#OTD 1503, Elizabeth of York gave birth to a daughter in the Tower of London. The baby was named Katherine. Henry VII and Elizabeth of York had hoped for more children after the death of their eldest son Prince Arthur the year before.

🏳️‍🌈It’s LGBTQ+ History Month. Take a look at the LGBTQ+ guide to special collections that brings material together in one place to help you explore. From writers and musicians, to student stories, the guide is a starting point to LGBTA+ histories. Find the guide here: https://ow.ly/9Y7t50Y5WpV

Thinkinge of askinge Chat GPT a questioun about your plannes, thoughtes, ideas? Trye a tarot deck ynstead. Cheaper, bettir for the environment, bettir resultes, not evil.

My newest book purchase arrived today 📖 It's a withdrawn library book! "She is But a Woman: Queenship in Scotland, 1424-1463" by Fiona Downie 👸 I've been thinking about queenship a lot lately, and I'm sure this will be a fascinating read.

My book was published three months ago today ❤️ Since then, it's received wonderful reviews from historians, readers, family, and friends. Thank you to everyone for your support! The response has been amazing 💕

We are looking for a new Joint Book Reviews Editor to join our editorial board. They would cover the period from 1800, working alongside Kirstin Barnard, who covers the medieval/early modern period. You can check out the full Call for Expressions of Interest here; and please do also share widely.

#OTD 1457, Margaret Beaufort gave birth to her son Henry, who would one day be Henry VII, the first Tudor king. She was just thirteen years old, and the birth almost killed her.

On this day 27th January 1386 Joan of Kent buried in the chapel of Greyfriars at Stamford, near first husband Thomas Holland rather than with the Black Prince in Canterbury Cathedral. Here Joan portrayed by Christopher Whall in the church at Ware which Joan is said to have rebuilt.

#OTD 1496, Katherine Gordon married Perkin Warbeck at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh. Warbeck had arrived in Scotland only a few months before and was accepted at the Scottish court as "Prince Richard".

The Masque of Anarchy, by Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1819.

"Elizabeth Boleyn" has received another five-star review on Amazon 🥰 It means so much to me whenever someone takes the time to leave a review. Thank you so much, Kirsty! ❤️

Here this afternoon! Making a lot of progress on a new project ❤️

Spending the afternoon with Henry VII and Elizabeth of York in Christ Church ❤️

Thank you to everyone who braved the miserable weather to hear me speak this evening at Christ Church! The audience was amazing, with some great questions. I loved sharing Elizabeth Boleyn's story with so many people.

New podcast alert! What a privilege it was to talk to Gareth Russell about Elizabeth Boleyn ❤️ I have been a huge admirer of Gareth's work for a long time, and it was lovely to chat with him. You can listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/7J49...

On this day 20th January 1382 King Richard II married Anne of Bohemia in Westminster Abbey. Tournaments were held after the ceremony in celebration before they made a tour of the realm. Richard was devoted to his wife who eventually died in 1394 at Sheen possibly of the plague

On This Day 19th January 1403 Joanna of Navarre, Duchess of Brittany, sailing to England to marry King Henry IV, was blow off course by storms and landed in Falmouth. Henry was expecting her somewhere further east. They met in Exeter where they gave thanks for Joanna's safety in the Cathedral.

I'm wondering if anyone knows where I can read about how courtiers and their servants were paid during Henry VII's reign? If entries are close by in the Chamber Books, does that mean the two people in the entries were paid at roughly the same time?

A day well spent on two projects ❤️

Bought myself a treat at the TNA shop today 💕 Have I ever mentioned how much I love seals?

Spending this afternoon at TNA 📚

Updated CfP: Communication and Exchange in the Early Modern 1500-1850 conference: ‘A Continent in Conversation’ @ Aberystwyth University, 11-12 June 2026. Please do check out and share our #CfP. Deadline: 27 February 2026. #Earlymodern #Communication #History

I'm speaking at Christ Church Library on Wednesday 21 January! My talk will be on Elizabeth Boleyn's life, and the methodologies I used to tell her story: www.ox.ac.uk/event/elizab...

📢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-...

Sorry, he needed Gemini to tell him what his number plate was?!?

#OTD 1559, Elizabeth I was crowned Queen of England. The daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII, she is by far the most famous queen in English history. She was probably named for her grandmothers, Elizabeth of York and Elizabeth Boleyn.

📣 We’re hiring! The History of Parliament are seeking a Research Fellow for our House of Lords 1660-1832 project. @georgianlords.bsky.social We’re looking for a historian with a PhD in 18thC British political or cultural history to join our expert team. 🔗 Details below: #AcademicJobs #HistoryJobs

A very misty morning as I arrived to work 🌄

Come celebrate queer research with us! The History Faculty LGBTQ+ Network is hosting a social to celebrate the LGBTQ+ History Library Guide. Join us for a presentation by librarian Rachel D’Arcy-Brown @bodleian.ox.ac.uk and updates on upcoming events. Everyone is invited! #skystorians #history

British Library acquires archive of rural life writer and essayist Ronald Blythe

Easy to forget how early Portuguese involvement in the enslavement of West Africans was: 1441. By the mid-C16th, the country with the largest African slave population? Portugal, with more than 30,000 enslaved Africans working on the estates of nobles as well as religious orders.

Amazon is helping fund a $300 million build of a ballroom for the White House. Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity. They are not the same.

On 10 January 1480, Margaret of Austria was born in Brussels. The daughter of Maximilian I and Mary of Burgundy, Margaret’s life was shaped from infancy by dynastic ambition. Read more on IG! @ allthingstudors

In the aftermath of the Storm, a medieval snow scene painted in 1608. Hendrick Avercamp a Dutch painter specialising in winter scenes. A joyful painting of a day in Holland, when the river froze over and everyone strapped on their skates.

Someone’s not looked at a single early modern history book before opening their mouth, clearly. By 1600, over 4,000 immigrants lived in England’s second largest city, Norwich - one in three people in the city had not been born in England.

Grey skies and fog on my first day back at work this year ☁️

Indoor occupations for medieval women when the weather was cold. Carding and spinning the wool. Detail from the Luttrell Psalter.

Oh my gosh! "Elizabeth Boleyn" is the number one Women in History bestseller on Amazon UK 🥳 Thank you to everyone who has bought a copy. This is unbelievable ❤️

#OTD 1536, Katherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII, passed away at Kimbolton Castle. Unfortunately, we do not know how Elizabeth Boleyn felt about Katherine's passing, or if she made any public comments about her. Elizabeth had served in her household for over ten years.

Spotted "Elizabeth Boleyn" in the wild at Daunt Books in Summertown 📖 A great (and still surreal) start to the year ❤️

Celebrating once more the arrival of January 2026. A beautifully illustrated January page from a Book of Hours made c. 1500

Reminded of how Elizabethan the Labour Gov's policy is: in 1596 edict to expel black people as there were 'divers blackamoores brought into this realm, of which kinde of people there are allready here to manie' & their presence drove 'people of our owne nation' to 'idlenesse and great extremytie'.

From the Archives. On 30th December 1461, one year to the day after the fatal Battle of Wakefield, Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, held a 'year's mind' requiem mass in tribute to her husband Richard Duke of York who had died in the battle. It was held in old St Paul's in London.

And with that the 2025 Season Comes to an End. #HappyNewYear #janus #medievalsky @britishlibrary.bsky.social Add MS 36684, f. 1v

Depiction of the construction of the temple after the captivity, next to Psalm 95 BnF MS Grec 20; Fragmentary Psalter; Second half of the 9th century; f.4r @gallicabnf.bsky.social

What a year it's been! Thank you to everyone for your support for my debut book, "Elizabeth Boleyn". I was so nervous before it was published, but the positive reviews, kind comments, and podcast interviews have been truly overwhelming.

29th December is the feast of St Thomas Becket who was murdered in 1170 in Canterbury Cathedral by four knights of Henry II's court. Here we see the defacement of the image of his martyrdom. BL Add MS 21926; The ‘Grandisson Psalter’; c.1270-c.1280;England; f.13v

On this day 28th December 1461 Sir Thomas Holland, Earl of Kent, died in Rouen. He was the first husband of Joan of Kent. Sir Thomas was buried in the church of the Friars Minor at Rouen, his body later moved at Joan's bequest to the Church of the Greyfriars at Stamford in Lincolnshire.