The hardcover of my edited collection, Pre-Conquest History and its Medieval Reception, is 60% off on the @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social website. So, if you wanted to read some fascinating studies of how the early English past was reinvented in a Norman world...
boydellandbrewer.com/book/pre-con...
Delighted to say I've been awarded a 2026/27 Bodleian Libraries Humfrey Wanley visiting fellowship. I'll be looking at many, many copies of the prose Brut and their representations of the early English past. But not until Trinity term next year (this year's UK research trip is already planned).
Another review of my edited volume Pre-Conquest History and its Medieval Reception has just appeared. Menendez runs a thorough eye over each chapter:
scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/ind...
The ebook is downright affordable from @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social.
boydellandbrewer.com/book/pre-con...
Here you are, held in the Dunedin NZ public library. One of, if not the, earliest medieval codices to arrive in New Zealand.
dunedin.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/2...
Yesterday's meeting couldn't even have been an email, because emails need content...
On the sidelines of #anza25 in Melbourne, it was wonderful for past, present, and incoming members of the Ceræ committee to meet in person and talk about our own research. L-R:
@ohwowbee.bsky.social
@mattfirth.bsky.social
@mlcseah.bsky.social
@ericasteiner.bsky.social
Natasha Bailey
Andrea Wait
Very pleased to have received a Flinders University Vice Chancellor's Award for Research last week. It's been a busy year of research and writing. Next projects: a biography of Gunnhildr konungamóðir (Arc, 2026/27) and a biography of Edgar the Peacemaker (Yale, 2027/28).
New issue of @parergon.bsky.social edited by @mattfirth.bsky.social, Dr Cassandra Schilling and me!
@flindersuniversity.bsky.social ARC DECRA Fellow in Medieval History, @mattfirth.bsky.social speaking at @anzamems.bsky.social on political friendships in Wessex!
The cover of Pre-Conquest History and its Medieval Reception: Writing England's Past with a depiction of the 7th c. Mercian king, Offa, by Matthew Paris in the 13th c.
Just in: the first review of my edited collection, Pre-Conquest History and its Medieval Reception: Writing England's Past. The reviewer states 'the variety of approaches and diverse materials discussed in this collection spark exciting possibilities and avenues for future research'. Perfect! (1/2)
Cover of Remembering England: Cultural Memory in the Sagas of Icelanders. Generic design.
The first review of Remembering England: Cultural Memory in the Sagas of Icelanders has appeared! In Dr Kennedy's positive (yet critical) assessment, it is 'almost unfailingly interesting and insightful' and 'scholars of the Íslendingasögur, and especially the skáldsögur, will 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 this book'. (1/2)
The challenges of packing to go to a conference...
Issue 42.2 is upon us! As some of you have noted, our book reviews are already available. Alongside the contents page for our special issue on England and the external world, and our frankly fabulous cover. Check out our website, articles available on Project Muse soon.
parergon.org/index.php/pa...
See the review in @parergon.bsky.social 42.2: parergon.org/index.php/pa...
Buy the book @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social (the ebook is downright affordable): boydellandbrewer.com/book/pre-con... (2/2)
The cover of Pre-Conquest History and its Medieval Reception: Writing England's Past with a depiction of the 7th c. Mercian king, Offa, by Matthew Paris in the 13th c.
Just in: the first review of my edited collection, Pre-Conquest History and its Medieval Reception: Writing England's Past. The reviewer states 'the variety of approaches and diverse materials discussed in this collection spark exciting possibilities and avenues for future research'. Perfect! (1/2)
If that sounds like you, you can read the review in @parergon.bsky.social 42.2 here: parergon.org/index.php/pa...
And you can buy the book from @routledgehistory.bsky.social at 25% off at the moment, here:
www.routledge.com/Remembering-... (2/2)
Cover of Remembering England: Cultural Memory in the Sagas of Icelanders. Generic design.
The first review of Remembering England: Cultural Memory in the Sagas of Icelanders has appeared! In Dr Kennedy's positive (yet critical) assessment, it is 'almost unfailingly interesting and insightful' and 'scholars of the Íslendingasögur, and especially the skáldsögur, will 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 this book'. (1/2)
Officially out in the Journal of Medieval History vol. 51.5, my article on the intersection of viking activity and the Icelandic conversion (c. 1000AD) and how religious concerns shaped saga conceptions of the viking past.
Cover of Parergon 42.2 with the feature image: Reed MS10. Book of Hours, Latin with additions in Middle English; the Raising of Souls to God preceding the Commendation of Souls.
Contents of Parergon 42.2: Articles Medieval English Attitudes to the Outside World - Matthew Firth Hated Race? Attitudes to the Wider World in Beowulf - Erin Sebo The Non-Christian as Culturally Distinct ‘Other’ in the Old English Judith and Elene - Cassandra Schilling The Earliest English Almanac? Types of Information in Early Calendrical Texts - Christine Rauer Elephants in English Literature, Art, and Material Culture before the Reign of Henry III - Alison Hudson England’s Enemies? Framing Feelings about Foreigners and Mercenaries in High Medieval War Narratives - Emily A. Winkler Making Excuses: The Diplomatic Anxieties of Edward I of England - Kathleen B. Neal English Queenship from the Mid-Fifteenth to Mid-Sixteenth Centuries and England’s Place in the European World - Michele Seah Review Essay New Work on Early Medieval England: England in the Early Medieval World - Jonathan Tickle
The next issue of @parergon.bsky.social is on its way, guest-edited by me, @erinsebo.bsky.social and Cassandra Schilling. There's a great group of scholars here who collectively consider, from multiple perspectives, questions of how medieval England perceived its place in a wide and complex world.
Can't wait for this special issue of @parergon.bsky.social! Always great to work with Dr Cassandra Schiling and @flindersuniversity.bsky.social DECRA Fellow in Medieval History, @mattfirth.bsky.social and of course, ANU's Prof. Rosalind Smith!
I'm getting the impression that if I follow this plan I may not survive...
Have been asked to do a review of King and Conqueror, but that would then require me to watch King and Conqueror. Not sure it's worth it?
I'll be on ABC Nightlife's 'This Week in History' at 11.00pm (AEDT) on Sunday - 30 minutes on the life of Edgar Ætheling and the political landscape of 1066.
You could make a drinking game out it: a beverage whenever I muddle my Edwards, Edgars, Harolds, and Williams. But it might get dangerous!
When I finished writing Early English Queens, I didn't think I had much left to say about ninth- and tenth-century English queenship. Ha! Since then, I've written four more essays on the topic - it has me captive.
Anyway, the ebook of Early English Queens is currently 25% off at Routledge.
Logo of the Australian Early Medieval Association
Registration Open: Conference of the Australian Early Medieval Association #medieval #earlymodern www.anzamems.org/?p=...
The much-anticipated news is now here. I am very excited to announce that my book, soon out with York Medieval Press, is now available for pre-order! Hats off to @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social and the awesome Mont-Saint-Michel design team for the cover!
boydellandbrewer.com/book/robert-...
The way this article is framed positions the loss of the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences as of secondary importance. This both reflects and entrenches attitudes towards these as 'lesser' disciplines, which is what got us into this mess in the first place.
Thanks Deborah, it really is. At least we have him home for the night. It's amazing to think how long he's been with us.
A handsome tabby cat named Nüss - a venerable old gentleman at 17 years of age who has, sadly, reached the end of his life.
Such fun choices for tomorrow morning! I can attend a meeting to discuss the impending dissolution of the college of HASS at my university. Or I can take a cat who has been with me since my 20s - three cities and careers ago - to be euthanised. I will, naturally, be farewelling my boy.
Early English Queens, 850-1000 has just been reviewed in @jaema.bsky.social 20.2. McLeod states that it 'finds an ingenious structure to tell a difficult and timely story' & 'is highly recommended'.
Links to the review & the book (all formats):
Review → search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/...
Book ↓