Octavians

The Octavians were a financial commission of eight in the government of Scotland first appointed by James VI in January 1596.^[1] James's minister John Maitland, 1st Lord Maitland of Thirlestane had died a few months earlier, and his financial situation waa troubled. They were a reforming body, eager to bring order to the royal finances and bear down on patronage. They imposed a 5% import tax and promotes an expedition into the Highlands to recover tax revenue.^[2]

The initial commission lasted only one year, and was much disliked; Presbyterians attempted a coup at the end of 1596, and one demand was that the Octavians should be disbanded.^[3] When renewed in 1597, it faced disabling opposition from vested interests, and some of the Octavians were suspect as sympathetic to Catholics.^[4] But the concept of the commission as an extension of the exchequer into government persisted, and under the name of New Octavians it played a part in Scottish administration into the reign of Charles I.

Octavians of 1596

Notes

^ Julian Goodare, The Government of Scotland, 1560-1625 (2004), p. 157.
^ Mark Nicholls, A History of the Modern British Isles, 1529-1603: The two kingdoms (1999), p. 306.
^ Julian Goodare, The Scottish Witch-hunt in Context (2002), p. 52.
^ Felicity Heal, Reformation in Britain and Ireland (2005), p. 415.

[1] Julian Goodare, The Government of Scotland, 1560-1625 (2004), p. 157.

[2] Mark Nicholls, A History of the Modern British Isles, 1529-1603: The two kingdoms (1999), p. 306.

[3] Julian Goodare, The Scottish Witch-hunt in Context (2002), p. 52.

[4] Felicity Heal, Reformation in Britain and Ireland (2005), p. 415.

[1]