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Dr Amy Hayes

Profile summary

  • Regional Academic Staff
  • Staff Tutor - History
  • Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
  • School of Arts & Humanities
  • History
  • amy.hayes

Professional biography

I am a medieval historian with a particular interest in the role of the queen-consort in Scotland. I joined the Open University as a Lecturer and Staff Tutor in History in July 2020, having previously worked as an associate lecturer for the Open University, teaching early modern European history and level one interdiciplinary courses. I have previously worked as a lecturer in the Centre for History at the University of the Highlands and Islands, and I have previously taught Scottish history at the Universities of Dundee and Aberdeen.

Research interests

My research focuses on the socio-cultural role of the Scottish queen consort in the fourteenth to early sixteenth centuries. My work is interdiciplinary, with an interest in how queens were represented in literature, as well as the practical realities of the role of the queen, including her household, landholding, and her role as a mother. I am also interested in the experiences of royal children in the medieval period.

I am currently developing my PhD thesis into a monograph, which is under consideration with Palgrave Macmillan's Queenship and Power series. I have a forthcoming chapter on the queens of David II (r.1329-1371) in Queens In Waiting: Potential and Prospective Queens, Ambitions and Expectations (eds.) Sarah Betts and Chloe Macenzie, to be included in Palgrave Macmillan's Queenship and Waiting series.

I am also interested in presenting my research to a public audience. I have published a series of articles on the Stewart Queens (1371-1513) in History Scotland magazine:https://www.historyscotland.com/history-guides/the-stewart-queens-1333-1541/ and I have appeared on BBC Radio Scotland's Time Travels programme, discussing the consortship of Mary of Guelders (r.1449-1463):https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000l6kf

I am a founding member of the 'Trinity Network', an interdiciplinary network focussing on the Trinity Church, Hospital and Altarpiece as emblematic of Scotland's vibrant Renaissance period: https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/trinitynetwork/. 

Teaching interests

My teaching experience covers a broad range of medieval and early modern Scottish and European history.