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Jonathan Willis

@drjpw.bsky.social
847 followers 547 following 18 posts

Associate Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Birmingham (UK): English Reformation; music; Decalogue; sin & salvation; puritans; parishes; emotion; archives; material culture. Gay husband & cat dad; choral singer; aspiring pianist; nerd.

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Reposted by Jonathan Willis
Dr Laura Sangha @lsangha.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
📢**NEW** MANY HEADED MONSTER POST!📢 A little case study where I apply rigorous, critical thinking to a very modern matter 🗃️ #Humanities manyheadedmonster.com/2026/09/22/a...
manyheadedmonster.com
A plea for critical thinking humans in our world of extremes
Laura Sangha A companion piece to: What is history for? Or: Doing history/thinking historically The train to Totnes this weekend was full of late holiday makers heading for Cornwall. They were grat…
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The Material Culture of Wills Project @materialwills.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
📢AUTUMN NEWSLETTER OUT TODAY📢 This edition includes an important update on some changes to the team that impact the project's future. Those on our mailing list should have a copy in their inbox, for others see below, or DM your address to receive a pdf. #EarlyModern 🗃️ #DigitalHumanities #HTR
Page 1 of the autumn 2026 wills project newsletter. Two headlines can be see: project leader professor Jane Whittle elected to the British Academy's Fellowship'. 'Key Update: Project's legacy is secure'. Page 2 of the wills project autumn 2026 newsletter. the head lines are: national recognition for Chris and Laura's collaboration, and 'The Landmark Trust Bath Retreat'.
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The Material Culture of Wills Project @materialwills.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
📢PROJECT UPDATE📢 You may have seen the news that the University of Exeter, home of the wills project, has placed 500 academics at risk of redundancy. The project leader Prof. Jane Whittle & project co-investigator Dr Laura Sangha are both at risk, alongside almost all of the History department. 1/
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Mark Hailwood @markhailwood.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
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...
manyheadedmonster.com
The Experience of Work in Early Modern England III: ‘Ploughmen go whistling to their toils’
This post is part of a series that marks the publication of The Experience of Work in Early Modern England. The book is co-authored by monster head Mark Hailwood, along with Jane Whittle, Hannah Ro…
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Mark Hailwood @markhailwood.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
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...
manyheadedmonster.com
The Experience of Work in Early Modern England I: Winter is Coming
This post is part of a series that marks the publication of The Experience of Work in Early Modern England. The book is co-authored by monster head Mark Hailwood, along with Jane Whittle, Hannah Ro…
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Dr Laura Sangha @lsangha.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
📢NEW MANY HEADED MONSTER POST📢 A series of posts to celebrate the publication of a really important new study of work in #EarlyModern England, by Jane Whittle, Mark Hailwood, Hannah Robb, Taylor Aucoin. Just off to fetch a 'burden of wood'. 🪵🪵🪵🪵🪵 🗃️
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Mo Moulton @momoulton.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Some big news: the University of Birmingham is launching a new MA in Gender & Sexuality. It's interdisciplinary, with a focus on combining theory & practice. It's going to be amazing. I'm convening it: message or email with questions. www.birmingham.ac.uk/study/postgr... @unibirmingham.bsky.social
birmingham.ac.uk
Gender and Sexuality MA - University of Birmingham
Course information for prospective postgraduate students on our MA History taught masters degree programme at the University of Birmingham.
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German Historical Institute London @ghilondon.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
#CallforApplications 📣 The GHIL awards a number of #scholarships to #postgraduate students, Habilitanden and #postdocs at German universities to enable them to carry out research in Britain. Scholarships are generally awarded for a period of up to three months. 📜 1/3
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Jonathan Willis @drjpw.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
Are you curious about the potential for archival practices to shape the study of emotion; why there are letters in the English State Papers labelled 'mad'; or how the culture & politics of Elizabethan England shaped people's experience of distress? Find out here! doi.org/10.1017/S008... #earlymodern
doi.org
‘your poore distressed suppliant’: ‘Madness’, Emotion and the Archive in Early Modern England | Transactions of the Royal Historical Society | Cambridge Core
‘your poore distressed suppliant’: ‘Madness’, Emotion and the Archive in Early Modern England
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Jonathan Willis @drjpw.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Contrasting musical choices for Good Friday!
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Jonathan Willis @drjpw.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
How did living through a period of violent religious change transform people’s experience of distress? What new light does a history of emotions approach shed on our understanding of the English Reformation? For answers see my new OA article in the JEH! doi.org/10.1017/S002...
doi.org
‘Strange Enthusiastical Exhortations’: Distress, Religious Identity and the English Reformation | The Journal of Ecclesiastical History | Cambridge Core
‘Strange Enthusiastical Exhortations’: Distress, Religious Identity and the English Reformation
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Dr Laura Sangha @lsangha.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
📢NEW POST: Visual Culture in #EarlyModern England📢 Today Adam Morton considers what historians should do with the alien and often cruel humour of past ages that he finds in in satirical prints 🗃️ #Skystorians manyheadedmonster.com/2025/02/27/p...
manyheadedmonster.com
Printed Images, Laughter and early modern History
This is the first guest post in the new monster mini-series Visual Culture in Early Modern England (read the introduction here). To begin, Adam Morton considers what historians should do with the a…
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Dr Laura Sangha @lsangha.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
📢NEW MANY-HEADED MONSTER SERIES📢 Today I introduce 'Visual Culture in #EarlyModern England', a series that celebrates the relaunch of the brilliant 'British Printed Images to 1700' database and showcases historians' use of printed images. 🗃️ #Skystorians manyheadedmonster.com/2025/02/24/a...
Screenshot of the front page of British Printed Images to 1700. Printed images border the screen on both sides, in the centre is the website title and various links: About, Search, Resources, Research.
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Dr David Barton @davidbartonmus.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
CONCERT REVIEW | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Overall, the programme was intriguing and brave, and the Birmingham Bach Choir delivered a committed and stylistic performance of these challenging works, for which the whole team should be congratulated. www.davidbartonmusic.co.uk/concert-revi...
davidbartonmusic.co.uk
Concert Review: Birmingham Bach Choir, The Rainbow Comes & Goes (November 2024) - David Barton Music
In many respects, this concert was never going to be easy as we and about 35 other music-lovers battled Storm Bert, the German Market and the craziness of the Birmingham Christmas shoppers to make it ...
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Angela McShane @angelamcshane.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
New Book coming out! boydellandbrewer.com/978183765166...
boydellandbrewer.com
From the Margins to the Centre in Seventeenth-Century England - Boydell and Brewer
Collection of essays showcasing how one of the greatest historians of seventeenth-century England has shaped and continues to influence the direction of stud...
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Jonathan Willis @drjpw.bsky.social · 13/03/2024
Pevsner on Brum: 'There have been no dramatic events in the history of Birmingham, and only a few national heroes. But there has been the constant industry and ingenuity of many people, which has gradually gathered momentum to establish a great city.'
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Jonathan Willis @drjpw.bsky.social · 13/03/2024
The first in what's likely to become a series of occasional posts with (linguistic rather than architectural) gems from Pevsner's 'Buildings of England'. On Bedworth, Warks: 'A depressing small town. The church, though neutral, is architecturally too good and too solid for it.'!
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Jonathan Willis @drjpw.bsky.social · 24/12/2023
Merry Christmas everybody, I hope you have a lovely time, whatever you are doing, wherever you are, whoever you are spending it with!
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Jonathan Willis @drjpw.bsky.social · 05/12/2023
Thrilled that Tara Hamling's and my article 'From Rejection to Reconciliation: Protestantism and the Image in Early Modern England' is now available to view open access on the Journal of British Studies website! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
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Dr Laura Sangha @lsangha.bsky.social · 27/11/2023
Routledge are having a 25% off sale! You could buy @drjpw.bsky.social and my guide to finding and working with #EarlyModern primary sources 🗃️ www.routledge.com/Understandin...
routledge.com
Understanding Early Modern Primary Sources
Understanding Early Modern Primary Sources is an introduction to the rich treasury of source material available to students of early modern history. During this period, political development, economic...
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Jonathan Willis @drjpw.bsky.social · 22/11/2023
A rosy-fingered dawn in south east Birmingham this morning!
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Brodie Waddell @brodiewaddell.bsky.social · 21/11/2023
"The Rabble that Can Write" *NEW* post from @markhailwood.bsky.social giving you a taste of the many, many different ways people left their mark (ha!) in #EarlyModern England: manyheadedmonster.com/2023/11/21/t...
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Dr Laura Sangha @lsangha.bsky.social · 17/11/2023
Mark's arrival means all the monster heads are here now, polluting these once blue skies ... #EarlyModern 🗃️ @brodiewaddell.bsky.social @drjpw.bsky.social
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Jonathan Willis @drjpw.bsky.social · 05/11/2023
Autumn in full swing!
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