![Professor Jackson Armstrong Professor Jackson Armstrong](/img/200x200/staffpages/uploads/his272/avatar/5HzERuRjyLyGKKQCmioXmR6k25RlHmIe0wbLiKkS.jpeg)
BA (Hons) Queen's MPhil PhD Cantab FRHistS FSAScot
Chair in History
- About
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- Email Address
- j.armstrong@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 272456
- Office Address
Department of History, Crombie Annexe, Meston Walk, King’s College, Aberdeen, AB24 3FX
Room: 206
- School/Department
- School of Divinity, History, Philosophy & Art History
Biography
I am a historian of Scotland and England, principally of the later middle ages. I joined the University of Aberdeen as a Lecturer in 2008, became a Senior Lecturer in 2018 and received a Personal Chair in History in the 2023 promotion exercise (April 2024). In summer 2023 I took up the role of Head of History. I am an Honorary Curatorial Fellow to University Museums, and I have previously served in various roles including School Director of Postgraduate Research and Deputy Head of School.
A native of Toronto and a graduate of Queen's University at Kingston, Canada (2001), I completed a MPhil (2002) and PhD (2008) at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.
- Aberdeen Registers Online: 1398-1511 (https://www.abdn.ac.uk/aro)
- Unlocking Aberdeen's archives to interrogate medieval law (Aberdeen 2040 Research Showcase, 2020)
- aberdeenregisters.org
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
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Dr Jackson Armstrong has served as:
- Head of History (2023-)
- History Research lead (2022-2024)
- History Postgraduate Research lead (2020, 1 semester; 2022-2023)
- Enterprise & Innovation Champion for DHPA and member of (University) Enterprise & Innovation Committee (2022-2023)
- Knowledge Exchange and Commercialisation Awards, review panel member (2021-2023)
- History Postgraduate Research and Postgraduate Taught lead (2022, 1 semester)
- Deputy Head of School (2017-2020)
- School Director of Postgraduate Research (2018-2020)
- Postgraduate Officer (PGO) (2020, 2 semesters)
- Undergraduate Programme Coordinator for History (2016-2017, 3 semesters)
- Honorary Curatorial Fellow, Museums and Special Collections (2012-)
- External Memberships
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Dr Jackson Armstrong serves as:
- External Examiner (MSc Genealogical, Palaeographic & Heraldic Studies), University of Strathclyde (2022-)
- Advisory Group member, The Fifteenth Century Conference (2021-)
- The Burn Management Committee member, as University of Aberdeen representative (2019-)
Completed roles:
- Discipline Catalyst and review Panel member (History), Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities (AHRC) (2018-2020, 2022 (acting), 2022-2023)
- External Examiner (Scottish History DL MLitt), University of Dundee (2021-2023)
- External Examiner (History UG), University of Dundee (2018-2021, 2021-2022)
- Senior External Examiner, School of Humanities, University of Dundee (Mar-Aug 2020)
- Reviews Editor, Scottish Historical Review (2013-2018)
- Chair, Aberdeen & North East Section, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (2015-2018)
Prizes and Awards
External awards
BAFTA Scotland Awards Nomination (Game) for Strange Sickness (2022 BAFTA Scotland Awards)
Scottish Games Awards Nomination (longlist), Creativity Award, for Strange Sickness (2022 Scottish Games Awards)
Royal Historical Society, Whitfield Prize 2021 (joint winner), for England's Northern Frontier: Conflict and Local Society in the Fifteenth-Century Scottish Marches (Cambridge, 2020).
University of Aberdeen awards
Best Postgraduate Taught Lecturer Award (Nomination) (2024 Excellence Awards)
Best Lecturer (Award winner) in the 2016-2017 Aberdeen University Students Association Student-Led Teaching Awards.
- Research
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Research Overview
I am primarily interested in Scotland and England in the period 1300-1600, and especially in the ligatures of local societies (including ideas of kinship), relations with ‘centres’ of political power, and frameworks of law and related aspects of government. I am particularly curious about regions typically considered to be ‘peripheral’. I lead the Aberdeen Burgh Records Project which investigates Aberdeen's late medieval civic archives, and much of my work to date has concerned the fifteenth-century Anglo-Scottish borderlands, and the themes of frontiers and conflict. My book, England's Northern Frontier (2020) was joint winner of the Whitfield Prize.
I was co-producer, historian and supporting writer for the game Strange Sickness, which received a BAFTA Scotland Awards nomination in 2022.
I am co-founder of the Aberdeen Humanities Fund, created in 2012. This initiative is related to my enthusiasm for advancing use and understanding of historical collections within the academy across different disciplines, and among wider audiences.
Research Areas
Accepting PhDs
I am currently accepting PhDs in History.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.
Past Research
I am additionally interested in life writing and in 2004 I edited and published, as Seven Eggs Today, the diaries of a nineteenth-century Canadian woman. During my postgraduate research at the University of Cambridge I held a doctoral fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Supervision
My current supervision areas are: History.
Dr Armstrong welcomes approaches from prospective postgraduate students. He is currently supervising five PhD students.
PhD (and other research) theses supervised to completion (by year of viva):
2021 Dr Dan Cutts, “Layered kingship in early Anglo-Saxon England” (took over lead supervision in 2020 from D Dumville, with D Parsons as external second supervisor)
2020 Dr Deniz Cem Gülen, “Understanding Knýtlinga Saga” (second supervisor with M Gelting, S Brink, L Collinson, and R O’Connor)
2019 Dr Alexander Crawford, “Comites, curiales, and kings: the role of Earls in the Scottish Royal Court, 1153-1249” (co-supervised with A J Macdonald)
2019 (Archaeology MSc by Research) Dr John Barrett: “The Civilisation of Moray: Burghs in the landscape and the landscape of burghs, cc 1150-1250” (co-supervised with J Oliver)
2018 Dr Mads Heilskov, “The commemoration of the lay elite in the late medieval Danish realm, c. 1340-1536 rituals, community and social order” (second supervisor with M Gelting)
2016 Dr Amy Hayes, “The late medieval Scottish Queen, c.1371-c.1513” (co-supervised with A J Macdonald)
Funding and Grants
Finance, Law and the Language of Governmental Practice in Late Medieval Towns: Aberdeen and Augsburg in Comparison (2020-2023) AHRC-DFG UK-German Collaborative Research Projects in the Arts and Humanities, £284,273 (AHRC 80% fEC amount), AHRC Principal Investigator. (DFG Principal Investigator Jörg Rogge.) For more information see the aberdeenregisters.org project website.
Chivas Brothers Research Fellowship (Aberdeen Burgh Records Project) (2019-2020), Academic PI. (RF William Hepburn.)
Playing in the Archives: Game Development with Aberdeen's Medieval Records (2019) AHRC Creative Economy Engagement Fellowship, £51,843 (80% fEC amount), Academic PI. (RF William Hepburn.)
Law in the Aberdeen Council Registers, 1398-1511: Concepts, Practices, Geographies (2016-2019) Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant £310,455. Principal Investigator. Housed within the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies, this project investigates the first eight volumes of the Aberdeen council registers. For more information see the aberdeenregisters.org project website.
A Text Analytic Approach To Rural And Urban Legal Histories (TALH)(2014)
RCUK Digital Economy Hub £54,206. Co-Investigator (PI Adam Wyner).
This 6-month partnership grant between the University of Aberdeen and the Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives developed a text analytic tool that specifically relates to the language, content, and structure of the Aberdeen council registers transcript generated through the 2013-2014 RIISS pilot (see below). Link to the dot.rural website.Connecting and Projecting Aberdeen's Burgh Records (2013-2014)
RIISS £17,456. Joint Principal Investigator (PI Jackson Armstrong and Andrew Mackillop)
This was the pilot grant for the Aberdeen Burgh Records Project. The technical core of the project was to produce the Aberdeen Burgh Records Database, making a transcription of a sample of council register volume 13 searchable and connected to images of the register manuscript.Dr Armstrong was also co-investigator on the AHRC-funded Bennachie Landscapes Project, and related awards:
Sharing All Our Stories Scotland (2013-2014)
AHRC £66,384. Co-Investigator (PI Elizabeth Curtis)
This grant focused on public engagement with community groups in Scotland carrying out heritage research.Bennachie Landscapes: Investigating Communities Past and Present at the Colony Site (2013-2014)
AHRC £79,739. Co-Investigator (PI Jeff Oliver)
This development grant expanded the 2012 Bennachie project (below). It was a collaborative effort between the Bailies of Bennachie and the University of Aberdeen to explore the history of the nineteenth-century farming community known as the Bennachie Colony.
Sustainable Community Heritage in Scotland's North East: Bennachie and Beyond (2012)
AHRC £25,000. Co-Investigator (PI Gordon Noble)
This was an interdisciplinary community-centred research project on the past, present and future of one of north-east Scotland's most significant cultural and physical landmarks: the hill of Bennachie and its environs. The project facilitated public engagement with the region's landscape heritage and provides training and development opportunities for community research. Bennachie Landscapes Project website - Teaching
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Courses
- HI401A: Peacemaking and Bloodfeud in Scotland, c. 1390–1513
Teaching Responsibilities
I regularly participate in teaching on, or lead, the following modules:
- Level 1 Making History
- Level 1 Renaissances and Reformations, c.1450–c.1750
- Level 2 Kingship, Clearances & Conflict: Debates in Scottish History
- Level 2 Power and Piety: Medieval Europe, 1100–1500
- Level 2 The Pilgrim City: Medieval Christianity 500–1500
- Level 3 Thinking History
- Level 3/4 Late Medieval England: Politics and Society, 1272–1509
- Level 3/4 Stewart Scotland, 1406–1603
- Level 4 History in Practice
- Level 4 Honours dissertation supervision
- Level 4/5 Peacemaking and Bloodfeud in Scotland, c.1390–1513
- Level 5 Approaching Archives
- Level 5 Approaches to Research: Archives and Sources
- Level 5 Scotland: A Millennium of History
- Level 5 MLitt dissertation supervision
I received the award for Best Lecturer (2016-2017) in the Aberdeen U1niversity Students Association Student-Led Teaching Awards. I was nominated for Best Postgraduate Taught Lecturer in the 2024 Excellence Awards.
My teaching involves collaboration with colleagues in History and outside of the department, including across other Schools in the University and with Museums & Special Collections. In my level three (Stewart Scotland), level four special subject (Peacemaking and Bloodfeud) and level five (Approaching Archives) modules I work closely with Museums & Special Collections for class visits to consult examples of archives and rare books, and I also work closely with Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives for class visits to engage with archival materials. These visits are regularly praised by students as among the highlights of the course.
I embrace teaching and assessment methods which encourage collaborative learning and creative work, for example a session in History in Practice where students critically explore the relationship between History and gaming, a session in Stewart Scotland where students play assigned roles to enact ‘a day in court’ in late medieval Scotland, and in the same course a team-based assessment to work together to analyse and interpret the Aberdeen Registers Online: 1398-1511.
- Publications
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Concepts of Kinship in Lancastrian Westmorland
Political Society in Later Medieval England: A Festschrift for Christine Carpenter. Thompson, B., Watts, J. (eds.). Boydell Press, pp. 146-165, 20 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)Review of A Military History of Scotland. Edited by Edward M. Spiers, Jeremy Crang, and Matthew Strickland.
Scottish Historical Review, vol. 93, no. 2, pp. 312-314Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3366/shr.2014.0234
Text Analysis of Aberdeen Burgh Records 1530-1531
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference ProceedingsThe Aberdeen Burgh Records Database
Non-textual Forms: Data Sets and DatabasesDiscovering the Archives
Society and Ecology in the History of North-East Scotland: Bennachie and the Garioch. Shepherd, C. (ed.). The Bailies of Bennachie pp. 25-29, 5 pages.Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Other Contributions- [ONLINE] http://www.bailiesofbennachie.co.uk
The Justice Ayre in the Border Sheriffdoms, 1493–1498
Scottish Historical Review, vol. 92, no. 1, pp. 1-37Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3366/shr.2013.0136
Review of 'Border Liberties and Loyalties: North-East England, c.1200–c.1400' by M.L. Holford and K.J. Stringer
Scottish Historical Review, vol. 91, no. 1, pp. 168-170Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3366/shr.2012.0082
Travels in Canada: Journals of Rev. Patrick Bell LLD (1799–1869) kept during his visit to Canada, 1833-37, MS 2137
The Library and Archive Collections of the University of Aberdeen. Beavan, I., Davidson, P., Stevenson, J. (eds.). Manchester: Manchester University Press pp. 318-319, 2 pages.Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Other ContributionsReview of Anna Groundwater, The Scottish Middle March, 1573–1625. Power, Kinship, Allegiance.
Journal of Scottish Historical Studies, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 244-247Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles- [ONLINE] http://www.euppublishing.com/journal/jshs
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3366/jshs.2011.0024
Review of Southall, H., et al., (2010) A Vision of Britain Through Time
Reviews in History, 934Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesThe law of succession: origins and background of the law of succession to arms and dignities in Scotland
John Donald, Edinburgh, UK. 293 pagesBooks and Reports: BooksThe “Fyre of Ire Kyndild” in the Fifteenth-Century Scottish Marches 1
Vengeance in the Middle Ages: Emotion, Religion and Feud. Throop, S. A., Hyams, P. R. (eds.). Taylor and Francis, pp. 51-84, 34 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)- [ONLINE] http://www.h-france.net/vol11reviews/vol11no63Koziol.pdf
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315548388
- [ONLINE] ebook chapter link
- [ONLINE] H-France review
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
The Development of the Office of Arms in England, c. 1413–1485
The Herald in Late Medieval Europe. Stevenson, K. (ed.). Boydell Press, pp. 9-28, 20 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)Local Society and the Defence of the English Frontier in Fifteenth-Century Scotland: The War Measures of 1482
Florilegium, vol. 25 , pp. 127-149Contributions to Journals: ArticlesReview of McAndrew, B.A. (2006) Scotland's Historic Heraldry.
Coat of Arms: An Heraldic Quarterly Magazine, vol. 4, no. 215, pp. 84-87Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesReview of J. Harrop (ed.) (2005) Extent of the Lordship of Longdendale 1360 (Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 140)
Archives, vol. 32, no. 116, pp. 68-70Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3828/archives.2007.5
Review of Malden, J. & E. (eds.) (2006) The Dunvegan Armorial (Heraldry Society of Scotland)
Coat of Arms: An Heraldic Quarterly Magazine, vol. 3:1, no. 213, pp. 83-85Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesViolence and Peacemaking in the English Marches Towards Scotland, c. 1425–1440
The Fifteenth Century. Vol. VI: Identity and Insurgency in the Late Middle Ages. Clark, L. (ed.). Boydell Press, pp. 53-71, 18 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)Heralds in The New DNB: Part 1
Contributions to Specialist Publications: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesReview of Meikle, M. M., (2004) A British Frontier? Lairds and Gentlemen in the Eastern Borders, 1540–1603.
Royal Stuart Review, pp. 8-10Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesSeven Eggs Today: The Diaries of Mary Armstrong, 1859 and 1869
Wilfrid Laurier University Press, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. 248 pagesBooks and Reports: BooksReview of Ritchie, P. (2002) Mary of Guise in Scotland, 1548–1560: a political career.
Royal Stuart Review, pp. 3-5Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles