Ruth Karras

Canonist/canoeist

The Childers Professorship of Irish History at University of Cambridge Searching for an academic job? Explore this The Childers Professorship of Irish History opening on jobs.ac.uk! Click to view more details and browse other academic jobs.

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOC329/t...

Last but not least: Robin Fleming on periodisation www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Friendship in the High Middle Ages: Not an Emotion, but Full of Emotion This article examines the multifaceted role of friendship in the High Middle Ages, framing it as a vital social, political and spiritual institution. It contrasts Brian McGuire’s model of monastic ...

And finally, how has medieval friendship change in 50 years? Jón Viðar Sigurðsson discusses. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Carpet page from St Gall gospel manuscript

Thanks @medievalireland.bsky.social for letting me tag along to see Words on the Wave @nmireland.bsky.social. Amazing stuff.

Included this in soundtrack to slide show at my father’s memorial; he was a chemist.

The History of Premodern Critical Race Studies – and Why It’s Personal This history of Premodern Critical Race Studies (PCRS) addresses the field’s origins, development, and implications for medieval studies. PCRS’s conventions are born of postcolonial studies and Cri...

Writing on race was not much in evidence in the first years of the journal. Cord Whitaker discusses how the inclusion of critical race studies in medieval studies may be seen as a homecoming www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Jane Tibbetts Schulenburg and the Metamorphosis of Female Sanctity When ‘Sexism and the Celestial Gynaeceum’ was written, both women and hagiography were denigrated subjects for historical study. Schulenburg countered with a rigorous statistical analysis of sancti...

Why and how did ‘female sanctity’ change to ‘female spirituality’? And what did it mean to use the word ‘sexism ’ in an article title in 1978? Dyan Elliott discusses: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

One of the things I wrote this year: revisiting an early work on monastic water for the 50th anniversary of the Journal of Medieval History. It’s open access thanks to OSU.

Sorry that’s @medievalpenguin.bsky.social

Ellen Arnold revisits the Plan of St Gall in the context of environmental history www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

In light of this, I want to share some resources on trans people in the medieval and early modern period, for anyone who might be interested. There is a thriving field of research into the lives, identities, and experiences of trans people globally before the advent of modern medicine (a 🧵)

The Journal of Medieval History, Fifty Years On In this introduction to a special issue commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Journal of Medieval History, the current editors present eight new articles that reassess articles of importanc...

Here’s the intro to the issue, by me and Jerry Singerman. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

That all blue flag is lacking something. Wouldn’t a circle of yellow stars look nice?

Assistant Professor (Teaching Focused) in Roman History (110578-0625) at University of Warwick Discover an exciting academic career path as a Assistant Professor (Teaching Focussed) in Roman History (110578-0625) at jobs.ac.uk. Don't miss out on this job opportunity - apply today!

Assistant Professor (Teaching Focused) in Roman History at University of Warwick

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNX770/a...

Nominate We invite you to nominate outstanding scholars and practitioners engaged in exploring any aspect of the human past.

The Dan David Prize is the world’s largest history prize, annually awarding 9 prizes of $300,000 each to early and midcareer scholars and practitioners in the historical disciplines.
Nominees can come from *any field* related to the study of the human past, both within academia and outside it.

...and it's out!

"‘People and Things Have Always Been Mixed Up’: Notes on the So-Called Global Middle Ages", my very short essay for the Journal of Medieval History's 50th-anniversary special issue, is now published; limited free access at the link below!

www.tandfonline.com/eprint/RAEXD...

‘People and Things Have Always Been Mixed Up’: Notes on the So-Called Global Middle Ages This essay takes the 1429 execution of a Persian merchant in Mamlūk Cairo, sent by a Christian king in the Horn of Africa to procure relics in Latin Europe, as a point of departure for reflecting o...

And here is @krebsverena.bsky.social on global things

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Small Gods

Brilliant opportunity, do consider applying!

Back in the 80s I interviewed a job candidate while bf’ing. I told him the baby needed to eat and he could wait 20 min or we could talk while. He was fine with it. Other people in my dept thought it was bizarre.

TV screen showing England v Netherlands in the women’s Euros

It’s not #imc2025 without football in the Old Bar.

When the Study of Judaism Entered History The Journal of Medieval History set out to become an all-embracing and unspecialised venue for works on European history ‘between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance’. However, during the first tw...

Is Jewish history part of medieval history? Uri Shachar wonders. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Christianity and Sex Have Always Had an Awkward Relationship The latest work by renowned historian Diarmaid MacCulloch tackles Christian attitudes to sex over the centuries. Modern-day Christians who talk about traditional values usually don’t know how changeab...

My first ever review for a non-academic publication jacobin.com/2025/07/chri...

Oscillating Fan v. Ocelot In Fan

Mapping Medieval Marriage: Canon Law, Regionalism, and the Evolution of Legal History This article revisits James Brundage's landmark 1975 study on medieval marriage as a starting point for tracing key developments in the historiography of marriage law over the past fifty years. Bru...

All these articles are great but I have to give a particular shout-out to Chanelle Delameillieure’s article on marriage and canon law, because it’s a topic so dear to my own heart. I will be citing this and my students will be reading it. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Power, Propaganda and Medieval Historiography This article explores the relationship between historical writing, power and politics in medieval Europe. The article is part of a Special Issue marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Journal of M...

Lars Kjaer goes meta, writing about the historiography of historiography. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Home page of the Medieval Libraries of Great Britain project beta website.

POSTDOC OPPORTUNITY!

@bodleianlibraries.bsky.social are advertising a full-time 6-month postdoc position to work with Andrew Dunning on redeveloping the Medieval Libraries of Great Britain project as a sustainable, open-access digital resource for manuscript studies.

🖊️ Apply by 14 July

Verena Krebs sprengt die Grenzen der mittelalterlichen Welt Die Historikerin betrachtet Europa und Afrika als Teile eines größeren, verflochtenen Kosmos des Mittelalters.

A thing has happened — after 8 years as a contingent, non-TT "junior" professor, I'm now a regular professor at @ruhr-uni-bochum.de.

It feels surreal. Thank you to everyone who believed in (the value of) my research, near & far — and helped make create this reality. 🤯🤗

news.rub.de/leute/2025-0...

Integrating Natural Scientific Methodologies into Medieval History This essay discusses the introduction of natural scientific methodologies including palaeoecology, climate science, and genetics into historical research. It argues that although this began over fi...

Patrick Geary on integrating science 🧬 and medieval history #medievalsky 🗃️https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03044181.2025.2519763?src=exp-la