The Canmores: A Thematic Study of Dynastic Politics in Scotland and Europe, c.1058-1290
HEI: University of Edinburgh; University of St Andrews
School: School of History, Classics and Archaeology
Supervisors: Dr Bill Aird (Edinburgh); Professor Michael Brown (St Andrews); Dr Emily Ward (Edinburgh)
Keywords: Kingship, Scotland, family, power, political culture
About Joshua’s Research:
Who ruled Scotland from the mid-eleventh to later-thirteenth centuries? Chroniclers and historians responding to this question have focused typically on the lives and deeds of kings. These kings were primarily adult men, descended directly from Mael Coluim III Canmore (r.1058-93), and succeeded one another until the death of Margaret, maid of Norway in 1290. More recent and emerging studies of queenship, child kingship and royal siblings elsewhere in Europe have suggested that the business of ruling a kingdom can be a family enterprise.
By redefining the Canmore family as a network wider than a succession of kings, this PhD project intends to rethink power as a concept and practice in the political culture and society of high medieval Scotland. The association of the Canmore kings with the development of a territorial kingdom of Scots has positioned the family on the periphery of the Insular and European worlds. Yet, marriage alliances with elite lineages in England, northern France, the Low Countries and Scandinavia made the royal house of Scotland a well-connected collective. The analysis of these and other transnational connections can suggest that people used their age, gender, belief, and marital and parental statuses to structure their actions across overlapping political arenas.
A reconsideration of who exercised power, and how, in Scotland and beyond is a step towards a more representative political history and a new look at what people can achieve when empowered to act.
