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Philippa Carter

@extispex.bsky.social
418 followers 170 following 13 posts

Assistant Prof in History of Health and Medicine before 1800 at Cambridge Department of History and Philosophy of Science. Interested in brains, minds, bodies, souls, all that stuff.

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Reposted by Philippa Carter
Cambridge University History Faculty @camhistory.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
"What makes a woman a witch? Financial independence" Recent Guardian feature on the label ‘witch’ and how it's been used through history covers Dr Philippa Carter’s research into witchcraft allegations in the 16th and 17th centuries. @extispex.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
theguardian.com
What makes a woman a witch? Financial independence
Women aren’t being burnt at the stake any more, but there is still risk and violence implicit in the label ‘witch’
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Philippa Carter @extispex.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
My first book is finally out! Here's a blog post about it: cambridgeblog.org/2026/07/fren...
cambridgeblog.org
Frenzy in Early Modern England: Madness, Brain Disease and the Soul
In the last decade of his life, my paternal grandfather suffered from undiagnosed vascular dementia. During those years, we saw sudden changes in his speech, mood, personality and behaviour, ranging f...
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Reposted by Philippa Carter
Cambridge University History Faculty @camhistory.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Explore new books from Cambridge historians: ➡Selling the Word of God by @harryspillane.bsky.social ➡The Oxford Illustrated History of the United States ed. by @nicholasguyatt.bsky.social ➡Frenzy in Early Modern England: Madness, Brain Disease and the Soul by @extispex.bsky.social Discover more⬇️
New books from Cambridge historians: From ancient Rome to modern Britain, discover the latest titles
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Reposted by Philippa Carter
The English Historical Review @enghistrev.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Philippa Carter @extispex.bsky.social reviews 'The Basque Witch-Hunt: A Secret History', by Jan Machielsen @janmachielsen.bsky.social @bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social @bloomsburyhist.bsky.social academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-...
academic.oup.com
The Basque Witch-Hunt: A Secret History, by Jan Machielsen
‘Witches aside, Pierre de Lancre saw many other strange things as he travelled down the Basque coast during the summer of 1609.’ This surreal opening line
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Reposted by Philippa Carter
Prof. Elaine Chalus @profelainechalus.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
Postdoctoral Research Associate (16th-18th century focus) - Inclusive Histories - Royal Holloway #skystorians 🗃️#earlymodern #c18th jobs.royalholloway.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
jobs.royalholloway.ac.uk
Job Opportunity at Royal Holloway University of London: Postdoctoral Research Associate (16th-18th century focus) - Inclusive Histories
Full-time, Fixed Term (12 months)Applications are invited for the post of Postdoctoral Research Associate in the School of Humanities.Inclusive Histories is a collaborative research and schools engage...
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Reposted by Philippa Carter
Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
"It’s not your job to be resilient, it’s your employer’s job to provide you with decent working conditions. The purpose of your hobbies and your free time is your enjoyment and fulfilment, not recuperation from work stress."
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Adam Mosley @adamjmosley.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
I know Sebastian Muenster's Kollegienbuch (1514-1515) has been studied by historians of cartography and geography. Does anyone know if it has been studied by historians of astronomy, instruments, and practical mathematics? Because... (a picture thread).
A paper astrolabe attached to the page of a bound book. The instrument is coloured with yellow green and red washes over the rete and limb; the lettering and symbols are handwritten. The instrument is supported on the page by two Atlas-Hercules figures: bearded, with leaf-crowns in their hair, and furry animal skin for clothes.
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Emily Rowe @emilyrowe1.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
We’ve extended the deadline to submit an abstract for our colloquium on early modern war narratives! Please share widely and send us your abstracts! #earlymodern #history
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Philippa Carter @extispex.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
beeees
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Reposted by Philippa Carter
Brodie Waddell @brodiewaddell.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
'a parish register is to be understood not narrowly as a list of vital events, but expansively as a record of parish memories' Ian Atherton has a new #OpenAccess article on #EarlyModern parish registers, attending to their archival and social context. #WrittenWorlds 🗃️ doi.org/10.1080/0268...
Screenshot of article by Ian Atherton in The Seventeenth Century, entitled '‘Chronicles of many strange Occurrences’: early modern English parish registers and the memories of local communities'

Abstract: English parish registers listing baptisms, marriages, and burials are commonly source mined for curiosities, but are rarely examined holistically. Building on recent work that has seen sixteenth-century registers as records of memory, this article analyses registers across the long seventeenth century (c.1580–1720) to show how the memories they contained – of individuals, communities, and the nation – were produced and understood. Registers were often local chronicles showing the continued vibrancy of the chronicling tradition. Where, however, scholars have argued that communal memories were designed to create a ‘usable past’ focussed on preserving economic rights, this article argues that such a past needs to be seen much more expansively. Parish registers existed in multiple schedules of time and hence a register as chronicle was a means not merely of fixing memories in calendrical time, but of making sense of the place of individuals and communities in the divine order of creation.
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CEMS KCL @cemskcl.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Teaching the Early Modern: A Webinar Series! CEMS will be hosting three online sessions on teaching practices and strategies. We'll have three sessions through the spring: 23rd April, 29th May, and 19th June. Full details below! kingsearlymodern.co.uk/events/teach... @kingsartshums.bsky.social
kingsearlymodern.co.uk
Teaching the Early Modern - Webinar Series — CEMS KCL Blog
A series of webinars on teaching the early modern, from building syllabi to using digital repositories to site visits.
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Philippa Carter @extispex.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
And this beaut! Admittedly it hasn't hit the shelves yet, but soon... soon...
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Philippa Carter @extispex.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Excuse me while I get all excited about books that have appeared in my absence... but I remember when this book was but a twinkle in its author's eye! Congrats Kristof!! Can't wait to read it! @kristofsmeyers.bsky.social
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Dr Lucy J.S. Clarke 🇵🇸🏳️‍⚧️🌈 no human is illegal @lucyjsclarke.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
fancy a bit of legal history, law and literature, and practice-as-research? come to my @leverhulme.ac.uk-funded workshop at @sheffieldcems.bsky.social on the 23rd May. featuring libels, process-serving, facsimile documents, lewd remarks and document eating! tinyurl.com/4ras5xtv please share widely!
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Farradeh ✨️ @farradeh5.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
Please share this call for respondents! I am researching the history of disability at Cambridge, looking at how the uni did/did not adapt for disabled students.
Call For respondents:

Exploring the history of accessibility at the University of Cambridge

If you
- studied at Cambridge From 1970-2000
- considered yourself a disabled person/person with disabilities

Then you are qualified to participate in our study!

Email fm607@cam.ac.uk for more information!
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Philippa Carter @extispex.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
This coming Monday at 11am I'll be giving a talk at KCL's Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, entitled 'Unshared perceptions: a historical perspective'. All welcome! @kingsioppn.bsky.social @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social #histmed #histpsy
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Philippa Carter @extispex.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
I didn't realise how much I'd missed this little corner of the internet! Thank you for rebuilding it #SkyStorians
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Reposted by Philippa Carter
Dr Xinyi Wen @drxinyiwen.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Enjoyed all the milk and mould in this article (as well as the nod of the ‘doctrine of signatures’) Follow our @extispex.bsky.social for more! 🗃️ #EarlyModern #HistSci #HistMed
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