Summer term 2026 schedule for the IHR Earlier Middle Ages Seminar in London.
The IHR Earlier Middle Ages seminar reconvenes in May, with another great line-up of papers for the term! #medievalsky
I always find the survival of glass from antiquity to be amazing, but sometimes you come across quite extraordinary pieces.
This Romano-Germanic glass item is moulded into the form of a little fish or whale and it’s delightful.
🏛️📷Romano-Germanic Museum, Cologne
🏺 #AncientBlueSky
Close-up of the Escrick Ring against a black background.
The early medieval gold Escrick Ring was found by detectorist Michael Greenhorn in a field near York #OTD in 2009. The sapphire seems to have originally been surrounded by a red glass cloisonné. 📸York Museums Trust
This image shows a page from the Fountains Abbey Bestiary, a medieval manuscript likely produced in North Yorkshire, England, between 1325 and 1350.
This page from the Fountains Abbey Bestiary, probably created in North Yorkshire around 1325–1350, is folio 10v. Written in Latin on vellum, the manuscript contains over 100 line drawings of animals and people. Here, a coot perches in an oak, a kingfisher turns its head, and
In just under two weeks, we have our next seminar, on Thursday 23rd April from 17:15-19:00, either in Parkinson SR (B.11) or Online (via Teams). The first talk will begin at 17:30. The two speakers of this seminar are: Mary Catherine O'Connor (University of Oxford) Raging Royals and Kingly Virtue: Rex Iustus ideology and Norse Arthurian Romance J.D. Moore (University of St Andrews) Encounters with Courtesy: Jarl Rǫgnvald Kali Kolsson and Ermengarde of Narbonne in the Mid-Twelfth Century Please use this link to register for the seminar: The Long Middle Ages Seminar 7 Registration (23rd April) – Fill in form A reminder that if you sign up to come online, the link will be sent out the afternoon of the seminar (around 1pm). We look forward to seeing many of you there!
Our next seminar will be on 23rd April with talks by Mary Catherine O'Connor (Oxford) and J.D. Moore (St Andrews). Our co-convenor, @nrhopwood.bsky.social , is especially excited for Old Norse week! Sign up to attend here: forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...
#medievalsky #thelongmiddleages #oldnorse
The Vale of York Cup - Part of a 10th century hoard discovered by two metal-detectorists in a field between York and Harrogate in 2007. The Viking Age hoard is now part of the collections at the Yorkshire Museum in York. 📸 My own. #FindsFriday #YorkshireMuseum
And here we go! @rhigarthjones.bsky.social returns to the podcast to discuss The First Millennium. Full promotion will be delayed a bit due to work. But listen to the podcast in the interim. Enjoy!
youtu.be/-SPs_19oRFs
This image shows a medieval grave cover located at Halifax Minster in Halifax. It dates back to approximately 1150 AD. The stone features an incised cross and a pair of shears. The shears possibly indicates that the person buried was a skilled textile craftsman who worked with woollen cloth.
🧵A mid-12th century grave slab, featuring a simple pattée cross, stands in the south porch of St. John the Baptist, Halifax Minster. Medieval tradition sometimes included inscribing grave slabs with symbols representing the deceased's, gender, status or trade, exemplified by
Hadn’t fully grasped that records for the day of the year that cherry blossoms flower in Japan go back to when Charlemagne was alive.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
The personification of Music instructing her students
BL Burney 275; Scholastic miscellany; 14th century; France; f.359v @blmedieval.bsky.social
Job Opportunity!
Iberian Empires at Warwick University
My photo shows a decorative gold brooch against a black background. The gold front plate is attached to a copper-alloy core by 8 silver rivets (not seen). The surface of the gold plate is ornately decorated with looped gold filigree, At the centre of the brooch is a circular blue glass cabochon set in a raised gold cell encircled by cloisonné garnets. Radiating out from the central blue glass cabochon are curved sections inlaid with cloisonné garnet like rays of the sun, forming a swirling pattern on the surface of the brooch. The 71 inlaid garnets come from Bohemia. Around the outer edge are four smaller round blue glass cabochons each set in a raised circular gold cell, alternating with four small square-shaped pieces of green glass set in raised square gold cells, at regular intervals. Overall, the piece is symmetrical, richly colored (gold, red, blue, and green), and highly ornate. This ornate brooch was found during the 2008-2009 excavations ahead of major renovation works at Grand Place in Quaregnon. The excavations uncovered a small Merovingian cemetery. The brooch comes from the tomb of a 7th-century female known as the ‘Lady of Quaregnon’. In addition to the brooch, her other items of jewellery included a necklace, bracelet, copper-alloy pins, and a pair of copper-alloy bow brooches.
Beautiful Merovingian brooch of the ‘Lady of Quaregnon’, AD 660-670.
Found during excavations ahead of construction works at the Grand Place, Quaregnon, Belgium, in 2008-2009. Gold, silver, copper-alloy, garnet, and glass. Diameter 5.6cm. 📷 by me
#FindsFriday
#Archaeology
![The document WYW1352/3/1/4 is a Confirmation Charter of King John to Nostell Priory, dated 25th July 1215. It is part of the Nostell Family and Estate records held at the West Yorkshire Archive Service (WYAS) in Wakefield. It confirms lands, privileges, and possessions previously granted to the Augustinian Priory of St Oswald at Nostell, near Pontefract.
Content: In the charter, King John confirms to the canons of Nostell "all the possessions of the same church just as Henry [II], grandfather of Henry, our father, endowed and confirmed the same church".
Context: It was a crucial protective document for the priory during a period of intense political strife.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ukv5wvbryt5egtfu7jlao2l7/bafkreihft4xbiimtmk7ugjh7fdfwgwbur34cswuc3wxz3h5ltsg34wnbnu)
The document WYW1352/3/1/4 is a Confirmation Charter of King John to Nostell Priory, dated 25th July 1215. It is part of the Nostell Family and Estate records held at the West Yorkshire Archive Service (WYAS) in Wakefield. It confirms lands, privileges, and possessions previously granted to the Augustinian Priory of St Oswald at Nostell, near Pontefract. Content: In the charter, King John confirms to the canons of Nostell "all the possessions of the same church just as Henry [II], grandfather of Henry, our father, endowed and confirmed the same church". Context: It was a crucial protective document for the priory during a period of intense political strife.
🧵6 Posts: Everyone knows that In 1215 King John signed a very important document that still exists today. You will all immediately know the one I am writing about, the "Confirmation Charter for Nostell Priory." 😂 The story though begins much earlier.
The cover and a spread of History Today. The cover story is Servants on the Grand Tour. An early modern engraving shows a man, standing next to some ruins and gesturing up at a statue.
🚨 Job alert! History Today is hiring a PT freelance copy editor, either remote or in the office. Please share widely! www.historytoday.com/jobs
Come and join us on 15 May in Leeds or online #medievalsky #norsestudies #vikings
Congratulations @saalehaiqbal.bsky.social for receiving such great recognition from the Society for French Studies. Saaleha is part of the IMS postgraduate community in Leeds, one of the organizers of @thelongmiddleages.bsky.social #medievalsky #medievalfrench @lcsleeds.bsky.social. Very well done!
In just under two weeks, we have our next seminar, on Thursday 9th April from 17:15-19:00, either in Parkinson SR (B.11) or Online (via Teams). Please note the new location for in-person attendance! Our usual room is undergoing repairs/maintenance, so we'll be just one room over. The first talk will begin at 17:30. The two speakers of this seminar are: Mehdy Shaddel (University of Cambridge) Changing Patterns of Landholding and Extraction in the Early Caliphate, 7th-10th Centuries Majideh Qazizadeh (University of Exeter) Women, Myth, and the Gendering of Chess in Medieval Islam Please use this link to register for the seminar: The Long Middle Ages Seminar 6 Registration (9th April) – Fill in form A reminder that if you sign up to come online, the link will be sent out the afternoon of the seminar (around 1pm). We look forward to seeing many of you there!
Our next seminar will be Thursday 9th April at 17:15 GMT, with talks from Mehdy Shaddel (University of Cambridge) and Majideh Qazizadeh (University of Exeter). Please follow the link to register: forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...
#medievalsky #thelongmiddleages
2 people consulting a printed volume on a book cushion
📢Job alert! We’re looking for 3 new full-time graduate trainee Archives & Special Collections Assistants to join our innovative, user-focused engagement team.
See more details and apply: www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/archives...
🗓️Closing date: 16 April 2026
Congrats to the team 🎉
Here are some interesting popsci summaries of the article's findings.
@eurekalert.bsky.social www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
@theconversation.com theconversation.com/el-adn-de-un...
A drawing of the stone.
A panel carved with a two-wheeled, horse-drawn carriage and crouching archer was among the Pictish stones lost when Meigle Parish Church went up in flames #OTD in 1869. #medievalsky
Early Medieval England Saw Continuous Migration, Study Finds www.medievalists.net/2026/01/earl... #englishhistory
A magnificent medieval treasure at the Bodleian library exhibition 'Pets and their People' - a Flemish psalter with one of the earliest depictions of an assistance dog for the blind.
visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/pets-a...
#medievalsky
Prof. Tougher's joint Classics - @leedsims.bsky.social public lecture on eunuchs in Constantinople
Just out! New #plague podcast from the Multicultural Middle Ages on "Pandemic in the Medieval World: Teaching a New Black Death Narrative in the 21st Century" with @monicamedhist.bsky.social, Dr. Lucy Barnhouse, and me, interviewed by Will Beattie.
www.multiculturalmiddleages.com/post/pandemi...
This Thursday. All welcome. #medievalsky #classicsky
For the 4th annual Classics- @leedsims.bsky.social joint event, we're very excited to welcome Prof. Shaun Tougher (Cardiff) to give a public (hybrid) lecture next week: 'Sex and the City: the Eunuchs of Constantinople'. Details in the quoted tweet. #ancientbluesky #classicsbluesky #blueskyclassics
modern mosaic from Westminster Cathedral London showing the city of Constantinople. Hagia Sofia in middle and harbour in foreground. Lot sof blue and gold @Shaun Tougher
Leeds IMS and @leedsclassics.bsky.social welcome Shaun Tougher for a public lecture: Sex and the City: the Eunuchs of Constantinople. Thursday 26 March at 5.30 pm. Hybrid. All welcome. To attend online register at forms.office.com/e/CcFcJyAnTZ #medievalsky #constantinople #byzantium #eastrome
would really appreciate you spreading the word about the podcast, both here and on other social media. thank you!!!
