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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 10m

Yet another unrealistic body standard for women in this Costco add.

A woman in a bathing suit is resting face down in the water with her feet pointing in the wrong direction, i.e. as if her feet pointed behind rather than in front of her.

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Reposted by Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦

Sameer Ashar @sameer-ashar.bsky.social · 6h

This is my nephew, please forward to your networks, esp any University of Maryland students.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 10h

Today’s masterpiece that I made with my kid’s building blocks: a turtle and a crocodile.

Two four-legged creatures made out of multicoloured building blocks. It’s a stretch to say they look like a crocodile and a turtle, but I’m sticking with it.

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Reposted by Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦

Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

This is an interesting thread. Also, at the end of it there's a link to the open-access article Katz wrote.

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Reposted by Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦

Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Jedi knights existed in the Middle Ages. Here's one with a lightsaber depicted in the 14th-century Luttrell Psalter. 🧵1/2

A person is standing at the front of a wagon with a stick/whip to drive the horses. The wagon is loaded with hay and two people are behind the wagon pushing it.
Reference: BL, MS Additional 42130.

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Reposted by Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦

Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Made a model of a bed for billionaires out of my kid’s building blocks.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

This is an interesting thread. Also, at the end of it there's a link to the open-access article Katz wrote.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Made a model of a bed for billionaires out of my kid’s building blocks.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Jedi knights existed in the Middle Ages. Here's one with a lightsaber depicted in the 14th-century Luttrell Psalter. 🧵1/2

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Women couldn't be outlawed in 13th-century England because they were never put in law. Instead, women accused of crimes were ordered to be waived if they failed to appear at trial. The consequence of waivery was the same as outlawry's: execution (often immediately and without trial). 🧵1/4

A woman in blue at the top of a castle is striking a man in red on the head with her sword. He seems to fall from the ladder he was climbing as is it enters his skull. The woman has a look on her face that says "Don't mess with me."
Reference: The Smithfield Decretals, BL Royal 10 E. IV (14th C)

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Yes the blocks are for our kid, not me. And yes, it’s because I love my kid that I’m going to buy even more blocks.

A structure made from multicoloured blocks. It looks like an entrance to a temple crashed into the entrance to a castle, both of which were ugly, and it produced a super ridiculous tower with two legs and a peak.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Medieval Hunting Deaths: A Thread Hunting could be very dangerous (not just for animals) in the Middle Ages. Accidents happened and everyone from kings and earls to lowly peasants could be killed by a stray arrow, a hanging branch or a wild animal defending itself. 🧵7

A man in blue awkwardly holds a bow in front of him. He appears to have misfired the arrow, which is up near his face and facing the wrong way.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

UWOFA says “contract faculty are an important part of teaching @ Western, but many face uncertainty about whether they will continue to have work from one term or year to the next...It is seeking greater job security & more predictable employment for contract faculty.” www.ctvnews.ca/london/artic...

ctvnews.ca

Western faculty vote overwhelmingly in favour of strike mandate

Faculty members represented by the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA) have voted overwhelmingly in favour of giving their bargaining team a strike mandate as contract negotiatio...

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Upcoming conference tasks: 1. register for conference✔️ 2. book hotels✔️ 3. book flights✔️ 4. arrange transportation from airport to conference (~130km)✔️

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Chrisley Knows Best: All The Money Just Poof

ALT: Chrisley Knows Best: All The Money Just Poof

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

1. This is so cool! 2. It reminds me of the sort of thing you see on the Antiques Roadshow: a delightful person brings it on and says they've been using it as a gravy dish for years and that they clean it in the dishwasher.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

And not a single one is better than the Golden Girls.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Occasionally profs in other disciplines tell me they could never be a historian because they’re terrible at memorizing dates, names, or facts. My response: I could never be a computer scientist because I‘m bad at fixing computers. And I’m terrible at pouring liquids so I’d never study chemistry.

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Zac Asks 'Are You Serious?' on Sistas

ALT: Zac Asks 'Are You Serious?' on Sistas

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Today was our History Department’s Meet & Greet. It’s an annual event where we eat pizza, hand out awards, chat, & have a blast. An added bonus this year was hearing which courses students hope will be offered next year. It’s great to hear such things from eager students. @viuniversity.bsky.social

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Funny Dog with Pizza Slice

ALT: Funny Dog with Pizza Slice

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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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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Not many people know this, but Shakespeare’s original Romeo & Juliet contained a scene where Romeo & Mercutio share their fondness for “The Wanderer”. Tybalt, jealous, tries join the fun by reading “The Dream of the Rood”, but they laugh at his pronunciation. This leads to Tybalt killing Mercutio. 🙃

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

One song only?! That’s cruel of them. Vivaldi was allowed three movements for each season/concerto. Surely the student newspaper should allow at least as many for everyone else.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

When 900 years old you reach, always be able to keep the same impressionistic grammatical structure you will not.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I speak Latin to my wife once in a while, and she speaks back to me. Well, she rolls her eyes and leaves the room; but I understand what she’s saying.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Obelix: Visigoths are Goths from the east? Asterix: No, Visigoths are Goths from the west, the Goths from the east are the Ostrogoths, but the Goths from the west live to the east relative to us. Got it? Obelix: Nope!

Three frames in colour from an English version of the comic Asterix. All three frames show Asterix walking with Obelix. Asterix is a short Gail with a yellow moustache and a helmet with wings. Obelix is a very large Gaul with red hair and a moustache in white and blue striped trousers. The two are walking through the woods and talking. In the first frame Obelix asks “where do we go now?” to which Asterix replies “Towards the border. Towards the land where the Visigoths live, in the east”. In the second frame Obelix asks “Visigoths are Goths from the East?” to which Asterix replies “No Visigoths are goths from the west, the goths from the east are the Ostrogoths, but the goths from the west live to the east relative to us. Got it?”. In the next frame, Obelix, looking happy and carefree says “Nope!” and Asterix is annoyed.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

What an outstanding article! I particularly enjoyed this bit from their conclusion.

This is all to say that not everything points towards empire as a necessary framework, and that many aspects of the period are better understood without it. One empire’s crisis, limited in geographical scope, need not be read as an all-encompassing event. In some places Rome does not fall at all. In others, such as Italy, there are multiple, sometimes repeated farewell parties, where the guests do not want to leave and the host does not switch the music off.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Bluesky needs more images of subpunction from medieval manuscripts.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

It is my goal to use this beast at least once this term – and to force my students to wait till the tape rewinds before recommencing the lecture.

A bulky, large tv from when shit wasn’t online. Heck, people didn’t even have the internet in their homes. Want to watch something? Then plan to be at your tv when it starts. What’s that, you can set your VCR to record the show. Well you better make sure you’ e got the tv set to the right channel. If you’re one of those people who cut commercials by pausing/stopping the record, then don’t forget to start it up when the show recommences. My childhood had to be endured with two full minutes missing from Indian Jones and the Last Crusade because someone forgot to turn the recording back on. How Indy escaped being killed by that propeller when the guy said “My soul is prepared! How's yours?” I only learned in my late teens! Anyways, the tv is on a huge rectangular tv stand, the kind that tipped over and killed kids who pushed too high up when moving the absolute unit to the front of the class. Hey, at least this tv is secured to the tv stand. Many weren’t. Want to know why some people don’t have an Uncle Petey? This thing is why. The tv stand is wheels and is about 6-feet tall. Friends, it’s a delight to see that this is still in my class. I must use Teams instead of Zoom, and everything is on one drive, the cloud, co-pilot, or whatever the hell it is. But me, I’m using this tv.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

This is certainly a feather in an already-well-befeathered cap. Can’t wait to read the piece.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

How do you NOT make yourself look like an ass when you’re pointing out a list of egregious errors in another scholar’s work? (BTW, it’s punching up, not down).

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Tim Curry in Home Alone 2: I'm Afraid You're Mistaken

ALT: Tim Curry in Home Alone 2: I'm Afraid You're Mistaken

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Reposted by Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦

Rory Naismith @rorynaismith.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Early medievalists may be happy to know that Simon Keynes’s collection of maps of Anglo-Saxon England has now been made freely available via @trincolllibcam.bsky.social These were commissioned by Simon and drawn (by hand) by Reg Piggott between 1991 and 2012. archives.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php/ma...

archives.trin.cam.ac.uk

Maps of Anglo-Saxon England - archives.trin.cam.ac.uk

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

A clerk recording criminal cases in England in 1255 felt the need to include a dog wearing a crown in the margin. Why do this, you might ask? I say, why not?!

A close up of a portrait of a dog wearing a crown drawn in brownish-black ink from the 1255 court proceedings in Kent.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

My wife’s response when I say I need to buy more books. From the early-14th-century Macclesfield Psalter (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge).

A man in a red robe is saying something to a women in a blue tunic. She is seemingly not impressed because she is holding up her hand, as if to say “No” or “Stop talking about it”. There are green and red floral designs around them.
Reference: Macclesfield Psalter from England, c. 1330 (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge)

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

What talent! Also, this is so satisfying to watch!

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Hilarious. Hilarious and accurate. It’s pushed “Fonts Hanging Out” to number two, which I didn’t think would ever happen. Give it a watch if you want a good laugh.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Surely these people haven’t blocked you, Greg. They’ve just clicked the “You’re Dead to Me” button. 🙃

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

One of my favourite medieval laws: Concerning vampires (strigis), which do not exist, no inquiry shall be made. From the early 12th-century Laws of King Coloman of Hungary, c.57.

The image shows Christopher Lee as Dracula, with blood on his lips and a victim in his arms. In the image, Dracula looks very troubled, perhaps because he’s just been told that he doesn’t exist by someone reading medieval Hungarian laws.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

September thoughts: Just because you’ve been declined an award, grant, job, or scholarship (or all four in one year!) doesn’t mean you/your work isn’t good enough.

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Joe Dirt: Keep On Keepin' On

ALT: Joe Dirt: Keep On Keepin' On

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Blessing for academics: May all your lectures end like those depicted on tv – perfectly timed to the bell.

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Jonathan Frakes: It Never Happened

ALT: Jonathan Frakes: It Never Happened

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Learn a second language while at university. When history students ask me what courses they should take (which happens surprisingly often), I tell them language – not history – courses. If you have an opportunity to go to university you should try to learn a 2nd language, regardless of your major.

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Gregory Brown: Learn A Language

Alt: Gregory Brown: Learn A Language

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Downgrade a movie: And then there were some owed.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Superb, fresh translations of Catullus by @stephaniemccarter.bsky.social with excellent notes and an outstanding introduction. Highly recommend!

The cover of the book. It shows a person shaded in blue with their arm draped over their head. The background is pink and, like paint being poured down a wall, flows from the arm raised over the person's head all the way down their torso, splitting them in two with a thick line of pink. The title of the book is "The Poems of Catullus: A Dual-Language Edition with Parallel Text". It is translated by Stephanie McCarter. What the cover doesn't tell you is that Dr McCarter also included an outstanding introduction to the text that, on its own, would stand as a fine book. Additionally, there are notes for the Latin-English translations.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

At 10,000 followers I will reveal who the real Robin Hood was.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Fantastic piece on “Forging the Medieval Church” in @historytoday.com by Edward Roberts!

The first page of an article with title “Forging the Medieval Church”. It was written by Edward Roberts. There’s an image of a seated pope on the page.

The first full page of writing of the article on the left and on the right is a document written in Latin with red roman numerals. The document is known as the dictatus papae.

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Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦 @kfduggan.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Just registered for the 2026 ASLH Conference. If you need someone to chair a panel, let me know. I'd be happy to help out! @aslegalhist.bsky.social #legalhistory

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