History - Aberdeen records help understanding of renaissance cities
Augsburg. CC BY-SA 3.0
Aberdeen records help understanding of renaissance cities
H
istorians working to unlock the secrets of Aberdeen’s burgh records will share in over £500,000 of new funding to enable them to compare this Scottish ‘national treasure’ with a German counterpart. The registers, which date from 1398-1511 and run to some 5,239 pages, are the most complete for any Scottish town and hold
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such historical significance that they have been recognised by UNESCO, the body of the United Nations responsible for the protection of the world’s cultural heritage. The University of Aberdeen has led a project, in collaboration with the City Archives, to painstakingly transcribe the handwritten entries and to open them to the world by making them available as the
Aberdeen Registers Online. Their research has already revealed that Aberdeen may have been the birthplace of Scotch whisky as they uncovered the earliest ever reference to a still for production of the drink (aquavite) in Scotland, as reported on p126 of issue 32 of Scotland Correspondent. They have also demonstrated
