New blog post examines forensic continuity in the history of serial homicide: The ‘Ripper Template’ and Forensic Investigations of Serial Murder legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/06/19/t...

New post from @drkdwatson.bsky.social on the influence of forensic techniques and assumptions from the 'Jack the Ripper' investigation: legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/06/19/t...

For anyone who published a book, article, or digital project on legal history between Jan.2025 and Dec.2026: you should apply to be featured in the ASLH's virtual event series for next yr--"Making Connections: New Works in Legal History, 2026-27." Due June 30, 2026: aslh.net/virtual-book... (1/2)

Today (May 19):

New post I wrote on the problems with raptus. Enjoy! legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/05/08/r...

New post from @sarabutler.bsky.social: "Reading Records of 'Raptus' from Thirteenth-Century England": legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/05/08/r...

If you published a book on legal history in *2025,* please nominate it for a 2026 ASLH prize! For US work: Cromwell Prize for early career authors & Reid Prize for mid- and senior career authors. For non-US work: Stein Award. Due June 1: aslh.net/award_type/b... #legalhistory

New post from Krista Kesselring for Earth Day! The Most Excellent Things are the King’s? The Case of Mines (1568) legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/04/22/t...

My new post, on the Elizabethan 'Case of Mines', which turns out to have lots of interesting bits just below the surface. legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/04/22/t...

On this Earth Day, the blog offers a brief introduction to an Elizabethan court case still cited in common law jurisdictions as a foundational precedent in assertions of the Crown’s mineral rights: the Case of Mines (1568). legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/04/22/t...

New post from Cassie Watson! Read about "Dick the Devil!" Memorable Monikers: Dick the Devil legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/03/27/m...

One from the archive, on the practice of pardoning on Good Friday: legalhistorymiscellany.com/2017/04/14/g...

My new blog post introduces one of the most extraordinary 18th-century criminals I've ever come across! Memorable Monikers: Dick the Devil legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/03/27/m...

New post from @drkdwatson.bsky.social, tracing the stories of a set of 18th and 19th-century repeat offenders who earned themselves a memorable nickname: 'Dick the Devil'. legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/03/27/m...

Guest post by @kaycrosby.bsky.social: 'Identifying Women Jurors and Institutionalising Women's Citizenship' legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/02/19/i...

My latest post is up! Enjoy. Agnes de Frowyk: Widow, “Next Friend,” and Medieval Tiger Mom legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/02/05/a...

New post from @sarabutler.bsky.social: 'Agnes de Frowyk: Widow, "Next Friend," and Medieval Tiger Mom'. legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/02/05/a...

I am once again imploring people to not abuse Calvin's Case to argue against birthright citizenship in the US: it simply summarised a bunch of (contested) legal thinking. More important is that in 17thC legal practice, birthright subjecthood most certainly *was* a thing tinyurl.com/2rjyvwnb

Important scholarship on British crown ownership of slaves in the West Indies in the early 19th c has bern done by scholars from the West Indies like Alvin Thompson in 2002 www.abebooks.com/978976640120...

📢 #CfP @divorcehistory.bsky.social conference: Marital breakdown in the English common law world 1801-1969 📅 20 April 2026 🎓Northumbria University 🎤 Keynote: Baroness Hale of Richmond DBE 💰 Speaker bursaries available! #legalhistory #socialhistory #genderhistory #VictorianHistory #law #humanities.

Fascinating look at the policing of fish and meat consumption (and fasting) in early modern England (and today), by @kjkesselring.bsky.social. Saving this for my lecture on fasting in Bittersweet Histories of Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate.

A new post for the new year: "A New Year’s Gift: Fish, Flesh, and ‘Unlawful Diet’ in Early Modern England" legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/01/06/a...

A new post on the politics and legal regulation of food consumption from @kjkesselring.bsky.social: "A New Year's Gift: Fish, Flesh, and 'Unlawful Diet' in Early Modern England." legalhistorymiscellany.com/2026/01/06/a...

I'm honored to serve as one of the cochairs of the Program Committee for the 2026 American Society for Legal History Conference in Banff, Canada! The CFP is now available. Please consider submitting a proposal! aslh.net/2026-annual-... #ASLH #legalhistory

My new blog post examines a brief dispute over money between the Met Police and the Home Office - the police won, in the longer term. legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/12/26/m...

A new post from @drkdwatson.bsky.social, drawing on records that that could be more broadly useful for histories of policing, crime, medicine, and 'forensics': 'Murder, Medicine, Money: A Met Police—Home Office Dispute, 1889-90' legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/12/26/m...

The @socialhistsoc.bsky.social conference will be at Lancaster in July. Call for papers just released. I'll put putting together a proposal, so hope to see some of you there! #EarlyModern 🗃️ Details here: socialhistory.org.uk/events/confe...

A nice surprise this morning: my article on prison reform from below is out! I believe it’s open access but let me know if you can’t get a copy and would like one. academic.oup.com/histres/adva...

This is a great post, looking at death, law, mapping, and the physical book itself. #History

Really neat example of how everything about an object—binding, foxing, water damage, annotations—can help us understand it.

A new guest post by Helen Rutherford: 'Mapping Death: The Atlas of Victorian Coroners' Districts' legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/12/11/m...

New post by @sarabutler.bsky.social: 'Bracton and the History of Emotions': legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/11/30/i...

New guest post by Susannah Wilson, on homicide, forensic psychology, and perceptions of criminal culpability in late 19th century France: legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/11/20/t...

Fantastic new post by Krista Kesselring! legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/10/27/c...

What if the Devil made them do it? A new post by @kjkesselring.bsky.social 'Crime, Culpability, and the Devil in the Details'. legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/10/27/c...

New post by @drkdwatson.bsky.social and Carolyn Strange: "Poisoning Crimes and the ‘Mushroom Murderer’: Patterns and Precedents" legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/09/23/p...

My new post is up! Butler, "Resisting Visitation in Late Medieval England" (2025). legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/08/14/r...

New post by @sarabutler.bsky.social: 'Resisting Visitation in Late Medieval England': legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/08/14/r...

My new post @legalmiscellany.bsky.social: 'Arresting Developments', on the abduction of an heiress in 1702 and the dangers of arrests. legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/07/14/a...

'Arresting Developments': a new post, on the abuses and dangers of arrests in 17th and 18th-century England: legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/07/14/a...

How and why do forms of assault change with wider socio-legal changes? New post from @drkdwatson.bsky.social on acid attacks and more. legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/06/27/t...

The first batch of STAC 5 (Elizabethan Star Chamber proceedings) catalogue enhancements went live today. Short titles, dates, party names, document type, and county as standard. For some other really exciting additions, read on. discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/r/C...

CFP: Workshop on 'Crime and Conjugality in Europe, pre-1800' to be held in Oxford, 6 July 2026; deadline for expressions of interest is 15 Sept 2025. Please help spread the word! #history #SkyStorians www.bristol.ac.uk/law/events/2...

A new post from @sarabutler.bsky.social: 'All Bastards Are Free?' legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/05/16/a...

Now available as a (potentially affordable) paperback www.cambridge.org/gb/universit...

Sara Burton and Susanna Bastwick launched the petitioning campaign against the 'arbitrary' Star Chamber, eventually resulting in its abolition. @kjkesselring.bsky.social's new post on @legalmiscellany.bsky.social reveals the #PowerOfPetitioning: legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/04/22/t...

Never miss anything by @kjkesselring.bsky.social!

A new post, on the end of the infamous Court of Star Chamber and its afterlife: legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/04/22/t...

A new post from @drkdwatson.bsky.social on why and how to bring assault into studies of the history of violence: legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/03/30/i...

Had a lovely time chatting about my new book on the history of imprisonment in London with @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social Listen to us at the link below or wherever you normally get your podcasts: newbooksnetwork.com/to-detain-or... @mcgillqueensup.bsky.social