Deportment, Emotion and Moderation at the Glasgow Assembly, 1638

This article explores emotion and behaviour at the Glasgow Assembly in 1638. Whereas the assembly is usually viewed as a masterclass of gerrymandering and control, this article investigates the ways in which participants at the assembly understood the importance of how they behaved, as well as what they said. While both Covenanters and supporters of the Crown were eager to emphasise the ways they moderated their behaviour, they also witnessed intense bouts of emotional drama. The unrestrained nature of these outbursts underlines the complex relationship between utterance, behaviour and emotion in early modern Calvinism and in Covenanted Scotland, in particular