Jennifer "Jenny" Wormald HonFSA Scot (18 January 1942 – 9 December 2015) was a Scottish historian who studied
late medieval
The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...
and
early modern Scotland
Scotland in the early modern period refers, for the purposes of this article, to Scotland between the death of James IV in 1513 and the end of the Jacobite risings in the mid-eighteenth century. It roughly corresponds to the early modern perio ...
.
Life
Jennifer (Jenny) was born in Glasgow on 18 January 1942, and was adopted by Margaret (née Dunlop) and Dr Thomas Tannahill, a
general practitioner, and was then known as Jenny Tannahill.
She was educated at
Glasgow High School for Girls
The High School of Glasgow is an independent, co-educational day school in Glasgow, Scotland. The original High School of Glasgow was founded as the choir school of Glasgow Cathedral in around 1124, and is the oldest school in Scotland, and t ...
, and went on to study history at the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
, where she completed her PhD
Her thesis was on the history of the late medieval Scottish nobility through analysis of a kind of document known as a
bond of manrent
Manrent refers to a Scottish contract of the mid-15th century to the early 17th century, usually military in nature and involving Scottish clans. The bond of manrent was commonly an instrument in which a weaker man or clan pledged to serve, in ...
.
Wormald taught at the University of Glasgow between 1966 and 1985, and then
St Hilda's College,
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
, between 1985 and 2005. She held a variety of other posts in this time, including Fellow Librarian and Senior Tutor at St Hilda's.
Her most important research was on
bloodfeud in early modern Scotland, particularly in her article "Bloodfeud, Kindred and Government in Early Modern Scotland", which was highly influential. Wormald also produced a study of the reign of
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...
. She was most recently an Honorary Fellow in Scottish History at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
. Wormald was elected an Honorary Fellow of the
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body of Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. The Society's aim is to promote the cultural heritage of Scotland.
The usua ...
on 30 November 2015.
She died in Edinburgh on 9 December 2015. She is buried in
Dean Cemetery
The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...
on the south side of the main entrance path.
Personal life
In 1963, Jennifer Tannahill married
Alfred Lawson Brown. As Brown was a devout
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
, she converted to Catholicism when they married. They had one son and later divorced.
In 1980 she married the historian
Patrick Wormald
Charles Patrick Wormald (9 July 1947 – 29 September 2004) was a British historian born in Neston, Cheshire, son of historian Brian Wormald.
He attended Eton College as a King's Scholar. From 1966 to 1969 he read modern history at Balliol Colle ...
, and together they had two sons. They divorced in 2001.
Select bibliography
* "Bloodfeud, Kindred and Government in Early Modern Scotland", ''Past and Present'', 87 (1980).
* ''Court, Kirk and Community: Scotland 1470–1625''. Edward Arnold. 1981
** reprinted Edinburgh University Press. 1991
* "James VI and I: Two Kings or One?", ''History'', 68 (1983).
* "Gunpowder, Treason and Scots", ''Journal of British Studies'', 24 (1985).
* ''Lords and Men in Scotland: Bonds of
Manrent
Manrent refers to a Scottish contract of the mid-15th century to the early 17th century, usually military in nature and involving Scottish clans. The bond of manrent was commonly an instrument in which a weaker man or clan pledged to serve, in r ...
, 1442-1603''. John Donald. 1985
* ''Mary Queen of Scots: a Study in Failure''. George Philip. 1988
** 2nd edition, as ''Mary Queen of Scots: Politics, Passion and a Kingdom Lost''. George Philip. 2001
* (editor) ''Scotland Revisited''. Collins & Brown. 1991
* (Editor & contributor), ''The Oxford Illustrated History of Scotland''. Oxford University Press. 2005
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wormald, Jenny
20th-century Scottish historians
Academics of the University of Glasgow
Fellows of St Hilda's College, Oxford
British women historians
1942 births
2015 deaths
Scottish adoptees
Converts to Roman Catholicism
Fellows of the Royal Historical Society
People educated at the High School of Glasgow
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Academics of the University of Oxford
Writers from Glasgow
Scottish women academics
Scottish Roman Catholics
21st-century Scottish historians