This thesis explores the extent to which medical and scientific knowledge developed in Scotland and the manner of the transference, exchange and circulation of ideas from one of the intellectual cores of early modern Europe to the (supposed) periphery of Europe. It examines where Scottish medical students received their education demonstrating that Scots attended universities offering a practical medical education. Scottish medical students chose Padua in larger numbers than Leiden in the early‐seventeenth century contrary to views, widely held in the existing historiography, suggesting an enduring Italian influence in Scotland. Additionally, attendance at other universities (Paris and Leiden) acted as a conduit for Italian approaches. Provenance information from Scottish medical practitioners’ libraries exposes the presence of editions and authors as indicators of the reception of Italian ideas. Following the reception of this knowledge, its impact on Scottish practice is examined. Medical and scientific practice is explored through teaching in Scotland’s universities, the reception of Italian visitors to Scotland, vernacular medical publication and by proposing the concept of regional models of medical professionalisation. In discussing medical education at Scottish universities this thesis argues that medical teaching was more sustained and significant than previously acknowledged. The development of medical and scientific practice in Scotland is surveyed against the backdrop of three intertwined intellectual forces emanating from the Continent: the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Scientific Revolution. In doing so it makes the case for an early reception of Renaissance humanism within Scottish universities. It argues that the Reformation led to the secularisation of medicine within Scottish society and presented little difficulty to the dissemination of ‘Catholic’ knowledge recognised to be useful. It also makes the case that the innovations associated with the Scientific Revolution in anatomy, botany and astronomy were adopted in Scotland in line with timescales across Europe.