Paul Webster 🌈

Leeds IMC 2026 Call for Papers: Things Transcending Time This session, sponsored by the Haskins Society and the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Research, University of Winchester, invites papers exploring objects and their relationships to, through, or against time. Things never have one life but many, through birth, interference, additions, and even abandonment. This session seeks to understand the many ways that objects transcend time through creating it, holding or shaping it. This session also wishes to challenge the dominating hierarchy of textual studies for history (as a time and place, rather than a discipline) through objects who themselves shape or create history. ‘Object’ is broadly conceived for this session; for example, a manuscript is also an object when the research is its life as an object rather than the textual understanding of it. Topics may include, but are certainly not limited to: • Multiple or concurrent times understood or embedded in objects • Objects’ authority and agency with and against time and history • Microhistories or biographies of objects and their place(s) in time. • Theoretical or methodological considerations of object-led histories Papers are warmly invited from any academic field (art history, archaeology, history, etc.), and should be generally focussed on the Anglo-Norman worlds and their surrounds (broadly interpreted), ca 800-1300. Papers presented by ECRs in this session may be submitted for consideration to the Denis Bethell Prize from the Haskins Society. Please send a 250-word abstract (including key terms) and short CV to Katherine Weikert (Katherine.weikert@winchester.ac.uk) by 15 September. Your subject line should read ‘Things Transcending Time [your surname]’, else it is liable to be missed and unread. If you have any questions, please contact Katherine Weikert.

#cfp #imc2026 @imc-leeds.bsky.social! Please consider an abstract for 'Things Transcending Time,' sponsored by @haskinssociety.bsky.social and the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Research, @uniwinchester.bsky.social, and organized by myself. Abstract below with full text in the alt.

A large bag of ripe plums.

Plums! Looking forward to some jam making very soon.

Sunday snaps from the garden.

This week's plan to do some writing hasn't really worked out, but a few words found their way onto paper by way of getting started on a chapter this afternoon.

📢We would like to thank all 100 of you who have supported our project for the past few weeks. Sadly, today is the last day that it will be active, but this isn't the end of us yet! Another blog post will go up in a week's time that we'll let you know about, and our map will remain available.

An image of Proctor's Ledge memorial.

☀️Memorial of the Day (MOTD): The Proctor’s Ledge Memorial in Salem, USA.

Proctor’s Ledge was first identified as a possible site for the 1692 Salem executions in 1921 by Sidney Perley, but this wasn’t confirmed until January 2016 through the work of a team of researchers.

And thank you for all your efforts on the project. It's been fab to see it develop and really enjoyable working with you both!

Fantastic to see the blog post from the @witchmapproject.bsky.social team on the Cardiff Supernatural blogspot this morning: blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/cardiff-supe...
#medievalsky #earlymodern #hextag @janmachielsen.bsky.social @cuhistarchrel.bsky.social

A shot of Cologne's town hall, ornate and adorned with statues of historical figures.

A close-up shot of two statues, one of Friedrich Spree and the other of Katharina Henot, carved into stone.

☀️Memorial of the Day (MOTD): Katharina Henot Memorial in Cologne, Germany.

Outside Cologne’s town hall stands a statue of Katharina Henot, Germany’s first female postmaster, executed as a witch in 1627. Wealthy and influential, she never confessed under torture but was still put to death.

Office with desk, bookshelves, desk chair and rocking chair.

Because every office needs more bookshelves ... and a rocking chair.

A sign marking Thomassa Roig Square, which also says her execution date of 1627.

☀️Memorial of the Day (MOTD): Thomassa Roig Square in Corbins, Catalonia (Spain).

Thomassa Roig was a resident of Corbins who was executed for witchcraft in 1627. The square includes a sculpture which is dedicated to her and all women subject to violence, which was created by Elisenda Franquet.

A large mosaic cone filled with flames on the floor of a cobbled street.

A large mosaic cone filled with water on the floor of a cobbled street.

A circular blue plaque on the wall, reading 'Grissell Jaffray, Spaewife, ? to 1669'.

☀️Memorial of the Day (MOTD): Grissel Jaffray Memorial in Dundee, Scotland.

At the entrance to Peter Street, tiled cones of water and fire frame a plaque for Grissel Jaffray. A 17th-century spaewife, she was accused of witchcraft; only her accusers’ names and execution method are still recorded.

Evening reading.

With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.

Witchcraft memorials public - Google My Maps Witchcraft memorials public

📢 Today, we want to share our current map with you! If you notice anything we might have missed, please contact us at witchmapproject@gmail.com along with any sources. In the replies, we will list the criteria for entries as well as a guide to the colour-coding.

www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/e...

📢Interested in taking a look at our map? Follow the link in the quoted post to see a read-only version!

A picture of the Grace Sherwood Statue. She is depicted holding a basket of rosemary with a raccoon next to her.

☀️Memorial of the Day (MOTD): The Grace Sherwood Statue in Virginia, USA.

Grace Sherwood was a midwife and the last person to be convicted of witchcraft in Virginia in 1706, although she was never executed. Instead she was imprisoned and lived until age 80.

An image of the museum's exterior.

☀️Memorial of the Day (MOTD): The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft in Hólmavík, Iceland.

This museum combines the history of witchcraft practices in Iceland with the history of the witch hunts. In Iceland, over 200 were accused and 21 were executed for witchcraft in the 17th century.

All booked to attend online at the Thirteenth Century Conference in September. 😀 #happymedievalist

Laura Gathagan's new book, The Queenship of Matilda of Flanders.

Looking forward to reading this new arrival.

£4M to attract 'world’s best' to support Cardiff research Cardiff University has secured over £4M to attract the world’s best research minds to Wales. The funding, part of UKRI’s £54M Global Talent Fund, is designed to support the UK’s leading research-inten...

The absurdity of trying to bring 'the world's best minds' to a university which has so recently made a whole slew of the world's best minds redundant, in a collapsing academic system & a country where xenophobia poisons our society more each day. Welcome to Cardiff? nation.cymru/news/4m-to-a...

Portrait painting of Anna Göldi with deep shadows and muted colours.

Glarus courthouse with a brightly lit yellow lamp on the top corner. One of the eternal lamps lit in memory of Göldi.

☀️Memorial of the Day (MOTD): The Courthouse Memorial of Anna Göldi in Glarus, Switzerland.

In 1782, Swiss servant Anna Göldi was the last woman to be executed for witchcraft in Europe after being accused of cursing and curing a sick child who coughed up pins.

An image of the hedge that surrounds the Orkney Witchcraft Memorial.

☀️Memorial of the Day (MOTD): The Orkney Witchcraft Memorial in Scotland.

This memorial is located at Gallows Ha, where the victims of the witch hunts in Orkney were executed from 1594-1708. The exact number of victims is unknown due to missing records, although it is estimated to be around 70.

☀️Memorial of the Day (MOTD): The Salem Witch Trials Memorial in Salem, USA.

This is dedicated to the 20 victims of the Salem Witch Trials. It was opened in 1992 by the Salem Witch Trials Tercentenary Committee after a public competition, with the winning design by Maggie Smith and James Cutler.

☀️Memorial of the Day (MOTD): The Kryštof Alois Lautner Memorial in Mohelnice, Czechia.

Lautner was Dean of Šumperk and opposed the Boblig witch trials (1678–1696), which had around 112 victims. Boblig then accused Lautner of witchcraft, and he was executed in 1685 after several rounds of torture.

Update: the page proofs of the edited collection are finally submitted, in my mind labelled as the proofs that copy-editing forgot.

☀️Memorial of the Day (MOTD): The Cabotina in Triora, Italy.

During the Triora witch trials 1587-1589, some believed that witches lived in these farmhouses. Actually, these were solitary women who used plants for medicinal purposes. Over 30 were accused in these trials, with at least 4 executed.

TFW you're trying to finish a set of proofs that you just want off your desk, and your computer doesn't want to play.

This summer, @caerheritage.bsky.social is hosting an exciting week-by-week programme packed with fun, hands-on activities for all ages. From arts & crafts to archaeology & heritage. Come along and be part of the fun!
Starts Mon 21st July 🙂
@learncardiff.bsky.social
@webstermedieval.bsky.social

☀️Memorial of the Day (MOTD): Memorial to the Victims of the Witch Hunts in Oulu, Finland.

‘Noitavainojen uhrien muistomerkki’ - a Memorial to the Victims of the Witch Hunts, established in 2010 by the University of Oulu’s Humanist Guild to commemorate their 45th anniversary.