The Privy Council of Scotland was a body that advised the King. Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (Latin: No one strikes me with impunity) Capital Edinburgh¹ Language(s) Gaelic, Scots Government Monarchy King/Queen  - 843-860 Kenneth I  - 1587–1625 James VI  - 1702-1714 Anne Legislature Parliament of Scotland History  - United 843  - Union of the Crowns March 24, 1603  - Act of Union... The British monarch or Sovereign is the monarch and head of state of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, and is the source of all executive, judicial and (as the Queen-in-Parliament) legislative power. ...

In the range of its functions the council was often more important than the Parliament of Scotland in the running of Scotland. Its registers include a wide range of material on the political, administrative, economic and social affairs of Scotland. The council supervised the administration of the law, regulated trade and shipping, took emergency measures against the plague, granted licences to travel, administered oaths of allegiance, banished beggars and Gypsies, dealt with witches, recusants, Covenanters and Jacobites and tackled the problem of lawlessness in the Highlands and the Borders. The parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the independent Kingdom of Scotland. ... James VI of Scotland (James I of England) was opposed by the Covenanters in his attempt to bring the Anglican Church into Scotland The Covenanters formed an important movement in the religion and politics of Scotland in the 17th century. ... Charles Edward Stuart, Bonnie Prince Charlie, wearing the Jacobite blue bonnet Jacobitism was (and, to a very limited extent, remains) the political movement dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England and Scotland. ... The Scottish Highlands are the mountainous regions of Scotland north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault. ...

Like the Parliament, the Council was a development of the King's Council. The King's Council, or curia regis, was the court of the monarch surrounded by his royal officers and others upon whom he relied for advice. It is known to have existed in the thirteenth century, if not earlier, but has left little trace of its activities.

By the later fifteenth century the council had advisory, executive and judicial functions though surviving records are mainly confined to the last. It is at this period that the 'secret' or privy council makes its formal appearance when, in February 1490, parliament elected 2 bishops, an abbot or prior, 6 barons and 8 royal officers to form the king's council for the ostensioun and forthputting of the King's authorite in the administracioun of justice.

The Lords of Secret Council, as they were known, were part of the general body of Lords of Council, like the Lords of Session and Lords Auditors of Exchequer. After 1532 much of the judicial business was transferred to the newly founded College of Justice, the later Court of Session. The council met regularly and was particularly active during periods of a monarch's minority. A separate register of the privy council appears in 1545 and probably marks the point at which the secret council split off from its parent body. The Court of Session is the supreme civil court in Scotland. ...

After 1603 James VI was able to boast to the English Parliament that he governed Scotland with my pen. The council received his written instructions and executed his will. This style of government, continued by his grandsons Charles II and James VII, was disrupted during the reign of Charles I, the Covenanters and the Cromwellian occupation. There are gaps in the register during the upheavals of 1638-41 when the council was largely displaced by an alternative administration set up by the Covenanters and during the Cromwellian period, the council ceased to act at all. James VI and I (James Stuart) (June 19, 1566 – March 27, 1625) was King of Scots, King of England, and King of Ireland. ... Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was the King of England, King of Scots, and King of Ireland from 30 January 1649 (de jure) or 29 May 1660 (de facto) until his death. ... James II of England/VII of Scotland (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) became King of Scots, King of England, and King of Ireland on 6 February 1685, and Duke of Normandy on 31 December 1660. ... The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in Scotland, Ireland, and England between 1639 and 1651 at a time when these countries had come under the Personal Rule of the same monarch. ... James VI of Scotland (James I of England) was opposed by the Covenanters in his attempt to bring the Anglican Church into Scotland The Covenanters formed an important movement in the religion and politics of Scotland in the 17th century. ... Oliver Cromwell (April 25, 1599–September 3, 1658) was an English military and political leader best known for making England a republic and leading the Commonwealth of England. ...

After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Charles II nominated his own privy councillors and set up a council in London through which he directed affairs in Edinburgh, a situation that continued after the Glorious Revolution of 1688-9. The council survived the Act of Union but for one year only. It was abolished on 1 May 1708. King Charles II, the first monarch to rule after the English Restoration. ... The Revolution of 1688, commonly known as the Glorious Revolution, was the overthrow of James II of England in 1688 by a union of Parliamentarians and the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau (William of Orange). ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... // Events March 23 - James Francis Edward Stuart lands at the Firth of Forth July 1 - Tewoflos becomes Emperor of Ethiopia September 28 - Peter the Great defeats the Swedes at the Battle of Lesnaya Kandahar conquered by Mir Wais In Masuria one third of the population die during the plague J...

Until 1707, The Privy Council met in what is now the West Drawing Room at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. It was called the Council Chamber in the 17th Century

The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland (1545 - 1689) was edited and published between 1877 and 1970 by John Hill Burton, David Masson, Peter Hume Brown and Henry Macleod Paton. John Hill Burton (1809 - 1881), historian, was born and educated at Aberdeen, was in 1831 called to the Bar, but had little practice, and in 1854 was appointed Sec. ... David Masson (December 2, 1822 - October 6, 1907), was a Scottish writer. ... Peter Hume Brown Peter Hume Brown (17 December 1849 - 1 December 1918) was a Scottish historian and professor who played an important part in establishing Scottish history as a significant academic discipline. ...

Lord President of the Privy Council

The President of the Privy Council was one of the Great Officers of State in Scotland. The Lord Chancellor presided over the Council ex officio, but in 1610 James VI decreed that the President of the College of Justice should preside in the Chancellor's absence, and by 1619 the additional title of President of the Privy Council had been added. The two presidencies were separated in 1626 as part of Charles I's reoganisation of the Privy Council and Court of Session. The Lord President of the Council was accorded precedence as one of the King's chief officers in 1661, but appeared in Parliament only intermittently. In the United Kingdom, the Great Officers of State are officers who either inherit their positions or are appointed by the Crown, and exercise certain ceremonial functions. ... The Lord Chancellor of Scotland was a senior pre-Union officer in Scotland. ... Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. ...

• 1625 John Graham, 4th Earl of Montrose
• 1649 John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun
• 1660 John Leslie, 1st Duke of Rothes
• 1663 John Hay, 2nd Earl of Tweeddale
• 1672 John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale
• 1681 Sir George Gordon of Haddo, later Earl of Aberdeen
• 1682 James Graham, 3rd Marquess of Montrose
• 1686 William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry (questioned)
• 1689 William Lindsay, 18th Earl of Crawford
• 1692 William Johnstone, 1st Marquess of Annandale
• 1695 George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville
• 1702 William Johnstone, 1st Marquess of Annandale
• 1704 James Graham, 1st Duke of Montrose
• 1705 William Johnstone, 1st Marquess of Annandale
• 1706 James Graham, 1st Duke of Montrose

office abolished John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun was a Scottish politician. ... John Leslie(b. ... John Hay, 1st Marquess and 2nd Earl of Tweeddale (c. ... John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale (May 24, 1616-1682), eldest surviving son of John Maitland, 2nd Lord Maitland of Thirlestane (d. ... The Right Honourable George Gordon, 1st Earl of Aberdeen (1637-1720), Lord Chancellor of Scotland, son of Sir John Gordon, 1st baronet of Haddo, Aberdeenshire, executed by the Presbyterians in 1644, was born on the 3rd of October 1637. ... William Douglas (1637-1695), 3rd Earl of Queensberry, 1st Marquess of Queensberry, and 1st Duke of Queensberry was a Scottish nobleman. ... William Johnstone, 3rd Earl of Annandale and Hartfell, 1st Marquess of Annandale KT (d 1721) was a Scottish nobleman. ... George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville (1636 – May 20, 1707), was a Scots aristocrat and statesman during the reigns of William and Mary. ... William Johnstone, 3rd Earl of Annandale and Hartfell, 1st Marquess of Annandale KT (d 1721) was a Scottish nobleman. ... James Graham, 1st Duke and 4th Marquess of Montrose (April 1682–7 January 1742) was a Scottish aristocratic statesman in the early eighteenth century. ... William Johnstone, 3rd Earl of Annandale and Hartfell, 1st Marquess of Annandale KT (d 1721) was a Scottish nobleman. ... James Graham, 1st Duke and 4th Marquess of Montrose (April 1682–7 January 1742) was a Scottish aristocratic statesman in the early eighteenth century. ...

See also

• Privy Council
• Category:Members of the Privy Council of Scotland