Archdeacon of Colchester's court, June 1600 👨‍⚖️ Matthew Barker, cobbler of Messing (Essex) was presented for instructing 'children to write & read' while he could neither 'write true orthography' nor 'spell well nor divide the syllables of words as a teacher ought'. ✒️📖 #truecrime #earlymodern #tudor

For anyone looking for an open-access atlas of Scotland before 1707, your ship has come in! books.socantscot.org/digital-book...

Middlesex Sessions of the Peace, April 1627 👨‍⚖️ John Milles of Shepperton committed for 'harbouring...Robert Russe...pursued for stealing of a stag...in the forest of Windsor... 🦌 And for concealing the said Robert in a chimney of his house' #earlymodern #truecrime #history

For a quick blog outlining the article Bob Shoemaker and I have out in Social History on mapping 18th c. crime see socialhistoryblog.com/mapping-the-...

New article 📢 written by Jane Whittle and me - about work and the problems of identifying workers in Medieval England. Open access here: doi.org/10.1080/0304... #history #medievalsky

Gather ye dewdrops while it's May 💦🌼💧🌿 #medieval #earlymodern #history #mayday drtayloraucoin.com/2019/05/02/m...

In a *new* post, I have pulled together the latest data on historians in UK universities and PhDs granted. The results are ... not great. Staff numbers have been mostly shrinking since 2019. PhDs have been roughly flat. 1/3. 🗃️ More info here: manyheadedmonster.com/2026/04/23/h...

🚨NEW Blogpost🚨 #Easter 1598, a three-a-side football match led to controversy, violence, & eventually death. ⛹️‍♂️ Depositions from a #Tudor Star Chamber case reveal what happened that day, & also challenge some preconceptions about #earlymodern football #history. ⚽🏉👇 drtayloraucoin.com/2026/04/22/e...

There's still space on my Summer course. I promise a week of highway robbery, pickpockets, pirates, burglary, murder, execution, & more. It'll be great fun! Crime & Punishment in Early Modern London & the Home Counties | Oxford Lifelong Learning, University of Oxford share.google/sEp55JVrpBtZ...

Really enjoyed writing this one ✏️

Archdeacon of Norwich's court, November 1608 👨‍⚖️ Thomas Deynes of Gunthorpe, Norfolk is charged, among other things 'for running neighing after Richard Mutton's maid...' 🐴 #earlymodern #truecrime

Spotted at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo: Sandra Gamarra Heshiki’s collage of European portraits painted over with Indigenous South American pottery, collapsing longstanding divides between European high art and Indigenous ‘anthropology’ in museums. #earlymodern

Folklore forecasts less desirable #Easter gifts from birds, should you neglect to wear new clothes 🕊️💩 Easter finery traditions solidified during the commercial revolution of #earlymodern England 👗🎩 But have roots in #medieval quarter days & livery 👇 ludicrushistories.wordpress.com/2019/04/29/p...

After our fabulous week long residential workshop in Bath last week, it's proving to be a busy time for the wills project team. We'll be circulating our latest newsletter next week if you want to get up to speed on our progress to date: #EarlyModern 🗃️

Middlesex Sessions of the Peace, March 1632 👨‍⚖️ Edward Clarkson of Westminster, yeoman is charged 'for taking brasse from H 7 tomb' 👑 #earlymodern #truecrime

Delighted that my new article in @historyworkshop.org.uk, co-authored with @drhollyfletcher.bsky.social, is now published! Thanks to all who read and heard earlier versions of this @wellcometrust.bsky.social funded research :) academic.oup.com/hwj/advance-... [track.smtpsendmail.com]

Thoughtful and beautifully-written review of The Experience of Work in Early Modern England in @lrb.co.uk by @tomlukejohnson.bsky.social. It's surreal to see #earlymodern deponents and workers like Lucretia Harward getting their day in the 21st-century sun! www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Thanks to @jwhittle.bsky.social, @markhailwood.bsky.social, @aucointaylor.bsky.social, @hkrobb.bsky.social (via @tomlukejohnson.bsky.social), for reminding me that my kids are slackers. 🗃️ Lovely discussion of *The Experience of Work in Early Modern England* in the LRB: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Shout out to brilliant photographer Steven Haywood, who has made a video about my work with musician Chris Hoban. Chris and I discuss what we did, and how the experience has influenced our work 👇 #CreativeHistory 🗃️ #EarlyModern @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=foIP...

Our new WP 'combines occupations with work tasks as ways of measuring structural change in the #earlymodern economy'. We highlight significant structural change, industrializing towns and cities, and a much more important service sector than measures based on job titles alone typically capture.

I completely forgot I made this... a big list of English judicial records, 1500 to 1800, published and often online!

To anyone interested in our medieval studies programme, we have some scholarships for international students. Various links to follow in a thread. 1/6 www.lincoln.ac.uk/course/medstdma

🚨NEW Blogpost🚨 We all know about the #OldFirm. But what's the 'oldest firm' in the history of Scottish #football? ⚽🏉 The answer takes us back to #medieval and #earlymodern St Andrews, where university and city invested in an unlawful game. 👇 ludicrushistories.wordpress.com/2026/03/12/t...

#ShroveTuesday football in County Durham has a #medieval pedigree. Thomas Marshall of Wolviston was injured playing on the day in 1380. In 1492 the priory halmote allowed the illegal game to be played in Billingham during Shrovetide. About 10 miles away, Sedgefield still hosts an annual game.

'I would set off, with some sense of what I might be looking for, and see what I stumbled across...' Is going for a walk a valid methodology for a historian? And if so, how much theory do you need to read before you start? Some thoughts in my latest blog post: manyheadedmonster.com/2026/02/10/i...

📢JOYCE YOUINGS MEMORIAL LECTURE📢 Prof. Jane Whittle: Work & gender, status & power: the surprising history of everyday chores in early modern England 🗓️ 28 January, 3pm 📍 Uni of Exeter & Zoom All welcome at this public 🗃️ lecture, register for your place: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-joyce-...

Kick started the new work year with another installment of my 'research walk', retracing the parish boundaries of 17thC Portishead for my book on 'Everyday Life in the 17thC Village'. Got a taste of the 'Little Ice Age' - a period of colder temperatures that impacted the 17thC - by going out in -1!

Today is #PloughMonday. Thomas Tusser called it one of the feasts 'belonging to the plough' that employers in #earlymodern England should never forget. Here I explore these holidays where work & play mingled: how the festive shaped #labour relations. ludicrushistories.wordpress.com/2026/01/12/f...

Yesterday I resumed my 'perambulation' of the 17th century parish boundary of Portishead, the subject of my current research on 'Everyday Life in the Seventeenth Century English Village'. My 'research walk' started where the parishioners would have done, at the church...🧵

Pudding season approaches; #Thanksgiving is here. Closing my seasonal series of posts marking the publication of our new book, I revisit a case where food takes the plate Featuring industrious duckwives, wisemen & gossiping quarrymen #earlymodern ludicrushistories.wordpress.com/2025/11/27/t....

Cosy season is well upon us Curl up w/ a warm drink & NEW post on CUP's blog: The #Autumnal Experience of Work in #EarlyModern England This seasonal celebration of our new book features apples & pears, cider & ale, meat & markets, & the #Christmas milling craze cambridgeblog.org/2025/11/the-...

Should have said, it's 6-8pm on 27th November at @guildhalllibrary.bsky.social 🙄

🐏 👨‍👨 @nicolemaceira.bsky.social will join us this week to discuss contrasting depictions of animals and humans in post-Reformation thought, and their importance in the development of the Reformed faith in Scotland.

To mark #Halloween & publication of 'The Experience of Work in #EarlyModern England', (now available in print & free online), this blogpost revisits the magiconomy. 🧙🎃 Highlights include a magical service paid for with bacon and pigeons. 🥓🪶 #history ludicrushistories.wordpress.com/2025/10/30/t...

Very much looking forward to Polly Lowe @polly-lowe.bsky.social speaking this Wednesday on bound labour and Scottish miners in the 18th c. @long18thsem.bsky.social @ihrlibrary.bsky.social Everyone welcome - either in person or hybrid, but please register at www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

Final post in my series on 'The Experience of Work in Early Modern England'. It focuses on the heartbeat of the premodern economy.... the harvest. manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/16/t...

I believe you kids call this an ‘unboxing’…

If you want to know more about our use of handwritten text recognition software (Transkribus) on the wills project, tune in on Zoom next week 👇 All welcome (not just postdocs!). #EarlyModern 🗃️ #DigitalHumanities #HTR #CitizenScience

As the agricultural cycle starts to wind down for the winter, my next post on 'The Experience of Work in Early Modern England' looks forward to its resumption in the new year, when... ‘Ploughmen go whistling to their toils’ manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/14/t...

Many congratulations to my colleagues in the Forms of Labour project team on the publication of their new monograph! 🗃️👏🎉 Brilliantly, The Experience of Work in #EarlyModern England is available open access: www.cambridge.org/core/books/e... news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-h...

Another post on 'The Experience of Work in Early Modern England' - a reminder that work in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was very much a family affair... manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/09/t...

As you dig out your chunky knitwear from the back of the draw, I know you are wondering: 'How did people prepare for winter 400 years ago?' Read today's post to find out (and whet your appetite for our new book The Experience of Work in Early Modern England) manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/07/t...

Delighted to see our new book - The Experience of Work in Early Modern England - out now, and open access (free!) doi-org.bris.idm.oclc.org/10.1017/9781...

Who did what in early modern England? New #OpenAccess book, 'The Experience of Work in Early Modern England' by @jwhittle.bsky.social, @markhailwood.bsky.social, @hkrobb.bsky.social & @aucointaylor.bsky.social, based on thousands of #EarlyModern court depositions 🗃️ Read it: doi.org/10.1017/9781...

Join @magicnotwitches.bsky.social in an exploration of practical magic in English history on 28th October at the Mary Rose Museum! maryrose.org/events/cunni...

We've got a stellar set of speakers this term at @ihr.bsky.social. Come along an immerse yourself in the latest early modern history research! #EarlyModern 🗃️

🎺ANNOUNCEMENT!🎺 STORIES & SONGS: WILLS AS WINDOWS ONTO PAST LIVES Join Chris Hoban and I at #Exeter Phoenix for a unique performance of history & original music inspired by #Tudor, #Stuart & Georgian wills! 🗃️ FREE! Claim your ticket: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1738865536...

Now the contract is signed etc we're very pleased to share this news. Please do follow the below account to keep up to date with what we're doing. #GenderHistory

The leading international journal ‘Gender & History’ (@genderandhistory.bsky.social) has moved to the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, edin.ac/46z9jy5 #History #Classics #Archaeology #HCA #Edinburgh #Gender

🤩 Check out the shiny new website of Bristol's world-class Centre for Medieval Studies (@bristolcms.bsky.social), home to over 35 full-time medievalists and over 160 research students and research associates: medievalstudies.blogs.bristol.ac.uk 🤩 @uobartsmatter.bsky.social #medievalsky #skystorians