MEET THE CONTRIBUTORS
Elizabeth Ewan recently retired as professor of history and Scottish studies at the University of Guelph. A patron of History Scotland, she has published extensively on medieval and early modern Scotland, with a particular focus on gender history.
On page 16, Elizabeth explores the role of women in the medieval town, demonstrating how crucial their endeavours were for the smooth running of commercial life.
Richard Oram is professor of history at the University of Stirling, as well a patron of History Scotland. He has published extensively on various aspects of Scottish medieval and environmental history.
In his study on page 22, Richard explains how everyday Scots turned to religious rites and rituals to keep themselves safe from plague.
Dr Jackson Armstrong is senior lecturer in history at the University of Aberdeen. He has published widely on the legal and political history of the later Middle Ages, taking in both Scotland and England, and is also the leader of the Aberdeen Burgh Records project.
In ‘Writing and speaking in medieval Aberdeen’ (page 48), he draws upon the unusually rich records of medieval Aberdeen to tease out fragments of written and oral communication from everyday medieval interactions.
A historian of medieval art and architecture, Dr Lizzie Swarbrick completed a PhD at the University of St Andrews on Scotland’s collegiate churches. She subsequently joined the University of Edinburgh to work on a Leverhulme Early Career project about the art of Rosslyn Chapel.
On page 36, she takes us on an imaginary tour of a medieval parish church, showing how dazzling displays of art were intended to awe worshippers and set their thoughts firmly on the heavens.
Dr Callum Watson completed a PhD at the University of Edinburgh on attitudes towards chivalry in Barbour’s Bruce and Blind Hary’s Wallace. He runs the ‘Knight of theTwo Ls’ blog, where he writes about various aspects of medieval Scotland.
In this issue (page 31), he explores what Barbour’s epic Bruce poem can tell us about ordinary Scots.