June 1689 to determine the settlement of the Scottish throne following the invasion of England by William, Prince of Orange. Whilst comparable to the English Convention of that time it was far more revolutionary, and sought to undo most of Scotland's Restoration Settlement.

Presbyterians through the means of "rabblings" and other means of intimidation and violence against Episcopalians ensured that the Convention was dominated by the view of the south-west and by Williamites, and was not representative of Scotland as a whole.

The Convention declared the throne vacant, but did not accept the English theory that King James VII had abdicated (who had also been King of England as James II). James VII was deemed to have lost the throne by forfaulture (a feudal term similar to forfeit), because of alleged misgovernment. The throne was offered to William and Mary, with regal power residing with William II (by now William III of England), by reason that William held the throne de facto by right of conquest. Not all members of the Convention were for replacing James VII with William II, and the proceedings of the Convention were challenged by figures such as John Paterson, the Archbishop of Glasgow.

The Estates

The States or the Estates (French: États, German: Landstände, Dutch: Staten) signifies the assembly of the representatives of the estates of the realm, the divisions of society in feudal times, called together for purposes of deliberation, legislation or taxation. In German-speaking countries they were also known by the name Landtag (see also Diet).

In many states, the first estate comprised the clergymen, the second estate the nobility, and the third estate the commoners (bourgeoisie, artisans and peasants). The actual representation of these three estates in the assembly could vary from country to country. Bourgeoisie, peasants and people with no estate from birth were separated in Sweden and Finland as late as in 1905.

Examples