Claire McLoughlin
Originally from East Lothian I graduated with a first class honours degree in Scottish History in 2008. After a year away from academia I returned in 2009 to commence my masters degree graduating in Scottish Historical Studies with Distinction in November 2010. During my time as a masters student I became interested in Scottish commercial connections abroad and my dissertation, ‘Scottish Commercial Contacts with the Iberian World, 1581-1654: An Evaluation’, made it clear that this area of Europe was under-researched in a Scottish context. My PhD, funded by the Arts Humanities Research Council, is therefore based on examining the commercial relations between Scotland and Iberia in the early modern period. Though the archives suggest regular and sustained contact, very little known about Scottish-Iberian contact beyond the overtly political. Predominantly looking at Scottish commercial contacts with Spain, the Spanish Netherlands and Portugal, the project will consider a number of angles such as the impact of England on Scottish commercial relations with Iberia. For example, very little would be known about Scottish commercial relations with Iberia in the late sixteenth century if it were not for the Anglo-Spanish war of that period. The need to gather intelligence and the need for English merchants to continue trading led to a heavy reliance both on Scottish vessels and the information that their masters could provide. Furthermore the importance of secondary ports, such as London and Rotterdam, helps establish the extent of Scottish-Iberian trade. This thesis will therefore address a lack of scholarly work regarding Scottish commercial connections with an area which in the early modern period was one of the largest and, arguably, most important composite monarchies in Europe as well as continuing the work of the Scotland and the Wider World Project.
Thesis Title: Scottish Commercial Relations with Iberia, 1580-1730
Supervisor: Professor Steve Murdoch.
email: cmm49@st-andrews.ac.uk
Conferences and Seminar Papers
- Scotland, Iberia and the English Problem, University of Highlands and Islands: Center for History Seminar Programme. 25 April 2012
- Scoto-Iberian Commercial Connections: The Effects of the Anglo-Spanish War, University of St Andrews: Institute for Scottish Historical Research, Postgraduate Work in Progress. December 2011
- Past the Perimeters: Aberdonian Merchant Activities Beyond Aberdeen, Society for Northern Studies Conference, Aberdeen Scandinavia and the Baltic. June 2011.
- The Cromwellian Union: A Disaster For Scotland?, Conflict in History Symposium, University of Edinburgh. May 2011
- Scottish Commercial Connections with Iberia: An Overview, University of Edinburgh Scottish Studies Department: Diaspora Workshop. February 2011.
- The Scottish Economy during the Interregnum Period, University of Aberdeen - University of St Andrews Postgraduate Conference. May 2010.
Teaching
- University of St Andrews 2011 - MO2008: Scotland, Britain and Empire, 1500-2000.
- University of Dundee 2011 - HY2001: Early Modern Europe, 1450-1780.
Other
- August 2012 Award the Magnus Magnusson Essay Prize for the Scottish Society of Northern Studies.
- August 2012 Awarded ‘Speaking My Language’ funding from the AHRC which allows for 3 weeks intensive language training in Portuguese
- September 2010 - Awarded Funding by the Arts Humanities Research Council.
- July 2010 Awarded University of St Andrews School of History funding for intensive language training in Spanish.
- May 2010- awarded the Stephen J Bonarjee Essay Prize in Modern History.
- September 2009 - awarded the School of History MLitt prize equivalent to one year’s home fees.