A Satire of the Three Estates
A Satire of the Three Estates
A Satire of the Three Estates(“Ane Satire of the Thrie Estatatis”) is a play written by Sir David Lyndsay. It is one of only two Scottish plays to survive from the sixteenth century. In it Lyndsay attacks the Three Estates who were represented in the Scottish Parliament of the time. The Three Estates namely the lords, clergy and burgh representatives are represented by the characters Temporalitie, Spirtualitie and Merchant with the clergy being the most intensely attacked in the play.
The Politics of the Play
Many historians have used the extant play as an illustration of the underlying historical and political feelings of the Scottish population during this decisive period in Scottish history. This is particularly so. As an earlier , truncated version of Lyndsay’s play was reportedly performed before King James V, Mary of Guise and the Royal Council at Linlithgow Palace in January 1540.
The Performance of the Play
The full version was performed twelve years later in the playing field at Cupar, Fife in June 1552. Then in Edinburgh in 1554 before a large audience including Mary of Guise. The entire play was said to have lasted some eight hours in total. This play has been very highly regarded by historians and others as a remarkable piece of drama. Both in its radical sentiments and in its new form of theatre. It is remarkable in that it criticises all areas of Scottish Government from the king to the aristocracy and then the clergy.
The Message of the Play
The solution to be the stated problems in Scottish governance is declared in the second half of the play. Where reform is proposed at all levels including for the king as well as for everyone else in the kingdom. The population as a whole are to be inspired by Divine Correction. Which itself is to be implemented through the Three Estates (of the play). That is the Scottish Parliament. A complete version of the play was printed in Edinburgh in 1602.