A study of the career of Sir James Douglas : the historical record versus Barbour's Bruce
The thesis starts from the premise that John Barbour's 14th century epic poem <i>The Bruce</i> should be viewed primarily as literature and therefore as potentially misleading where historical fact is concerned. Despite the recognition that ignoring Barbour's <i>Bruce</i> creates new gaps in accounts of the period in question, an attempt is made here to reconstruct the biography of Sir James Douglas, 'the Good Sir James', without recourse to Barbour's doubtful information. This biography forms the first part of the thesis. Douglas's rise from obscurity to fame is reflected in lack of documentation for his early years and more plentiful later records especially for the period after Bannockburn. Conflicting statements in Barbour's <i>Bruce</i> are discussed in footnotes where appropriate. The second part of the thesis examines the portrait of James Douglas presented in Barbour's <i>Bruce</i>. The analysis moves from implicit to explicit characterisation. First, I provide a brief survey of Douglas's career in <i>The Bruce</i> for easy comparison with the summarised biography supplied at the end of Part One. Next, individual episodes starring Douglas are analysed with regard to the characteristics they are designed
VĂ€thjunker, Sonja
History
A study of the career of Sir James Douglas : the historical record versus Barbour's Bruce. The thesis starts from the premise that John Barbour's 14th century epic poem <i>The Bruce</i> should be viewed primarily as literature and therefore as potentially misleading where historical fact is concerned. Despite the recognition that ignoring Barbour's <i>Bruce</i> creates new gaps in accounts of the period in question, an attempt is made here to reconstruct the biography of Sir James Douglas, 'the Good Sir James', without recourse to Barbour's doubtful information. This biography forms the first part of the thesis. Douglas's rise from obscurity to fame is reflected in lack of documentation for his early years and more plentiful later records especially for the period after Bannockburn. Conflicting statements in Barbour's <i>Bruce</i> are discussed in footnotes where appropriate. The second part of the thesis examines the portrait of James Douglas presented in Barbour's <i>Bruce</i>. The analysis moves from implicit to explicit characterisation. First, I provide a brief survey of Douglas's career in <i>The Bruce</i> for easy comparison with the summarised biography supplied at the end of Part One. Next, individual episodes starring Douglas are analysed with regard to the characteristics they are designed
study career sir james douglas historical_record versus start_premise john epic poem view primarily literature therefore potentially misleading historical fact concern despite recognition ignore create_new gap account period question attempt_make reconstruct biography sir james douglas the good sir james without recourse information biography form first_part thesis douglas rise obscurity fame reflect lack documentation plentiful later record especially period conflicting statement discuss footnote appropriate second_part examine portrait james douglas present analysis move implicit_explicit characterisation first provide_brief survey douglas career easy comparison summarise biography supply end part_one next individual episode star douglas analyse regard characteristic design