Sign in

Catherine Fletcher

@catherinefletcher.info
12K followers 1.8K following 3.1K posts

Writing history, usually in Manchester, when possible in Italy. 'Renaissance skulduggery' - The Guardian. THE FIREARM REVOLUTION out now. Previous books include THE BEAUTY AND THE TERROR; ROADS TO ROME.

PostsRepliesMedia
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 6h
Classic British question here, is this the Royal Family or the high street clothes shop?
0270
Reposted by Catherine Fletcher
Fininho @fino76.bsky.social · 9h
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
How a great English city sold itself to Abu Dhabi’s elite – and not even for a good price | Aditya Chakrabortty
Manchester’s Labour council let Sheikh Mansour buy up acres of public land for seemingly a fraction of its worth, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty
065
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 12h
I mean is anyone surprised when academics are constantly being told that we need to bring in research money, commercialise this, internationalise that?
bbc.co.uk
UK research funded by China front company being sent to Beijing's spies, MI5 warns
British universities are being urged to sever ties with China General Technology Research Institute which is linked to the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS).
1195
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 29/09/2026
writing an article that I have mentally titled 'Why Renaissance Men Should Be Cancelled'
1190
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 28/09/2026
Went to get a copy of the 1503 Cantino map and fell down a rabbit hole trying to read its caption for the Strait of Hormuz. I'm pretty sure you can get figs, almonds, alum and horses there, plus some other things I can't make out. Close-up at the link: medea.fc.ul.pt/view/chart/1...
Cantino map, 1502, showing Europe well, Africa pretty well and bits of the rest of the world in varying quality. The Americas have a partial west coast. No Australia.
090
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 28/09/2026
I'm seeing some of this trend in public history as traditional writing and media opportunities get squeezed. The big Fane events but also a lot of mid-list live events and classes.
070
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 28/09/2026
Screenshot from J-Stor. The publisher in question is Sage, which has risen in my estimation this morning.
Screenshot of a corner of J-Stor reading "AI Research Tool - Unavailable". The cursor hovering over the information icon explains that this is "Unavailable for this item because the publisher has limited its use."
0357
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 28/09/2026
My plan to retire to London looking ever more feasible
ft.com
How London became the property market’s black sheep
Capital’s once-relentless property boom has gone into reverse
2290
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 27/09/2026
Some cheery news amid the general gloom of university life: I’m delighted to be speaking at the Hay Festival, Arequipa, in November www.hayfestival.com/arequipa/home
Picture of a tree-lined square with a large white baroque building in the background
2191
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 26/09/2026
AfD and CDU councillors in action
bbc.co.uk
German town bans stumbling stone memorials to Nazi victims
Germany's education minister has branded the ban on the small brass memorial plaques a "scandal".
54618
Reposted by Catherine Fletcher
John Bull @garius.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
my legit goal with the Untitled History Podcast is to replicate what I had as a kid the first time I discovered In Our Time on the radio. I want people to listen WITHOUT caring about what the topic is. To feel that magic, and thrill, of just trusting it will be interesting. And learning cool stuff.
1012612
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 25/09/2026
In case you're looking for a good time, it's Verona with the Catullus airport
3185
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 25/09/2026
I had fun consulting on this new card game - out this week. Play as a historic royal court - but don't lose your head.
Box of cards with double-headed design of a king and queen, labelled OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!Booklet open to page showing illustration of Mary Tudor and text about her life.Pack of cards cut at one showing a lavish feast including a peacock and the words "Honours himself eoth a feast"Card showing image of King's Executioner with a large sword and the words "Behead any played character"
1294
Reposted by Catherine Fletcher
Hugh Brechin @hughrbrechin.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
we've got to stop Liz Truss from finding out about this at all costs
1413922
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 25/09/2026
Had some fun writing this - lots of thoughts on how the Spanish royal experience set them up to respond particularly badly to Henry's reasons for his divorce from Catherine of Aragon
193
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 25/09/2026
to be fair, certain authors should be fired from the literary cannon
2508
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 25/09/2026
Flights from Manchester almost never connect through Heathrow anyway
142
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 24/09/2026
tfw you're sitting for the family portrait and trying not to roll your eyes
Woman (Mary of Burgundy, in a portrait c. 1520) rolling her eyes. She has pale skin, dark eyes and delicate features. She is wearing an elaborate jewelled headdress in a dark yellow colour and we can just see her necklace.
38110
Reposted by Catherine Fletcher
Dr Ben Wilkinson-Turnbull (He/They) 🏳️‍🌈 @benwt.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Call for papers! “Reading Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Religion and Politics: Marginalia and Manuscripts” @rorymaclellan.bsky.social and I are putting together a panel for next year’s SRS conference in London. Deadline for 200 word abstracts is tomorrow Please get in touch and repost!
11918
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 24/09/2026
Listening to the reports on this on #wato now and it really is jaw-dropping
051
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 24/09/2026
Microsoft Outlook has started launching with a Copilot panel that asks me if I need help reading my emails and I have to resist yelling at it that I am a University Professor who has Written Several Books and Do I Look Like I'm Semi-Literate?
3560
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 23/09/2026
no-one was in to sign for them so they just left them on the doorstep
0100
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 23/09/2026
Commuting distance from my work too
180
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 23/09/2026
Go to Google, search vam.ac.uk battle of muhlberg plate, get a confident AI declaration that I want the Wallace Collection instead and no, AI, I do not, the plate is online here. Grrr
collections.vam.ac.uk
Dish | Unknown | V&A Explore The Collections
Dish depicting the battle of Mühlberg (1547), made in Urbino, Italy, about 1555-60, tin-glazed earthenware.
1122
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 23/09/2026
Postdoc role with my philosophy colleagues: full-time, 27 months (to March 2029), on the project 'Contragestive Time: Pregnant Uncertainties in Fertility Control'
manmetjobs.mmu.ac.uk
Senior Research Assistant (History and/or Philosophy of Science) - (9194) | Manchester Metropolitan University Careers
All about Manchester Metropolitan - an exciting, modern university in the heart of one of the UK's great student cities.
010
Reposted by Catherine Fletcher
Medievalist.net @medievalists.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Korea’s Oldest Firearm Discovered During Landmine Search www.medievalists.net/2026/09/kore... #militaryhistory #Korea
medievalists.net
Korea’s Oldest Firearm Discovered During Landmine Search - Medievalists.net
A small bronze firearm discovered during a landmine search in South Korea has been identified as the country’s oldest surviving gunpowder weapon.
0155
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 23/09/2026
Someone should do a long read on the politics of migrant boats in Italy because a lot of what we’re seeing in the UK echoes what‘s gone on there for years. This was over twenty years ago (and the successors of this guy are still in government): www.aljazeera.com/news/2003/6/...
2196
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 21/09/2026
I'm entertained that there's a Cardinal Allen school involved in this because the actual Cardinal Allen did, in effect, set up a multi-academy chain (it didn't make him popular either)
bbc.co.uk
More schools shut for strikes over Catholic academy plans
Schools in Lancashire and Merseyside will strike this week over Catholic academy plans.
052
Reposted by Catherine Fletcher
Katherine Weikert @kateweikert.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The Hole Roman Empire: same or different to the Holy Roman Empire? Wrong answers only.
761
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 20/09/2026
I will happily be filmed walking round Renaissance period heritage sites complaining about the interpretation and telling you all how it should be done
3601
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 20/09/2026
Lovely to be in the company of @rhigarthjones.bsky.social at the Villa Giulia/Etruscan Museum shop
Books in a museum gift shop, including among others All Roads Leas To Rome and The Roads To Rome.
1312
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 18/09/2026
If I was paying over £9k a year plus interest to be taught by world-leading researchers and then found those researchers were delivering generic courses rather than discussing their world-leading research, I might well wonder why
1407
Reposted by Catherine Fletcher
David Hewson @davidhewson.com · 17/09/2026
And joining Suzy - @catherinefletcher.info
163
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 17/09/2026
Fortunately I only have a very small pension with this company because this does not give me confidence
040
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 17/09/2026
Good to see @historytoday.com making the case for history in universities.
historytoday.com
Why Does Academic History Matter?
The study of history at UK universities appears to be under existential threat. Should anyone care?
02613
Reposted by Catherine Fletcher
Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
No change, however, at the #WolfsonHistoryPrize. My annual thread returns ⬇️
2136
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 16/09/2026
Wandering through the Castel Sant'Angelo and mentally composing the queer history tour
Freize showing multiple naked merfolk and humans frolicking in water.
180
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 15/09/2026
if teenagers still went to bars they’d be getting Claude to code a fake version of this app
170
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 14/09/2026
So, as we're talking about middle-class kids going into vocational jobs, a shout-out for the sixteenth-century family who hired an Abruzzese street bandit to get their sons in shape for military service
48515
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 14/09/2026
In the library this morning working on an article about interpersonal violence and I've found that rare thing (at least for my period) - threatening letters from the perpetrator.
2371
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 13/09/2026
Spent today in Orvieto, where underneath the famous frescoes I saw the basement where they dump bits that have fallen off the cathedral. Thread:
Bits of stone and leafy decorative bits of columns in a heap
27414
Reposted by Catherine Fletcher
Tudor Times @thetudortimes.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
The first presentation in the Tudor Times Summit Henry VIII and his In-laws bit.ly/4wOdTnn will be with @melitat.bsky.social She will be talking about the importance of family networks at the Tudor court. @catherinefletcher.info @enortonhistory.bsky.social @drlindaporter.bsky.social
bit.ly
10-11 October Online Summit: Henry VIII and his in-laws – Tudor Times
Join Tudor Times for two consecutive afternoons of talks on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th October 2026 4pm London time from six experts discussing Henry VIII and his in-laws with an introductory talk ...
043
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 13/09/2026
due to budget constraints, they’re relying on a new 007.ai
161
Reposted by Catherine Fletcher
Terence Tao @teorth.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
A group of 25 Fields Medalists, including myself, have made a joint declaration on Math and AI: mathandai.org . We welcome additional signatories. See also this article in the Economist announcing the declaration: www.economist.com/science-and-...
mathandai.org
Declaration — Math and AI
Read the declaration and add your name.
422052926
Reposted by Catherine Fletcher
William Carruthers @williamcarruthers.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I think the essential point here is right: people who have lost communities don’t know why they’re doing the job anymore
24416
Reposted by Catherine Fletcher
Vincenzo DM @vincenzodm.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Remarkable: due to the fires in the High Fens in Belgium, a road, probably built between the late 6th c. and early 8th c., that connected Liège with Aachen has resurfaced. Photo: HBVL
311922
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 09/09/2026
tfw you’d like to put together a conference panel or two but a bunch of the most relevant contributors have no access to university funding to support their participation
2160
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 09/09/2026
Who or what is a Navier-Stokes?
241
Reposted by Catherine Fletcher
Colin Rose @crosehistorian.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
If you were to scroll through there you'd see my buried lede: my project, "Mapping Crime and Conflict in #earlymodern Italy" was awarded 5 years of pretty good funding to create and analyze spatial datasets of Florentine and Bolognese archival materials. I am excited and terrified. 2/4
3174
Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 08/09/2026
So tempted to write back to everyone* emailing about my latest book to ask what impact it has had on them. * every AI
141