“Reeves said she would not duck the difficult choices ahead, even if they broke her pledge not to put up income tax, VAT or national insurance”—or you could just, I don’t know, oh yeah: 👏 tax 👏 the 👏 bloody 👏 rich! www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

It frustrates me that fields such as history are increasingly becoming something of a free-for-all. Imagine the reverse, in which a bona fide history professor publishes a polemic book claiming to ‘lift the veil on secrets’ of, say, structural engineering. It’d be considered absurd, and rightly so.

A long but very worthwhile read

No neede for expensyve consultinge firmes. Heere ys a planne for excellent higher education: 1) Hire manye facultye 2) Small class syzes 3) Emphasyze engagemente & delighte 4) Sustayne & cultivate a varietye of fieldes and disciplines, even currentlye unfashionable ones -- thys ys ed, not retail

Sometimes the grass is in fact greener… apache.be/2025/10/24/b...

The German company that makes the mechanical ladder used in the Louvre heist has used the image to advertise, with the text 'When you need to move fast' 10/10 response, no notes

“[B]oth Oxford’s Bodleian Library and the UL” is the academic equivalent of “We got country and western”—Oxbridge tunnel vision much? (FWIW, I much prefer the UL to the Bod myself, at the same time as being aware of other libraries’ existence 😉)

Objectively the best Medieval Summer School out there 😉 Please consider sharing and, even better, applying! 🙂

Yesterday, the CMS were lucky enough to see a snapshot 🧑‍🔬📷 of Dr Alexander Zawacki's (@achillghost.bsky.social) work in his seminar on ‘Analysing Manuscripts with MSI’. Thank you for such a fascinating talk Alexander, and thanks also to @benpohl.bsky.social for chairing! #medievalsky #skystorians

Is there anything better than a post-seminar discussion in the Highbury Vaults? Also proof, if it’s needed, that the CMS welcomes medievalists of all ages!

Way to go, Cardiff! Hopefully other cities will follow suit (looking at you, Brizzle!)…

Join us this Thursday in person or remotely!

A #Bristol Libraries event of #LegalHistory and #History interest tomorrow: bristol.events.mylibrary.digital/event?id=235...

This is as funny as it is accurate!

‘Arm’s-length bodies such as the Office for Students (OfS) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) are particularly “vulnerable to political interference”, a new report has warned.’ www.timeshighereducation.com/news/learn-l... @timeshighered.bsky.social

Truly excellent move by @manchesterup.bsky.social, as a result of which two of my own articles in BJRL are now Open Access, effective immediately: doi.org/10.7227/BJRL... and doi.org/10.7227/BJRL...

Including one of the latest titles from our Bristol Studies in Medieval Culture series with @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social @bristolcms.bsky.social

That’s a massive relief!

The latest but by no means the only example of an alarming trend in which the UK’s foremost academic publishers are haemorrhaging highly prestigious journals at a rate of knots…

It’s what we do best at @bristolcms.bsky.social: celebrating community and world-class research!

Here’s the image by itself:

A depressingly well observed cartoon by Becky Barnicoat on the growth of fascism in Britain www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Took me a second or two to realise that KLM’s napkins show a pair of windmills, rather than a crudely sketched crucifixion scene!

Home is where a LIDL is!

One happy @bristolcms.bsky.social family!

Hwæt?! The amazing Old English Reading Group is BACK and with a new friend?!? Join Hattie and Co for Old English Reading Group at 3pm Friday in Hattie’s office, followed by the brand new Old Norse Reading Group at 4pm! No prior knowledge or experience needed, and everybody welcome!

It really is just relentless the constant dehumanisation in this country. Prove you deserve to be here. Prove you deserve to be cared for. Prove your gender. Prove you deserve to have human rights. Prove you deserve to stay after a whole decade. It just chisels away at your humanity

We're so excited for the first Centre for Medieval Studies Research Seminar of the year! Join us on Thursday at 4pm, with our CMS Welcome Party to follow straight after! All welcome! We hope to see you there! #medievalsky #skystorians

I’m sick to the back teeth of this so-called progressive govt spouting utter xenophobic nonsense & throwing migrants under the bus to curry favour with the lowest of the low. We’re not your scapegoat. We’re not the enemy. We’re what’s holding this community together. With all due respect: F*CK YOU!

ChatGPT Edu is built for conning education executives into subsidising and edu-washing planet-burning slop machines via non-consensual access to young people’s creativity AND DATA while attacking their ability to learn. At a university.

The future of our profession 👇

Anyone know the collective noun for a reunion of medieval PGRs?! One of the things we’re proudest of at the CMS is our amazing PGR community! We have such an active, supportive, and accomplished group of PGRs. We can’t wait to see what they get up to this academic year! #medievalsky

🤩 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

👀

A wonderful resource created by my wonderful @bristolcms.bsky.social and @uobrishistory.bsky.social colleague, Evan!

Disgusting! You’re better than this, Brizzle!

I’m not Milbank’s biggest fan, but here he does hit the nail on the head. @lvhicks.bsky.social will enjoy! thecritic.co.uk/getting-chri...

An actual quote from the Secretary of State for Business and Trade Too often people go to university to ‘explore research and knowledge’ Look forward to Wes S saying 'too often people go to hospital to have operations' or Heidi Alexander saying 'too often people go to the station to catch a train'

A govt of philistines so deep in denial about the nature and purpose of higher education that it chastises university students for pursuing research and knowledge… 🤯

What a deranged country. Are we gonna have this as the number one headline for each *person* we remove? A cruelty spectacle.

do you work in a university/faculty/school in the UK that abolished “departments”? willing to share experiences (by DM if preferred)? RTs also appreciated

As we start a new academic year, we are absolutely delighted to welcome Professor Benjamin Pohl (@benpohl.bsky.social) as our new Co-Director of the CMS! 🎉

À l'Académie des sciences de Vienne au milieu de paléographes déchaînés (notons le côté subtilement allégorique du plafond)

There are conference venues, and then there are CONFERENCE VENUES! 😲

Hat tip @clownf1st.bsky.social

Call for Papers @imc-leeds.bsky.social Following my recent fieldwork sailing down the Seine in a reconstructed tenth-century ship, @stevedehailes.bsky.social and I are organising a panel on practice-based/experiential research in medieval studies. We welcome abstracts from any field. #Medievalsky

A polite reminder that some of the most fundamental and field-shaping research is UNfunded—or rather core-funded through institutional research leave—precisely because it doesn’t have to abide by the fickle trends and tickboxes that govern UKRI & Co. Frankly, this is an insult to the profession.

Don't forget to add this white text to all your publications.

Just had two journal articles accepted in as many weeks! 🤗 I’m especially chuffed as both these articles are intended to be provocative and took a lot of careful framing and presentation.