Saints Spotlight: Dr Amy Blakeway
Dr Amy Blakeway is a Senior Lecturer in the School of History. In this month’s Saints Spotlight, she discusses leading the upcoming exhibition ‘War, Destruction and Reform: the early years of Mary Queen of Scots’ at the Wardlaw Museum and her hopes for a change in preconceptions around 16th-century history.
How did your St Andrews story start?
I joined the School of History as a Lecturer in Sixteenth-century Scottish History in January 2019. Before that I was Senior Lecturer in Sixteenth-century British History and co-Director of the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Kent.
What are your current priorities at the University?
This semester, I am fortunate to have impact leave to focus on the exhibition ‘War, Destruction and Reform: the early years of Mary Queen of Scots’, which runs from Friday 6 March to Monday 21 September 2026 at the University’s Wardlaw Museum.
The exhibition provides a different perspective on the times of Scotland’s most famous monarch, focusing on the destructive Tudor invasion in her childhood. This devastated communities, with farms and towns being burnt to the ground and plague being brought in by invading soldiers.
The exhibition shares new research from my book War and Governance in Scotland, 1543-1559, which is due to be published by Edinburgh University Press in June 2026. The book shares the impact of the wars between Scotland and England over Mary’s future marriage and the lasting legacy left on ordinary Scots for the first time.
In showing how the wars’ violent impact was hidden behind a smokescreen of the 19th-century name ‘Rough Wooings’, the exhibition asks its audience to consider who names history, and whether there might be more suitable alternatives to describe the period.
I hope that this exhibition will reach lots of school students studying the 16th century and help to change how this period is portrayed in the wider heritage sector.
What is the focus of your research at St Andrews?
The primary focus of my research is 16th-century Scotland. I’m broadly speaking a political historian but interpret that very widely, investigating everything from propaganda to parliament to protest.
Tell us about your proudest achievement.
This question is designed to make people feel awkward! I am very pleased that as I write this, I have the proofs of my third book open in another tab. I have been working on this project for a long time, visiting a wide range of far-flung archives, and it’s a great feeling to say it’s nearly finished. It has also been brilliant having the opportunity to share this more widely with schools and local history groups.
Where is your favourite spot in St Andrews?
My favourite spot is St Andrews Castle – adorned with the emblems of Archbishop John Hamilton, a fascinating figure who we need to know more about!
‘War, Destruction and Reform: the early years of Mary Queen of Scots’ will run from Friday 6 March to Monday 21 September 2026 at the Wardlaw Museum, St Andrews. Find out more about the exhibition.