Caltech-Huntington Humanities Collaborations (CHHC) Seminar: Margo Todd, University of Pennsylvania

How did an early modern Scottish town in an era of feud respond to violence and try to prevent it, or at least halt its escalation?   Historians have noted the rather effective campaign of James VI (1567-1625) to curb high-level feud and other violence, but much of his success was based on the parallel efforts of local, especially urban governments in the same cause. The records of one town's guilds, council, baillies and church demonstrate the mechanisms they used, many of them traditional legal and extra-judicial devices now applied broadly, at all social levels, at an accelerating rate, and at length coordinating with the central government's campaign.

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About the series: The CHHC program is organized around an ongoing series of two-year interdisciplinary research modules, developed and coordinated by a small group of Caltech faculty members and Huntington residential research fellows. The 2016–2018 CHHC module, titled "Violence and Order Past and Present," studies the various roles that violence has played in political and social order, as well as the possible norms and cultural attitudes that have governed its use. Learn more at chhc.caltech.edu.