Women, law and landed networks in Scotland, c.1460 - c.1560: Aberdeen and the Northeast

This project will build a history of the roles played by elite women in the creation and facilitation of Scottish social-political networks. These roles are made visible in legal affairs, particularly in relation to marriage, inheritance and commerce, and the related political context of such transactions. Through a case study of Aberdeen and the northeast, the project will transform our understanding of Scottish political society and women's roles in creating and operationalising landed networks. I will examine the agency of medieval women through a study of an underexplored but source-rich Scottish locality. Furthermore, my project is innovative in crossing artificial boundaries between urban and rural contexts, and the medieval and early modern.