Gawain's Mum

A wooden carving of a tall, slim young woman in medieval-style clothing (long hair swept back, long flared dress with long flared sleeves), carved from a tree stump, standing on grass with trees and a house behind her.

A river flows across the picture from front left to back centre, crossed by with a two-arched stone bridge. to the right is the grass of a park, with a tarmac path running beside the river, lined by lime trees to the right and a railing between path and river on the left.

Travelling home from North Wales today, we paused at Llanidloes for lunch and went to look at the Severn/Hafren (Latin: Sabrina), which is a young river here -- with a modern imagining of Sabrina:

Reading Room | Bishopsgate Institute The Reading Room is separate to the Researchers’ Service, so if you’d like to look at our special collections and archives, you’ll need this instead https:

Somewhere free, quiet, and right next to Liverpool Street? 👀

Whether you’ve got a deadline looming, are polishing off a chapter on your lunch break, or hunting for a calm spot to do some work, our new Reading Room is open to you.

👋 https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/whats-on/activity/reading-room/

It's so cute!

New podcast episode! @ewoodacre.bsky.social interviews Professor Nwando Achebe and Lydia Amoah, discussing the distinctive features of African queenship, including :

royal women from across African history from ancient Egypt and Kush to the recent death of the Asantehemaa in Ghana.

Cover of the book 'Medieval Livonia: History, Society and Economy of a Territory on the Baltic Frontier', ed. Anti Selart and Alan V. Murray, published by Brepols of Turnholt, 2025.

Copyright page and first page of the contents of the book 'Medieval Livonia: History, Society and Economy of a Territory on the Baltic Frontier', ed. Anti Selart and Alan V. Murray, published by Brepols of Turnholt, 2025.

Second page of the contents and first page of the maps and illustrations in the book 'Medieval Livonia: History, Society and Economy of a Territory on the Baltic Frontier', ed. Anti Selart and Alan V. Murray, published by Brepols of Turnholt, 2025.

Delighted to receive a copy of the latest volume from Brepols' 'Outremer' series!

Ancient cities and the development of urbanism in pre-colonial Africa: the view from Bonduku. Historical and archaeological research on the origins of urbanism and ancient cities has long held a prominent position in the study of the rise of early states and civilizations.

Ancient cities and the development of urbanism in pre-colonial Africa: the view from Bonduku.

www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/ancient-ci...

A perfect autumn day for the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway's 'Railway 200' event today. And as a bonus, the now privately-owned station at Gotherington Halt was open to visitors.

"Something happened in Northeast Africa in the early thirteenth century.

It was swift, violent, destructive, and perpetrated by non-Muslims.

It might have been accompanied by an outbreak of disease; it might have had apocalyptic overtones; it might have been several events rolled into one."

Yep, a physical card -- particularly if it incorporated the driving licence and the passport -- would be far preferable. There are soooo many problems with an app-based model.

No to Digital ID Cards! Keir Starmer says everyone in the UK will be required to have mandatory digital ID. That’s not the kind of country we want to be. Back our petition to say no to digital ID cards.

www.libdems.org.uk/nodigitalid

Calling researchers on the Knights Hospitaller! Coming up next week online from the Hospitaller Research Forum: (www.um.edu.mt/maks/las/our...)

England's first colony: medieval Ireland, 1171-1500 In May 1487, a coronation was held in Christ Church Cathedral Dublin. The young child was hailed as King Edward VI. Those who pressed his claim, soon raised an army…

An excellent talk well worth listening to given by Dr Paul Dryburgh, Medieval Records Specialist at The National Archives (UK), on the history of the medieval English colony in Ireland and the surviving documentary record:

vimeo.com/event/510578...

There are only 4 more days to submit an abstract for our #IMC2026 panel on practice-based/experiential research in medieval studies.
We would love for this session to facilitate some interdisciplinary conversations, so please do get in touch with your ideas.
#Medievalsky

Join us @ the #medievalseminar next Monday, as we welcome @lauramorreale.bsky.social for a talk on the fascinating "Image du Monde" and its digital afterlives! 9/29, 5:30p, Barker 133. @digitalmedievalist.bsky.social @medievalacademy.bsky.social

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-...

A group of students sat at a table examining documents and books from the Library's collection.

Are you an early career researcher with an interest in our collection? Apply to develop an independent research project funded by AHRC.

Hear more about the opportunity at a virtual town hall event on Monday 6 October: bit.ly/BL-EarlyCare...

I'm very much looking forward to seeing this!

Tenured Associate/Full Professor in History, Deinard Chair in Early Modern/Modern Jewish History in Minneapolis, MN for University of Minnesota Exciting opportunity in Minneapolis, MN for University of Minnesota as a Tenured Associate/Full P...

My department is hiring an associate/full professor of Early Modern/Modern Jewish History. Please apply and please share within your networks. I have been told to say we're very interested in the early early modern.

Note: I am not involved in the search but am happy to answer general questions.

A lovely image of Oldbury Nuclear Power Station yesterday afternoon, from the other side of the Severn Estuary. The Power Station is hidden behind the tree in the centre of the picture.

Call for paper and session proposals for the 11th quadrennial conference of the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East (Porto, 29 June-3 July 2026). Speakers must be members of the Society. Deadline: 15 Nov 2025. 11th-sscle-conference-porto-2026.mozellosite.com/call-for-pap...

A memorial stone to Theobald III (Thibaut) count of Champagne 1179-1201. The stone is black with white-highlighted lettering, and is hung on a pale stone wall in a chapel inside Troyes cathedral. The stone explains that Theobald's body was moved into the cathedral from St Stephen's church on 17 Feb 1792.

This #medieval #skystorian got very excited when spying this in Troyes cathedral. #medievalMonday #memorialsMonday 📷 my own. For more info on the Counts of Champagne check out the work of Theodore Evergates

Links to Selected Online Text and Translations of Alliterative Poems from Middle English and Scots A compendium of links to original texts and translations of alliterative poems in Middle English and Scots, including Layamon's Brut, The Vision of Piers Plowman, the Alliterative Morte Arthur, etc.

For online info about the Alliterative Morte Arthur and other Middle English alliterative poems, check out alliteration.net/historical-texts/translations-middle-english/

🙂🙂🙂

alice from alice in wonderland is wearing a blue dress ALT: alice from alice in wonderland is wearing a blue dress

I'm looking forward to reading it! Many thanks to the editors and contributors (makes respectful bow of thanks)

ooo!

Somewhere nearby there’s probably a hare taking a nap.

'Claricia' is of course a female clerk:

More well-deserved accolades for @daviddoddington.bsky.social whose book is a finalist for the @slaveryarchive.bsky.social book prize--"is an extraordinary study shedding new light on old age and aging in the antebellum US South." @universitypress.cambridge.org offers our big congratulations!

Let's have a late medieval castle. This is Berry Pomeroy castle in Devon, now in the care of English heritage. There are bats & wall paintings in the gatehouse, & picturesque views down the valley. It is rumoured to be haunted, but apparently that story was dreamed up for tourists in the early C19th

Senate House Library announces relaunch of Visiting Research Fellowship Senate House Library and the Friends of Senate House Library are delighted to report that the Visiting Research Fellowships programme has been relaunched.

📣Only two weeks left to apply for the Senate House Library Visiting Fellowships 📣

In 2025-6 up to two awards of £1500 will be allocated to support a fellowship of up to two weeks.

Deadline: 15 September 2025

More info 👇
https://tinyurl.com/ykudv9tn