Paleography peeps: I'm collecting examples of premodern descriptive or evaluative (sc. judgy) language about script. E.g. Boniface requesting a book "claris et absolutis litteris scripti" because he can't read "minutas litteras ac connexas" anymore. #medievalsky 🧵

People of the UK! 🇬🇧 There’s still time to vote for an inspiring history teacher — the entry criteria is on the HRP website. I’m proud to be on the judging panel and look forward to celebrating great history teachers www.hrp.org.uk/schools/insp...

Apply to be the 2026-7 Munby Fellow in bibliography and history of the book @theul.bsky.social www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPZ688/m...

I did my undergrad at Girton. It's a truly special place, and this could be a fantastic opportunity for the right person.

JOB ALERT! 3-year postdoc at @girtoncollege.bsky.social - research anything you like in History, Archaeology or Anthropology in a wonderful, welcoming scholarly community. PLEASE SHARE! Closes 12 January www.girton.cam.ac.uk/job-vacancie...

I have a basic pattern I stick to: Routledge Colloquial (until about ch 8), LingQ for as many mini stories (very good for high input audio and getting vocab), and pimsleur. Usually I do that for a month or two before having a conversation. I tend to prefer to have most grammar done before tutors.

Last year, I found an old love letter between the yellowing pages of a second hand book, and asked Bluesky whether you had found similar. I was inundated with responses (see 🧵 below)! My essay has just been published in @slightlyfoxed.bsky.social ! Thank you so much everyone who replied and helped

And using ephemera as bookmarks makes second-hand books even more interesting – there is a lovely essay about this by Sarah Lonsdale in the latest Slightly Foxed magazine bsky.app/profile/sara...

Two fun museum finds in Colchester today: 1. Clock owned by William Gilbert (of De Magnete (1600) fame) 2. Pub sign from the old At the Sign of the Whalebone Inn on East Hill

Lovely crisp morning for a run through the Essex countryside. Stopped at this stunning medieval church. Is this graffiti by the door something apotropaic? www.visitchurches.org.uk/visit/our-ch...

Old train tickets, tickets from old museum visits, cut up bits of Chocolate Orange box...

There's room for another historian (or anthropologist) at @girtoncollege.bsky.social ! 3-year postdoc research fellowship, apply by 12 January! www.girton.cam.ac.uk/job-vacancie...

St Govan’s chapel was magic. Up there with Odda’s at Deerhurst

Went to the dump, which I feel is a strong start to 2026

Went to see the much-vaunted murmurations at Fowlmere. Starlings didn't do their thing. Oh well, we were patient, did our best quiet braving the cold and ate gummy bears. Happy new year everyone.

If you want to help nature in 2026, why not donate to help the Wildlife Trusts purchase – and protect – a huge chunk of Northumberland? www.wildlifetrusts.org/appeals/roth...

Thrilled to hear that John Westwyk is the Linda Hall Library's Scientist of the Day! www.lindahall.org/about/news/s... (H/T: @karlgalle.bsky.social)

For more volvelles, medieval science, and a shout-out to @sebfalk.com's book, see also today's Linda Hall Library post on John Westwyk, whose 14th-century manuscript on an astronomical instrument was originally attributed to Geoffrey Chaucer: www.lindahall.org/about/news/s... #HistSci #MedievalSky

A few more from my morning at @theul.bsky.social Some lovely volvelles in this copy of Martin Cortes' "Art of Navigation", tr. Richard Eden (1579). I also like the pelican on the frontispiece 🪶

Christmas appears in Pedro de Medina's "Art of Navigation"! 🎄 Nice to spot it in this 1554 Italian translation (Venice, Pedrezano) at @theul.bsky.social this morning. Note the commentary on the painless birth of Jesus: he was laid on a bed of hay because there was nothing softer to hand 🌟

Brilliant opportunity to work in a fascinating and important role at @girtoncollege.bsky.social!

New podcast episode with the fascinating @sebfalk.com explaining how people in the Middle Ages knew a lot more than we give them credit for shows.acast.com/willy-willy-...

…and this one’s out too: «So, Who Killed the Elephant?» Tracing African-European Entanglements in the ‘Global Middle Ages’! An essay adaptation of my 2023 @imc-leeds.bsky.social keynote — two case studies, four thoughts on how we might move forward in telling more global medieval (hi)stories.

@bookscribbler.bsky.social's "Media and the Mind" is a great book!

I had great fun thinking through these questions. (I love writing, but am not sure I'm very good at reading!) Always interested to hear other people's answers to these things!

Our exhibition, Curious Cures, is closed today (21 July). The Conservation team will spend the day checking the manuscripts and will do a page turn to protect them. This gives you the perfect excuse to come back and see what's new! Book your FREE tickets: https://loom.ly/kVqsPRY

Some highlights from a brilliant access-all-areas tour of Durham Castle, courtesy of @durhammemsa.bsky.social Chair @charrathompson.bsky.social. Wish me luck with my keynote this morning!

Shocking that #BBCRadio4 #Today runs a long piece on ransomware attacks (incl discussion of M&S, Co-op etc) & DOESNT ONCE MENTION THAT A KEY PIECE OF NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE, the @britishlibrary.bsky.social, is still suffering after-effects from a cyber-attack in *2023* www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Shaimaa has a scholarship to do a PhD on Palestinian literature with me at @uoe-llc.bsky.social, but she's stuck in Gaza because the foreign office won't help. Please share. www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

#Openaccess ftƿ!

Nice write-up of The Song of Wade in @cnn.com Highlight has to be my co-author deploying the classic teacher response to a wacky student suggestion when asked if he might be related to a fictional character 😁 edition.cnn.com/2025/07/18/s...

Wow, it seems 13th-century wolves are hot right now!

This is a really great write-up of the Song of Wade in @404media.co www.404media.co/the-800-year... Thanks for your interest and meticulous reporting @beckyferreira.bsky.social !

Almost as satisfying as seeing an article I've co-written finally published: reading a brilliant blogpost -- by a scholar I hugely admire -- responding to our article & building on it really creatively 😍 Thank you @karlsteel.bsky.social! medievalkarl.com/general-cult...

Some useful replies to this -- and very well timed for the plenary I'm giving on Monday!

This is a fun discovery, and congrats to Wade and Falk for it! I'm of course interested most of all in Alexander Neckam's calling Adam (the fella from Eden) "as if non-human" 1/6

I worked this up in to a blog post medievalkarl.com/general-cult... #medievalsky

I didn't pay John* to say this (but I once brought a bag of treats for his dog, which is probably the best thing I've ever done for anyone) *the nicest man in early modern history, in case you were in any doubt

Nice to see the Song of Wade featured in the newspapers! I'm happy to be an "academic sleuth" – but I'm not a "scientist". *Humanities scholars can make discoveries too!*

If you caught me & James Wade (no relation) in the newspapers or on the radio & were wondering where's the real academic article, wonder no longer! Here it is, complete with the full transcription & translation so you can decide for yourself what it's all about academic.oup.com/res/advance-...

Scribes are human too. And let's be honest: who among us hasn't confused wynn [ƿ] with [y]? Well done, @sebfalk.com! www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/w...

If you caught me & James Wade (no relation) in the newspapers or on the radio & were wondering where's the real academic article, wonder no longer! Here it is, complete with the full transcription & translation so you can decide for yourself what it's all about academic.oup.com/res/advance-...

They don't call him the Vice Mistress of @girtoncollege.bsky.social for nothing

Medieval preacher invoked chivalric hero as a meme in sermon. "This is very early evidence of a preacher weaving pop culture into a sermon to keep his audience hooked." It also resolves a long-standing Chaucerian mystery. arstechnica.com/science/2025...

After 130 years, Cambridge #scholars have decoded a Chaucerian mystery – the frequently referenced Song of Wade was not a monster-filled epic but a chivalric romance. Drs James Wade and @sebfalk.com from‬ @girtoncollege.bsky.social reveal all: www.cam.ac.uk/stories/song... #Latin #English

It’s even made @arstechnica.com arstechnica.com/science/2025...

I'm so thrilled to have this published! Starting from a chat over lunch at @girtoncollege.bsky.social, James Wade & I chipped away at this & have made some fascinating discoveries. The actual article should be published later today. In the meantime, more here: www.cam.ac.uk/stories/song...

Fascinating account of how the cracking of a mysterious lost language is leading to other discoveries.

Top marks to @paullay.bsky.social for suggesting putting Bede on a bank note.

Another decent day in NW8. A lot of nerves & edges on the way to 42-2. Anyone else here? #ENGvIND