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Monica H Green

@monicamedhist.bsky.social
12K followers 1.7K following 4.8K posts

Medhist=medieval+medical history (hcommons.org/members/mhgreen2). Focus on Global Health. Open-access: The Black Death: The Medieval Plague Pandemic through the Eyes of Ibn Battuta, works.hcommons.org/records/n3h76-6d….

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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 7m
Latest addition to the 2nd Plague Pandemic bibliography: Monica Brînzei & Giacomo Signore. “The Rise of ars moriendi at the University of Vienna Before the Printing Press,” in: Transforming Philosophy: Late Medieval Knowledge in Transition (2026). edoc.unibas.ch/entities/pub... #MedievalSky
Opening page of the text of Brînzei and Signore on the *ars moriendi* genre.
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Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 4h
This is a magnificent thread.
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Jay Moschella @jaymoschella.bsky.social · 12h
The late art historian Lilian Armstrong used this edition to show how illuminators were adapting to the uptake of print. She found lots of illuminated copies of this ed., many of which were finished with a technique that used woodblock stamps to create diagrams that could be painted over by hand
The title page of the BPL copy, which was illuminated fully by hand. Note the flowing shapes and the very thin pen linesA copy of the same edition at the Bridwell Library, Southern Methodist University (call no. 06056). Note the heavy outlines of the vines and the rougher details. These borders were produced by an applied/stamped impression from a woodblock, added after printing, then colored in by hand.
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Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 5h
An important essay from Dr. @monicamedhist.bsky.social. Definitely read it and bring it into the classroom too.
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Megaholt 𓅃 @megaholt.medsky.social · 6h
They took her fucking cell phone and her passport. Who the fuck issued that search warrant, and who the fuck would attempt to litigate any part of any case that this administration may try to bring from it? I don’t see how any lawyer would go near this. It’s a legal, ethical, & political minefield
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Josh Pizzuto-Pomaco @joshpizpom.bsky.social · 16h
EXC: Edinburgh University managers have been warned that the closure of 90 programmes will cause serious reputational damage. A motion submitted ahead of next week’s Senate meeting calls on leadership to "reconsider" the decision @heraldscotland.bsky.social www.heraldscotland.com/news/2663661...
heraldscotland.com
University bosses warned of serious reputational damage over 90 programme closures
A motion submitted ahead of the next staff and student Senate meeting calls on university leadership to "reconsider" the decision to close 90 programmes.
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Matt Gabriele @profgabriele.com · 6h
this is an example of why we talk about the transformation of the Roman World, rather than its "fall" #medievalsky gizmodo.com/archaeologis...
gizmodo.com
Archaeologists Find Possible 'Palace' Where Roman Life Continued After Rome Fell
The Middle Age building had a Roman-style heating system and glass fragments that may have once been expensive lamps or tableware.
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Japanese American National Museum @jamuseum.bsky.social · 6h
JANM is pleased that AG Bonta stepped up to take action to stop the closure of the NARA’s San Bruno facility and we urge NARA to continue to preserve the documents that tell our nation’s past as well as make these invaluable records accessible to the American public! asamnews.com/2026/10/15/c...
asamnews.com
California AG Bonta sues to stop closure of National Archives – AsAmNews
California Attorney General Rob Bonta argues that historic immigration and Japanese American incarceration records must remain accessible in California.
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American Scientist @americanscientist.org · 10h
People often find it shocking to learn that Yersinia pestis, the bacterium discovered in 1894 that is believed to have caused the mid-14th-century Black Death and other plague pandemics, is still around and dangerous, but that is one of many misperceptions about plague that need correcting.
americanscientist.org
Redrawing the Plague Maps
Ancient genomes are rewriting the history of Yersinia pestis infections across time and space.
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 8h
Anthony Grafton speaking today on the use of conjecture in historical thinking.
Historian Anthony Grafton speaking on Thursday, 15 October 2026, at the American Academy in Rome.
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Ridge Cook @ridgecook.bsky.social · 8h
This is very interesting. Using modern DNA to date and understand local conditions from velum manuscripts. Things like disease, poor pasturage, etc...
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The Multicultural Middle Ages Podcast @mmapod.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
⏳DUE TOMORROW (15 Oct): There’s still time to submit proposals for season 6! #medievalsky www.multiculturalmiddleages.com
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Le Figaro @lefigaro.fr · 10h
80% des Américains opposés à la retransmission en direct d’une exécution. →https://l.lefigaro.fr/EmP8
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Jesi🃏♠️🔥 @luciferjesit.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
This was such a great answer from Abdul El-Sayed about his previous criticisms of President Obama.
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Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 13h
Global medieval trade alert 🚨 “Archaeologists digging in the medieval city of Great Zimbabwe have discovered pieces of jade-green Chinese pottery, suggesting that the enigmatic empire had long-distance connections with East Asia more than 1,000 years ago.” Fab article by Dr. @killgrove.bsky.social
livescience.com
Chinese pottery discovered in Great Zimbabwe reveals medieval African empire's vast connections spanning thousands of miles
Archaeologists excavating a medieval African kingdom have discovered pottery from eastern China, revealing connections across continents.
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 22h
The pathogen, Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, has been documented via aDNA to be 1000s of years old: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Probing the zooarchaeological record across time and space for ancient pathogen DNA - Nature Communications
Authors investigate ancient DNA from animal remains and identify multiple signatures of ancient zoonotic pathogens. They find ancient pathogen genomics from archaeological animal remains may inform zo...
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 22h
"more than 300 southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) calves have died in Argentine Patagonia ... exceed[ing] the previous annual record set in 2012" This is a shocking story that caught my eye only b/c I had only recently learned about the pathogen involved: www.livescience.com/animals/whal...
livescience.com
Hundreds of whale calves have mysteriously died in Patagonia — and scientists are racing to find out why
Scientists are racing to explain why hundreds of southern right whale calves have died this year in Argentine Patagonia, and the first clues are starting to emerge.
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
I wish they'd asked *me* why I left a tenured, full-prof job! My institution never even asked for an exit interview! "[W]omen leave or consider leaving because of workplace climate more often than work-life balance."
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
"the skins were sourced from local herds and document events such as livestock epidemics, famines, and agricultural crises that may be genetically detectable in the parchment itself, thus allowing researchers to corroborate genetic evidence from livestock and pathogens with textual records." #aDNA
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
#MedievalSky Here's some more of that "biocodicology": Tim Stinson, "The Skin Keeps the Score: DNA Analysis of Medieval Manor Court Rolls." Friday, Oct. 16, 12:00 - 1:30 pm EDT. Virtual registration here: www.library.upenn.edu/sims/event-s...
library.upenn.edu
The Skin Keeps the Score: DNA Analysis of Medieval Manor Court Rolls
Timothy Stinson (North Carolina State University) reports on the development and validation of a new non-destructive sampling technique that employs cytology brushes to collect samples from parchment ...
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Mike Check @check1check2.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Hardest working man in show business.
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
"The remarkable thing about the Songs in the Key of Life live show is not that it reminds you how extraordinary the ensuing album was, and is ... It’s because it is resolutely a live performance, rather than a perfect recreation." www.theguardian.com/music/2026/o.... Serious FOMO on this one.
theguardian.com
Stevie Wonder review – playing ​his greatest album in full, he knocks everyone sideways
The opening night of Wonder’s tour marking the 50th anniversary of Songs in the Key of Life leaves jaws on the floor, thanks to sumptuous tracks carrying still-urgent messages
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
#MedievalSky #GlobalMiddleAges #AfricanHistory
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Kristina Killgrove @killgrove.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
A new documentary on the archaeology of Great Zimbabwe airs tonight on PBS. I interviewed the lead archaeologist, Shadreck Chirikure, and if you click through, you can watch an exclusive clip showing the team's discovery of Longquan celadon from eastern China. 🧪🏺
livescience.com
Chinese pottery discovered in Great Zimbabwe reveals medieval African empire's vast connections spanning thousands of miles
Archaeologists excavating a medieval African kingdom have discovered pottery from eastern China, revealing connections across continents.
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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
I am IN FACT raising funds for REBUILD and donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. $1400 away from $20,000 raised. The goal is to raise $40,000 - www.mightycause.com/story/Rebuil...
mightycause.com
Support REBUILD 2025: Free Therapy on Mightycause
REBUILD provides FREE therapy for justice-involved and formerly incarcerated people of color.
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Thank you @prisonculture.bsky.social for flagging this review. I was struck how it normalizes health conditions in the real lives these women led. It's about time!
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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
www.nytimes.com/2026/10/13/b...
nytimes.com
Book Review: ‘Freedom’s Gate,’ by Soyica Diggs Colbert (Gift Article)
A new book traces the careers of five talented Black women artists and activists who converged at a venue where performance and politics collided.
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Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
I’m blessed to be in many public health, medicine & science “group chats” & wow has there been an outpouring of deep sadness today. Helen was a one-off. We’ve been sharing anecdotes of how awesome it was to be interviewed by her. This mass outpouring & the reminiscences signal a life well lived. RIP
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Andrew-John @andrew-john.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
ESSAY: My father organized up to 250,000 students. Now Chicago is naming a street for him thetriibe.com/2026/10/essa.... #Organizie #CommunityOrganizing #SeparatedAndUnequal #DoTheWork #WalkTheTalk #BeTheChange
thetriibe.com
ESSAY: My father organized up to 250,000 students. Now Chicago is naming a street for him • The TRiiBE
Most Chicagoans know the famous names of the movement. Far fewer know Al Raby.
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Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
ICE is still conducting raids and targeting people who are here in Connecticut lawfully. It’s really important everyone knows their rights.
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
I can't even count how many of Helen's COVID posts I copied and put in my research/teaching file. As a historian, I take seriously the dictum that journalism is "the first draft of History." W/ Helen, that "first draft" was guaranteed to be immaculate & important. R.I.P.
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
At the post office in Phoenix, AZ, this morning. People in line to hand-deliver their completed ballots to postal workers. Some even paying for confirmation of delivery. Folks are riled up, y'all!
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
This is very sad news indeed. "When Marrazzo and her team at NIAID were considering which reporter to speak with for one of her first interviews after taking over as director in 2023, Branswell’s name came up immediately. I trusted her, and I knew she would ask the right questions'.”
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Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
It was an honor to present the keynote at OSU's inaugural humanities week, organized by the inspiring Professor Jennifer Borland. I was taking notes my whole visit on how she and her colleagues are raising the profile of the humanities. news.okstate.edu/articles/art...
news.okstate.edu
Center for the Humanities hosts first Humanities Week | Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma State University’s inaugural Humanities Week brought students, faculty and staff together to explore the humanities’ enduring relevance in an increasingly technology-driven world.
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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
“Among the awards Branswell received were the Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting & the George Polk Award for Public Service, which cited her “relentless coverage of all aspects of the [Covid] pandemic that became must reading for the medical community & the general public”
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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
“Throughout her career, Helen demonstrated an unwavering commitment to evidence, science, and truth, helping the public understand some of the most complex and consequential health challenges of our time,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, wrote”
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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Oh no, I am just heartbroken to see this terrible news. “Helen Branswell, a renowned infectious disease reporter who earned the respect of experts and public health officials around the world… died Tuesday at age 69. The cause was complications from cancer, said her sister, Brenda Branswell.”
statnews.com
Helen Branswell, whose reporting on infectious diseases and public health drew acclaim, dies at 69
Helen Branswell, STAT's infectious disease reporter who earned the respect of experts and public health officials with her accessible, prescient dispatches, has died at age 69.
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Daniel Swain @weatherwest.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Here it is: My big October update on the now near-record/record-strength El Niño event and the still-increasing likelihood of significant California impacts this winter. This deep-dive post is meant to accompany my Tuesday 1pm PT livestream.
weatherwest.com
El Niño, already near/at record intensity, will further strengthen to historic level and likely bring major California & SW U.S. winter impacts - Weather West
October 12, 2026 - Daniel Swain - A quick recap of the forecast vs real-world evolution of El Niño 2026 thus far An El Niño event officially developed in the tropical Pacific Ocean earlier this summer, and it has strengthened almost continually since that point. In fact, as of mid-October, the 2026 El Niño event has already become the strongest on record #
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Here's what it says. (Thankfully, I didn't have to figure out all those abbreviations myself. The text was published by the great historian of medicine, Ernst Wickersheimer, back in 1909. www.jstor.org/stable/20772...) The Feast of St James is July 25. So why did deaths start in Paris in June?
An excerpt from Wickersheimer's brief study of the text. The modern English translation reads: "In the year of our Lord 1348, around the feast of Saint James, the great mortality struck Normandy—having arrived via Gascony, Poitou, and Brittany—and spread straight into Picardy; it was so horrific that in the towns it entered, more than two-thirds of the people perished, and a father dared not visit his son, nor a brother his sister, nor could anyone be found to care for another, for once one smelled another's breath, escape was impossible; indeed, there were times when no one could be found to carry away the dead, and it was said that the world was coming to an end;[4]  at that time, Master Pierre Rogier—formerly Archbishop of Rouen—was Pope in Rome, known as Pope Clement; Philip of Valois was King of France; Raoul was Count of Eu and Guînes and Lord of Château-Chinon; and Jean de Marigny was Archbishop of Rouen."
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
This never gets old: the thrill of reading about a MS & then being able to "call it up" for viewing minutes later. This is a 14thC note added at the end of a 13thC theology MS held by the Cistercian house of Foucarmont in Normandy. It recounts the arrival of the Black Death in the region in 1348.
On the right side: A French note about the arrival of the Black Death in Normandy, written in the 2nd half of the 14th century.
On the left side: the end of the original document, a 13th-century theological manuscript.
Source: Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 2588, f. 179v. From the microfilm reproduction, posted on Gallica.
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Melody Schreiber @melodyschreiber.com · 12/10/2026
Massive outbreaks and death aren't the only fallout from anti-vaxxers' rhetoric. Now they're going after the doctors who treat measles patients, reporting them to the state medical board. Thrilled to team up with @walkerbragman.bsky.social on this one! www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Anti-vaxxers target Texas measles doctors to cast doubt on deaths amid outbreak
Children’s Health Defense and RFK Jr publicly dispute recent measles deaths to ‘distract’ from damage caused and question vaccines, experts say
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Jessie Mihalik @jessiemihalik.com · 12/10/2026
If you’re an elder millennial or older (before 1989), you might need another dose of the measles vax to get maximum protection. You can do a blood test to check, but it’s easiest to just get another dose, especially if your insurance covers it. Info: www.npr.org/2026/10/12/n...
npr.org
Here's what to know if you're unsure about your measles immunity status
Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself against measles. For most adults, one shot of the MMR is considered enough protection. But there are certain situations that call for a second dose.
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Agreed!
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Richard McKay @ramckay.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
I think some skepticism is healthy and warranted, especially with such a resilient, popular phrase. At the same time, it feels worthwhile to remain attentive to potential shifts in meaning.
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Mekka Okereke @mekka.mekka-tech.com · 12/10/2026
✒️🔥Facts. Same with the US. At some point we're going to have to acknowledge that the more racist parts of nations are more vulnerable to this specific type of interference. London didn't vote for Brexit. NYC didn't vote Trump. Racism is a vulnerability that can be exploited by your foreign rivals.
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
#MedievalSky #TengriSky Conference on the Mongols and the Black Sea next week: www.oeaw.ac.at/en/imafo/eve...
oeaw.ac.at
The Mongols and the Black Sea
Empires, Economies and Encounters in Western EurAsia, 1200-1400 CE
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Well, when it rains, it pours. This is paywalled so I haven't read it yet, but it seems to be moving in the same direction as my own work linking famine & infectious disease: www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/pdf/10.3... #histmed
liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk
Mortality transition in India: an environmental explanation | Continuity and Change
The paper explains why death rates in India began falling in the early twentieth century. While many scholars link this decline to better nutrition and famine relief, or indirectly to food, the paper argues that these explanations are incomplete. Most ...
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Wow, talk about capturing the Zeitgeist! The abstract for this upcoming talk on the early modern Ottoman Empire at UPenn by A. Tunç Şen sounds like it could be detailing every detail of modern academic life: www.chstm.org/events/fragi...
chstm.org
The Fragile: A Social and Emotional History of Knowledge in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire | Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine
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Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Thanks for sharing this story. And for articulating that kindness & generosity *are* standards we should uphold, w/ or w/o public praise.
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