This warrant, sent by the Scottish crown in 1572, directed administrators to deliver the rebel earl of Northumberland back to England for trial. More than two years after his capture, he was finally being punished for his part in the Northern Rebellion. Though perhaps beginning as a local dispute in 1569 aimed at producing political or religious changes in northern England, the revolt quickly became a matter of broader concern. This chapter investigates the uprising as well as three other moments of crisis that took place between 1552 and 1652, as case studies. In each, I argue that the borderlands were a key aspect of political negotiations and action. As such, the region is an integral component of any analysis of cross-border relations and identity and should be incorporated into the larger narrative.

By 1552, Anglo-Scottish relations were relatively peaceful. The Rough Wooing had concluded, and the wars of the mid-seventeenth century had yet to begin. Yet incidents that may have begun as minor uprisings against the English or Scottish crown quickly became matters of diplomacy when participants in the rebellions crossed the border. The first three case studies examine several of these episodes in depth: the initial exile of Mary, Queen of Scots in England (1568), the Northern Rebellion (1569–70) and the Raids of Ruthven and Stirling (1582–85). After the union in 1603, interactions between the two kingdoms remained relatively friendly until the second quarter of the seventeenth century.