Act anent Peace and War 1703 Act anent Peace and War 1703 The Act anent Peace and War (Scots "anent" means "about" or "concerning") was an act of the Parliament of Scotland passed in 1703. The Act concerned foreign policy and the royal prerogative: it provided that following the death of Queen Anne without direct heirs, no future monarch of Scotland and England could take Scotland to war without the explicit consent of the parliament. It was a response to the English Act of Settlement which had made members of the House of Hanover heirs to the throne of England. The Scots, already unhappy with the
6th Parliament of Queen Elizabeth I question of the execution of Mary, the deposed head of a foreign state, the previous Parliament was quickly dissolved and a new one summoned. Constituencies were urged to return the previous member and the previous Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir John Puckering, was reappointed. However, Queen Elizabeth herself was reluctant to take such extreme action against her own cousin and fellow monarch and absented herself from the State opening of the new Parliament. By the 12 October 1586 a joint petition from both Houses of Parliament had been presented calling for Mary Stuart's execution. Elizabeth stalled as long