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Helen McKee

@helenthev.bsky.social
494 followers 339 following 208 posts

Research Fellow @ies-sas.bsky.social. Likes dead languages and medieval manuscripts. She/her. Photograph by @katecarpenter.bsky.social.

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Reposted by Helen McKee
Helen Gittos @helengittos.bsky.social · 16h
Coming soon to @britishlibrary.bsky.social - Conquest: The Making of Norman England 1 Oct 2027 - 27 Feb 2028 events.bl.uk/exhibitions/...
events.bl.uk
Conquest: The Making of Norman England | British Library
Beyond the battlefield lies a story of ambition, upheaval and reinvention. Spanning the generations before and after 1066, this exhibition traces the impac
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Jesse Sheidlower @jessesword.com · 01/10/2026
Attention everyone I know! Perfectly accurate, no notes. (Forwarded to me; ultimate source unclear.)
Image headlined "WHAT YOUR FAVORITE OBSOLETE ENGLISH LETTER SAYS ABOUT YOU", with thumbnails of MSS focusing on thorn, eth, wynn, yogh, ash, insular G, and long S; each one has the label "You are a nerd."
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Dr Eleanor Baker @eleanormaybaker.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Well...the 'wulf' is out of the bag. Professor Daniel Wakelin and I were the Middle English consultants for Robert Eggers' upcoming film Werwulf, in UK theatres on January 1st 2027!
An image of a screenshot from a webpage from IGN that reads 'Eggers did copious amounts of research on England in the 13th century for the screenplay, he co-wrote with his The Northman collaborator, Sjón. The film’s dialogue is in Middle English, although it’s been altered by dialect coach William Conacher to make it more comprehensible for the modern ear. Eggers also worked with two Middle English scholars at Oxford University, Eleanor Baker and Daniel Wakelin, who helped make the dialogue more period accurate.'
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Institute of English Studies @ies-sas.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Come along to SAS Festival of Research and Engagement 2026 on Thursday 8 October for a lively day of discovery, conversation and inspiration. Find out more here: www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
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Garth Marenghi's Catbus @catbus.phd · 30/09/2026
don't bother addressing a congregation unless you're in the baroque creature pulpit
Baroque pulpit ca. 1750, rebuilt 1856, Parish church in Dobroszów.

a fanciful scaled sculpture where the serpents open mouth serves as the pulpit
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Ennius @enniusredloeb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
September 29th is the Feast of St Michael and All Angels. Here is depicted the company of angels: Seraphs, Cherubs, and Thrones. BL Royal MS 6 E IX; Convenevole da Prato, Carmina regia; c1335 CE; Italy (Tuscany); f.6r @blmedieval.bsky.social
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Elizabeth Boyle @thecelticist.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Substack post by Ranke de Vries which not only shows that AI won't be taking over Medieval Irish Studies any time soon (thankfully), but also makes an eloquent case in favour of sitting with the difficulty of manuscript transcription. #MedievalSky rankedevries.substack.com/p/ai-and-med...
rankedevries.substack.com
AI and medieval Irish manuscripts
Just no.
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Helen McKee @helenthev.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Starting the week helping at an infant school assembly (theme: The Lost Sheep) which enabled me to deploy some of the sheep collected by my son 🐑🐑🐑 #tinyjoys
Nine cuddly sheep of varying appearance (brown face / pink face / grey face / white hooves / brown hooves / red cravat / blue cravat etc), arranged in a heap on a trestle table in a school hall. There is a tenth sheep (belonging to the vicar) out of shot.
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Kate Carpenter @katecarpenter.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
To everyone who has been following this story for the last few years, who has offered words of support, or written to say that the work has touched them, my heartfelt thanks. The next chapter is coming soon.
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Charlie Rozier @rozierhistorian.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Cutting-edge fashion with @laurajcleaver.bsky.social and @lvhicks.bsky.social ! www.theguardian.com/fashion/2026...
theguardian.com
From bling and birds to ‘really fancy armour’ – the best dressed characters of the Bayeux tapestry
Medieval experts talk us through the fashion of the near-1,000-year-old embroidered work, and what it says about the characters wearing it
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Myriah Williams @myriahwilliams.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
When you take a sip of coffee from your travel mug and realize it's hot water
A depressed and embarrassed looking face in a historiated initial. Beneath it a bird chews on its leg. Oxford, Bodleian MS Auct. D. 2. 16, fol. 102r
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Carin Ruff @carinr.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
🚨📚📜🚨 "With a chirograph, Pope Leo has granted the Vatican Apostolic Archive and Vatican Apostolic Library an additional area within the Vatican City State, and asked that a new building be constructed."❗️ www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news...
vaticannews.va
Pope orders expansion of Vatican Apostolic Archive and Library - Vatican News
Given the increase in the Holy See’s bibliographic holdings and documentary production, the Pope expands the Vatican’s archive and library, and asks ...
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Ennius @enniusredloeb.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
21st September is the feast of St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. Bodleian Library MS. Auct. D. 2. 16; Gospels; 10th century; France, Brittany, Landevennec; f.28v @bodleian.ox.ac.uk
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Dr. Heather Hinam 🍁 🇨🇦 @secondnaturemb.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Sunrise song. You'll want the volume up for this one, but not too high. Every coyote within a half kilometre radius decided to make themselves known this morning while I was enjoying the sunrise from the kayak. A truly magical moment. #mammals 🌿
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Ennius @enniusredloeb.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The autumnal equinox is only a few days away. BL Add 18856; Guyart des Moulins, Bible historiale; c.1420 CE; France, Central (Paris); f.5v @blmedieval.bsky.social
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The Parker Library @parkerlibcccc.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Curious what the exhibition is all about? Your chance to see some exceptional early medieval manuscripts - mainly from pre-1066 world & the #BayeuxTapestry, some even from the time before Charlemagne (d. 814) & King Alfred (d. c. 886) & the Viking invations! 📖 www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/articles/art...
corpus.cam.ac.uk
The Art of Handwriting
Our Art of Handwriting exhibition focuses on Humfrey Wanley (1672–1726) and his calligraphic work on some of the oldest manuscripts at the Parker Library
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Laura Cleaver @laurajcleaver.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Happy prawns for breakfast before sauntering along a cliff day to all who celebrate! #otd #RegencyLife
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Helen McKee @helenthev.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Reading with my cat. #tinyjoys
A large tabby cat, striped dark brown and caramel with a white chin, lies on his side on a chair covered with a crocheted purple and white blanket. His eyes are slits, his front legs are stretched out straight in front of him, and he looks very relaxed.
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Hannah Booth @hannahbooth.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Nice story from the other coast
bbc.com
Lost oyster beds rediscovered thanks to Gaelic and Scots language
Scientists searched for the inclusion of the Gaelic and Scots words for oyster or oysters in place-names around Scotland's coast.
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Jen Wilshaw 🌻 @wilshaw755.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Just sharing this now — because once you see #HowToGetFilthyRich on Channel 4, you’re going to want to sign it. It’s time to tax wealth, not work. Add your name and help make wealth taxes the first item on the new PM’s list. you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/de...
you.38degrees.org.uk
Dear future Prime Minister: It's time to tax the super-rich
Just sharing this now — because once you see #HowToGetFilthyRich on Channel 4, you’re going to want to sign it. It’s time to tax wealth, not work. Add your name and help make wealth taxes the first it...
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Roger Reynard @rogerday.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Name a non-LOTR character who could resist the One Ring.
George Smiley giving a mean look at Bill Haydon
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North Ages @northages.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Coming soon to British Library, London - Conquest: The Making of Norman England events.bl.uk/exhibitions/...
events.bl.uk
Conquest: The Making of Norman England | British Library
Beyond the battlefield lies a story of ambition, upheaval and reinvention. Spanning the generations before and after 1066, this exhibition traces the impac
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Reposted by Helen McKee
New-Cleckit Dominie @ncdominie.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I trust that this will come in both a hardback edition and a hardback (definitely not cursed) edition. Protagonists who buy the former will have only themselves to blame.
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Dr David Rundle @drdavidrundle.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Ahead of the launch today of the manuscript fragments of Guernsey, on which @tamarajatkin.bsky.social and I have been working with the Island Archives for the last couple of years, I have written up one of my favourite finds: lostmss.org.uk/highlights - Hidden Devotion on Guernsey
lostmss.org.uk
Highlights | Lost Manuscripts
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Elizabeth Boyle @thecelticist.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I wrote something on anger, today and in medieval Ireland. #MedievalSky #OpenAccess #Speirgorm #Spéirghorm www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
De Ira | Public Humanities | Cambridge Core
De Ira - Volume 2
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Prof Ben Pohl @benpohl.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Snap! My new article on the risks taken by medieval monastic scribes will come out in the same issue. I had great fun researching and writing it, and I hope people will enjoy reading it!
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Simon Blackburn @simonrblackburn.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Two unusual sights in Egham this lunchtime: a GWR locomotive, and rain!
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Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
In 1914, Aurel Stein unearthed an extraordinary textile fragment at ancient Loulan in the Tarim basin - showing the unmistakable face of Hermes. A Greek god, discovered in a desert cemetery in what is now western China 1/5
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Dr Sian Witherden @sianwitherden.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I’m pleased to share that records for parish churches and chapels are now available on Medieval Libraries of Great Britain - mlgb.bodleian.ox.ac.uk #provenance #manuscripts @bodleian.ox.ac.uk
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Helen McKee @helenthev.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Fascinating discovery! Here’s a link to the MS illustrated (the CCCC MS where sheeppox was identified is the Corpus Glossary, CCCC 144). mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/B...
mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk
B.10.5 - The James Catalogue of Western Manuscripts
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Helen McKee @helenthev.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
theguardian.com
The Bayeux tapestry: a stupefying, thrilling, horrifying masterpiece that shakes the earth
The greatest battle ever depicted in art is here at last – and it hurtles along, making your heart pound with its sense of doom and destiny, culminating in fires and corpses on a battlefield full of p...
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The New World @thenewworldmag.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Back in Britain for the first time in nearly 1,000 years, it has much to say about faith, nationalism and the apparent magic of AI ✏️ Matthew d’Ancona
thenewworld.co.uk
The Bayeux Tapestry’s medieval message for our times
Back in Britain for the first time in nearly 1,000 years, it has much to say about faith, nationalism and the apparent magic of AI
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Helen Gittos @helengittos.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Patron saint of London's remains could lie under Tudor garden
Could a Shropshire Tudor mansion hide the remains of Bishop Erkenwald, the patron saint of London?
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Critical Texts @criticaltexts.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Nearly 3 years after the British Library cyberattack, images of its Greek New Testament manuscripts are slowly returning online—and the restored images are now available under public domain. What's back, what’s still missing, and what can we learn from the recovery? criticaltexts.com/nearly-3-yea...
criticaltexts.com
Nearly Three Years After the British Library Cyberattack: What Happened to Its Greek New Testament Manuscripts?
On October 28, 2023, one of the world’s most important research libraries effectively disappeared from the internet. The attack was not a temporary outage: it crippled the British Library’s digital…
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lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
It's being treated as a policy victory that we have less of the world's smart young people coming to learn from us, participate in our society and economy. This is just so depressing to me, it feels like a complete victory for know-nothing ignorant bigotry over enlightened sensibilities.
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Maria Strutz @mariastrutz.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
'Fox Moon' In celebration of today's lunar eclipse #FoxMoon #FoxFriday #FoxoftheDay 🦊🌿🌔
fox running from right to left. a full moon with two crescent moons on either side. The fox has several tails streaming behind them, some take on the shape of the crescent waxing moon on the right, some of the tails could also be ears of corn. Linocut, feathery orange red, white and black, Maria Strutz
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James D'Emilio @demiliopics2.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
For St Augustine's feast (Aug. 28), the saint's image on the first page of a mid 12th cent. #manuscript of his Expositions on the Psalms. It was a gift of Cosimo de'Medici to the Dominican convent of San Marco, Florence Now Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, San Marco 622, inv. 207349 #MedievalArt
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Weather & Radar @weatherandradar.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
🌕 Those with an early start tomorrow morning could be in for a treat... if the clouds part. The Moon turns red as a partial lunar eclipse peaks just after 05:00 am. Read more: to.weatherandradar.co.uk/blood-moon #BloodMoon #LunarEclipse #Weather
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Ashmolean Museum, Oxford @ashmoleanmuseum.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
This “skidding goat” vase was likely made in Iran c.3500 BCE. Similar jars were made at settlements in mountain valleys that connected Mesopotamia in the west to Iran.
An ancient vase decorated with lines and a 'skidding goat'.
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It's ME(Jaime) @exceedhergrasp1.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
One of the more obscure facts I remember about Dolly Parton is this: just like Star Trek would not exist without Lucille Ball, Buffy would not exist without Dolly Parton. She was a silent producer of the movie and show. That's why Buffy Summers has the same birthday as Dolly: January 19.
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Clare Downham @downham.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
Bromborough: a #Wirral site linked to the Battle of Brunanburh AD937. At least 15 fragments of #Viking Age sculpture were discovered in 1800s. Most have been dispersed or destroyed. In the churchyard of St Barnabas, you can see 3 fragments made into a single monument in 1958 #medievalsky #merseyside
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Dr David Rundle @drdavidrundle.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Tell me what you know about the literary culture of medieval Guernsey, then read this article with some exciting #manuscript #fragment news. What has made this such fun is collaborating with Guernsey's archivists and the ever-excellent @tamarajatkin.bsky.social : www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Manuscript fragments hiding in plain sight shed light on medieval Guernsey’s literary life
Researchers say texts from 12th to 15th centuries ‘hint at a culture which has not even been imagined’
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Institute of English Studies @ies-sas.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Coinciding with the 180th anniversary of the publication of Dombey and Son in October 1846, this year's Dickens Day Conference will focus on how the concept of family informed Dickens’s life and works. ⏰ Saturday, 10 October 2026, 10am-5pm 📍 Senate House, London BOOK NOW 👇
ies.sas.ac.uk
Dickens Day 2026 - ‘Dickens and Family’
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Adam Roberts @adamroberts.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
An Asimovian Triptych. profadamroberts.substack.com/p/an-asimovi...
profadamroberts.substack.com
An Asimovian Triptych
Foss’s Foundation
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Dr Danny Bate @dannybate.com · 24/08/2026
On this day in antiquity: the final known text in Egyptian hieroglyphs is written down. These two texts from Roman Egypt, written in hieroglyphs and Demotic on the Nile island of Philae, are short, but they nonetheless give us their author's name and their date of creation: August 24th 394 AD.
A crude drawing of the god Mandulis from Hadrian's Gate at Philae, accompanied by a hieroglyphic inscription (above right) and a demotic inscription (lower right)
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Myriah Williams @myriahwilliams.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Optimist: The cup is half full Pessimist: The cup is half empty Palaeographer: The cup is a scribal error for tuþ
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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 21/08/2026
in this week's newsletter! I spent 2,500 words trying to figure out where I stand on as many of the big feminist issues of the day I could think of before losing my mind: youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/behold-my-... [free to read!]
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Clare Downham @downham.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
#medievalsky
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Elaine Treharne @etreharne.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Imagine! Your referee is only C.S. Lewis, and this is how he closes: ‘On the personal side, he would prove a very agreeable colleague. I have known him for several years and I have never heard of anyone who did not like him.’ (Speaking of the wonderful Neil Ripley Ker.)
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Medieval Manuscripts @blmedieval.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Hwæt! A new edition of the Electronic Beowulf has been released by Kevin Kiernan (University of Kentucky). You can explore it here: ebeowulf.uky.edu Beowulf is one of our greatest literary treasures, and the unique manuscript is held at the British Library.
ebeowulf.uky.edu
Electronic Beowulf 5th ed
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