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The bishopric of Brechin has long been viewed as something of an anomaly among the dioceses of medieval Scotland. Its bishops exercised authority over churches and lands in Angus and the Mearns, yet this territory was shared with the much larger diocese of St Andrews, and to a much lesser extent those of Dunkeld and Aberdeen. This complex pattern of landholding and lordship persisted right up until the Reformation and it is a situation unparalleled elsewhere in medieval Scotland. However, although its oddness has been noted by many, scholarly engagement with this area has been limited, focussing mainly on the Céli Dé community and hereditary abbatial family associated with the church at Brechin in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. This thesis examines the bishopric of Brechin in the context of wider church organisation in Angus and the Mearns in the central Middle Ages, seeking to find explanations for its seemingly unique development. The problem is approached from a number of different perspectives: by considering the context of secular lordship in Angus and the Mearns; by examining the parishes and churches which made up the bishopric of Brechin; by exploring saintly commemorations and church dedications, not only in the diocese of Brechin, but throughout Angus and the Mearns; and finally by carrying out a case-study of one of Brechin’s most important churches, that of the burgh of Montrose. This multi-faceted approach demonstrates that the bishopric of Brechin had strong links with the secular lordship of Brechin, the wider holdings of Earl David of Huntingdon in Angus and the Mearns, and indeed with kings of Scots. It also highlights connections between diocesan organisation and a particular devotion to the Virgin Mary, a veneration present in Brechin from the early Middle Ages. In addition to this, a picture emerges of the nearby church of Montrose having been an important ecclesiastical focus to rival Brechin.

This thesis fills a significant gap in current secondary literature on post-war British defence and internal security policy. Hitherto, post-war British defence policy in Kenya has only been considered in passing, in relation to the larger question of Middle East strategy. Very little attention has been paid to Kenya's particular importance in the post-1956 ‘east of Suez’ role. Current works on British internal security policy in Kenya concentrate either on post-war policing in general or, more specifically, on the British counter-insurgency campaign during the Mau Mau revolt (1952-6). In examining post-war British defence and internal security policy and practice in Kenya until 1965, this thesis demonstrates the essential continuity in British strategic priorities in the area. Far from having to ‘scram from Africa’, Britain adapted its defence requirements to an acceptable minimum, thereby ameliorating the more ‘extreme’ face of African nationalism, and denying it political capital with which to apply pressure to Britain's ‘moderate’ collaborators. The success of this flexible approach to defensive requirements is clear because, in losing its politically unacceptable army base, Britain gained a great deal in terms of retention of communications, leave camp, overflying, staging and training rights and facilities, in exchange for arming and training the Kenyan military and assisting in the maintenance of post-independence internal security. Such arrangements continued well beyond the apparent demise of the ‘east of Suez role’. This thesis sets British internal security policy in Kenya in its broad Cold War context (1945-65). Even after apparent military victory in 1956, Britain remained fearful of a recurrence of Mau Mau, and the possible failure of attempts to fudge a ‘political solution’ in Kenya. Britain also had to ensure that its ‘moderate’ successors would be safe from the more radical elements in Kenya African politics, especially given the earlier contradictions inherent in the divisive political and socio-economic reforms which had been designed to foster economic and political stability. Quite simply, therefore, this study demonstrates that British defence and internal security interests in Kenya were far more important, and far more intricately connected with the transfer of political power, than has hitherto been acknowledged.

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The focus of this dissertation is the county of Cheshire during the momentous religious changes of the sixteenth century. It aims to show that it is unrealistic to expect a monolithic reaction to such change: as in any county a combination of factors came together resulting in a variety of responses. It also seeks to discredit a number of myths which continue to proliferate about local people and events of this time. The prominence given by both contemporaries and subsequent scholars to Catholic survivalism in the neighbouring county of Lancashire has tended to overshadow the position in Cheshire; indeed some studies have conflated the two. A central aim of this dissertation has been to demonstrate that the two counties responded differently, and to seek to explain why this might have been. A chronological approach has been adopted because it was felt that this would afford a cohesive structure. Within each time period certain continuities and recurring themes will become apparent, however. This is, in part, a function of the sources used, since many of these records derive from institutions or practices which continued fundamentally unaffected throughout the period. This was markedly also a time of radical change, and the abolition of some existing institutions and the introduction of new procedures produced new types of records which demonstrate the local impact of some of those changes. The focus of much Reformation scholarship has now moved away from regional studies towards a more thematic approach, representing one strand of post revisionism. One outcome of the local study in this dissertation has been to demonstrate how new regional studies can contribute to a variety of debates by offering fresh insights and conclusions from a re-consideration of familiar evidence and an examination of evidence which may not be widely known.