Cover of the Dorothy Dunnett guide to Venice
With quotations from the novels, maps, photographs and historical illustrations, our new guide help readers imagine life in Niccolò’s time and perhaps even locate the Ca’ Niccolò.
Out on 24 April 2026. A5, 92 pages, printed two-colour (black and orange). 15 maps, 58 photographs, 21 illustrations
The booking form for the summer Dunnett day in Portsmouth is now live at dunnettcentral.org/weekend/Dunn...
#dunnettsqueak
Dog's Tooth Violet
@dunnettcentral.bsky.social , look!
I am a fan of Dorothy Dunnett -- an author of extremely entertaining and highly detailed historical fiction. But I can't be the only one frustrated by her use of horoscopes and astrology (Lymond Chronicles) and divining (House of Nicoló) in a world that is otherwise fully materialistic.
Wishing all readers a beautiful St. Parick‘s Day.☘️
Remember O‘Liam Roe and his ollave, two wonderful #dunnett characters!
DDS members: Zoom group meetings are underway! Please check your email for how to get involved.
a drawing of a monk wearing dark glasses and rolling dice at a table
gambling monk, germany, 15th century
Cover image of the March 2026 issue of Whispering Gallery
Lymond is 500! This first issue of his quincentenary year features a talk Dunnett gave in 1997 on The Lymond Chronicles. Amongst other highlights: how the female characters drive the narrative of the novels; early maps and sea charts used by Dunnett’s heroes; priests and prophets 3, Niccolò.
Read about the importance of looking closely at art and the many captivating details and connections you'll be able to discover.
🗃️ #arthistory #skystorians #renaissance #mosaicmonday #academia #art 🏺 #medievalsky
ideasroadshow.substack.com/p/visual-enl...
Iona Abbey between hills in the background and the sea in the foreground.
Mar 2: Feast of Sléibíne mac Congaile (†767), abbot of Iona. He enforced the Law of Colum Cille in Ireland in 757, which probably involved the formal bearing of the saint's relics on circuit in association with the collection of tax. Suibne succeeded him. 📸August Schwerdfeger #medievalsky
🚨 LATE SUBMISSION WINDOW OPEN 🚨
We've had a withdrawal from one of these sessions and would be very keen to include another paper - please do not hesitate to reach out if you're interested, and to help us spread the word. Many thanks!!
#skystorians #medieval #medievalsky #premodernrace #imc2026
Promotional Poster for the Long Middle Ages seminar on 12th March 17:15-19:00 in-person and online, with talks by Agnese Bargagna and Devon Sherwood.
Our next seminar will be on Thursday 12th March with talks by Agnese Bargagna (University of Edinburgh) and Devon Sherwood (University of Toronto)!
#medievalsky #thelongmiddleages
Registration Link here: forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...
A treasure of legal history for a medieval Monday - a splendid illuminated legal text - 'Bracton: the king’s duty to do justice' (BL MS Add 11353 fo 9. ©The British Library) #medievalsky
Remember that time the Bretons allied with the Vikings, and they killed Robert the Strong? Tumultuous times...
open.substack.com/pub/cjadrien...
#medievalsky #vikingsky #history #france #medievalists
Elephant in reds and pinks, with an ear that looks like a trefoil, attacked by blue dragon wrapped around it. Aberdeen Bestiary, University of Aberdeen, MS 24
Medieval elephant!
Another in my series of images from medieval manuscripts
#SomethingBeautiful #MedievalSky #elephants
Calling #Skystorians #MedievalSky the 49th Latin and Palaeography Summer School (formerly the Keele summer school) is open for bookings. 27-31 July in Birmingham. 👇
palaeography.uk/study/short-...
Thirteenth-century miniature from a German chronicle depicting the defeat of the Stedinger army by the crusaders. The picture shows a confrontation between peasant fighters on the left and crusaders on the right. The Stedinger are shown barefoot, wearing knee-length tunics and long, full hair on their bare heads. They wield spears while the crusader army consists of fully armoured knights in mail shirts and chausses, with enclosed helmets, heraldic overcoats, shields, and swords. This difference in equipment was decisive when, after twenty years of resistance, the nobles violently disenfranchised the peasants of the Stedingerland. None of the demons lovingly described in the papal call for a crusade are in evidence here. They must have missed the battle.
Rüben - root vegetables - were the stereotypical rustic food of medieval Germany. Medieval rustics on at least one occasion required a crusade to subdue - the Stedingerkreuzzug of 1232-34.
www.culina-vetus.de/2026/03/02/f...
#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #medievalsky #eattherich
A view towards the altar inside Hexham Abbey.
Canons of Hexham Priory translated the relics of some of its saints to a space by the altar #OTD in 1154. The remains of Acca, Alchmund, Frithuberht and Tilberht were placed in a shrine coated with silver and gold and studded with gems. Eata was placed in another. 📸Paul Turner #medievalsky
A medieval manuscript image of two men holding hands. Annouces a Symposium in Gender in Medieval Insular Literature, held 29-30 May in Aberystwyth, Wales.
You're going to see this from me a lot for a while. Please share, and contribute if you are a medievalist working in this area! It's going to be great. #medievalsky #genderstudies
wp-research.aber.ac.uk/medievalgend...
My Eilmer of Malmesbury video discusses connections between a flying monk, Christ's Ascension, Halley's Comet, and the Norman Conquest, as well as why Eilmer may have wanted to try to fly. #medievalsky #medievalhistory
A stunning treasure of Norwegian medieval legal history - the Codex Hardenbergianus (GKS 1154 folio) - an illustrated law book with magnificent red and gold leaf in the illustrations. permalink.kb.dk/permalink/20...
#medievalsky
Hussites breaking the rules. A fifteenth-century drawing showing improvised field fortification defended by infantry. Four large wagons are drawn up in a perimeter around a tent. Several armoured men are shown defending the front wagons with flails, crossbows, a handgun, and thrown rocks. Larger guns and other weapons are shown on the rear wagons. An unarmoured man is standing inside the perimeter carrying what looks like a bundle of sticks, maybe spears. The front of the tent is marked with a chalice, the insignia of the Hussite rebellion representing their demand for receiving both bread and wine during Eucharist. Bohemian commoners fighting on foot inflicted a series of stinging defeats on successive crusading armies in 1420-1434 following the betrayal, arrest, and burning of theologian Jan Hus.
Grünkern was eaten in the mountainous areas of Bohemia and nearby. They also had a long tradition of throwing officials out of windows and not fighting fair.
www.culina-vetus.de/2026/03/03/f...
#culinaryhistory #foodhistory #medievalsky #crusadefail
A sepia-toned image of a woman wearing a jeweled hennin, perhaps from around the turn of the 20th century
Hey history hivemind, does anyone recognize this image? A student wants to use it in her capstone and is trying to track down both citation and context. The earliest version of it in a reverse image search is from a Harry Potter fandom tumblr post in 2013. #skystorians #medievalism #medievalsky 🗃️
A Greek nun holds the hand of a man on the deck of a ship in a storm. Their clothes and the ropes of the ship are blowing in the wind, waves crash behind them, and they are lit up as if lightning has just struck nearby. Paraskevi looks encouraging while the man looks shellshocked but hopeful. Golden Byzantine saints’ icons hang from around their necks and glitter in the light.
Here's my newest Women of 1000 piece! This is Paraskevi, also known as St Parascheva. She was a Byzantine hermit nun who defied her parents to live an ascetic life and travelled to the Holy Land as a pilgrim.
#medievalsky #skystorians 🗃️
Si vous aviez manqué le colloque hommage à Martin Aurell "Elites, violences et imaginaires médiévaux", les vidéos sont désormais en ligne !
De mon côté j'étais intervenue pour parler de la force de l'imaginaire de l'épée dans l'audiovisuel médiévaliste.
#medievalsky
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP6p...
#medievalsky #earlymodernsky #ancientsky #cfp #booksky
Hands up who wants to get involved with a cool online journal - or attend an equally fun online conference this April! #fame&fortune
Was the sovereign Kingdom of Brittany a historical reality or a masterpiece of medieval propaganda? Join author and historian C.J. Adrien as he holds the grand, romanticized 19th-century narratives of Breton independence up to the light.
geni.us/vikingbrittany
#medievalsky #booksky #vikingsky
