ISHR Seminar – Ms Lynn Kilgallon
The next ISHR seminar will take place on Thursday 6 April, when Ms Lynn Kilgallon, of Trinity College Dublin, will present: ‘Parliament, legitimacy and the ‘absent king’ in the insular world (c. 1399-1450).’
This paper will explore how royal authority was operated in the absence of an active adult monarch. Although it has been argued that the only source of fully legitimate authority in medieval governance was the will of the king, fifteenth-century England and Scotland both saw periods in which adult monarchs could not—for a variety of reasons—actively rule. In Ireland, even though colonial governance remained centrally predicated upon royal authority, the king was a permanent absentee. In the absence of the king, guardians, lieutenants and governors came to the fore, while parliaments and general councils acquired an increasingly important role in governance; this paper will explore their roles, and the role played by the elusive ‘political community’ in such circumstances.
The seminar will be held in the New Seminar Room, St John’s House, 71 South Street, St Andrews at 5.30pm, with drinks and nibbles served from 5.15pm.