Luke Foddy

Late Medieval Seminar

The @ihr.bsky.social Late Medieval Seminar series for autumn 2025 is now published. Themes from ladies in waiting to the custom house, and a roundtable on editing sources. All seminars are hybrid (or fully online), also, I'm now one of the convenors! www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

I’ve only made it Conway and Caenarfon, back in 2009, but they will stay with me forever. I was reading ‘Great and Terrible King’ at the time, which enhanced the experience somewhat!

Do you have a favourite @marcmorris.bsky.social ?

(Or does that risk upsetting the other castles?)

Medieval Chivalry Chivalry was more than medieval knights in shining armour jousting for the love of fair ladies. This course explores how chivalric values profoundly shaped political, literary and artistic cultures fr...

My online live course Medieval Chivalry has its first run from April - if it sells well it'll be added to the permanent roster! lifelong-learning.ox.ac.uk/courses/medi...

Delighted to be able to share news about this volume, produced in honour of a wonderful scholar

Flyer for the Midland History Essay Prize 2025 white text on a dark background with an image of the the journal's front cover. Deadline for entries is 31 October 2025

Researching any aspect of history of the midlands? Then this is for you 🫵
The Midland History essay prize offers a first prize of £400.00 and opportunity for your research to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Deadline for entries 31 October 2025 🎃
#skystorians #PhD

Extract from the miracles of Simon de Montfort: ‘The same man told of a fowl which had been dead, carved up and half eaten. After being measured, it was splendidly brought back to life through the merits of the earl …’

A carved and half-eaten chicken brought back to life? The most impressive miracle in the Evesham abbey miracle book, from ‘Saint Simon de Montfort’, ed and trans by David Cox.
An editorial note speculates that this might have been a joke. #medievalsky

Had to be done.

If you're looking for something new to read you might be interested in my book:

"The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East"

It offers a multi-perspective history of the Mongol invasions into the Middle East during the 13th Century.

Surprise as sealskin is discovered to be cover material of ‘hairy’ medieval books The findings from volumes kept in a Cistercian monastery in France shed new light on a robust medieval trade network that went well beyond local sourcing

Fascinated to read today that 12th & 13th-c Cistercian monks in France were engaging in long-distance trade networks to source sealskin for their book coverings.
This is conveniently timely for my thesis chapter on maritime resources and networks in Normandy.

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...

The US Kindle edition of my Anglo-Saxons book is only $1.99 today.

If you're in the US, don't miss this rare opportunity to obtain a foreign product for less than it cost last week.

www.amazon.com/Anglo-Saxons...

For the record, I don’t think Henry III was the worst #medieval king of England. But I do feel his modern reputation flatters him somewhat

Interested in what #medievalsky thinks!

#history #henryiii

😂👏

The Destruction of Medieval Manuscripts in England: Institutional Collections Abstract. It is generally accepted that the contingencies of manuscript survival have disproportionately destroyed some sorts of manuscripts and not others

🎉✨The Destruction of Medieval Manuscripts in England ✨

Absolutely delighted to announce that my second book has just been released (and it's open access; free to download at the link below!).
academic.oup.com/book/59790?f...

More on the Farley Moor stone from the BBC ...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bsky.app/profile/derb...

#Derbyshire #archaeology

I absolutely devoured River Kings by @catjarman.bsky.social - I loved the use of a humble bead to traverse the #Viking world, from Scandinavia to Byzantium (via several mentions of Derbyshire 😁)

So I can’t wait to get stuck into this!

#newbook #medievalsky #history

The Midland History Essay Prize 2025 is now live!

Submit an article relating to the history of the Midlands and be in with a chance of winning £400, plus publication in our journal. The deadline for entries is 31st October 2025. See the attached flyer for further details.

Medieval Treasures of Lithuania Unearthed in Vilnius Cathedral - Medievalists.net A cache of medieval royal regalia, hidden for over 80 years, has been uncovered in Vilnius Cathedral, revealing the splendour of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Medieval Treasures of Lithuania Unearthed in Vilnius Cathedral www.medievalists.net/2025/01/medi... #Medieval

Thanks for sharing, James

And you can read Luke Foddy's article 'Rebel without a Cause? Robert de Ferrers III and the Barons’ War in the Midlands, 1263–1265' in Midland History.

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

Reform and rebellion in the reign of Henry III - History Extra podcast I spoke with Emily Briffett on the History Extra podcast about how the political turmoil that unfolded in England from 1258 affected ‘everyday people’.

You can listen to the podcast, and learn more about the examples I discuss - and the historians’ works that have brought these to light - here: www.lukefoddy.com/history-extr...

It was a great pleasure to speak with Emily Briffett on the @historyextra.bsky.social podcast

We talked about the political revolution of 1258, and how a series of reforms - including changes to the murdrum fine - sought to improve conditions in Henry III’s England

#medievalsky

Midland History Volume 50, Issue 1 of Midland History

The Spring 2025 issue of Midland History is out now, featuring articles on Tudor Warwick, the Thelwall Riot, a witchcraft murder trial, and the Black Country.

www.tandfonline.com/toc/ymdh20/c...

The arrest of Robert de Ferrers, earl of Derby: Justice or betrayal? What was behind Simon de Monftort's decision to arrest Robert de Ferrers, earl of Derby, at the famous 1265 parliament?

Simon de Montfort’s decision to arrest #RobertdeFerrers, earl of #Derby, during his famous 1265 parliament has drawn surprisingly little attention. For me, it was a major miscalculation that had far reaching consequences for Montfort, as I outline here
#medievalsky

www.lukefoddy.com/the-arrest-o...

Why Being a Medieval Priest Wasn’t as Easy as You Think - Medievalists.net Here are a few drawbacks to being a medieval priest.

Why Being a Medieval Priest Wasn’t as Easy as You Think, by @anyfourcastles.bsky.social https://www.medievalists.net/2025/02/being-medieval-priest/ #medievalsky

#medievalsky All events at the Institute for Medieval Studies are free and open to public. We also try to make events hybrid when possible. All welcome!

Follow @leedsims.bsky.social for future announcements of events and all things medieval at Leeds!

Oh this will be very useful: a database for which saints lives are in which manuscripts.

Just one week until the 2025 Historic Building Mythbusting book tour kicks off in my ancestral heartlands of St Helens. The night after I'll be in Chester... these being the 1st shows of the run in the NW!

Tickets & more info for all shows:
triskeleheritage.triskelepublishing.com/mythbustingt...

Looking forward to catching you in #Belper!

It’s #MagnaCartaMonday! You can now visit @matthewholford.bsky.social’s fantastic display commemorating the 800th anniversary of the 1225 Magna Carta at @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social 📜🎉
visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/magna-...