Steve Murdoch

Steve Murdoch, MA (joint Hons), PhD, FRHistS, FSA (Scot) is an academic and writer. He is author on the history of Scotland and the Wider World in general and of Scotland and Scandinavia in particular. His monographs include Britain, Denmark-Norway and the House of Stuart, 1603-1660 (2000/2003); Network North: Scottish Kin, Commercial and Covert Associations in Northern Europe, 1603-1746 (2006) and the book The Terror of the Seas? Scottish Maritime Warfare, 1513-1713 (2010). In 2014 he published the co-authored book (with Alexia Grosjean) Alexander Leslie and the Scottish Generals of the Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648. He has edited several volumes including Scotland and the Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648 (2000) and with Alexia Grosjean Scottish Communities Abroad in the Early Modern Period (2005). This same pairing created the Scotland, Scandinavia and Northern European Biographical Database (SSNE). This database was created in 1995 and has been online and open access ever since.

Murdoch's first job after gaining his PhD from the University of Aberdeen in 1998 was as a research associate at The Roehampton Institute (based in Scandinavia as a researcher for Professor Peter Edwards in 1999). He thereafter gained a four-year AHRC funded post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Aberdeen (2000-2003) in which also had responsibility for another post-dotoral scholar. Upon leaving this role on 31 December 2003, Murdoch was awarded a lectureship at the University of St Andrews (School of History) in January 2004. After only two years in post he was promoted Reader in 2006 and, four years later, full-Professor in 2010. Murdoch was nominated for, and won, the Olof Palme Professorship in Peace Studies by Vetenskapsrådet (The Swedish Research Council) for the academic year 2013–2014.

In 2018, Murdoch was awarded an honorary five year Visiting Professorship at the UHI Institute for Northern Studies for services to the institute. This was extended in 2023 for a further five years.

Murdoch left the University of St Andrews in September 2021 after 17 years of service to that University, and as part of the teaching staff that saw the university gain top spot in the UK University rankings for the first time.https://news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/top-of-the-class/

In April 2022 Murdoch began working at The Swedish Defence University (Försvarshögskolan) as a lecturer. His promotion to Professor of Military History was confirmed the following month on 1 May. In January 2023, Murdoch became head of the Military History Department (MHA), then a part of War Studies (IKVM). From January 2024, a new Institute of Military History and Centre for Languages (IMH) was created after both History and Languages left War Studies. Murdoch was selected to serve as Prefekt (Chair) for this new Institution, remaining as Chair of History for a three year cycle (January 2023 - December 2025). Since January 2026, Murdoch remains one of three employed Professors of History within IMH.https://www.fhs.se/sc/profile-page.html

Main publications The Business of War in the Early Modern Baltic Sea Region 1530–1765 edited by Steve Murdoch, Sebastian Schiavone, Anu Lahtinen and Jaakko Björklund (2026) Connected Oceans: A Festschrift to Leos Muller, edited by Lisa Hellman, Hanna Hodac, Aryo Makko and Steve Murdoch (2022) Unimpeded Sailing: A Critical Edition of Johan Grönings Navigatio libera (Extended 1698 Edition) (2019) with Peter Maxwell-Stuart (translator) and Leos Müller (co-editor) (2014) with Alexia Grosjean The Terror of the Seas? Scottish Maritime Warfare, 1513-1713 (2010) The Navigator. The Log of John Anderson, VOC Pilot-Major, 1640-1643 (2010) with co-editors Victor Enthoven and Eila Williamson Network North: Scottish Kin, Commercial and Covert Associations in Northern Europe, 1603-1746 (2006) Scottish Communities Abroad in the Early Modern Period (2005) with Alexia Grosjean Steve Murdoch and A. Mackillop (eds.), Military Governors and Imperial Frontiers c.1600-1800 (2003). Steve Murdoch and A. Mackillop (eds.), Fighting for Identity: Scottish Military Experiences, 1550-1900 (2002). Scotland and the Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648 (2001) Britain, Denmark-Norway and the House of Stuart, 1603-1660 (2000) Belhelvie: A Millennium of History (2000) with Alexia Grosjean

Online Dataset Steve Murdoch and Alexia Grosjean, Scotland, Scandinavia and Northern Europe, 1580-1707 (SSNE Biographical Database).

Refereed Journal Articles and Alexia Grosjean, ‘Tracing the Settlement of Scottish Immigrants in Early Modern Stockholm' in Northern Studies 55 (December 2024), pp.101-130. 'The Words of Command Practised in the Regiment: The Military Instructions of Colonel Sir Johan Skytte of Duderhof, 1634–1636' in Militärhistorisk Tidskrift (December 2024), pp. 30-44. and Kathrin Zickermann, ‘The Battle of Lemgo, 17 October 1638: An Empirical Re-evaluation' in Militärhistorisk Tidskrift (2023) and Karin Tetteris, ‘The 1628 Stralsund Gold Medal: It’s re-discovery and an ensuing riddle in material culture emanating from of the Thirty Years’ War’ in Militärhistorisk Tidskrift 2022) ‘Mary Haynes and Frances Drummond: Two Abandoned Wives of Scottish Soldiers during the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648)’ in Northern Studies 53 (December 2022) ‘Breaching Neutrality’: English Prize-taking and Swedish Neutrality in the first Anglo-Dutch War (1652-1654)' in Mariners’ Mirror 105:2 (May 2019), pp.132-145. and Kathrin Zickermann, ‘Bereft of all Human Help?’: Scottish Widows during the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648)' in Northern Studies, 50 (2019), pp.114-134. ‘'Medic!’ An Insight into Scottish Field Surgeons, Physicians and Medical Provision during the Thirty Years’ War, 1618-1648' in Northern Studies, 48 (2017), pp.51-65. and Alexia Grosjean and Siobhan Talbott, ‘Drummer Major James Spens: Letters from a Common Soldier Abroad, 1617-1632’ in Northern Studies, 47 (2015), pp.76-101. and Alexia Grosjean, ‘Scottish involvement in the Swedish Riksdag of the seventeenth century: the period from Parliamentarianism to Absolutism, c.1632-1700’ in Parliaments, Estates and Representation, 34: 1 (2014), pp.1-21. ‘The Scots in Early Modern Scandinavia: A 21st Century Review: The Eighth Hermann Palsson Lecture 2012’ in Northern Studies 45 (2013), pp.27-45. and Kathrin Zickermann and Adam Marks, ‘The Battle of Wittstock 1636: Conflicting Reports on a Swedish Victory in Germany’ in Northern Studies, 43 (2012), pp.71-109 (Contribution 70%). ‘The Pearl Fisher: Robert Buchan ‘de Portlethin’ in Sweden, 1642-1653’ in Northern Studies (2007), pp.51-70. Scotland, Europe and the English Missing Link’, in History Compass, 5/3 (2007) pp.890-913. and Angelo Forte and E. Furgol ‘The Burgh of Stade and the Maryland "Court of Admiralty" of 1672’ in Forum Navale, The Naval Journal of the Swedish Military Archives, No. 60. (Summer, 2004), pp.94-111. uptaded and publishe by the Maryland archives online at: http://mdhistory.net/burgh_of_stade/html/index.html ‘John Brown: A Black Female Soldier in the Royal African Company’ in World History Connected: The Online Journal of World History, vol.2 (2004 and 2024). This article was selected for re-publication 20 years after it first appeared in print. In the later edition it was accompanied by commentary and positive editorial review and Angelo Forte, A. Little, ‘Scottish Privateers, Swedish Neutrality and the Third Anglo-Dutch War’ in Forum Navale, The Naval Journal of the Swedish Military Archives, No.59, (Summer, 2003), pp.37-65. ‘The Good the Bad and the Anonymous: A Preliminary Survey of the Scots in the Dutch East Indies 1612-1707’ in Northern Scotland, vol.22 (2002). ‘Cape Breton, Canada’s ‘Highland’ Island?’ in Northern Scotland, vol., 18 (1998), pp.63-76. ‘The Database in Early Modern Scottish History: Scandinavia and Northern Europe, 1580-1707’ in Northern Studies, vol. 32, (1997), pp.83-103. ‘Soldiers, Sailors, Jacobite Spy: The Scottish Jacobites in Russia 1688-1750.’ Slavonica, Spring (1997), pp.7-27. Hume-Brown Junior Prize 1995 - National Historical Essay Competition Winner. ‘More than just “Mackay’s” and mercenaries: Gaelic influences in Scandinavia, 1580-1707’ in Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, (1997), pp.161-185.

Refereed Chapters ‘What is Military History and what is its Utility for the Military Profession?’ in Anne Marie Hagen and Kjetil Enstad (eds), Advancing Military Professional Practice through Military Humanities (Taylor and Francis, London, 2026). and Alexia Grosjean, ‘Social Capital v The Fiscal Military State: The logistics and supply of the Covenanting Army, 1633-1641’ in Jaakko Björklund, Anu Lahtinen, Steve Murdoch and Sebastian Schiavone (eds) The Business of War in the Early Modern Baltic Sea Region 1530–1765 (Helsinki University Press, 2026) ‘Crown Policies, Church Decrees and Civic Necessity: Non-Lutheran Migration to Scandinavia in the Early Modern Period’ in Pete Edwards (ed.), Monarchy, the Court, and the Provincial Elite in Early Modern Europe (Brill Academic Publishers, March 2024). ´Stolbova in Perspective: Jacobean Diplomacy in the Baltic Region, 1589-1618’ in Arne Jönsson and Arsenii Vetushko-Kalevich (eds) The Peace of Stolbovo 1617 between Sweden and Russia. Aspects and Perspectives (Brepols Publishers, 2023) ‘War and Peace: Scottish-Norwegian Relations in the Early Modern Period (c.1520-1707) in Andrew Simpson and Jorn Øyrehagen Sunde (eds) Comparative Perspectives in Scottish and Norwegian Legal History, Trade and Seafaring: 1200-1800 (Edinburgh University Press, 2023) ‘Bohemian Exiles in the Transoceanic World: An unexpected consequence of the Thirty Years’ War’ in Lisa Hellman, Hanna Hodac, Aryo Makko and Steve Murdoch (eds), Connected Oceans: A Festschrift to Leos Muller (Universus Press, Lund, 2022) ‘The Auld Alliance and French Intervention in the Thirty Years’ War, 1633-1648’ in Neil McIntyre and Alison Cathcart (eds), Scotland and the Wider World, c.1525-1880 (Boydell & Brewer, March 2022). ‘Nicrina ad Heroas Anglos. An overview of the British and the Thirty Years’ War' in Serena Jones (ed.), Britain Turned Germany: The Thirty Years' War and its Impact on the British Isles 1638-1660 (Helion, Warwick, 2020 edition) ‘Scottish Calvinists and Swedish Diplomacy: The case of Sir James Spens of Wormiston’ in Roberta Anderson and Charlotte Backerra (eds), Confessional Diplomacy in Early Modern Europe (Routledge Studies in Renaissance and Early Modern Worlds of Knowledge, London, 2020) ‘Neutrality at Sea: Scandinavian responses to ‘Great Power’ Maritime Warfare, 1651-1713’ in J. David Davies, Alan James and Gijs Rommelse (eds.), Ideologies of Western Naval Power, c. 1500-1815 (Routledge: Politics and Culture in Europe Series, London, 2019) ’Marital Problems? Stuart Alliances, Scottish Politics and the Protestant North, 1603-1641' in S. Wolfson and V. Caldari (eds.) Stuart Marriage Diplomacy: Dynastic Politics in their European Context, 1604-1630 (Martlesham, 2018), pp. 157-171. and L. Müller, ’Neutral före neutraliteten: svensk sjöfart i krigens skugga, cirka 1650–1800’ in Angöringar - berättelser och kunskap från havet: En antologi med artiklar av forskare knutna till Centrum för maritima studier och Statens maritima museer edited by L. Müller, & S. Ekström, (Makadam förlag, Stockholm, 2017), pp.189-210. ‘The Repatriation of Capital to Scotland: A Case Study of Dutch Testaments and Miscellaneous Notarial Instruments’ in M. Varricchio (ed.) Back to Caledonia (Birlinn, Edinburgh, 2012), pp.38-57. and Esther Mijers, ‘Migrant Destinations, 1500-1700’ in T.M. Devine and J. Wormald (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Scottish History (Oxford, 2012), pp.320-327 – Contribution 50% ‘Oxenstierna’s Spies: Sir James Spens and the organisation of Covert Operations in early Seventeenth-century Sweden’ in Daniel Szechi (ed.), The Dangerous Trade: Spies, Spymasters and the Making of Europe (Dundee University Press, 2010), pp.45-65.