Court, Kirk, and Community charts the evolution of Scotland from a medieval and feudal to a modern, professional polity, and the transformation of its church and religious life from catholic to protestant. James III and IV, the first killed fighting his son at Stirling (site of Bannockburn) in 1488 and the second fighting the English Flodden in 1513. Both were cultured monarchs presiding at renaissance courts. James V (1513'1542), less cultured but more canny, raised vast sums from the Roman Catholic church in return for remaining in it and from dowries given at successive marriages to Princess Madeleine daughter of François I of France and Mary of Guise. After another heavy defeat by the English at the battle of Solway Moss James died in 1542. The minority of his daughter Queen Mary ended in 1561 with her return to Scotland. Six years later she was forced to abdicate in 1567 in favour of her son who was crowned James VI at the age of 13 months by a member of the John Knox faction. Jenny Wormald analyses the changes in government and society that accompanied these turbulent and occasionally calamitous times. She considers the motives of a series of alliances with the French, the intentions and consequences of treaties with the English, and the effects of the union of the crowns in 1603. At the centre of the book is a detailed examination of the spiritual origins and secular effects of the reformation. Dr Wormald devotes chapters to the condition of local communities in town and country at the beginning and end of the period, and to notable achievements by Scots in (among other things) poetry, law, theology, and philosophy. This revised edition includes an expanded epilogue on Scotland after 1603; the chapter on the establishment of the reformed church and on government have been rewritten in the light of subsequent research; and the further reading list has been updated.