Today I started a Future Learn course on Scottish paleography, which is a study of old documents. After a summary of Scottish history, I suggested that you can get a good picture of the period from series like ‘Outlander’ or Sir Walter Scott’s novels. Someone pointed out that novels, as in Shakespeare, manipulate facts. Fiction has a poetic license but I do think known historical facts should be respected. Scott invents characters and stories around historical events. However, series like ‘The Tudors’ change them to make a better dramatic effect and that is not justified in my opinion.
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