Moment of energetic entertainment from #SuperbOwl courtesy, of course, of Hieronymus Bosch. Go owls!

Sshh 🤫 ... I might be following a coded paper trail; there's nothing more delightful on a Sunday morning! My sojourn in the world of Elizabethan espionage made me want to repost this review of my latest book #Spycraft co-written with @elegantfowl.bsky.social engelsbergideas.com/reviews/insi...

paw prints of a medieval cat preserved in 12th-century floor tiles at St. Peter's Church in Wormleighton, England. source- Architecture Hub #photography #caturday

Love having the botanical gardens on my doorstep #Hortus @unileiden.bsky.social

Closing soon ...

Closing soon ...

#BirdoftheDay #Reflections @robcrank68.bsky.social

Just a reminder ... tomorrow at 5.30 pm, Holly Fletcher (@drhollyfletcher.bsky.social) will be speaking on 'The Fats of Life in the Early Modern World, 1500-1750: Matter in Multispecies Medicine' ✨ Sign up at: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/... (In-person, IHR Wolfson Room NB02, all are welcome!)

Closing soon ...

Closing soon ...

Zondag a.s. Gluren bij de Buren, huisconcerten op 61 adressen in @leidencity.bsky.social, waaronder dat van ons... Je bent van harte welkom. Het hele aanbod op www.glurenbijdeburen.nl

Uncovering the untold story of ink-balls - giant flying ink- balls

Just giant dabbers flying around while people are dancing. I am unsure what they are celebrating, but giant ink-balls were used in #earlymodern printing offices in the last step before printing. Such dabbers consist of pieces of leather filled with wool or hair and a wooden handle. #bookhistory

Exciting discovery! Mind you, I'm still hoping that we one day find a book written by a medieval housewife describing daily life in detail, especially about all the bathing they did ;) www.bbc.com/news/article...

The lace maker, 1662. Seems so quiet, but you know her bobbins are clicking away. By Caspar Netscher, whose day is today.

No. 10: Nature’s spies, chatter makes gulls curious

Doing the reading back then, #academicchatter. It was for a long time a practice done in a library stacked with books made of paper, and you had to touch them, search for them, hold them, feel the physical weight, maybe even see handwritten remarks in them from other users. A paper experience. 1/2

Insects at the Fitz! Painted lady and a glimpse of a Dragonfly in this detail from a painting by Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625). @camunivmuseums.bsky.social

Tony Riches 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 @tonyriches Book Review: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Hearts, by Nadine Akkerman tonyriches.blogspot.com/2025/12/book... @misswalsingham #Stuarts #BookReview

2026 will be the year I return to the correspondence of the boar-spearing Elizabeth Stuart (1596-1662), sometime Queen of Bohemia, ridiculed by most historians as The Winter Queen but known in the 17thc as The Queen of 💕. If I have missed any letters in Volumes 1-2, DM me or forever hold your peace.

Word of the day, a noun now obsolete and first used in 1652: scripturiency. That is, a passion for writing; an urge to write. In early use esp.: the tendency to produce an abundance of trivial or inferior writing (via OED). Perhaps a reminder to close our laptops every now and again. Happy holidays

Book Review: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Hearts, by Nadine Akkerman tonyriches.blogspot.com/2025/12/book... @misswalsingham.bsky.social #Stuarts #BookReview

"In an era where the authentic written word is under threat....English isn't just about reading the past--it's about understanding the power of words and narratives in the present and future and giving our students the skills to successfully navigate the world". True of all UK English programmes.

Exciting news - a new portrait of Lucy Hutchinson has surfaced.

OMG - the paperback of #Spycraft is now under a tenner! Get your cipher wheels, glow-worms, unicorns, poison recipes, and enjoy those stories on Tudor and Restoration espionage - the perfect gift for the spy-catcher, seal-forger, wannabe spy or Mary, Queen of Scots’ fan in your life bit.ly/4qjYcl3

OMG - the paperback of #Spycraft is now under a tenner! Get your cipher wheels, glow-worms, unicorns, poison recipes, and enjoy those stories on Tudor and Restoration espionage - the perfect gift for the spy-catcher, seal-forger, wannabe spy or Mary, Queen of Scots’ fan in your life bit.ly/4qjYcl3

2026 will be the year I return to the correspondence of the boar-spearing Elizabeth Stuart (1596-1662), sometime Queen of Bohemia, ridiculed by most historians as The Winter Queen but known in the 17thc as The Queen of 💕. If I have missed any letters in Volumes 1-2, DM me or forever hold your peace.

Gaming purse late 17th century French (Met Museum)

An insight into the process happening at Essex: My brilliant colleague Lucy Noakes is*President of the Royal Historical Society* and is still, like me, officially "at risk" of redundancy.

This 👇

Spycraft review in JBS praises its ‘innovative approach’, calling it ‘impressive’, ‘invaluable’ and even ‘classic’! As for us authors, we ‘pair methodological heft with elegant, accessible prose.’ Not saying which of us does which, but definitely saying co-writing rocks! TY @rmidura.bsky.social

Every morning a young grebe greets a companion it sees reflected in the hull of a boat moored on the canal. It calls but never receives an answer. It is one of the saddest things I've ever seen.

I'm still immensely proud of #Spycraft : Tricks & Tools of the Dangerous Trade from Elizabeth I to the Restoration @yalebooks.bsky.social , the book I wrote with Pete Langman, and grateful to Philippa Gregory for selecting it as the best nonfiction book she read this year! Out in paperback🥳 ✨

I'm still immensely proud of #Spycraft : Tricks & Tools of the Dangerous Trade from Elizabeth I to the Restoration @yalebooks.bsky.social , the book I wrote with Pete Langman, and grateful to Philippa Gregory for selecting it as the best nonfiction book she read this year! Out in paperback🥳 ✨

Re-reading this beauty today: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Hearts, by Professor Nadine Akkerman tonyriches.blogspot.com/2025/05/stua... @misswalsingham.bsky.social #Stuarts

Here’s another fully funded 4-year PhD position at Leiden within the ERC project LangPro led by Dr Alisa van de Haar, and co-supervised by yours truly, on guilds and associations supporting early modern language professionals bit.ly/49rsLA3 Apply by 15 Feb. 2026; starting date 1 Aug. 2026

'Tattoo on 17th-century group portrait puzzles Amsterdam museum: 'Never seen anything like it'' via @nieuws.nos.nl nos.nl/artikel/2591...

the multi-year lack of a truly functional manuscripts catalog at the BL is finally over!!!!

📢Here's a fully funded 4-year PhD position at Leiden within the ERC project LangPro led by Dr Alisa van de Haar, and co-supervised by yours truly, on professional opportunities for women in the early modern language sector bit.ly/47Y3hYI Apply by 15 Feb. 2026; starting date 1 Aug. 2026

Here’s another fully funded 4-year PhD position at Leiden within the ERC project LangPro led by Dr Alisa van de Haar, and co-supervised by yours truly, on guilds and associations supporting early modern language professionals bit.ly/49rsLA3 Apply by 15 Feb. 2026; starting date 1 Aug. 2026

📢Here's a fully funded 4-year PhD position at Leiden within the ERC project LangPro led by Dr Alisa van de Haar, and co-supervised by yours truly, on professional opportunities for women in the early modern language sector bit.ly/47Y3hYI Apply by 15 Feb. 2026; starting date 1 Aug. 2026

So proud of my @leidenhumanities.bsky.social colleague Lotte Fikkers, whose Open Access Book, Early Modern Women’s Life Writing & English law is out w/ @edinburghup.bsky.social ! A stunning achievement from our @erc.europa.eu project #FEATHERS. Don’t miss it www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025...

Remember remember the fifth of November 💥 Back in July I had the pleasure of chairing a panel exploding the myths of the Gunpowder Plot with @elegantfowl.bsky.social @misswalsingham.bsky.social Prof Stephen Alford and @enortonhistory.bsky.social at @harvingtonhall.bsky.social History Festival

Good evening, Oxford!

Lecturer in Renaissance Art History Birkbeck, University of London - School of Historical Studies #skystorians 🗃️www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNM388/l...

I'm unreasonably pleased that my Shakespeare find made it to Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_...

On my way to Stockholm …