Psst, my article on gambling on papal elections is the cover story for the June issue of History Today!

Psst, my article on gambling on papal elections is the cover story for the June issue of History Today!

📣 Apply now for the Quentin Skinner Lectureship 2027 The Lectureship will suit an early career scholar who is able to visit Cambridge in Spring 2027, and hold a lecture on a subject in the broad field of intellectual history since 1500 https://bit.ly/3js4P7Z ⏳ 15 June @camhistory.bsky.social

The internet: Pope Leo Me, every damn time:

Now this looks fascinating!

📢JOB ALERT 📢 We are looking to appoint a F/T open-ended Lecturer in Late Medieval / Early Modern History (1400-1700) @lancasteruni.bsky.social. This is an amazing opportunity that we are very proud to announce, so please spread the word far and wide! www.hr-jobs.lancs.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...

Doodle of a bespectacled, rather goat-like bishop made by a Spanish notary in 1539.

As Nein once said in the good old days of Twitter (I'm paraphrasing): If you're talking about praxis, it's probably a theory.

"They are what allow free people to read Dante differently, to argue about Shakespeare openly, to attend whichever churches or cathedrals they choose, to criticize their rulers without fear, and to change governments without bloodshed." A great read -- wish I could have attended the live event.

I'm having a book launch on 9th June 6-8pm for my book 'Body Size in Early Modern Germany' 🎉 I will be discussing the book alongside Profs. Lyndal Roper and @stefanhanss.bsky.social. It would be great to see you there (in person and online)!! Register here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ias-book-l...

After butchering LotR and The Hobbit, turning them into stupid action movies that completely miss the point, Peter Jackson apparently now wants to do the same to the one book Tolkien really wanted to write.

#JobKlaxon We are looking for a permanent Lecturer in Global Medieval History to join us at @leedsims.bsky.social! Applications due 1 June. Happy to talk to anyone interested in an informal capacity. If you are in Kalamazoo, find me at #ICMS! #leedsmedievalstudies jobs.leeds.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx...

We're back! Building on the success of our inaugural conference last year, we are delighted to announce its return with the new theme: Beyond the Battlefield🗡️ The conference will take place at the University of Exeter on 2-3 September. Deadline for abstracts is 22 May. Please circulate widely!

The humanities are the firewall protecting us all. Always have been.

New in the Datini Letters explorer: click any city to focus on its correspondence routes. Shareable links capture the full state of the view. docuracy.github.io/datini/#mode... #MedievalSky #DigitalHumanities

Pionnière de l'histoire des femmes avant que les études de genre s'institutionnalisent en France, Christiane Klapisch-Zuber a construit une œuvre multiforme ancrée dans l'histoire sociale et l'histoire de la parenté.

AND further evidence of confusion about what teaching (and even knowledge) actually is. Knowledge is NOT a synonym for information. Teaching is not just communicating information.

Happy Artichoke Day to all who celebrate! Today in 1604, the painter Caravaggio threw a plate of artichokes at a waiter at Osteria del Moro in Rome and called him a “becco fottuto” (fucking cuckold). I wrote about it for Gastronomica a few years ago www.academia.edu/40754475/Car...

In 1953, cartoonist and animator Paul Campani invented the iconic “Omino coi baffi” (little guy with a mustache) for the equally iconic Bialetti Moka pot. The character is a caricature of Renato Bialetti, son of founder Alfredo Bialetti

Self-portrait, 1554, by #SofonisbaAnguissola (Italian, c. 1532–1625). On view in Room 6 at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, www.khm.at/en/artworks/... #artherstory #womenartists

The endgame of AI is that everyone has to rely upon the magic box to tell them everything they need to know. All hidden behind a paywall. No money = no knowledge. We're sleepwalking into capitalist idiocy.

Allbirds: Let's become an AI company!

👀⬇️

Tulip bulbs. Just replace "AI" with "tulip bulbs" and that will tell you where we are.

Today is the official publication day for my new book, Sedimentary Aesthetics: Painting on Stone and the Ecology of Early Modern Art. It is out in the world, and I would like to thank @yalepress.bsky.social for all they did. I’d also like to tell you a bit about why this publication means so much.

You did the meme! (Sadly, I saved this image during the first Trump administration and held onto it.)

"By week one, I was already tired of his anti-rich, pro-Samaritan bullshit. I wanted to take a course in Christianity, not liberalism."

My Easter books cartoon for @theguardian.com

2026's hot cross buns are out of the oven. I still haven't mastered a standard size, but they look good!

One of the hills I routinely die on is that “business” is not an academic discipline and shouldn’t be a school within universities. But it’s not going anywhere because these programs produce people who make a lot of money.

Looking forward to seeing this in London next month. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

What if we just went back to reading a bunch of books and thinking about them together, and that was the class? With syllabi no longer than three pages.

A fantastic, perceptive piece of analysis on the power of historical literacy. "What has changed is not that culture once prevented blindness and no longer does. It is that culture has increasingly ceded authority to systems that mistake information for understanding and speed for judgment."

Roman Mosaic Unearthed - Southwark, London, UK <3 What Time Reveals (9 Photos): streetartutopia.com/2026/03/28/f... Two archaeologists gently uncover a large Roman mosaic beneath a construction site near The Shard in central London. The vibrant geometric patterns, preserved underground for nearly...

PennPress is having a sale on ALL BOOKS today and tomorrow.

Amazing!

"Based on this study, as more of the global population begins to rely on artificial intelligence to complete complex tasks, our cognitive abilities and creative capacities appear poised to take a nosedive into oblivion." publichealthpolicyjournal.com/mit-study-fi...

Explore this week's job opportunities focused on the Medieval and Early Modern periods (thread 🧵): New York University Arts and Science - Early Modern Iberian Atlantic Faculty Fellow: memorients.com/news/new-yor...

Hear ye, hear ye! My book is in production! www.routledge.com/Unconventual...

In person early modern metals event in London next month with me, @laurenworking.bsky.social, and Lubaaba Al-Azami. Please repost and share widely! And register here -- forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...

Hello Bluesky! My new book, THE FIREARM REVOLUTION, is out on 14 April. It’s about how a new technology changed society, and how hard it was to control. Here’s a little thread of what’s inside:

Russian embassy, Washington DC. To mark the fourth anniversary of the full scale invasion

Ian McKwan's latest novel What We Can Know (about historians/historically minded scholars in the 22nd century) describes this scenario occurring in our near future. It's a great read in any case!

I met Jesse Jackson once, at Philadelphia airport. We were on the same flight to Boston. I went over and introduced myself and thanked him.

We're hiring at Birkbeck! Lecturer in Ancient History and Classics, full-time and open-ended. Closing date March 18th. Details here: cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/lect...

Behold: an article! Lauren MacDonald, "Conquest’s Mouth: Bartolomé de Olmedo, the Mercedarian Order, and the Spanish Invasion of Mexico," The Sixteenth Century Journal 57:1 (2026): 99-119. www.journals.uchicago.edu/eprint/EYUZQ...

I love the deep blue cover for the US paperback of my book House of Lilies: The Dynasty that Made Medieval France. It's now available for pre-order. ⚜️Shipping 13 October 2026 💙 📚#booksky www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/justi...

Dogs are the best.

Post (another) banger not in English. youtu.be/Fpu5a0Bl8eY?...