About our staff
Professor Steve Boardman
PhD
Professor of Medieval Scottish History; Postgraduate Recruitment and Engagement Officer
- Tel: +44 (0)131 650 4035
- Email: Steve.Boardman@ed.ac.uk
- Room 2.21, William Robertson Wing, Old Medical School, Teviot Place
Office hours
Roles
- History Graduate Officer
- Programme Director for PhD in History, PhD in Economic & Social History, PhD in Scottish History, MScR in History and MScR in Economic & Social History
Affiliated research centres
Biography
I was born in Dunfermline, Fife in 1963 but spent the bulk of my childhood in Hertfordshire and Kent where I developed a number of unsavoury personality traits, including an irrational interest in cricket. Returning to Scotland to study English at St Andrews University, I found myself scared and depressed by Anglo-Saxon poetry and eventually retreated into the warm embrace of the Hons. degree in General History.
After three dissolute years, I stumbled into the James IV Special Subject run by Dr Norman Macdougall. The enthusiasm, good humour and excitement that characterised Norman’s teaching set me on the slippery slope to postgraduate study and a lifetime of academic penury. I finished my PhD at St Andrews in 1989 and thereafter held two postdoctoral fellowships in the same institution before spending two ‘interesting’ years as a Lecturer in History at Aberdeen. In 1997 I was appointed to a Lectureship in Scottish History in Edinburgh and, via a series of administrative mix-ups, have since been promoted to a Senior Lectureship and then a Readership in History.
Summary of research interests
Places:- Britain & Ireland
- Europe
- Scotland
- Politics
- Religion
- Society
- Medieval
Research interests
- Late medieval Scottish kingship, particularly the early Stewart kings Robert II and Robert III;
- The aristocratic lordships of Gaelic Scotland, especially that of the Campbell earls of Argyll;
- The political and social significance of saints’ cults;
- Chivalry.
Current research activities
The historical context of John Barbour’s Bruce; the life and post-medieval mythologizing of the Wolf of Badenoch; the political culture of late medieval Scotland; the use and significance of armorials and heraldic devices in late medieval society
Research projects
- The Bible in Late Medieval Scotland
Undergraduate teaching
- Clan Campbell and the Lordship of the Isles in the later Middle Ages (4MA)
- Kings and Kindreds: Scotland, Wales and Ireland in the Later Middle Ages
- Chivalry, Warfare and Society in Medieval Scotland
Postgraduate teaching
- Saints Cults, Pilgrimage and Piety in Scotland
- The Lordship of the Isles
Current Students:
| Name | Degree | Thesis topic | Supervision type | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harrison, Laura | PhD | TBC | Secondary | link |
| Marks, Tom | PhD | Disinherited: Power, loyalty and legitimacy in Scotland during the War of the Three Kings, 1329-1341 | Primary | |
| Shepherd, Hannah | PhD | Gender, space environment: mapping place in saints' lives 1100-1300 | Secondary | |
| Thacker, Mark | PhD | The Archaeology of the Lime Mortars of Scandinavian Scotland. | Secondary | |
| PhD | Scottish saints cults and pilgrimage from the Black Death to the Reformation, c. 1349-1560 | Primary | ||
| Wabon, Callum | PhD | Primary |
Past Students:
| Name | Degree | Thesis topic | Supervision type | Completion year | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cox, Jonathan | PhD | The Lindsay Earls of Crawford: The Heads of the Lindsay Family in Late Medieval Scottish Politics and Society, 1380-1453 | Primary | 2009 | |
| Hall, Anne | PhD | The Nobility of Late Medieval Lothian | Primary | 2008 | |
| Strauch, Christina | PhD | Apostle Poverty at the Ends of the Earth: The Observant Franciscans in Scotland, c1457-1560 | Secondary | 2007 | |
| Brown, Helen | PhD | Lay Piety in Later Medieval Lothian | Primary | 2007 | |
| Cox, Jonathan | MScR | The Lindsay Earls of Crawford: The Heads of the Lindsay Family in Late Medieval Scottish Politics and Society, 1380-1453 | Secondary | 2005 | |
| Hall, Anne | MScR | The Nobility of Late Medieval Lothian | Primary | 2005 | |
| Brown, Helen | MScR | Lay Piety in Later Medieval Lothian | Primary | 2002 | |
| Strauch, Christina | MScR | Apostle Poverty at the Ends of the Earth: The Observant Franciscans in Scotland, c1457-1560 | Secondary | 2001 |
Books - Authored
Boardman, S. (2013) The First Stewart Dynasty. Edinburgh University Press
Boardman, S. (2012) The Early Stewart Kings: Robert II and Robert III 1371-1406. Birlinn
Books - Edited
Boardman, S. and Ditchburn, D. (eds.) (2022) Kingship, Lordship and Sanctity in Medieval Britain: Essays in Honour of Alexander Grant. Woodbridge: Boydell PressDOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv25m8dgw
Boardman, S. and Foran, S. (eds.) (2015) Barbour's Bruce and its Cultural Contexts: Politics, Chivalry and Literature in Late Medieval Scotland. Cambridge: Boydell and Brewer
Boardman, S. and Goodare, J. (eds.) (2014) Kings, Lords and Men in Scotland and Britain, 1300-1625: Essays in Honour of Jenny Wormald. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press
Boardman, S. and Williamson, E. (eds.) (2010) The Cult of Saints and the Virgin Mary in Medieval Scotland. Boydell Press
Boardman, S., Davies, J. and Williamson, E. (eds.) (2009) Saints' Cults in the Celtic World. Boydell Press
Articles
Boardman, S. (1997) Chronicle propaganda in fourteenth-century Scotland: Robert the Steward, John of Fordun and the "Anonymous Chronicle". The Scottish Historical Review, 76, pp. 23-43DOI: https://doi.org/10.3366/shr.1997.76.1.23
Boardman, S. (1996) Alexander earl of Buchan, the Wolf of Badenoch. Northern Scotland, 16, pp. 1-29
Chapters
Boardman, S. (2022) Saint Ninian, war and the Lordship of Galloway: The fourteenth century miracle stories in the Scottish Legendary. In: Boardman, S. and Ditchburn, D. (eds.) Kingship, Lordship and Sanctity in Medieval Britain: Essays in Honour of Alexander Grant. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, pp. 233-258DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv25m8dgw.16
Boardman, S. (2018) Commemorating the Battle of Harlaw (1411) in Fifteenth-Century Scotland. In: Butler, S. and Kesselring, K. (eds.) Crossing Borders: Boundaries and Margins in Late Medieval and Early Modern Britain: Essays in Honour of Cynthia J. Neville. Leiden: Brill, pp. 61-82
Boardman, S. (2015) 'Thar nobill eldrys gret bounte’: The Bruce and early Stewart Scotland. In: Boardman, S. and Foran, S. (eds.) Barbour's Bruce and its Cultural Contexts: Politics, Chivalry and Literature in Late Medieval Scotland. Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer, pp. 191-212
Boardman, S. and Foran, S. (2015) Introduction: King Robert the Bruce's Book. In: Boardman, S. and Foran, S. (eds.) Barbour's Bruce and its Cultural Contexts: Politics, Chivalry and Literature in Late Medieval Scotland. Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer, pp. 1-31
Boardman, S. (2014) Lords and women, women as lords: The career of Margaret Stewart, Countess of Angus and Mar, c. 1354-c.1418. In: Boardman, S. and Goodare, J. (eds.) Kings, Lords and Men in Scotland and Britain, 1300-1625: Essays in Honour of Jenny Wormald. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 37-58DOI: https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9780748691500.001.0001
Boardman, S. (2009) A People Divided? Language, History and Anglo-Scottish Conflicts in the Work of Andrew of Wyntoun. In: Smith, B. (ed.) Ireland and the English World in the Late Middle Ages. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 112-129
Boardman, S. (2008) Robert II (1371-1390). In: Brown, M. and Tanner, R. (eds.) Scottish Kingship, 1306–1542: Essays in Honour of Norman Macdougall. John Donald, pp. 72-108
Boardman, S. (2008) Royal finance and regional rebellion in the reign of James IV. In: Goodare, J. and MacDonald, A. (eds.) Sixteenth-Century Scotland: Essays in Honour of Michael Lynch. Brill, pp. 15-42
Boardman, S. (2007) The Gaelic World and the Early Stewart Court. In: D Broun, M. (ed.) Miorun Mor nan Gall, The Great Ill-Will of the Lowlander?. Glasgow University Press, pp. 83-109
Boardman, S. (2005) Dunfermline as a royal mausoleum. In: Fawcett, R. (ed.) Royal Dunfermline. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, pp. 139-153
Boardman, S. (2005) Pillars of the Community: Campbell lordship and architectural patronage in the fifteenth century. In: R Oram, G. (ed.) Lordship and Architecture in Medieval and Renaissance Scotland. Tuckwell Press Ltd, pp. 122-159
Boardman, S. (2005) Survival and Revival' Late Medieval Scotland. In: Wormald, J. (ed.) Scotland, A History. Oxford University Press, pp. 77-106
Boardman, S. (2004) Coronations, Kings and Guardians: Politics, Parliament and General Councils, 1371-1406. In: K M Brown, R. (ed.) Parliament and Politics in Scotland, 1235-1560: The History of the Scottish Parliament. Edinburgh University Press, pp. 102-122
Boardman, S. (2004) Twenty-four entries. In: New Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press
Boardman, S. (2003) Introduction and chapter on 'The Campbell's and charter lordship in medieval Argyll'. In: Steve Boardman, A. (ed.) The Exercise of Power in Scotland, 1250-1500. Fourt Courts Press
Boardman, S. (2003) The Campbells and charter lordship in medieval Argyll. In: Steve Boardman, A. (ed.) The Exercise of Power in Medieval Scotland, C.1200-1500. Four Courts Press Ltd, pp. 95 - 117
Boardman, S. (2002) Late Medieval Scotland and the Matter of Britain. In: Finlay, E. (ed.) The Power of the Past. Edinburgh University Press, pp. 47-72
Boardman, S. (2002) The Burgh and the Realm: Medieval Politics, c. 1100-1500. In: E P Dennison, D. (ed.) Aberdeen Before 1800: A New History. Tuckwell Press Ltd, pp. 203-223
Boardman, S. (2000) The tale of Leper John and the Campbell acquisition of Lorn. In: E J Cowan, R. (ed.) Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages. East Linton, pp. 219-47
Conference contribution
Boardman, S. (2010) A saintly sinner? The 'martyrdom' of David, Duke of Rothesay. In: The Cult of Saints and the Virgin Mary in Medieval Scotland. Boydell Press, pp. 87-104