This original and stimulating study presents for the first time a substantial and neglected body of evidence: the written contracts made between the Scottish lords and their followers under the Stewart monarchy. These documents - bonds and contracts of Manrent and Maintenance, of Friendship, and of Political and Religious commitment - are presented in extensive appendices, which make this book an invaluable reference tool for anyone interested in the history and society of late medieval Scotland. Dr Wormald's highly original and stimulating analysis of this evidence offers new ways of thinking about the 'post feudal' aristocracy, not only in Scotland but in other countries too.