iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Medievalist.net @medievalists.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

📜 31 medieval manuscripts from the Czech National Library are now online! From medicine and astrology to prayer books and medieval law, take a look at what’s inside. Read more at www.medievalists.net/2026/08/medi... #MedievalManuscripts

medievalists.net

31 Medieval Manuscripts from the Czech National Library Now Available Online - Medievalists.net

The Czech National Library has put 31 medieval manuscripts online, including rare medical, religious, legal and scientific texts.

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Senator Heidi Campbell @campbell4tn.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Heartbreaking for Tennessee & the world. A beacon of light- she was a doyenne not just of business and music- but of compassion, empathy, civility, dignity, self-deprecating humor, & all the good things that make people love people- what a loss for us all. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/25/a...

nytimes.com

Dolly Parton, Country Music Superstar Whose Songs Spoke to Millions, Dies at 80

Known for her outsize persona, appearance and talent, she rose from rural poverty to become a top-selling singer, songwriter and entrepreneur.

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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

In the Renaissance people theorized, since the Aeneid is great, if you wrote poems made only of words & phrases from the Aeneid rearranged they should be great too, since a great source regurgitated should yield greatness. They produced NOTHING we still read. Thinking about that a lot lately.

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Steven Teasdale @steventeasdale.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

My latest paper "Commercial Networks, Colonialism, and Acculturation: The Genoese Lomellini Family in Lisbon, Madeira and the Canary Islands, 1420s–1550s" was published earlier this year in "Atlantic Italies: Economic Entanglements between the Americas, Africa, and the Mediterranean" #earlymodern

The first page of the article titled "Commercial Networks, Colonialism, and Acculturation: The Genoese Lomellini Family in Lisbon, Madeira and the Canary Islands, 1420s–1550s"

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The British Academy @britishacademy.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Our Chief Executive, Hetan Shah, argues in the Financial Times that now is the moment to embrace the humanities, not retreat from them. Read more: bit.ly/4vxfGMQ

bit.ly

We need humanities more than ever in the age of AI

Subjects like literature, languages and history are vital to a thoughtful and prosperous society

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Christine Kooi @christinekooi.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

The dream of the medieval Dukes of Burgundy finally fulfilled.

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Duncan Hardy @hrehistorian.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Some professional news: as of August I’ll be a member of the Department of History at the University of Tennessee. I’m delighted to be joining a wonderful interdisciplinary community of medievalists and early modernists at UT’s Marco Institute. Let me know if you’re ever in Knoxville! #medievalsky

Entrance sign for the Marco Institute at the University of Tennessee.

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Joschka Meier @josserme.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

In 1394 two villages quarreled about pastures in court When the matter was settled, they got a fancy written copy of the ruling... ...which then got gobbled up by some hungry 🐛 and the villages had to ask, hat in hand, if they might get a new copy I really like "etliche loͤchly darinen geessen" <.<

Screenshot of parts of my dissertation where I discuss the case (in German) in the context of how alpine villages aquired, preserved and transmitted knowledge. Or rather in this case persevered in their attempts to do so!

Unsure if bugs eating documents would count as #animalhistory or #envhist but it's very medieval-coded I'd say

Text in the picture: "ihre Nachbarn von Danusa um die Neuabschrift eines Urteils zu einem Weidestreit, welcher sich zwischen diesen Gemeinschaften zugetragen hatte. Das Urteil war im Jahr 1394 gefällt worden und der Urteilsbrief sei ihnen vor etlichen Jahren «von hand komen» und wurde dann «nit wol versorgt, da durch das unzibel der schaben etliche loͤchly darinen geessen». Ein wichtiges Detail hierbei ist, dass sich beide ehemalige Konfliktparteien um eine bestätigte Abschrift des von Schaben zerfressenen alten Urteils bemühten. Theoretisch hätten Jenaz und Danusa den Verlust des alten Urteils auch als Gelegenheit nutzen können, um eine Neuverhandlung zu verlangen oder eine für sie vorteilhafte Deutung unklarer Stellen zu versuchen. Dies hätte jedoch zu einer neuen Konfliktsituation geführt, während die beiden vormals konkurrierenden Gemeinschaften offenbar Stabilität bevorzugten und deshalb um die erneute Verschriftlichung des alten Urteils ersuchten.
Mit einem Urteilsbrief aus dem Jahr 1516 geschah Ähnliches im Jahr 1607: Jede Gemeinde der Grafschaft Werdenberg schickte Delegierte zum Landvogt, um ihn zu bitten, den alten Urteilsbrief von 1516 zum Auftrieb von Ziegen zuerst vorzulesen und dann eine offizielle Kopie anzufertigen. Das Original sei inzwischen «kümerlich zu lessen» und konnte deshalb offenbar nicht mehr länger seine stabilisierende Funktion erfüllen"

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Len Scales.bsky.social @lenscales.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Just appalling what is being proposed at Exeter: please sign and circulate. c.org/NvFWPSKhQb

c.org

Sign the Petition

Stop Redundancies at the University of Exeter

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Duncan Hardy @hrehistorian.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Arguably one of the most charismatic objects in world history. Always worth a visit when in Vienna. #medievalsky

The crown of the Holy Roman Empire in the Schatzkammer, Vienna

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Duncan Hardy @hrehistorian.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Today I’m crossing the entire Holy Roman Empire from west to east, with a first leg through the heartlands of the medieval French royal domain, Champagne, and Lorraine, then through the territorial and imperial cities of königsnah Upper Germany, and finally the duchies of Bavaria and Austria.

Deutsche Bahn app itinerary for Paris to Vienna train journey

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Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

* ha ha ha ha * The year is 1503, and this jester is laughing at you from his woodcut, reader!

A jester laughing in a woodcut from 1503. The woodcut features a text: ha ha ha ha.

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Duncan Hardy @hrehistorian.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

The ruins of Halesowen Abbey, fl. 1218-1538. Much studied for its detailed manorial court records, exploited very effectively by Zvi Ravi, whom I had to read as an undergraduate. Never visited until now, though I grew up in nearby Birmingham.

Photo from of Halesowen Abbey’s ruins from the adjoining public footpath.

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Duncan Hardy @hrehistorian.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

I’m really looking forward to this workshop on “The Sale of Governance (1100-1600)” in Vienna next week! Hope to see some members of the great #medievalsky community there.

Sale of Governance workshop program, 19-20 June

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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

I've been staring at this for hours & am still dumbstruck that this is decipherable. I bow down to the great skill of our colleagues who work w/ 15thC texts. But I remain glad that I get to retreat to the comfort of my 11th & 12thC caroline minuscule. #MedievalSky

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Ruth Atherton @ruthatherton.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

So, a few days ago I submitted my manuscript. I'm excited, exhausted and feeling somewhat bereft... But it's done and I have thoroughly enjoyed sitting out in the lovely sunshine today feeling guilt free and relaxed! #earlymodern #reformazing #skystorians #andbreathe

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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 17/03/2026

"I’m very worried about what is being destroyed. We’re all extremely worried, because what we’re seeing is the ad hoc closure and drastic cutting of many, many departments across the country." Historian Lyndal Roper in today's THE: bit.ly/4sqsfJ2 #Skystorians 1/2

bit.ly

Lyndal Roper: ‘Drastic’ cuts to UK humanities risk brain drain

Newly crowned winner of Holberg Prize raises alarm over job losses and shuttering of courses across UK

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Suhrkamp Verlag @suhrkamp.de · 14/03/2026

Jürgen Habermas ist heute im Alter von 96 Jahren in Starnberg verstorben.

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weird medieval guys @weirdmedieval.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

gambling monk, germany, 15th century

a drawing of a monk wearing dark glasses and rolling dice at a table

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Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

A friend has asked me to share this petition to defend the Classical Languages major at Iowa, which is slated for closure despite having 18 majors. If ancient languages aren't supported at universities, where will they be? www.change.org/p/keep-the-c...

change.org

Sign the Petition

Keep the Classical Languages Major at the University of Iowa

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Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 26/02/2026

Hello Bluesky! My new book, THE FIREARM REVOLUTION, is out on 14 April. It’s about how a new technology changed society, and how hard it was to control. Here’s a little thread of what’s inside:

Cover of book with text in yellow reading: The Firearm Revolution: From Renaissance Italy to the European Empires, overlaid on an image of an angel in seventeenth-century dress with wings and a long gun.

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Dr. Erika Graham-Goering @jeanneologist.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Which brings me to the real masterstroke, which is that this is not just a book about history, it's a book about why and how we *do* history. This paragraph made me punch the air. This, right here, is why I'm a medieval historian.

Screenshot of a book paragraph with underlined text: "The excitement of these studies, much like the excitement of a fantasy or science fiction novel, is glimpsing details of a different way people could live... Humans are awesome, and the different ways we've lived are awesome, worth studying simply for themselves, like nudibranchs, glacier formation, the Basque language, or comets, even if they don't give us deep insights into our origins or how to live our lives." A marginal note reads "yes!".

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Duncan Hardy @hrehistorian.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

This is a few minutes' walk from where I was born and grew up... when I was in primary school we visited Sarehole Mill to learn about how Tolkien was allegedly inspired by it when writing The Hobbit. (This was before the Tolkien mania unleashed by the New Line Cinema movies.)

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Francois Soyer @fsoyer.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

I am very sorry to hear of the passing of my PhD supervisor at Cambridge Professor David Abulafia. A very talented historian as well as a great supervisor and mentor who gave me sound career advice when I needed it. May his memory be a blessing. www.cai.cam.ac.uk/news/david-a...

cai.cam.ac.uk

David Abulafia (1949-2026)

Professor David Abulafia CBE has died. He was 76.

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Karl Galle @karlgalle.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

New book mail yesterday, @hrehistorian.bsky.social's translation of collected documents from medieval & Reformation Germany, via the @manchesterup.bsky.social 40% off sale: 😃 📗 manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526165893/ #MedievalSky #EarlyModern

Paperback edition of Duncan Hardy, "Law, Society and Political Culture in Late Medieval and Reformation Germany."

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Duncan Hardy @hrehistorian.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

The beautiful, mostly 12th-century Priory of Our Lady in Cunault on the Loire. A masterpiece of late Romanesque/very early Gothic architecture, with late medieval frescoes still visible. It speaks to the wealth of this region that even modest villages could support such enormous church buildings.

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Duncan Hardy @hrehistorian.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Beheld the stunning Tapestry of the Apocalypse in Angers, commissioned in the late 14th century by Count Louis I of Anjou. Lots of crypto-portraits of English villains (like the Black Prince with his ostrich feather). And a Holy Roman Emperor with an accurate crown among the heavenly martyrs!

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Duncan Hardy @hrehistorian.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

After seeing her effigy countless times in textbooks, I finally visited the gisant of Eleanor of Aquitaine (and Henry II and Richard the Lionheart) in person at Fontevraud. The abbey suffered enormously during the French Revolution, but the restored space is still breathtaking. #medievalsky

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Duncan Hardy @hrehistorian.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

Enjoyed visiting beautiful Chinon today - a medieval castle town near the Loire, where Joan of Arc first met the Dauphin in 1429, and the fortress now hosts a permanent exhibit on the uses of Joan’s image through the ages. The 15th-century church of Saint-Étienne also warrants a visit. #medievalsky

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Carl Müller-Crepon @carlmc.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

🚨 History buffs of the Holy Roman Empire: We built an app to visualize rulers' itineraries between 919 and 1519 based on the Regesta Imperii. Thank you @albertwendsjo.bsky.social for all the help! Explore here: carlmc.shinyapps.io/hre-itinerar... Please let us know of any issues and feedback!

carlmc.shinyapps.io

Rulers on the Road

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Dr. Erika Graham-Goering @jeanneologist.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Palaeography 🧵! Or why it can take a historian a while to confirm what they already suspected must be the case and not really get any further than they were—but this time with confidence 😂 I'm working with documents that list the incomes of medieval French lordships, so a lot of it is about grain.

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Duncan Hardy @hrehistorian.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

It’s publication day for Law, Society and Political Culture in Late Medieval and Reformation Germany! At last, the key sources from the Holy Roman Empire - laws, treaties, and polemics - are available in English translation. #medievalsky #earlymodern manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526165893/

Front cover for the new entry in Manchester Medieval Sources, Law, Society and Political Culture in Late Medieval and Reformation Germany.

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SigiAl - Sigillographie de l'Alsace @sigialsace.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

#LeSceauDuMardi a trouvé un petit dragon ! 🐉Caché derrière l’écu d’Albert II de Habsbourg, il nous montre comme il est féroce ! Il s’agit de son sceau comme Duc d’Autriche et les armoiries sont celles d’Autriche. Une belle découverte de 1337 à Mulhouse. sigilla.irht.cnrs.fr/238862 #Medievalsky

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John Sabapathy @jwwsabapathy.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Chapeau to @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social for his wonderful new book which has just arrived, an amazingly global and ecumenical volume, in all senses! Beautifully produced by OUP (and before publication day!?). A spur to others!

Front cover of Charles West's Europe in the Eleventh Century

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Duncan Hardy @hrehistorian.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

Agree. In the best case, it's even a bit like having a reasonable conversation with other scholars who tried to have a reasonable conversation with the old self that was doing the screaming.

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Duncan Hardy @hrehistorian.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

By the mid-fifteenth century, gunpowder weapons (both bombards and arquebuses) were so widespread in German-speaking Europe that they might be casually illustrated in a manuscript on completely unrelated topics. Hans Vintler, Blumen der Tugend (1469). Forschungsbibliothek Gotha, Chart A 594.

Manuscript image of a cannon-master (Buchsenmeister) firing a bombard at a building, while in the upper left a handheld firearm is set off by an armoured foot soldier.

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Christine Kooi @christinekooi.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

I too prefer the text over the video, and over the podcast for that matter. I can read much faster than I can watch or listen. But then I'm a 20th-century fossil in an increasingly post-literate culture.

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Duncan Hardy @hrehistorian.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

How to reconcile crusading and anticlerical sentiments in one humanist funeral oration: "Oh, if only Maximilian were still alive! He would have mustered such wide-ranging efforts that it would already be over with the rough neck of the Turks. [...]

O si viveret Maximilianus. Tam promiscua sese instruxisset opera, ut actum esset iam de crudo Turcarum collo. Nam si Romani pontificis decimationibus sub christianismi iugum Turcae mitti possent, iamdudum essent sine gladio et hasta devicti. Germania tandem sapit vacuo ventre legatum remittens apostolicum.

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Dr Francis Young @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

The title of this book is 419 words long. Authors, become ungovernable.

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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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John Warner @biblioracle.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

My job now is to go school to school, university to university trying to help them sort through the challenge of teaching in a world with AI and the first thing I recommend to improve the teaching of writing is cut the number of students per instructor in half. No one is going to do that, though.

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elena tischikreissäge @dieallerletzte.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

jacques derrida jacques derriweg

gleiches bild aber er ist weg retouchiert

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Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Looking forward to teaching a short course on digital approaches to (medieval) history in the autumn. Does anyone have any favourite things they'd recommend the students read?

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Mary Lewis @profmarylewis.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

All of this is not to say that transcription software can't be useful, but that you actually need to know something about the context in which a document is produced. This is what historians specialize in. 9/?

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Karl Galle @karlgalle.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

For anyone interested in a just-the-documents-and-books focused study of Johannes Gutenberg, this new biography by Eric Marshall White for the Reaktion's "Medieval Lives" series is very good: bookshop.org/p/books/joha... #medievalsky #BookHistory

Me holding my copy of Eric Marshall White's book, "Johannes Gutenberg: A Biography in Books"

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Thiago Krause @thiagokrause.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

As always, Ted Chiang is great in this interview. cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...

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