Joshua MacRae (MA (Hons) MSt FSAScot)

Thesis title: The Canmores: A Thematic Study of Dynastic Politics in Scotland and Europe, c.1058-1290

Biography

Background

My fascination with medieval Scotland began in my childhood, when I memorised the names and years (and appreciated the pictures) in books about kings and queens, and visited castles around Aberdeenshire with ever-patient family members. Soon, I became frustrated by the conflation of English and British histories, and resolved to learn where Scotland sits in worlds past and present. During my state education at Inverurie Academy, I deepened my interest in Robert Bruce and the Scottish Wars of Independence, and found that the more I read about medieval worlds, the less I understood them. This curiosity, combined with my community work on local and national levels, propelled me beyond the terminus of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route for an undergraduate degree in History and Politics.

I arrived at the University of Edinburgh six months into the Covid-19 pandemic and spent the following four years with academics who convinced me that the study of medieval history can be socially productive and personally rewarding. Thereafter, I spent a ‘character-building’ Masters year reading Medieval History at Oxford, during which I blew the dust off edited sources in Scottish history at the Old Bodleian Library and found solace in choral evensongs at college chapels. Undeterred, and thanks to an AHRC scholarship, I returned north of Hadrian's Wall to begin my doctoral research in autumn 2025, supervised jointly at the University of Edinburgh and the University of St Andrews. I look forward to testing what I thought I knew about the Canmore family and to developing a healthier work/life balance.

Outside of academia, I am a bookseller at Topping and Company Booksellers of Edinburgh, where I have facilitated literary events with leading author-historians, including Professors Peter Frankopan, Judith Green and Clare Jackson, as well as more publicly familiar personalities, such as Alistair Campbell, Kathleen Jamie and David Mitchell. I escape the world of the written word during walks in the Pentlands and when catching up with friends over a peppermint tea at Thomas J Walls on Forrest Road or a ginger beer across the street at Doctors.

I would be glad to hear from those - especially current or prospective students - who share my research interests.

Qualifications

MSt (Distinction), Medieval History, University of Oxford (2025)

MA (Hons) (First Class), History and Politics, The University of Edinburgh (2024)

Responsibilities & affiliations

I am a member of the Scottish History Society and Scottish Medievalists.

In 2024, I was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and a Postgraduate Member of the Royal Historical Society.

Research summary

Places:

  • Scotland
  • Britain and Ireland
  • North-West Europe

 

Themes:

  • Politics
  • Culture
  • Society
  • Religion
  • Gender
  • Global contacts and connections
  • The lifecycle and life course
  • History of emotions

 

Periods:

  • High Middle Ages (c.1050-c.1350)

Current research interests

My AHRC-funded doctoral research will study the Canmore family as an elite lineage operating in and beyond Scotland. I am interested in problematising the frontier between the public and personal lives of rulers, and the distinctions within and between royal, noble and popular power. Pursuing these interests will allow me to rethink familiar narratives of kingship and polity-formation in Scotland and elsewhere in the Insular and European worlds.

Project activity

The Canmore family and its transnational network and power, c.1058-1290.

Current project grants

SGSAH AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership Scholarship (2025-29)

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