iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

Absolutely thrilled that the panel I’ve organised for #LeedsIMC2026 has been accepted! Our panel focuses on agents of memory & memory as agent between #LateAntiquity and #Byzantium. Myself & my colleagues are so ready to meet everyone & listen to some incredible papers. #LeedsIMC #historian

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

Just 6 days left to apply to the 28th OUBS Graduate Conference! Full CfP is on the OUBS website!! Get those abstracts in!! #byzantium #byzantinestudies #oxford #graduatestudent #cfp #callforpapers #abstracts

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Wonderful but rainy trip up to Norwich to present at the #ChaseMEMRN 2025 Winter Conference. Fantastic panels & brilliantly pulled off by the organising team. Can’t wait for next year’s, when I’ll make sure it’s less of a whistle stop journey. #byzantinehistory #academic #academia

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Very appropriate word of the day from the TLG: συγχωνεύω / “to melt down.” Not inspired by any current events, I’m sure!

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

Finally got my hands on this beauty! @rhigarthjones.bsky.social Going to be binge read on my holiday & I can’t waiiit 😇😇😇 #romanhistory #classics

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

First day at Villa Romana del Casale yesterday!! Back again today to see more #mosaics. Absolutely floored by the quality and extent of preservation!! 🥹 #arthistory #mosaicmonday #romanmosaics #byzantineart #historian

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Soo pleased to say that I passed my Transfer of Status & I’m now allowed to call myself a #doctoralstudent! 😎 celebrating by having a nap & packing for my 5-day Sicilian road trip adventure… can’t wait to see the Piazza Armerina #mosaics for real! #historian #phdstudent #romanmosaics #arthistory

Image credits/ ©️Brad Hostetler licensed to share under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Plans to go to the library scuppered by the weather app claiming UV6 & 24 degrees… In other news, I have my transfer of status this Friday & prep for that, as well as my other writing, is all-consuming! But next week, #Sicily! #Oxfordstudent #byzantium #classics #booksky #historian #historybluesky

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

In just over 2 weeks I’ll be in #Sicily!! Other than the Piazza Armerina mosaics I am most excited for the #CappellaPalatina. Cannot wait to learn more about Sicily in #LateAntiquity & the #MiddleAges 💛⭐️ ©️ Liilia Moroz under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-... #arthistory #byzantium #historian

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

Easter Day 2 (Easter Saturday?) & my Easter-y #Byzantine #artwork is the #mosaic from Sant’Apollinaire in Classe. I’m obsessed w the goofy sheep. I adore sheep, so much so that I’ve not had lamb since I was 7! Pls consider donating to a sheep & lamb sanctuary this Easter, loads in the UK! 🫶🏼🐑

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

And if it isn’t him you’re wrong

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

It’s Good Friday! Fun to be an #Easter lover & #Byzantinist this year, bc it’s a Catholic/Protestant x Orthodox collab! To celebrate I’ll post an Easter themed #artwork a day, starting w/ this 6thc Paschal Calendar, showing the dates from 532-626 AD. 📍Ravenna, Italy. #byzantinehistory #historian

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Stuff is sad&bad rn, but my dad sent me photos of these votive crowns from 7thc #Spain & they’ve gotten me over some severe writer’s block that has been impacting my #novel progress, so I’m trying to focus on small wins. Humanity makes beautiful things & deserves more than this current moment.

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Late #mosaicmonday post — the ‘Tomb of Galla Placidia,’ one of the most beautiful sites of 5th-6th c mosaic artwork& architecture. 📍 #Ravenna, #Italy. #byzantinehistory #arthistory #lateantiquity #byzantium #historian

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

Sooo excited that my lil review of the #SilkRoads exhibition @ the #BritishMuseum is out now in the latest #ICMA newsletter! Give it a read if you’ve got a moment to spare 🫶🏼🪷 #arthistory #historian #byzantinehistory static1.squarespace.com/static/53a4b...

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Took a really delightful social media break to be present in my hometown for a while!! Back to regularly scheduled #LateAntiquity / #Byzantine / #History / #Art posting soon, but for now enjoy these snippets of the world’s greatest city, my beloved #HongKong / 香港 ❤️‍🔥🇭🇰 +852 forever!

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

#Women in parity w men in #LateAntiquity. Gold glass: Peregina w SS. Peter and Paul. Mid-4th c, glass & gold leaf.📍Metropolitan Museum of Art Donor portrait: Hethyme w St. Macarius. 4th/5th c, linen.📍Benaki Museum Panel: figure of a woman in ‘speaker’s pose.’4th c, bone.📍V&A #arthistory #byzantium

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Zone of chaos / zone of productivity. Need to finish my transfer of status referencing today!!! So very excited for this term to be overr 💛 #phdstudent #oxfordstudent #study #dayinthelife

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Local coffee shops are the best ☕️💚🔋🔫✅

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

Happy funny Sunday vibes despite my ongoing stress over DPhil work. My boyfriend made the most cartoon-like perfectly fluffy and aesthetic pancakes 🫶🏼 and my cat tried valiantly, again, to leave relative comfort for a life fighting foxes in the streets. It was sunny, too!

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Some bits & pieces over the last few days… trying to find moments of light in our newly dark times. #Spring has (sort of!!) sprung at least! 🌸🏛️🧚🏼‍♀️🌙 #phdstudent #oxford #dayinthelife

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

As of today I am attempting to start my mornings sans doom scroll by reading for 20-30 mins when I wake up. Book of choice is this excellent #history of Islamic Spain by Catlos. Highly recommend — well researched & eloquently written. #bookreview #historian #dayinthelife #oxfordstudent

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

Just presented my first ever #conference paper whilst on the verge of totally losing my voice!!! Relieved it got done & glad I got to revisit some of my MA work looking at the 8thc #mosaic at St.Stephen’s Church, Umm ar-Rasas #Jordan! #byzantinehistory #arthistory #byzantinebluesky #OUBS2025

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Wandering in the meadow yesterday 🌿🌿🌿

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

If there’s one thing this cat knows how to do it’s find a sunny spot and some freshly folded laundry and make himself comfortable

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

Finally handed in overdue work to my supervisor yesterday!! Possibly some of the worst writing I’ve ever done but trying to push through & focus on preparing for the #OUBS conference which is next weekend! 🫠 enjoying lil moments of joy with a bit of sun & one of my fave indy #oxford coffee shops.

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

What’s making me cry from #history today? Just this 6thc graffito from Justiniana Prima, with stick figures of a family. Note the little boy in the middle stretching his hands up to his parents 🥺🐥✨ 📍National Museum Leskovac, #Serbia #byzantium #skystorians #byzantinehistory Credit info in alt text.

Picture taken from C. Behling, ‘The So-Called Tomb of Eustorgios at Thessaloniki (Greece)’ (2015), p.215; originally: Institute of Archaeology (Belgrade), courtesy of Vujadin Ivanišević

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

I was up nice and early this morning to finish work for my supervisor (still not done 🤪) and wandered past #OxfordUniversity Press looking so pretty on my way to get caffeinated. Maybe spring will arrive sooooon 🫶🏼 #phdstudent #dayinthelife #oxfordstudent #skystorians 🕊️🍧🫧🌤️🌸

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Nutritious breakfast for mind & body!! Reading: R. El-Sayed & C. Fluck (eds.), ‘The Textile Centre Akhmîm-Panopolis ( #Egypt ) in #LateAntiquity) Eating: Greek yoghurt, passionfruit, bluebs, granola, seeds. I think I’ll do some more #PhDstudent #dayinthelife posting in the next few weeks!

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Finishing a report on #silkroads & returned to pics of this fantastic 6thc #fresco: 3 Parthian boys (hats!) set to be burnt at the stake by a Babylonian tyrant.Below are 3 youths in contemporary dress. Framed by SS. Cosmas & Damian. #arthistory #byzantinehistory #byzantinebluesky 📍 #britishmuseum

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

2day’s reading stack.. Can’t believe how much amazing material is in #papyri that I normally would never read! So much about women, trade, animals, etc., but also quite amusing in many places. Hardly the dull documentary sources I’d been lead to believe they were! #byzantinebluesky #ancientbluesky

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Had an emotional few days (re:The News™️), now coming down with a killer chest infection. Reminder that mental/emotional stress can manifest in the body. Picture sums up the #mood: Detail of a crying woman, from a relief sarcophagus (idk date!)📍Archaeological Museum #Istanbul #byzantinebluesky

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Great talk tonight at the #Oxford #LateAntique and #Byzantine seminar by my (brilliant) undergrad tutor & MPhil supervisor Phil Booth about John of Ephesus. Considering him as a member of a marginalised group of bishops operating “on the edge” in the 6th/7th c. So fascinating. #byzantinebluesky

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Hectic week ahead: supervisor meeting, #shortstory contest sub due, lots of drafting & writing to get on with. Going to be positive & carry on dancing, in the spirit of this amazing 5th/6thc #mosaic. 📍Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra, #Ravenna. #mosaicmonday #byzantinebluesky #history #lateantiquity

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Reading the “Designing Identity: The Power of #Textiles in #LateAntiquity” (ed.TK Thomas and J Ball, 2016)! ❤️ these pcs so much! 1. Child’s cloak 5-7thc, p58 2. Panel w/ femal bust 5thc, p35 3. Dionysian tapestry fragment 4/5thc, p91 #byzantinebluesky #ancientbluesky #history #historian #byzantium

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

Another great piece from #SilkRoads! An 11th/12thc #Cypriot #manuscript of the “Life of Barlaam and Joasaph,” or, the Life of the #Buddha! Showcasing how stories also travelled these trade routes & became interwoven with different cultures. 📍British Museum. #medievalhistory #cyprus #medievalart

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

Another mega-highlight of #SilkRoads for me: a Judeo-Persian document found in Khotan, China, 9thc. Written in New Persian, using Hebrew script, with some Sogdian, about sheep-trading. I can’t wait to do more research.📍British Museum. #medievalhistory #persianhistory #medievalbluesky #manuscript

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Finally went to see #SilkRoads. Wow. I’ll post some of my fave pieces over the next few days, but wanted to start with this #Byzantine wool coat, 6thc, heavily inspired by #Sassanian fashion. Made me oddly emotional seeing the preserved wool texture & colouring+gold thread.📍British Museum #byzantium

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

Oxford cloaked in Saturday’s icy fog. Maybe the coldest I’ve ever been in the city! #oxford #oxfordstudent #architecture

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

Back 2 school this morning!! As ever enjoying the lovely Radcliffe Camera ceiling!! Tasks for today include planning my next #substack, writing some words for my supervisor & finishing researcher ethics training that I got bored of last term… 🫥 #oxford #oxfordstudent #history

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

My final #bestof2024! My mum travelled to the ACT this year & saw the incredible Shellal Mosaic. A piece of the history I am passionate about, taken through colonialism to my homeland, marred by its own fraught issues of colonialism.📍National War Memorial, Canberra. #byzantinebluesky #history #art

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

#bestof2024 4: a hard to photograph 5thc weight, w two emperors, a ‘barbarian,’ and two standing female figures. I wrote about this weight for my MA & discussed its implications for transmitting imperial power far from the imperial centre!📍British Museum, London. #byzantinebluesky #ancientbluesky

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

3rd #bestof2024: 4th/5thc clay fish lamp. In the synthesis of Christian themes & close attention to lifelike natural characteristics, I can see clear artistic parallels to the naturalistic literary imagery of Basil the Great’s Hexameron.📍Byzantine Museum, Athens. #byzantinebluesky #ancientbluesky

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

Another #bestof2024: these incredible 6thc preparatory drawings for one of my favourite mosaics. So rare to see this stage of ancient/Byzantine art. Something so vulnerable and intimate about this sketched, faded state of work. 📍Museo di Nazionale, Ravenna. #byzantinebluesky #medievalbluesky #art

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

Took a couple days off over the New Year period, but now looking back on some of my #bestof2024. Starting with this 13th c S. Italian relief sculpture of St. Pantaleon. Byzantine influences aplenty & love the detail of the inlaid stones.📍Musée de Cluny, Paris. #medievalbluesky #byzantinebluesky

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

First time up in the mountains for skiing in Italy & saw this excellent building in town w some great heraldry. Obsessed with the chicken head one! If anyone has any insight into Dolomiti families / heraldry I would love to hear it! #dolomites #heraldry #italia

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Madeleine @empressofbyzantium.bsky.social · 27/12/2024

Last few Umbrian days before I head up to the mountains! Cortona in the sunshine / frescos in a small church in town / the Abbazia (10th century foundation) / view from a window, early morning sun. #italia #medievalbluesky #historybluesky #travel #umbria #tuscany

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