Editing Parliament (section)

===Scotland===
{{main|Parliament of Scotland}}
[[File:Scottish Parliament, Main Debating Chamber - geograph.org.uk - 1650829.jpg|thumb|The debating chamber of the reconvened [[Scottish Parliament]] from the public gallery]]
From the 10th century the [[Kingdom of Alba]] was ruled by chiefs (''[[Taoiseach|toisechs]]'') and subkings (''[[mormaers]]'') under the [[suzerainty]], real or nominal, of a [[High King]]. Popular assemblies, as in Ireland, were involved in law-making, and sometimes in king-making, although the introduction of [[tanistry]]—naming a successor in the lifetime of a king—made the second less than common. These early assemblies cannot be considered "parliaments" in the later sense of the word, and were entirely separate from the later, Norman-influenced, institution.

The [[Parliament of Scotland]] evolved during the [[Middle Ages]] from the King's Council of Bishops and Earls. The unicameral parliament is first found on record, referred to as a ''[[Parliament of Scotland|colloquium]]'', in 1235 at [[Kirkliston]] (a village now in [[Edinburgh]]).

By the early fourteenth century the attendance of knights and [[freehold (law)|freeholders]] had become important, and from 1326 [[burgh]] commissioners attended. Consisting of the Three Estates; of [[clerics]], lay [[tenant-in-chief|tenants-in-chief]] and burgh commissioners sitting in a single chamber, the Scottish parliament acquired significant powers over particular issues. Most obviously it was needed for consent for [[taxation]] (although taxation was only raised irregularly in Scotland in the [[medieval]] period), but it also had a strong influence over [[justice]], [[foreign policy]], war, and all manner of other legislation, whether political, ecclesiastical, social or economic. Parliamentary business was also carried out by "sister" institutions, before c. 1500 by [[General Council (Scotland)|General Council]] and thereafter by the [[Convention of Estates]]. These could carry out much business also dealt with by Parliament – taxation, legislation and policy-making – but lacked the ultimate authority of a full parliament.

The parliament, which is also referred to as the Estates of Scotland, the Three Estates, the Scots Parliament or the auld Scots Parliament ([[English language|Eng]]: ''old''), met until the [[Acts of Union 1707|Acts of Union]] merged the Parliament of Scotland and the [[Parliament of England]], creating the new [[Parliament of Great Britain]] in 1707.

Following the [[1997 Scottish devolution referendum]], and the passing of the [[Scotland Act 1998]] by the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]], the [[Scottish Parliament]] was reconvened on 1 July 1999, although with much more limited powers than its 18th-century predecessor. The parliament has sat since 2004 at its newly constructed [[Scottish Parliament Building]] in Edinburgh, situated at the foot of the [[Royal Mile]], next to the royal palace of [[Holyroodhouse]].