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Kate Wiles

@katemond.bsky.social
7.8K followers 327 following 295 posts

Medievalist, linguist, manuscript botherer ❧ Co-Editor of History Today ☞ LOST VOICES (Penguin/Stanford, forthcoming, one day) ❧ Posting in a personal capacity ❡

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Reposted by Kate Wiles
Carole Bruce @cabruce.bsky.social · 22h
"There is nothing out there. There is nowhere to go. You go to the GP and there's nowhere for them to send you to. It's really at the back of the queue as far as research, knowledge, expertise, funding." The Olympic sprinter now bedbound for 22 hours a day with #ME www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athlet...
bbc.co.uk
Beth Dobbin: British Olympic sprinter in bed for 22 hours a day after ME diagnosis
Beth Dobbin ran for Great Britain at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Five years on, she is largely bedbound after being diagnosed with ME, a devastating illness for which there is no cure.
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Evan @evansmithhist.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
Today I found out that Umberto Eco crafted a version of this meme in the 1980s…
Beware the
alibi of photocopies ! Photocopies are indis-
pensable instruments. They allow you to keep with you a text you have already read in the library, and to take home a text you have not read yet. But a set of photocopies can become an alibi. A student makes hundreds of pages of photocopies and takes them home, and the manual labor he exercises in doing so gives him the impression that he possesses the work. Owning the photocopies exempts the student from actually reading them. This sort of vertigo of accumulation, a neocapitalism of information, happens to many. Defend yourself from this trap: as soon as you have the photocopy, read it and annotate it immediately. If you are not in a great hurry, do not photocopy something new before you own (that is, before you have read and annotated) the previous set of photocopies. There are many things that I do not know because I photocopied a text and then relaxed as if I had read it.
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
I suspect the database disappeared several years ago - the last mention of it I can find is 2016! So it might be unsalvageable. Thank you, though!
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Oh interesting, that’s very good to know, thank you
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Oh wow, thank you so much. I'll also try contacting the institution in case they have it archived somewhere.
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
I didn't know about that, thank you! I can't see it there, but as I'm affiliated it with SAS I might contact them and see if they still have it somewhere.
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Saaaame!
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
I'm going to try some friends in the same field first, before I make a public plea! Fingers crossed!
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
It's incredible to think how fragile so much of our knowledge is...
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
When they're there and you can access them they're GREAT! But maybe we need to bring back physical media...
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
They used to be here - but possibly a very long time ago! www.history.ac.uk/projects/res...
history.ac.uk
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
All very true. Although I’m not sure ‘obsolescence’ was the right word here. It’s often that these things are hosted by universities who stop supporting them as soon as the project funding ends or a specific member of staff leaves. And then all the work just disappears.
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
I've got the url! 404 error and not on the wayback machine. And the scholar doesn't seem to have an institutional profile or email address that I can find. Academia in 2026 👍👍👍
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
If you heard that wail just now it was me realising that yet again I’ve been foiled by academia’s inability to account for digital obsolescence. An entire database of transcriptions no longer exists anywhere. I’ve found FOUR LINES of it quoted elsewhere
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Even better news! Who's the publisher? I'll keep an eye out.
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Peter Sokolowski @petersokolowski.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I'm thrilled to announce my upcoming book: BY DEFINITION: The Surprising History of the English Dictionary To be published in February! read.macmillan.com/lp/by-defini...
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
So exciting, congratulations! This looks great.
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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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Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Exciting new finds on the English immigrants living in early 10th-c. Rome.
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Elizabeth Boyle @thecelticist.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
"What the islanders discovered were extensive burial grounds, decorated stonework and early buildings – all the features belonging to a major sixth-century monastery, comparable to the much better known site of Iona a little to the south-west." #MedievalSky www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
theguardian.com
‘Hugely exciting’ finds on tiny Scottish island shed light on spread of Christianity
Community-funded archaeological excavations of ‘really important’ sixth-century monastery also rewrite story of Lismore
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Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I give up. I’m moving into a cave.
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History Today @historytoday.com · 30/09/2026
#Wikipedia turns 25 this year. Its success was not a given and reveals much about our changing relationship with information online. ⌛️ Last chance to read this article for free buff.ly/Nzb5RF0
buff.ly
25 Years of Wikipedia
Wikipedia turns 25 this year. Its success was not a given and reveals much about our changing relationship with information online.
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James Alistair Henry @jamesbluecat.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Waterstones have picked Pagans as one of their Paperbacks of the Year, so in all stores at 20% off!
Cover of Pagans, as one of Waterstones' Paperbacks of the Year
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
If they're looking for publications to subscribe to I have a suggestion
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Jordan @jordanpfot.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I accidentally spent £17,700 on 400 subscriptions to the LRB for Home Office staff and now the Life in the UK test is asking applicants to rank Derek Jarman films from most to least emotionally resonant?
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Here's today's column on the astonishing, ongoing mistreatment of people with #ME/CFS. Please spread it far and wide: the only thing which can break the media's wall of indifference is seeing an article about the issue go viral. Thank you. 1/2 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Abandoned, dismissed and gaslighted: there is no excuse for the way ME sufferers have been betrayed | George Monbiot
Changes in guidance and science seem to have little impact on millions of devastated lives. It’s a social crisis playing out behind closed doors, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Excellent piece on the Carolingians by @jtpmedieval.bsky.social in the new (October 2026) @historytoday.com issue. It includes a discussion on Charlemagne's rise, some crises he faces, the impact of the Vikings on the Carolingian empire, and the fall/end of the empire.
The first two pages of the article. The page on the left is the title page. It says the title, which is "Franks Fall Apart" followed by a blurb from the author, James T. Palmer. The blurb says "The Carolingian Empire was consolidated by one of Europe's most celebrated kings, but Charlemagne's death meant that decline was inevitable". The page on the left shows a large image of Charlemagne. The image is actually a golden reliquary in the shape of Charlemagne's upper chest and head. Charlemagne is wearing a crown with jewels. This reliquary is from the fourteenth century and contains part of Charlemagne's skull.The first full page of text of the article on the left side. On the right side is a twelfth-century image of the Carolingian Family Tree from the Chronicon Universale by Ekkehard of Aura.
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
how do I report a post for bullying me, specifically
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Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
21,627 applications for the Marie Curie early career fellowships.
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Len Scales.bsky.social @lenscales.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
It matters because it teaches scepticism. Not exclusive to university history, of course. But we teach it (or we should) from day one. Why believe this? For what purpose was it said / written? Instinctive questioning. In an age of fakes, frauds and liars I can't think of a more relevant discipline.
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Dr Selena Wisnom @lswisnom.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Thrilled to be shortlisted for the Wolfson History prize! Writing accessibly about history has always mattered to me, and it's an honour for Mesopotamia to be recognised in this way. I hope it helps more people get into the subject.
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Dr Francis Young @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
It’s incredible to have ‘Silence of the Gods’ shortlisted for @wolfsonhistory.bsky.social, and I’m so pleased that the largely forgotten history of northern and eastern Europe’s last pre-Christian religious traditions is finally receiving the attention it deserves 📚
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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
In 1965, an American scholar bought her first stolen god from two boys outside a Kathmandu temple. Grains of rice were still stuck to it — offerings from worshippers. She paid less than $2 and wrote in her diary: "I don't think the temple will miss it at all." 🧵 www.himalmag.com/mary-slusser...
himalmag.com
Mary Slusser’s secret loot of Nepal’s sacred art and heritage
A US scholar made her name as an expert on Nepal’s cultural heritage – while illicitly buying sacred artefacts and smuggling them out to the United States
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Francesca Tinti @francescatinti.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
At long last, my article on Languages, Identities and Communication in the Age of Bede has come out in the EHR. And it is open access! academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-...
academic.oup.com
Languages, Identities and Communication in the Age of Bede*
Abstract. This article seeks to address the underexplored role of language as a marker of identity in the early medieval period by focusing on England in t
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History Today @historytoday.com · 17/09/2026
Congratulations to the nominees in the 2026 @WolfsonHistory Prize. You can find reading related to four of the shortlisted titles in the History Today archive. #WolfsonHistoryPrize 1/5
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Vivienne Dunstan @vivdunstan.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Lost oyster beds rediscovered thanks to Gaelic and Scots language www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
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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Matt Muir @mattmuir.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
@jonnelledge.bsky.social Hello man, in case you were still curious about all the AI botspam this is a good explainer of the current wave of the phenomenon (I have had 23 of these emails since Friday): tedium.co/2026/09/11/i...
tedium.co
The Worst Spam Emails: Inside iLands' AI Agent Hustle
iLands, a new AI agent-centric startup, is spamming creatives like me numerous times a day. What do its agents want? My job. Why? They need to buy more tokens.
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
but what if it was a Bad Thing?
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Annalisa Nicholson @apuddleofmuddle.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
It's just weird isn't it when the British Museum is running a sold-out exhibition, when The Odyssey reports $1billion at the box office, when the V&A has just opened the most innovative and accessible museum model in Europe....and this is what our minister for research comes out with.
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
1066 And All That continues to be the most accurate and important work of history writing ever published
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Prof Ben Pohl @benpohl.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
This may well be the best write-up of where we are in terms of up-to-date scholarship on the Bayeux Tapestry. Great work, English Heritage!
english-heritage.org.uk
The Bayeux Tapestry and St Augustine’s Abbey
St Augustine’s Abbey in Canterbury has long been celebrated for its contribution to English Christianity. But could it also have been the birthplace of one of history’s most famous artefacts – the Bay...
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Dr Rebecca Tyson @tyguson.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
William the Conqueror died on this day in 1087. To mark the occasion, here is a rather left-field Brittany Ferries advert for the city of Caen showing the abbey of Saint-Étienne where William was buried. #MedievalSky
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Rebecca Rideal @rebeccarideal.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
So, @amyfuller.bsky.social and I have been a little busy. Hope you enjoy!
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Brodie Waddell @brodiewaddell.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
*Many hands of every sort* I've got a 10-page feature in the latest @historytoday.com on the emergence of mass petitioning in late Tudor & early Stuart England. Tons of people adding their 'hands' to complaints and requests for the first time! #EarlyModern 🗃️ www.historytoday.com/archive/feat...
Opening page of an article entitled 'Many hands of every sort'First page of text of an article which begins: "On 11 December 1640 a crowd of more than 1,000 people arrived at Parliament to present a complaint, later to be known as the Root and Branch petition. It asked that the ‘government’ of the Church of England, ‘with all its Dependencies, Roots and Branches, may be abolished’. Calling on Parliament to dissolve the entire Church hierarchy was a radical act, but the petition was particularly unprecedented as it was signed by about 15,000 named individuals. It did not come from the City of London or any other official body, but from thousands of people ‘in and about’ the metropolis, each adding their own mark of support to the great ‘roll of names’."
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Rebecca Rideal @rebeccarideal.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
🚨 ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨 So excited to announce my brand-new podcast series with the brilliant @rakshadigs.bsky.social – BURIED EVIDENCE. Each episode we’ll dig into the past and find stories of murder, true crime and mystery. Listen wherever you get your podcasts! shows.acast.com/buried-evide...
Thumbnail for my new podcast Buried Evidence. The picture has the podcast title and pictures of Raksha Dave and myself, Rebecca Rideal.
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Kate Wiles @katemond.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
And there’s a second, past me, trying to trip me up and taking away vital rolling logs
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History Today @historytoday.com · 26/08/2026
A sophisticated ninth-century forgery became a core part of Church law. Its influence endured for centuries – even after its deceit was accepted. 🔒 Edward Roberts’ new article is now in the archive buff.ly/EjSgF5C
buff.ly
The Medieval Forgery at the Heart of the Church
An audacious forgery in the ninth century helped transform the papacy and the medieval Church. Its influence persists today.
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Rebecca Menmuir @rebeccamenmuir.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Is there a handy list or publication of medieval manuscripts produced IN Oxford, pre-1500? Out of my depth here bibliographically. @obs1922.bsky.social?
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Alice Lilly @aliceolilly.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
If I were a person in the past writing a document that may be looked at by historians one day I would simply have legible handwriting
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yaoi gagarin @mel.bzky.team · 12/07/2026
well okay so the english won against the norwegians but in only a few days theyll have to face the french. anyway thats quite enough about September 25th 1066, lets look at some football news
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