It was lovely to chat all things Lady Margaret Beaufort with @historylauren.bsky.social and @charlesxhistory.bsky.social for Historic Royal Palaces' latest podcast - www.hrp.org.uk/listen-to-th... - out today.

For the first time Margaret Beaufort is featuring in this years online conference. So #teachers & #students, do sign up! It’s a fantastic resource.

#HistParl's Dr Hannes Kleineke was a recent guest on the History Hit podcast Gone Medieval! Dr Kleineke discussed the Parliament of February 1426, which saw some members take up bats and clubs to defend themselves against the threat of violence... Listen to the episode here:

First Past the Post can no longer deliver real mandates - only chaos. 60% of Brits want it scrapped. Yet the Representation of the People Bill won’t even touch our voting system, which leaves millions unrepresented. Tell Keir Starmer to change this. actionnetwork.org/petitions/th...

Teaching the Wars of the Roses to 6th Formers? Our online schools conference is coming up quickly. Book now! Historians such as Prof John Watts, @jllaynesmith.bsky.social & @seanc1509.bsky.social will talk on Late Medieval Kingship, Margaret of Anjou, etc. www.warsoftheroses.com/schools-onli...

#exciting #newbook #mybook #janeseymour

Nearly 566 years ago, this gentle field saw one of the most decisive military encounters of the Wars of the Roses - the (4th) Battle of Northampton. I was privileged to receive a guided tour from Graham Evans, chair of the Northamptonshire Battlefield Society last week, in suitably rainy weather.

Nice piece by @racheldelman.bsky.social on women and falconry. Obviously Cecily duchess of York's choice of the falcon on her seal was in tribute to her husband (and his grandfather), so pretty traditional there, but I do love this particular image of her from the Wigmore Chronicle.

Nearly at the deadline for registering for the schools online wars of the roses conference - not to be missed if this is on your A Level syllabus!

115k and counting. How many days until we hear the usual rejection from parliament ? By-elections to be called automatically when MPs defect to another party - Petitions petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73... #UKDefections #NoJumpingShip

This. ⏬ Of course, it would be better if govts were perfect (and had better judgement from the off), but I'd still rather a govt that was prepared to u-turn if it seems necessary, than arrogantly carry on, no matter what.

Next week, book talk with #TimLenton on #planetary #TippingPoints +his new book Positive Tipping Points: How to Fix the Climate Crisis - if you're in the Exeter, Dartmoor, Plymouth, Torquay areas. talk: www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/bov... book: uk.bookshop.org/p/books/posi... @jamesgdyke.info

I'm very much looking forward to the opportunity to dispel some of the myths around Harold Godwinson's 'mistress', Edith Swanneck, at Canterbury on 2 May as part of the Medieval Canterbury Weekend. history-weekends.org/programme/ki...

The Christmas cards of the magi at Sant Apollinare Nuovo tend to omit the line of 22 virgin saints following the Magi to Christ - the closest are Pelagia and Euphemia, both victims of Diocletian's persecution (apparently there were five churches dedicated to Euphemia in Ravenna).

In case you missed it - there's a preliminary report of the intriguing findings by scholars creating an interactive digital transcription and translation of the fabulous Edward IV Roll: riiiresearch.blogspot.com/2025/12/impo...

3 March 2026 - our Online Schools Conference. Register Now! So many good speakers with analysis of key documents for the Wars of the Roses. @teachmedwomen.bsky.social @htenuk.bsky.social @kriiicentre.bsky.social @danlyndon.bsky.social @1972shp.bsky.social @histassoc.bsky.social #HistoryEducation

My forthcoming book— For which I began research in 2006. Is now posted on the website for Princeton University Press. Cover will be added soon. The King’s Slaves: The British Empire & the Origins of American Slavery

The latest @richardiiisociety.bsky.social podcast is available, discussing Emperor Maximilian; Richard III & The Missing Princes. open.spotify.com/episode/5VhU...

For the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth I couldn't resist sharing her observations on Richard III - we're all familiar with how Horace Walpole's 'Castle of Otranto' led to 'Northanger Abbey' but it seems his 'Historic Doubts' were discussed in the Austen household too.

Funded in large part by @r3-society-usa.bsky.social .

Very much hoping @yuanfenyang.bsky.social will be here.l

Liberal Democrats vs Reform UK Ltd: who’s really the underdog? The Liberal Democrats hold 72 parliamentary seats, yet the media have sidelined Ed Davey while Reform UK Ltd hogs column inches and airtime @politicalsatirical.bsky.social

Our thanks to @richardasquith.bsky.social for a fascinating talk. Members of the Richard III Society who missed it will have a chance to view a recording for a limited time.

Every MP should be required to read @lauralaker.bsky.social 's 'Potholes and Pavements'!

Silk that's over a thousand years old! I first heard about these relics of St Julian in July (in a keynote lecture @imc-leeds.bsky.social) and was awestruck to come upon them at the National Museum of Ravenna last week. Byzantine work, 9th-10th century.

www.theguardian.com/environment/... - good news about heat-pumps.

I'll be here! Talking about Harold Godwinson's much mythologised partner Edith Swanneck.

I was fascinated to learn that the earliest surviving evidence of writing in Italy comes from a woman's tomb from the 8th century BC and it probably says 'the one who spins well'. (Found at Gabii, now at the Diocletian Baths in Rome).

Are you a scholar of the fifteenth century and have an interest in the British Isles and its wider connections? If so, then you will want to know that @memsunikent.bsky.social will be hosting the 2026 Fifteenth Century Conference in Canterbury and the CfP is now open: www.kent.ac.uk/medieval-ear...

Are you interested in the roads and bridges of #medieval England and Wales? In our latest #blogpost, Dr David Harrison discusses his fascinating new map that provides crucial insights into the road network as it existed in the 15th century yorkisthistorytrust.org/2025/11/10/a... #Skystorians

I've written about mead and its popular perception for The Conversation. theconversation.com/the-truth-ab... Mildly concerned that by pointing out that the Vikings (probably) didn't drink (much) mead, I will have annoyed all the re-enactors, many of whom have swords oh dear.

Crucial action by @StopCambo: The Government wants to hear what you think about approving new oil and gas field Rosebank. Submit your comment here today: actionnetwork.org/forms/the-go...

Good news for nature www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Dorothy Whitelock Lecture 2025: Guthlac: what the early medieval records tell us 3 December 17:15 St Peter’s College chapel, New Inn Hall Street, Oxford @ox.ac.uk Join the event in person or online. www.english.ox.ac.uk/event/doroth...

Nov 16: Feast of Margaret of Scotland (†1093). English noble who married Máel Coluim III, king of Alba. Church reformer and friend to the poor who founded a free ferry across the Firth of Forth for pilgrims heading to Cennrígmonaid (St Andrews). Her pocket gospel-book survives. #medievalsky

Duchy Chamber pleadings for the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII (DL 1/1-26) are now searchable to item level online. discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/r/C...

Not enough attention is being paid to the effective closure of the bulk of one of the 2 or 3 most important public archives for modern British history. A terrible own goal for the BBC as a public-service agency.

The 2020 issue of The Ricardian was recently uploaded to @richardiiisociety.bsky.social's website free to access richardiii.net/research/the.... It includes papers from an @lincolnrecsoc.bsky.social conference, among them a case study of Cecily duchess of York's excercise of lordship in Lincolnshire

Needed to be near Holland Park this evening so arrived early and visited Lord Leighton's wonderful home.

This seems a logical action to take after my last post.

Let me excerpt the concluding paragraph:

Cecily duchess of York made generous donations to the English hopsice in Rome - something unusual in her family - so I am really looking forward to seeing the fruits of Philip Muijtjens research here: yorkisthistorytrust.org/2025/10/30/t...

I'll be giving a talk on King Harold's so-called 'Danish wife' Edith, so I thought I'd better watch 'King and Conqueror'. If you've seen it, you'll understand why I might feel I need to post an image of, for example, a glorious colourful book owned by Judith of Flanders during her marriage to Tostig

A wonderful story of nature bouncing back when given the chance...

A neat tool I just came across: Viabundus, a digital road map of northern Europe 1350-1650, that lets you calculate contemporary travel routes/times. In 1500, going Amiens → Köln by horse took almost 7 days and 13 toll payments. #medievalsky www.landesgeschichte.uni-goettingen.de/handelsstras...

Trump is destroying a core piece of US #WomensHistory. Of course 19thnews.org/2025/10/east...

An introduction to a fascinating sounding project. Really looking forward to seeing its conclusions (especially where the narratives are being drawn from to be misshaped).

📜 A national project led by University of Exeter is reviving Henry VIII’s Valor Ecclesiasticus — a Tudor-era survey of England’s churches, land & people. Digitised & mapped for the first time, it’s a fresh look at 16th-century life. https://ow.ly/jeN050Xarsh