Melita Thomas

#1000TudorPeople M is for Thomas Moigne one of the victims of the Lincolnshire Rising, a forerunner of the Pilgrimage of Grace. A lawyer and member of Parliament for Lincoln, Moigne was captured by the rebels, forced to swear the rebel oath and serve as a captain in their army. amzn.to/3X5KVBp

We are looking at a Dutch style gable building with a red door in the centre, above which is a carved and painted Coat of Arms. On either side us a shop front painted green. There is a light dusting of snow on the floor and the roof of the building.

Day 6 of our advent calendar brings a seasonal scene to your Saturday in the form of the Fossgate entrance to the Hall.

Pretty yet functional just like us…

The Incredible, Unlikely Story of How Cats Became Our Pets Two new studies dig into the long, curving path that cats took toward domestication

Did someone say it was Caturday, and also Science Saturday. Here’s a two-in-one.
Unlike the domestication of dogs (20-40k years ago), cats might have hung around humans but it took them much longer to get domesticated (2k).

“The cat is a complex species; they are independent,” says Claudio Ottoni

6th December is the feast of St Nicholas who is depicted here putting gold pieces through the window of a poor man as a dowry for his three daughters.

BL Royal 20 D VI; Wauchier de Denain, Lives of the Saints; 13th century; France, Central (Paris); f.144r

Sent as a bride for the King of England, Anna of Cleves is thrown into a court of scandal and cutthroat politics

Only by her wits will she survive...

The Swan Maiden
£2.99 or #Free #KindleUnlimited!

#Histfic #Tudor #HistoricalFiction #Booksky 📚💙📚💙📚💙📚
amzn.eu/d/0c4oc46E

A fine medieval Annunciation scene.
The angel appearing to the Virgin Mary with the news of the coming Christ child..
Mary looking uncertain of both the message and the proximity of the dove.
I like the flowering plant in the pot between them.

Portrait of King Henry VI of England

Dec 6, 1421: King Henry VI of England is born at Windsor Castle. #OTD
buff.ly/LHMW22c

#OTD 1491 fourteen year old Anne, Duchess of Brittany, was married to Charles VIII of France in completion of the Treaty of Vergers. bit.ly/2ErZhzPOn Despite Anne's best efforts this was the beginning of the end for Brittany as an independent state.

Buy your tickets for Six Queens: Peril and Passion at the Court of Henry VIII? at @southwarkcathedral.bsky.social on 24 Jan 2026. bit.ly/3X4zY1K Second speaker is @drowenemmerson.bsky.social on Anne Boleyn.

Sunshine and showers on a blustery afternoon near Thurlestone, Devon.

#OTD 1556 b. Anne Cecil, d. of Sir William Cecil. Anne had an unhappy life. Her husband, the Earl of Oxford, treated her very shabbily and she spent a good deal of time at her parents’ home. She is buried in @westminsterabbey.bsky.social with her mother. bit.ly/1Klw9a0

Women are still absent from how history is taught and assessed in England Over a third of GCSE, AS and A-level exam papers in 2023 made no mention of women at all.

"Of the 991 history exam questions set in 2023, 357 featured a named individual, but only 31 were women – and nine of those were references to Elizabeth I or her reign."

Dr Natasha R. Hodgson of Nottingham Trent University writes this week in The Conversation bit.ly/49ZqTiq

Ruins of a farmhouse.
8”x8” oil on wood panel
Available on my website.

The Write Stuff, Featuring Multi-Genre Author Summer Wilson Interviews with Amazing Authors!

The Write Stuff, Featuring Multi-genre author Summer Wilson!

#interviews #authors #indieauthors #supportindieauthors
📚💙📚💙📚💙📚

lawrenceg.substack.com/p/the-write-...

This evening’s Super moon

The Cold Supermoon tonight

UPCOMING SSHM EVENTS SSHM Mid-Career Writing Retreat funded by Wellcome Friday 9th and Monday 12th January 2026 10am-5.30pm GMT Deadline for applications: 17 December 2025 (23:59 GMT) Led by Professor Rowena Murra…

✨SSHM Mid-Career Online Writing Retreat✨ funded by Wellcome
Over 2 days: Friday 9th and Monday 12th January 2026
10am-5.30pm GMT
This event is for SSHM members.
To sign up and for more details see website

Deadline for sign-up: 17 December 2025 (23:59 GMT)
#histmed

I am so looking forward to talking about Katharine. A noble queen, although I wouldn't like to have crossed her!

#1000TudorPeople P is for Florence Pudsey, wife of Lord Clifford. By the 1520s ‘there was much strife between my lord and my lady’ and Florence sued for the return of her conjugal rights in the Consistory Court at York. Clifford responded by accusing her of adultery w. Roger Wharton. amzn.to/3X5KVBp

This Brooklyn Museum photo shows a sketch made in black ink on a stone-coloured limestone flake (known as an ostracon by Egyptologists). The sketch depicts a scene with a cat and a mouse imitating human behaviour. On the right, a tabby cat is drawn in profile with pointed ears, standing on its hind legs in front of a large mouse seated on a folding stool on the left of the scene. The cat is depicted as a servant; in one paw it holds a fan, and offers a plucked duck, in the other paw it holds a piece of linen cloth. The mouse has drooping breasts, wears a long skirt, has a lotus flower on its forehead, and its long tail hangs down over the back of the stool. The mouse holds a dish, a flower, and cloth (often held by pharaohs). Dimensions 8.9 x 17.3 x 1.1 cm. Dated c. 1295–1075 BC. Animals imitating human behaviour are well-known in Egyptian art. Their meaning is uncertain. Perhaps this sketch is a caricature or illustration of a long-lost fable, perhaps a satire of the royal family, or maybe just a sketch for fun!

To bring a smile to your face, here’s an ancient Egyptian sketch of a tabby cat serving a mouse! 😁

The artist used a flake of limestone as a sketchpad to draw this comic scene some 3,200 years ago.

📷 Brooklyn Museum www.brooklynmuseum.org/en-GB/object...

#Archaeology

Passion flower
December 6th 2023

Happy Wednesday! We're halfway through the week! We had some low clouds that provided just enough visual interest as his sun broke through the horizon line this morning. Tap for full size. I hope you have a great day!

Abstract painting with vibrant blues and purple and maroon, with yellow and turquoise.

Abstract painting with vibrant blues and purples, with yellow and turquoise.

two sections of a recent painting. liking the moodiness and drama with bright hopeful light perhaps.
🤍🕊️
.

#artistsonbluesky #blueskyartshow #abstractart #abstractexpressionism #painter #art #artist #womensartbluesky #abstractartist #blueskyart #oregonartist #oregon

A beautiful stained glass window in the chapel of the castle that was installed to mark the new millennium in the year 2000. Nicola Hopwood's design features the rock on which the castle stands, as well as the meandering River Wye. Three faces symbolise the three parish communities of Goodrich, Marstow and Welsh Bicknor. Down the centre a red ribbon features the phrase "upon this rock" from Matthew 16:18. I chose this image because of the design of the window and because of the way it casts multicoloured pools of light onto the walls and floor.

Day 4 of #MyPhotoAdvent2025, a photo a day of my favourite captures of 2025... with an explanation in Alt Text of my reason for choosing it.

#WindowsonWednesday #AlphabetChallenge #WeekWforWindows #ArtAdventCalendar #Photography #EastCoastKin

Six Queens: Passion and Peril at the Court of Henry VIII Join us at Southwark Cathedral on 24 January 2026 for this day of talks about the Six Wives of Henry VIII in partnership with Tudor Times

Don't forget to buy your tickets for Six Queens: Peril and Passion at the Court of Henry VIII? at @southwarkcathedral.bsky.social
on 24 Jan 2026. bit.ly/3X4zY1K Some great speakers lined up to tell the stories of Henry's fascinating queens.

On 4th December 1517 the death by hanging of Richard Hunne, charged with heresy, in his cell in the Lollards Tower at Lambeth Palace sparked a wave of anticlericalism. Did he commit suicide, or was he murdered? bit.ly/2g22DAE

The magnificent Turkey Oak in the Knightshayes Court parkland. It was planted in 1924.

Large rectangular section of a mosaic floor. It depicts a round wicker basket at the bottom, spilling out a variety of fish, eels, and crustaceans. At the top, a tube-like wicker basket is on its side, with an intricate diamond pattern around the rim - it holds masses of fruit, probably figs, as fig leaves stick out at the bottom). The background is made of white tesserae, and the scene is contained within a thick black border.

Abbondanza! This large mosaic emblema uses a limited palette of stone tesserae to depict baskets of fish and fruit, symbols of abundance from the sea and land. It probably once decorated the floor of a Roman villa's triclinium (dining room). 🏺

1st-2nd c. CE, Carthage. #BritishMuseum
📸 me

The Long Shadow of the First Crusade

The taking of #Jerusalem in 1099 established in Europe a fascination with the #Crusades which has never been exhausted.

⌛️ Last chance to read this archive article for free

www.historytoday.com/archive/feat...

#OTD 1536 Archbishop Edward Lee of York preached to the assembled men of the Pilgrimage of Grace on their duty of obedience to the king. He had been asked by Robert Aske, leader of the rebels to preach to them at Pontefract Castle. bit.ly/1EIrZtO

All Saints church, Crudwell, Wiltshire contains a rare 15th Century window showing Christ and five of the Seven Sacraments.