J L Laynesmith

Very much hoping @yuanfenyang.bsky.social will be here.l

Liberal Democrats vs Reform UK Ltd: who’s really the underdog? The Liberal Democrats hold 72 parliamentary seats, yet the media have sidelined Ed Davey while Reform UK Ltd hogs column inches and airtime

Liberal Democrats vs Reform UK Ltd: who’s really the underdog?

The Liberal Democrats hold 72 parliamentary seats, yet the media have sidelined Ed Davey while Reform UK Ltd hogs column inches and airtime
@politicalsatirical.bsky.social

Title slide of the talk. It says 'The Death of a Yorkist Mayor: Executing the will of Sir Ralph Verney, Mayor of London (d.1478) Dr. Richard Asquith' The image behind the text is of a dead person, partially covered by a shroud, pointing at a piece of paper being held by someone else.

Our thanks to @richardasquith.bsky.social for a fascinating talk. Members of the Richard III Society who missed it will have a chance to view a recording for a limited time.

Every MP should be required to read @lauralaker.bsky.social 's 'Potholes and Pavements'!

Three-yarn weft samite, dark purple background showing pale lions in roundels.

Silk that's over a thousand years old! I first heard about these relics of St Julian in July (in a keynote lecture @imc-leeds.bsky.social) and was awestruck to come upon them at the National Museum of Ravenna last week. Byzantine work, 9th-10th century.

Heat-pump homes put less strain on grid than expected, study shows Analysis of new-builds in Birmingham suggests all-electric homes not only use less energy but vary in peak usage

www.theguardian.com/environment/... - good news about heat-pumps.

I'll be here! Talking about Harold Godwinson's much mythologised partner Edith Swanneck.

Marker for start of Reading's pilgrimage route unveiled - BBC News The granite marker was shipped from Galicia to Reading and was unveiled by a group on Wednesday.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Circular clay vessel with Greek letters on the base

I was fascinated to learn that the earliest surviving evidence of writing in Italy comes from a woman's tomb from the 8th century BC and it probably says 'the one who spins well'. (Found at Gabii, now at the Diocletian Baths in Rome).

MEMS to Host the Fifteenth Century Conference 2026

Are you a scholar of the fifteenth century and have an interest in the British Isles and its wider connections? If so, then you will want to know that @memsunikent.bsky.social will be hosting the 2026 Fifteenth Century Conference in Canterbury and the CfP is now open: www.kent.ac.uk/medieval-ear...

A Road Map of the Yorkist Age The Trust On…A Road Map of the Yorkist Age In a slight departure from our normal blogposts, here we present a guest post: Dr David Harrison discussing his fascinating new publication, Histori…

Are you interested in the roads and bridges of #medieval England and Wales? In our latest #blogpost, Dr David Harrison discusses his fascinating new map that provides crucial insights into the road network as it existed in the 15th century yorkisthistorytrust.org/2025/11/10/a... #Skystorians

The truth about Vikings and mead might disappoint modern enthusiasts The standard drink was far more likely to be ale.

I've written about mead and its popular perception for The Conversation. theconversation.com/the-truth-ab... Mildly concerned that by pointing out that the Vikings (probably) didn't drink (much) mead, I will have annoyed all the re-enactors, many of whom have swords oh dear.

Decision time: Tell Keir to #StopRosebank This is the moment we've been building towards: it's final decision time for the UK Government. Equinor is trying to get the new Rosebank oil field re-approved. It's up to us all to convince the Gover...

Crucial action by @StopCambo: The Government wants to hear what you think about approving new oil and gas field Rosebank. Submit your comment here today: actionnetwork.org/forms/the-go...

Do you know why this was only published just after the housing minister told MPs to reject a crucial amendment. Does that mean MPs hadn't had a chance to read this before voting?

Nature not a blocker to housing growth, inquiry finds Commons committee report challenges ‘lazy narrative’ used by ministers that scapegoats wildlife and the environment

Good news for nature
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Dorothy Whitelock Lecture 2025: Guthlac: what the early medieval records tell us

Dorothy Whitelock Lecture 2025: Guthlac: what the early medieval records tell us
3 December 17:15
St Peter’s College chapel, New Inn Hall Street, Oxford
@ox.ac.uk

Join the event in person or online.
www.english.ox.ac.uk/event/doroth...

St Margaret’s pocket gospel-book.

Nov 16: Feast of Margaret of Scotland (†1093). English noble who married Máel Coluim III, king of Alba. Church reformer and friend to the poor who founded a free ferry across the Firth of Forth for pilgrims heading to Cennrígmonaid (St Andrews). Her pocket gospel-book survives. #medievalsky

Duchy Chamber pleadings for the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII (DL 1/1-26) are now searchable to item level online. discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/r/C...

Not enough attention is being paid to the effective closure of the bulk of one of the 2 or 3 most important public archives for modern British history. A terrible own goal for the BBC as a public-service agency.

sketch of a noblewoman with loose hair - Cecily duchess of York - from Chicago University MS Codex 224

The 2020 issue of The Ricardian was recently uploaded to @richardiiisociety.bsky.social's website free to access richardiii.net/research/the.... It includes papers from an @lincolnrecsoc.bsky.social conference, among them a case study of Cecily duchess of York's excercise of lordship in Lincolnshire

Needed to be near Holland Park this evening so arrived early and visited Lord Leighton's wonderful home.

This seems a logical action to take after my last post.

Let me excerpt the concluding paragraph:

The Late Medieval Archives of the Venerable English College, Rome The Trust On…The Late Medieval Archives of the Venerable English College, Rome Philip Muijtjens, a postdoctoral researcher at the Université catholique de Louvain (Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium),…

Cecily duchess of York made generous donations to the English hopsice in Rome - something unusual in her family - so I am really looking forward to seeing the fruits of Philip Muijtjens research here: yorkisthistorytrust.org/2025/10/30/t...

and if this is 'not your period' you may be pleasantly surprised to learn that after safely giving birth to at least two children by Tostig she outlived him by nearly twenty years.

Gold book cover, set with multiple coloured stones and decorated with 3D images of Christ in Majesty and the Crucifixion.

I'll be giving a talk on King Harold's so-called 'Danish wife' Edith, so I thought I'd better watch 'King and Conqueror'. If you've seen it, you'll understand why I might feel I need to post an image of, for example, a glorious colourful book owned by Judith of Flanders during her marriage to Tostig

A wonderful story of nature bouncing back when given the chance...

Screenshot of the Viabundus website.

A neat tool I just came across: Viabundus, a digital road map of northern Europe 1350-1650, that lets you calculate contemporary travel routes/times. In 1500, going Amiens → Köln by horse took almost 7 days and 13 toll payments.

#medievalsky

www.landesgeschichte.uni-goettingen.de/handelsstras...

FIG. 2: Child’s Tunic with Hood Tapestry weave of dyed wools, plain (tabby) weave ground of dyed wool, fringe of dyed wools along edge of hood and lower edge of tunic L. 101 cm; W. 89 cm Egypt, ca. 5th–7th century CE The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of George D. Pratt, 1927 (27.239) Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source: Art Resource, NY

Most histories of hoodies go with 12th century monks as the originator, but I like to show my students this one from 5th-7th century Egypt.

First ladies made history in the East Wing. It was razed for Trump’s ballroom. The East Wing is home to the Office of the First Lady and has played a key role in women’s visibility in the White House.

Trump is destroying a core piece of US #WomensHistory. Of course

19thnews.org/2025/10/east...