Scotland and Poland: Historical Encounters, 1500-2010

these topics and, to some extent the differing publics that they depict, these articles work together to delineate the extent to which early modern Europeans saw themselves as parts of social networks, both actual and virtual, whilst also acknowledging the limitations of what is generally acknowledged to be a fledgling public sphere. Finally, the collection examines Public ‘Opinions’, as distinct from the public sphere. The articles, by Antonio Castillo Gomez, Arjan van Dixhoon, Charles Walton and Edoardo Tortarolo draw on examples from France, Spain and the Netherlands and work towards the conclusion that authorities in each country vested the voices of ‘the public’ with varying degrees of importance. The case studies are unified by an apparent awareness, in both the upper and lower strata of early modern society, of the power of the people as a legitimising body, as an instrument of force and as a living organism that can be manipulated. The articles in this collection show that ideas of ‘the public’ existed in a variety of forms, locations and cultures across sixteenth and seventeenth-century Europe. The book challenges the ubiquity of Habermas, rather than the importance of his basic premise and looks to other academic disciplines for alternative theories. This interdisciplinary approach provides a depth of understanding that enables this collection to advance both the empirical and theoretical debates on this subject, providing rich food for thought for postgraduate researchers and academics alike.