I was lucky enough to visit the splendid Bodegas Fundador -Domecq before travelling today

Bodega La Mezquita, 1974, Domecq, Jerez

Storks and grey clouds over palaces and churches in Jerez #stork #greyclouds #winterscenes

40 years ago today Spain joined the European Union. What a lovely anniversary; happy new year 🥳 spain.representation.ec.europa.eu/noticias-eve...

This inventory lists several types of medium-sized glasses: medium-sized, more more medium-sized, more little medium-sized. It is like middle class in neoliberalism, everybody thinks they are in it so there are like 600 levels of middle class 😂 #skystorians

Tacita de Plata; sunshine gleaming over the sea in Cádiz. The Old and the New Cathedrals on a bright blue skyline

St Michael of the Oranges 🍊 and a lovely afternoon stroll in Jerez

Very grateful for these two pieces of good news; a wonderful Christmas gift. I’m honoured to join the SAHGB’s Board of Trustees staffnews.lincoln.ac.uk/2025/12/22/d...

Volume 68 of Architectural History, the Society’s principal publication, has been published. Printed copies will soon be delivered to Society members. The cover depicts the spiralling Eternit Tower at the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair. sahgb.org.uk/features/architectural-history-volume-68

SAHGB has conferred the inaugural Colvin Special Award 2025 on the editors of the Pevsner Architectural Guides, recognising their renewal of this landmark series for readers across the British Isles. Full press release on our website. www.sahgb.org.uk/features/col...

'Though completely eclipsed by Don Quixote, Cristalián de España, which was first published in 1545, has a unique claim to fame. Its 800 pages, bristling with swords, sorcerers, dragons and damsels, make up the earliest known work by a female Spanish novelist.' 1/2

It's lovely to see my book, 'Philip II of Spain and the Architecture of Empire', among excellent books in the 'new and best-selling books' from one of the Penn State University Press' subject series, namely, Art and Architectural History -Latin America, here: www.psupress.org/books/subjec...

The School of Advanced Study 'has developed Reshaped, an online training platform offering free resources for humanities researchers in the UK and further afield, covering topics such as digital skills for research and open access in humanities subjects.' 1/2

For UK academic and especially Humanities researchers and others who write books. This is good news: REF portability for long form outputs is found in 6.10.3. Screenshot here:

Will the institutional 60% of SPRE be assessed only once or by each sub-panel? Not clear. But there will be 'no common material' between institutional and UoA SPRE statement. Suspect this will evolve in criteria setting. And here's the link to further information. 10/10

Portability will be introduced for longform/extended process outputs for 5 years. Hurray!!! Minimum number of Impact Case Studies per UoA confirmed at 1 not 2. Hurray! Small & specialist HEIs value REF and did not wish to be 2-tracked. So they won't be. Hurray! Now the Q&A is on. 8/9

And we're off! UUK's Research & Innovation conference with panels on REF2029 are now underway, as pause transitions into the forward march toward November 2028, and beyond. 1/n

Getty Provenance Index wins the 2025 Apollo Award for Digital Innovation of the Year! @gettymuseum.bsky.social @apollo-magazine.com apollo-magazine.com/apollo-award...

The Turin Humanities Programme again offers two-year #postdocs, this time with a #CFA on the topic "After the Enlightenment: Histories, Debates, and Reinterpretations”. Sponsored by the fabulous Fondazione 1563, deadline 16 February. #skystorians www.fondazione1563.it/progetti/en-...

The @scottpolar.bsky.social are looking for a librarian. This is a rare opportunity! Work with (probably) the world's largest dedicated polar library alongside archive and museum colleagues. The dream 😍 📜

And the news is... We're recruiting! Applications are now open for our 2026 @leverhulme.ac.uk Doctoral Scholarships. So, if you want to study at PhD level pre-modern handwritten cultures and the organisation of knowledge and power within them, do investigate our refreshed website.

'THE’s analysis includes more than 120 institutions from the government’s gender pay gap service providing undergraduate education in 2024-25, and excludes school trusts and further education colleges.' 1/3

Keen to explore maritime environments and histories without going to sea? The Royal Museums Greenwich Caird Fellowship deadline is 18 January 2026.

Gasped at this passage ‘Grief is a swallow’, he said, ‘One day you wake up and you think it’s gone, but it’s only migrated to some other place, warming its feathers. Sooner or later, it will return and perch in your heart again.’ Elif Shafak, 10 minutes, 38 seconds in This Strange World.

Hey historians 🗃️: Do you know of presses that publish short books (around 30K words / 90 pages plus notes)? I have been working on an article project that could easily turn into an great micro-history of that length, but I'm not sure it would make it to the usual full 60-90K words...

'The Casa de la Memoria is a museum, a research archive, a lending library, an events space and the hub for a volunteer-run organisation that has helped lead the charge against forgetting in Spain.'

BREAKING: European Sleeper will start a Paris-Berlin sleeper train from 26 March 2026, after Nightjet pulls out in December. It'll run via Brussels (with Eurostar connection from London) 3 times a week. This + existing train = Brussels-Berlin 6 times a week. www.europeansleeper.eu/paris

Do share this fully funded PhD (with stipend) in Architectures of the Global South as broadly conceived with people who maybe interested. It has Amit Srivastava, Peter Sciriver and Katherine Bartsch as supervisors in Adelaide University adelaideuni.edu.au/research/res...

ICYMI yesterday afternoon a fantastic new digital resource pulling together data on the Roman road network has just launched. Explore at:

The great thing about working on early modern academia is you never know if the archive will a) overturn everything we thought we knew about early modern philosophy or b) be nothing but complaints about low pay

The Scott Opler Fellowship in Architectural History for the Period 2026-2028 University of Oxford - Worcester College HR - Research Fellows www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPH476/t... #skystorians 🗃️

'His book tour brought him to Cambridgeshire, where he would marry and have two children with Susannah Cullen, an Englishwoman from Ely. They settled in Soham, supported by a local network including abolitionist friends, safe...when reactionary “church and king” mobs were targeting reformers.' 1/3

Government has published one of those quiet but important documents that might get overlooked as it is not 'newsy'. The headline finding is that £1 of public R&D investment generates £8 in net economic benefits for the UK over the long term www.gov.uk/government/p...

🚨🚨🚨 Major announcement!!! I am extremely pleased to announce that HAA is searching for a senior, endowed position in premodern art or architecture. The subfield is wide open. Please spread the word and encourage curious scholars to write to me with questions! 🚨🚨🚨 cfopitt.taleo.net/careersectio...

www.sahgb.org.uk/whatson - @thesahgb.bsky.social has a busy autumn events programme - our seminar series with @IHR kicks off this Thursday!

There's more detail of the AHRC decisions here, and while the numbers still aren't great they do look somewhat better than the FOI table suggests.

I can't decide whose head in early modern England would explode the most watching this video.

Centre for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities 'La Capraia', Naples: Call for 2026-27 research residencies for doctoral students. utdallas.app.box.com/v/LaCapraiaC...

It's lovely to see my book, 'Philip II of Spain and the Architecture of Empire', among excellent books in the 'new and best-selling books' from one of the Penn State University Press' subject series, namely, Art and Architectural History -Latin America, here: www.psupress.org/books/subjec...

Today is the official release day of Modern Peru. There’s also a 50% off sale at @dukepress.bsky.social, so good time to get a copy. www.dukeupress.edu/modern-peru

Job Ad❗Editor-in-Chief of the William and Mary Quarterly williammary.wd12.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WM/det...

🔴 ÚLTIMA HORA | Un intento de atraco en el Louvre lleva al cierre del museo durante todo el día elpais.com/cultura/2025-10...

Yes, that was a strange noise. No, we’re not going to check.

Fantastic essay on historical erasures and an amazing portrait of an enslaved man.

Cusco from the bell tower of the Church of San Cristóbal. Photo from 2022.

I had a mid-career fellowship and it was exactly what I needed to finish my book. The BA application forms are far simpler than you might expect if you’ve only ever seen forms for other funders. So, if you’re eligible, do explore further. Best of luck if you apply.

I'm very pleased to announce that the call for proposed Special Issues of the Historical Journal is now live, with a deadline of 12th December. Please do spread widely among your networks — @saracaputo.bsky.social and I look forward to reading your submissions! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

We have just launched our new application cycle for long- and short-term fellowships at the JCB! Details at jcblibrary.org/fellowships/...

@yalebooks.bsky.social have outdone themselves with the cover of my new book. Out in January for anyone interested.