In this talk, Dr Lizzie Swarbrick will take the audience through the tumultuous history of Trinity collegiate church, Edinburgh. Founded by Queen Mary of Guelders in 1460, the church was part of an extraordinarily active period of cultural investment after the death of her husband James II. Now little known, the remains of this building, described as ‘the most accomplished building of its date in Scotland’, lie in a close off the Royal Mile. Trinity’s surviving art and architecture give us a glimpse into Edinburgh life in the late 15th and 16th centuries. The complex history of the building also tells a fascinating story about Edinburgh through the ages, and poses questions about how we should treat our heritage today.

Speaker

Dr Lizzie Swarbrick is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the School of Art History at the University of Edinburgh. Her current research on Rosslyn Chapel has led her to write and present on a wide variety subjects from the Dance of Death to the cultural history of beekeeping. Lizzie’s most recent publications have been on Rosslyn’s problematic history as a malleable cultural monument beloved of conspiracy theorists. She is currently co-editing and contributing to a book about Trinity Church in Edinburgh, and preparing a monograph on the how truth and pseudo-histories interact at Rosslyn. Lizzie presents widely on her work, and draws upon her experiences talking with non-specialist audiences to inform her research. 

Lizzie took her Batchelors and Masters degrees at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, with the latter focussing on Gothic cathedrals. From then, she moved up to the University of St Andrews to undertake her PhD. Her thesis ‘The Medieval Art and Architecture of Scottish Collegiate Churches’ explored the buildings, furnishings, ornaments, artworks, commemorative roles, rituals, and music of these forty-nine institutions.