Introduction A New Perspective on Scottish Migration to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Centuries

Abstract

Prominent among ?international' migrations is the movement of Scottish emigrants, exiles and sojourners to continental Europe. This book reinterprets the history of Scottish migration to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth between the second half of the sixteenth century and the end of the eighteenth century. First, it expands knowledge of the scale and significance of the Scottish migration to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, as well as of the Scots' contribution to the Commonwealth (and vice versa). Second, the book demonstrates the importance of the ties between western and central Europe, and the Baltic region. Lastly, it describes understanding of the history of migration - especially the formation of ethnic groups, patterns of group identification, defining and maintaining ?ethnicity', coexistence with the native population, changes in mode of migration from economic, ?sojourn' migration to permanent settlement, changes in social status and the dissolution over time of a certain ethnic group. Keywords:Baltic region; central Europe; Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; Scottish migration; western Europe