@jddavies66.bsky.social
Historian of early modern Europe with particular interests in folklore and violence.
Infinitely enigmatic Flagellation of Christ, c. 1455, by spatial genius Piero della Francesca. Today is his day.
12.10.2025 21:39 β π 111 π 17 π¬ 4 π 1
Rest in Peace, Diane Keaton. Thank you for your work and for your many wonderful performances. My favorite was your role as Louise Bryant in "REDS" (1981). ποΈ
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ur1...
A folklorist sees the modern far-right trigger motifs and reads it like a folk tale of distraction ... #vegans #tampons #toilets #NationalTrust. So simple. Don't be a sucker. See through it.
10.10.2025 20:42 β π 46 π 11 π¬ 5 π 1Read all about the history in THE FIREARM REVOLUTION, out in April 26 and now up for pre-order: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
03.10.2025 14:10 β π 7 π 4 π¬ 1 π 1
Most glorious Annunciation ever. Yet Mary is clearly not convinced! Painted in 1333 by Simone Martini of Siena, whose day is today, with some help from Lippo Memmi.
26.09.2025 12:33 β π 146 π 29 π¬ 8 π 4Marc Bloch will be admitted to the Pantheon in Paris! The date for the "PanthΓ©onisation" is set for 16 June 2026. Meanwhile, @sorbonneparis1.bsky.social has launched a website to keep track of the many conferences to celebrate the event. Some of them start this month.
marcbloch.pantheonsorbonne.fr
The subject of Sheridan Le Fanu's great ghost story "Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter".
06.09.2025 17:50 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
A number of feet pointing to a central point
Today is WORLD DAY OF FOLKLORE, which has been celebrated as a UNESCO initiative since 2018.
This is the anniversary of the day in 1846 when antiquarian William Thoms first used the term βfolk-loreβ as an alternative to the more cumbersome βpopular antiquariesβ
Happy World Folklore Day to you all!
devil-horned man leaps over a wall with a man in pursuit.
#WyrdWednesday Spring-heeled Jack, the Terror of London, (and all of the UK) c. 1837-1904. He began as a devilish penny-dreadful villain, belching blue flame, clawing at victims, and making impossible leaps over walls and buildings. He later morphed into a heroic protector & avenger of wrongs.
13.08.2025 12:16 β π 55 π 11 π¬ 3 π 1
For a moment a majority was for it. And at peak leave we voted bit.ly/45cjF6p Like every summit, all around it was only downside. βThe greatest act of national self harmβ as many have said from Geldof to Ian Kershaw to Heseltine.
03.08.2025 05:52 β π 241 π 86 π¬ 13 π 5
Folk culture is everywhere in Britain. You just have to look for it
www.bigissue.com/culture/folk...
βFor the Dead Remember: The Life of M. R. Jamesβ will be published by Oxford University Press on 10 September 2026. Set your watches, mark your calendars, and spread the word!
29.07.2025 06:25 β π 67 π 25 π¬ 4 π 1
An illustration inspired by the Brocken Spectre phenomenon - a figure full of light in the foreground is projected into shadow on the horizon. Or something.
A black and white illustration inspired by the Jonathan Miller adaptation of the M R James story Oh Whistle and I'll Come to you, My Lad. A dark figure in the distance pursues a man pictured in silhouette against a sun setting over the sea
A black and white illustration of the Robert Eggars film Nosferatu. The figure of a woman in early Victorian high mourning walks through a snowy graveyard, flanked by two metal cross shaped grave markers
An ink drawing of the side view of a crow cawing
Hello! It's no doubt partly due to my spectacularly poor marketing skillz, but sales of prints have been pretty woeful of late. So if you are after a gloomy antidote to all this pesky fine weather and sunshine etc, do have a gander. Reposts also much appreciated. sarahcoomershop.etsy.com
11.07.2025 15:27 β π 515 π 206 π¬ 18 π 19'Around the Rings of Saturn', a twenty minute film exploring the journey made through Norfolk and Suffolk in WG Sebald's 'The Rings Of Saturn', is now on Youtube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=hELn...
Here's a short excerpt:
"why does restaurant food taste better than food cooked at home"
The cook does not care if you live or die and uses salt and butter accordingly
The Picture of Cranes by Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song(960-1127) is a masterpiece of balance and grace. Twenty cranes, each uniquely posedβsoaring, gliding, or skimming lowβfill the sky with dynamic life, while the palace roofβs silhouette anchors the scene in quiet dignity. 1/2
02.07.2025 13:04 β π 55 π 11 π¬ 1 π 1Night of the Long Tweets.
05.06.2025 21:13 β π 428 π 72 π¬ 6 π 3AI, AI, AI ... Bombarded with it on platforms now. I can do my historical research without it thank you. I can understand general things without it. I can write without it. And you are not having my data.
20.05.2025 21:05 β π 58 π 8 π¬ 3 π 0
Brown hares can currently be shot all-year round , despite an estimated decline of 80% in the last 100 years . Please sign the petition now calling on the Govt to introduce a close season from Feb β Sept . Thank you !
18.05.2025 09:03 β π 369 π 212 π¬ 23 π 7Wow, we are now being officially advised against travel to the USA by the Canadian Association of University Teachers. I never thought I'd see the day. βΉοΈ #AcademicChatter
15.04.2025 15:19 β π 5396 π 1419 π¬ 205 π 80It is my personal opinion that too many Things are Happening. I would like for fewer Things to Happen from now on. Thank you.
15.04.2025 19:45 β π 69 π 14 π¬ 4 π 0
Photo of a copy of The Great Gatsby, inscribed by Fitzgerald, from www.raptisrarebooks.com.
The Great Gatsby was published 100 years ago today.
βSo we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.β
π§ ποΈ #BookSky
This.. Carl Sagan ( The Demon haunted world, 1996), one of my heroes... the only correction I'd make is, it's not just America.
09.04.2025 07:09 β π 11 π 3 π¬ 1 π 1
"You boy! What tariff is it today?"
09.04.2025 19:56 β π 6334 π 1343 π¬ 77 π 41Exactly.
09.04.2025 20:18 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0This is so humiliating for Trump there must have been a serious threat against him. He has damaged very powerful vested interests.
09.04.2025 18:52 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0A threatened coup against Trump unless he backed down?
09.04.2025 18:36 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
A cluster of oyster shells lies on a stone-paved seafloor, partially covered in sediment. A yellow triangular marker and a black-and-white measuring stick are placed nearby for scale.
New discovery: Venice lagoon reveals submerged #Roman oyster farm: In the heart of the Venetian lagoon, a submerged area has revealed a secret: a brick and wood tank containing about 300 oyster shells, dating back to the first century AD
www.finestresullarte.info/en/archaeolo...
πΊ #archaeology
The AHA has released a statement condemning the evisceration of the National Endowment for the Humanities. βThis frontal attack on the nationβs public culture is unpatriotic, anti-American, and unjustified.β ποΈ
04.04.2025 16:39 β π 265 π 118 π¬ 3 π 9
Welcome to Idiocracy.
03.04.2025 00:41 β π 20041 π 5252 π¬ 1215 π 587
