Gemma Hollman

Looking across the Presbytery crossing vaults at Salisbury Cathedral from the clerestory. The scissor arches are older than those at Wells Cathedral and may well have been the inspiration for them. On the roof can be seen the 'ghosts' of the original C13 murals and their C19 update.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Cover of my book, "Elizabeth Boleyn: The Life of the Queen's Mother"

A month (and a day!) ago, my debut book, "Elizabeth Boleyn: The Life of the Queen's Mother" was published! The positive reviews so far have been amazing. I still can't believe Elizabeth's story is out in the world. It was a joy to get to know her, and a privilege to tell her story.

Henry's penchant for lampreys and his subsequent death led to a civil war known as The Anarchy, which lasted for almost 2 decades, where England nearly saw its first Queen Regnant, over 400 years before Mary I: justhistoryposts.com/2017/06/19/t... #medieval #history

Completely! Even if we had a way to be completely objective, only a miniscule fraction of anything from the past exists. Most things were never recorded, and those that were hardly survive.

My latest newsletter is up, and this month I share my thoughts about how historians compile history, and whether it's possible to ever reach an object truth about what happened in the past. Make sure to take a read for free: justhistoryposts.substack.com/p/compiling-... #history #newsletter

Re-reading my second book, The Queen and the Mistress, in advance of a new version, and just hit the point where Queen Philippa of Hainault is exactly my age and pregnant with her 10th child. Once again struck by the gulf in experience between me and women past (and elsewhere today)

A slide which reads: Challenges of the archive: silences 'Silences enter the process of historical production at four crucial moments: the moment of fact creation (the making of sources); the moment of fact assembly (the making of archives); the moment of fact retrieval (the making of narratives); and the moment of retrospective significance (the making of history)' Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past (Boston: Beacon Press, 1995)

Highly enjoyed tonight's @royalhistsoc.org anniversary lecture Visible | Invisible: Voices of Women in Early Modern Ireland by Professor Jane Ohlmeyer, but really struck by this early slide in the presentation. Silences are everywhere in historical data and writing #Skystorians

That's fantastic Sharon!! Congrats

Boy bitten by a crawfish, drawn by Sofonisba Anguissola. Her proud father sent this to Michelangelo to show what a talented daughter he had. Michelangelo agreed! Today is her day.

An Interview With: Victoria Panton Bacon, Second World War Historian Hello and welcome back to our "An Interview With" series! Today it is my pleasure to have author and historian of the Second World War, Victoria Panton Bacon, on as our guest, in a timely post for Remembrance Day. Today also sees the release of Victoria's first children's book, Their Second World War. Victoria is a ‘People Person’, and loves to write, particularly about the Second World War – her four published books all contain true stories of WWII, given to her by veterans who lived through it, or by family members wanting their loved one’s experiences to be recorded.

🌟New Post!🌟
Today I chat with Second World War historian and author Victoria Panton Bacon about her new children's book, Their Second World War. In time for Remembrance Day, it's important to reflect: how can we present these stories for a young generation? #history #WWII #ChildrensBooks

A Brief Moment of History: The Day a Bus Jumped Tower Bridge There are lots of interesting small moments in history that often slip by people – after all, much of history focuses on the big battles, the big people, the defining moments of how we got to where…

You can read more about it here! justhistoryposts.com/2018/09/17/a... amazingly no one was seriously injured, with just one broken leg and one fractured collarbone

You're welcome! Yes it's got some lovely twists and turns

A four-storey house with a brick bottom floor and timber framed upper 2 floors, with a tiled first floor. There are two columns of windows up all the floors, and an old wooden door in the middle. Three heraldic symbols are seen on the first floor.

The absolutely stunning Tiddy House in Exeter, Devon, England, possibly built in the late 16th century.

A 4-storey brick and timber-framed house with slate tile roof, it is wonderfully wonky and was lovingly restored to glory by Bill Lovell, who bought the severely disrepaired building in the 1960s

#OTD 1966 • Aberfan Disaster 🥀

On Friday the 21st of October 1966, a wave of coal waste slid down the Aberfan Valley, taking the lives of 116 children and 28 adults with it.

#Wales #History

One of the tombs at the Macedonian Royal Tombs in Aigai, Greece, is thought to belong to Alexander IV. Inside was this funerary urn and golden wreath to hold his remains, alongside weapons and a wooden mortuary couch decorated with gold and ivory, including an ivory depiction of the god Dionysus.

A silver urn with small handles, with a leafy wreath made of gold sitting on the rim of the lid.

The urn and gold oak wreath of Alexander IV, made in Greece c310 BC. Alexander IV was the son of Alexander the Great, king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. Born after his father had died, a series of regents ruled whilst he grew up but he was assassinated when he came of age at 14 🧵 #history

A medieval drawing of knights fighting each other, with text overlaid saying "9 Years of Just History Posts" and a URL to the Just History Posts' substack newsletter.

Newsletter out now!
This month I had to focus on the 9 year celebration of Just History Posts. It's so interesting to look at how far the blog has come this year in comparison to last year. Make sure to take a read for free now!
justhistoryposts.substack.com/p/9-years-of... #history #blogs

The Origins of the Hundred Years’ War Today I'm pleased to be hosting a guest post looking at the origins of the Hundred Years' War between England and France. This is a topic that comes up quite a lot on this blog, as it's right in my era of expertise, so I'm happy to hear from Talia. Talia is a 19-year-old self-taught future historian focused on Medieval England and the Crusades.

🌟New Post!🌟
Today we have guest Talia on the blog, exploring the centuries-long origin of the Hundred Years War between England and France. Why did these two countries fight for so long? Where did it all start?
#history #medieval

It must have been an incredible moment

When it was opened, soft cream was still inside, but it quickly solidified when it hit the air for the first time in 2,000 years. An analysis showed it was animal fat mixed with starch and tin oxide. Finger marks were still visible showing its use millennia ago. How special #AncientHistory #Romans

A round metal tub and lid which has a white concoction inside. Scrape marks from fingers can be seen.

A tall, round metal cannister.

Items frozen in time hit me differently. This is a tub of Ancient Roman cosmetic cream, made around 150AD, found in London during excavations in 2003. It was found in a Roman temple alongside other ritual items as an offering to the gods in the boundary ditch 🧵 #history

I'm sorry but Tuntybaldus Breton is definitely in the top 5 of names

a girl in a pink skirt is going down a water slide with netflix written on the bottom ALT: a girl in a pink skirt is going down a water slide with netflix written on the bottom

I'm at that stage of writing where I misread "water side" in Froissart and thought for a second that during the Peasants' Revolt they had put a passed-out Princess Joan down a waterslide...

It may be time for a break!!

Don't just buy the newest books. All your favourite authors have excellent back catalogues of works they spent years on. Make sure you pick up those as well (and even better, they tend to be cheaper paperbacks by this point). Older history has value too.

A pink and white striped round church with turrets stands in a snowy landscape

A pink and white striped round church with turrets stands in a snowy landscape

On Wednesdays, we wear pink 💅
This is the beautiful Chesme Church, Saint Petersburg, Russia, build in the 1770s at the instigation of Catherine the Great. It was intended to serve as a memorial to the Russian victory over the Turks at the Battle of Chesme #history

Top notch joke 👏

It Was Really Her Plantation: White Early American Southern Women’s Positions of Authority on Plantations 1607-1776 Today we have a really interesting guest post lined up for you. I'm happy to introduce Catherine Williams, a graduate student in Early Modern Studies, who will be telling us all about White women in the Early Modern American South. These women held unique positions of power and authority through their scarcity and through the slaves that they owned and managed.

🌟New Post!🌟
Today, guest author Catherine Williams speaks to us about the position of White women in the Early Modern American South. These women held unique positions of power and authority through their scarcity and through the slaves that they owned and managed #history #EarlyModern

It Was Really Her Plantation: White Early American Southern Women’s Positions of Authority on Plantations 1607-1776 Today we have a really interesting guest post lined up for you. I'm happy to introduce Catherine Williams, a graduate student in Early Modern Studies, who will be telling us all about White women in the Early Modern American South. These women held unique positions of power and authority through their scarcity and through the slaves that they owned and managed.

🌟New Post!🌟
Today, guest author Catherine Williams speaks to us about the position of White women in the Early Modern American South. These women held unique positions of power and authority through their scarcity and through the slaves that they owned and managed #history #EarlyModern

Hey authors, don't forget to check if your works are eligible for claiming on the Anthropic class action settlement!

Don't let these companies get away with theft 🙌
www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com?_gl=1*558l4m....

#Skystorians #historians #authors