Lawlessness on the frontier: The Anglo‐Scottish borderlands in the fourteenth to sixteenth century

Abstract

This paper uses an historical case to explore the concept of borderlands as a type of space. Based upon an analysis of contemporary and historical description of the endemic raiding (reiving) that characterized the Anglo‐Scottish border region from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century, I highlight five dimensions of border regions and their consequences for identity and place‐making. The first is that border space can change dramatically over time. The second is the significance of recognizing the difference between figurative and geographic borders or boundaries. The third is the importance of distinguishing between border zones as peripheral spaces on the one hand and as frontier spaces on the other hand in terms of their implications for constructing local identities. The fourth is the dynamic and creative ambiguity of border zones not as stigmatized peripheries but as dynamic frontiers. The fifth is the way in which actions of borderers are both shaped by and shape the action of spatially central state governments.

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