Masculine Identity in Medieval Scotland: Gender, Ethnicity, and Regionality
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Masculine Identity in Medieval Scotland: Gender, Ethnicity, and Regionality by Caitlin Taylor Holton A Thesis presented to The University of Guelph In partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Guelph, Ontario, Canada © Caitlin Taylor Holton, May 2017 ABSTRACT Masculine Identity in Medieval Scotland: Gender, Ethnicity, and Regionality Caitlin Taylor Holton Advisor: University of Guelph, 2017 Professor Elizabeth Ewan This dissertation is an investigation of elite men’s identities in later thirteenth- and early fourteenth- century Scotland, particularly as they pertain to categories of gender and ethnicity. During this timeframe, the Scottish kingdom experienced enormous political change, underwent geographic expansion, and, allegedly, a growing sense of ‘Scottishness.’ Beneath all of this, however, complex ethnic identities and attachments shaped the ways men interacted with the gendered expectations of their society. In the ways they acknowledged, refuted, or ignored these expectations, boys and men crafted identities that reflected the multiple, overlapping, and contradictory ideals and values socially inscribed on sexed bodies. In the medieval Scottish kingdom, the masculine identities of political elites, in particular, were created through negotiation between dominant and non-dominant masculinities forms, and were oriented toward and in relation to hegemonic masculinity. The subjects of this study represent the diversity present in the medieval kingdom, including members of the so-called ‘native’ Gaelic elite, more recent immigrants to the ‘feudalized’ heartland of the kingdom, and inhabitants of the western coast whose ancestry incorporated both Gaelic and Norse influences. These men engaged with gendered symbols of power and legitimacy across a variety of different cultures both within and outside the Scottish kingdom. The different ways in which they constructed, represented, and deployed their identities as masculine beings highlight the differences in how they negotiated between dominant and non-dominant forms, the shifting possession of capital and its meaning, and the contextuality of gendered experience. In bringing the relationship between gender and ethnicity to the fore, while drawing upon the work of R. W. Connell and Pierre Bourdieu, this dissertation offers a new way of considering the identities of medieval Scottish political elites. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The assistance of a whole host of people has made the completion of this project possible. My heartfelt thanks go to the members of my committee. During the development and writing of this project, the insightful comments and assistance from Jacqueline Murray and Andrew McDonald have been invaluable, while Elizabeth Ewan’s guidance through two degrees, now, has been unfailingly generous, encouraging, and constructive. I would like to thank James Fraser and, particularly, my external examiner, Cynthia Neville, for their time, effort, and helpful feedback in the oral defense. The unofficial support I have received from other members of the University of Guelph’s community—both faculty and graduate students, too many to name in full—has been no less central to my success. My deepest appreciation goes to Christine Ekholst and Cathryn Spence, whose all too brief times in Guelph were highlights of my degree, and to Jacqui McIsaac and Ted Cogan, whose encouragement and commiseration staved off many dark moments in the past six years. It was in the first days of my masters’ degree at Guelph that I was lucky enough to meet three amazing women who have since become fixtures in my life and that of my family: Monica Finlay, Megan Pickard, and Alexandra Logue. Our lives have changed dramatically since those early days but I am as grateful today for their love and support as I was back then. To Alex, especially, I owe an inestimable debt of gratitude. I cannot thank her enough. Her dedication, passion, and confidence are contagious and this PhD is as much hers as mine. I would also like to thank my family for their support along this winding path. Scott MacDonald, my partner in life and through thick and thin, has supported and challenged me in equal measure. His love and constancy has made all things possible. My parents have offered both practical and emotional assistance. In the last year and a half, the dedication Beth Taylor iv and Peter Logan have lavished on my son has freed me to spend the necessary time on this project, without the least concern for his wellbeing. Euan, himself, has not always been patient or understanding with the demands graduate school has made of his mother but, nevertheless, this thesis is dedicated to him. Finally, I am enormously grateful for financial support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Ontario Graduate Scholarship Program, the University of Guelph’s College of Arts, and the Guelph Centre for Scottish Studies. Their assistance has made all the difference. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................ iii Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ vi Figures .......................................................................................................................................... vii Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: Masculinities: Historiography and Theorization ............................................. 11 Scottish Masculinities .................................................................................................................... 16 Medieval Masculinities .................................................................................................................. 20 Theorizing Masculinities ............................................................................................................... 33 Chapter Two: Ethnic Identity in Historical Perspective ......................................................... 39 A View from Other Disciplines ..................................................................................................... 43 Ethnic Identities in the Middle Ages ............................................................................................. 47 Ethnicity in the Scottish Kingdom: Historiographical Perspectives ............................................. 51 Ethnic Identities during the Wars of Independence: A False Homogeneity ................................. 66 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 76 Chapter Three: Visual Vocabularies: Seal Iconography in Medieval Scotland .................... 80 A Brief Historiography .................................................................................................................. 82 Sealing in the Scottish Kingdom, 1093-1400 ................................................................................ 86 Comites Jure Uxoris: Buchan and Carrick .................................................................................. 108 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 113 Chapter Four: Men of the Hebrides: the Mac Sorleys .......................................................... 116 Archipelagic Context and Consequences .................................................................................... 122 The Mac Sorley Lords ................................................................................................................. 129 What’s in a Name?: Mac Sorley Identity, Names, and Titles ..................................................... 155 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 162 Chapter Five: Capital, Ethnicity, and Masculine Identities .................................................. 165 Establishing the Theory ............................................................................................................... 166 A Masculinity Field Model for Medieval Scotland ..................................................................... 182 Chivalric Habitus and the Scottish Kingdom .............................................................................. 198 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 209 Conclusion: Maximizing Hegemonic Potential ....................................................................... 212 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 223 vi ABBREVIATIONS A.E.S. Early Sources of Scottish History, A.D. 500 to 1286, A. O. Anderson (Edinburgh, 1922) Ann. Loch Cé Annals of Loch Cé: Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition, trans. William M. Hennessy (Cork, 2008) Ann. Tigernach Annals of Tigernach: Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition, eds. Gearóid Mac Niocaill, Emer Purcell, Donnchadh Ó Corráin (Cork, 2010) Ann. Connaught Annála Connacht: Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition, ed. Pádraig Bambury (Cork, 2008) APS The Acts of the Parliaments