John Duns Scotus and the Idea of Independence (Alexander Broadie)

William Wallace Statue, Aberdeen

John Duns Scotus 

and the Idea of Independence

by Alexander Broadie

"My conclusion is that while Wallace was fighting for Scottish independence, Scotus was developing precisely the intellectual framework that the Scots within a few years would deploy in the chief documents that defined that independence. I also believe it possible that the documents in question were compiled with Scotus in mind. There remains an intriguing thought, which I have not pursued, that Scotus was actively engaged in the development of Scottish thinking on the matter of Scottish independence through discussions that he might have had with Scots whom he met at the great centres where he worked. If such discussions did indeed take place, then my suggestion, made some years ago, that the relation of Scotus to the Wars of Independence was one of theory to practice, is false. Scotus may, after all, have been on the side of practice as well as theory by working to the same end as the Scottish military leaders even although by utterly different means."

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The following audio lecture covers related subject-matter -

The Past as Propaganda 
in The Declaration of Arbroath: 
Influence of John Duns Scotus 
by Alexander Broadie 
(Audio)
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