One of my favourite images of Thais: something of a sly smile, and what is she looking at? 👀 Bibliothèque Nationale Française, MS Esp. 44, f.219v.

📢 Once more for the people in the back: - Most [more than 95%] of archives have not been digitized. - Most of humanity's knowledge and memory is *not* reachable by LLMs. - Believing that AI can provid you with comprehensive, definitive, "intelligent" results is folly.

My work at the moment is funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions postdoc fellowship, and I've posted some updates in this thread on the project's own bsky @thaisisproject.bsky.social - will probably cross-post some here, but do follow if you're interested in all things 'harlot saints'!

Seems like sth for #medievalsky: this (interesting!) BBC article about the arrival of the Bayeux Tapestry in London states that it is 'not actually a tapestry' but a wool embroidery; but my seamstress mother thought that wasn't right because embroidery with wool is broadly called tapestry in the UK.

Hope to see anyone interested in Latin poetry, medieval education, and manuscript transmission at our session at @imc-leeds.bsky.social in the 14:15 session 📜

Looking forward to @imc-leeds.bsky.social starting Monday! I'm co-organising a panel presenting new manuscript research on the works of Marbod of Rennes. You may never have heard of him but come along if you're interested in poetry and education, manuscript compilation, & odd accidents of reception!

The first series of the Saints Outside Hagiography workshop has been a fascinating set of discussions on sources from murals to tombs to birth girdles - we have one more meeting left this summer, so join us if you want to hear about St Nicholas and music teaching + Jain monasticism and ritual!

A lot of media coverage of the ‘AI’ reading of the Herculaneum scrolls really fails to understand what’s happened here. There’s no language processing happening, the AI/ML is not trained on a corpus of texts or language. It can detect ink to see shapes. HUMAN EXPERTS are then transcribing the text.

Make it stop!!!! Sign below 👇😠

After experimenting with a low/no-screen environment last semester, I'd also like to hear about others' experiences!

I LOVE WHEN PEOPLE LEARN THIS

So, um... this is bad. Really bad. I looked at the letters that were translated by the AI, and the very first one I found was almost entirely hallucination. Thread:

This is an excellent thread on the need for grinding through the sources in order to know them. There is no shortcut to this kind of work. It is only through intensive source analysis that we are able to recognise patterns & - just as important - recognise what is not a pattern.

Next Friday 27th, I'll be speaking at the Birkbeck Medieval Seminar - a day thinking about medievalism and 'Whose Middle Ages?'. Should be a great day, and it has been organised excellently by Daniel Sawyer (@danielsawyer.bsky.social) and Nick Evans. All welcome! www.bbk.ac.uk/events/event...

digital tools are going to change the world! btw that database you rely on no longer exists; that website you got a grant for will be gone in 3 years; have you considered doing an online edition instead?; we only do PDF review copies, For The Planet; would you like me to summarise that PDF for you?

Do you know somebody who needs to learn Latin from scratch or improve their Latin to PhD standard? CMS Toronto's summer Latin program is now entirely online and a remarkable bargain for the intensity and quality of instruction. Details here: www.medieval.utoronto.ca/latin/summer... #medievalsky

Our first session of Saints Outside Hagiography is today! @lgisseleire.bsky.social on mortuary rolls and me on the Throckmorton prayer roll. Excited to get started!

I wrote a brief review for Thinking Faith Network of a new book I found really invigorating and urgent - highly recommended 🌀 thinkfaith.net/2026/02/18/r...

Students had it tough during the worst of covid. But their education continued and they were able to get their degrees, despite a global pandemic and dysfunctional government. Like 1000s of colleagues, I worked way over the odds, while dealing with domestic pressures. This action feels very cruel.

#medievalsky does anyone know if there are any texts (biblical, medieval, or anything in between) about whether Judas was thought to have been born before Jesus, or the other way around? Grateful for any advice!

Talking about postcolonial literature and magic with my Masters class this week has me thinking back to my brief (as in, one-off!) pandemic-era venture into podcasting - if you don't know Elizabeth Knox's work and you're at all interested in SFF, worth a listen! podcasts.ox.ac.uk/elizabeth-knox

Feb 11: Feast of Cædmon (†680), monk of Streanæshalch (Whitby). Cowherd who, in his advanced years, was divinely endowed with a gift for poetry and song. Bede says the scriptures were interpreted for him and he would create religious compositions beyond compare. #medievalsky

A lovely email to receive first thing on a Monday: my article 'Poet-Bishop and Harlot Saint: Marbod of Rennes's Life of Thais in Context' was selected as Feminae's Article of the Month! inpress.lib.uiowa.edu/feminae/Arti...

Look what arrived today, or at least the ebook did. This is the first encyclopedia devoted exclusively to medieval women’s writing globally,focusing on the thousand-year period between 500-1500. Entries on about 250 women writers plus longer thematic essays. You’re welcome.

Saints Outside Hagiography starts next month! A new workshop-style series, discussing work in progress on saints in unusual sources. Come and join us ❤️‍🔥 drive.google.com/file/d/1-BPc...

And later this term, we'll be hosting ‘Whose Middle Ages?’, the Annual Birkbeck Medieval Seminar, with Daniel Sawyer, Rebecca Menmuir, Olenka Pevny, George Bartlett. More information about the event and booking here: www.bbk.ac.uk/events/event... www.bbk.ac.uk/events/event...

This is fundamentally shite of Google, and it's a good moment to recall that archive.org holds about 900K public-domain books originally digitised by Google, and that IA's metadata may be lousy but their search is good.

I hate to tap the sign but again: this is all made to make in-person education and access to knowledge transfer a preserve of the elite. Human education for the few, bots for the many.

Check out the CFP for the Gender & Medieval Studies conference in Oxford in Sept! Theme is ✨GENDER & CREATIVITY✨ Conf generously support by University College, Oxford; the John Fell Fund (Oxford University); the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship; the GMS group; & @guildmedmak.bsky.social

Exciting news for fans of Richard Rolle of the 'The Fire of Love' fame ❤️‍🔥 Dr Timothy Glover, recently Parker Library Early-Career Research Fellow, has made a once-in-a-lifetime discovery that brings us closer to the beloved mystic, hermit and author Richard Rolle (d.1349) tinyurl.com/e3266str

I like the point here that anchoresses (and anchorites too, but maybe particularly the women?) seem to have a special quality of confusing, and I'd say even upsetting, modern people - demanding we reflect on our own perspective / assumptions about life.

The deadline for expressions of interest is approaching (15 Jan) - please do consider getting in touch!

Interesting PhD opportunity! Flood stories are some of the climate-related scifi that stayed with me the most from childhood - 'Exodus' by Julie Bertagna, 'The Kraken Wakes' by John Wyndham (where sea levels rise because of creatures in the deep, rather than global warming, but still relevant...)

Attention creative medievalists! Eleanor Barraclough & I are co-editing a special issue of Public Humanities entitled CREATING THE MEDIEVAL NOW! See the cfp for details: essays of 2,000-3,000 words due 1 May 2026. (Amazing artwork by @hellomizk.bsky.social). 1/ www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Another call for abstracts for our sessions at the UArctic Congress in May. It's on the Faroe Islands and I'm really excited! Deadline for abstracts 15/12/25 medieval.ox.ac.uk/uarctic-cong...

Calling anyone interested in saints, sanctity, and the weird and wonderful world of primary sources outside the conventional hagiography form! ❤️‍🔥

"What is easier than reading a book? Not reading a book. What is easier than writing code? Not writing code. What is easier than solving an equation? Not solving an equation. What is easier than having a single independent and original thought? Well, I’m sure you get it by now."

I'm excited to speak at this week's instalment of the 'Staging the Middle Ages' project in Cambridge - Fri 24th Oct 5:30pm - reflecting on what I learned from the reading of 'The Conversion of the Harlot Thais' which I hosted last year @parkerlibcccc.bsky.social. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/session-2-...

I've been in Bergen for a couple of weeks now, getting used to a new city and new institution. It's really exciting to have two years in front of me for research! I'll be digging further into the figure of Thais in medieval culture, & thinking through modern responses (and responsibilities) to her.

An exhibition of medieval manuscripts at Cambridge's @parkerlibcccc.bsky.social! Curated by Timothy Glover (Richard Rolle specialist and current Parker Library Early-Career Research Fellow). Do pop in/book a tour if you are in Cambridge - July only!

Wishing I was back beside Lac Léman instead of roasting in Oxford! I got to go to Lausanne (and the Chateau de Chillon as pictured) last week, for the wonderful 'Holy Harlots / Saintes Ribaudes' symposium held at @unil.bsky.social by Juliette Vuille & Prunelle Deleville. www.unil.ch/events/en/17...