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Jonathan Willis

@drjpw.bsky.social

Associate Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Birmingham: English Reformation; Church music; Decalogue; sin & salvation; puritans; parishes; mental illness; material culture. Husband; cat dad; choral singer; aspiring pianist; nerd.

795 Followers  |  543 Following  |  17 Posts  |  Joined: 31.10.2023  |  2.1061

Latest posts by drjpw.bsky.social on Bluesky

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The Experience of Work in Early Modern England I: Winter is Coming This post is part of a series that marks the publication of The Experience of Work in Early Modern England. The book is co-authored by monster head Mark Hailwood, along with Jane Whittle, Hannah Ro…

As you dig out your chunky knitwear from the back of the draw, I know you are wondering: 'How did people prepare for winter 400 years ago?'

Read today's post to find out (and whet your appetite for our new book The Experience of Work in Early Modern England)

manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/07/t...

07.10.2025 08:47 β€” πŸ‘ 142    πŸ” 49    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 2

πŸ“’NEW MANY HEADED MONSTER POSTπŸ“’

A series of posts to celebrate the publication of a really important new study of work in #EarlyModern England, by Jane Whittle, Mark Hailwood, Hannah Robb, Taylor Aucoin.

Just off to fetch a 'burden of wood'. πŸͺ΅πŸͺ΅πŸͺ΅πŸͺ΅πŸͺ΅ πŸ—ƒοΈ

07.10.2025 08:53 β€” πŸ‘ 37    πŸ” 12    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Gender and Sexuality MA - University of Birmingham Course information for prospective postgraduate students on our MA History taught masters degree programme at the University of Birmingham.

Some big news: the University of Birmingham is launching a new MA in Gender & Sexuality. It's interdisciplinary, with a focus on combining theory & practice. It's going to be amazing. I'm convening it: message or email with questions. www.birmingham.ac.uk/study/postgr... @unibirmingham.bsky.social

15.09.2025 08:37 β€” πŸ‘ 240    πŸ” 86    πŸ’¬ 9    πŸ“Œ 5

Thanks Nathan!

03.09.2025 17:27 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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#CallforApplications πŸ“£

The GHIL awards a number of #scholarships to #postgraduate students, Habilitanden and #postdocs at German universities to enable them to carry out research in Britain. Scholarships are generally awarded for a period of up to three months. πŸ“œ
1/3

02.09.2025 15:00 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 12    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

That sounds really interesting, I'd love to read more about it. It's so important to challenge the unspoken assumptions which often accompany the use of specific terminology, but finding new language or frameworks to use instead can be an even greater challenge.

02.09.2025 15:20 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you Guy, that's very kind of you! It's certainly taken a few twists and turns along the way so it's great to finally have it 'out there'!

02.09.2025 14:44 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Brilliant, thanks Jamie, I hope it doesn't disappoint!

02.09.2025 14:42 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you Amalia! It was a really fascinating but challenging corpus of material to work with.

02.09.2025 14:42 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you Amara!

02.09.2025 14:41 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
β€˜your poore distressed suppliant’: β€˜Madness’, Emotion and the Archive in Early Modern England | Transactions of the Royal Historical Society | Cambridge Core β€˜your poore distressed suppliant’: β€˜Madness’, Emotion and the Archive in Early Modern England

Are you curious about the potential for archival practices to shape the study of emotion; why there are letters in the English State Papers labelled 'mad'; or how the culture & politics of Elizabethan England shaped people's experience of distress? Find out here! doi.org/10.1017/S008... #earlymodern

02.09.2025 09:51 β€” πŸ‘ 55    πŸ” 25    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 4
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Contrasting musical choices for Good Friday!

18.04.2025 21:01 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
β€˜Strange Enthusiastical Exhortations’: Distress, Religious Identity and the English Reformation | The Journal of Ecclesiastical History | Cambridge Core β€˜Strange Enthusiastical Exhortations’: Distress, Religious Identity and the English Reformation

How did living through a period of violent religious change transform people’s experience of distress? What new light does a history of emotions approach shed on our understanding of the English Reformation? For answers see my new OA article in the JEH! doi.org/10.1017/S002...

04.04.2025 16:32 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Printed Images, Laughter and early modern History This is the first guest post in the new monster mini-series Visual Culture in Early Modern England (read the introduction here). To begin, Adam Morton considers what historians should do with the a…

πŸ“’NEW POST: Visual Culture in #EarlyModern EnglandπŸ“’

Today Adam Morton considers what historians should do with the alien and often cruel humour of past ages that he finds in in satirical prints

πŸ—ƒοΈ #Skystorians

manyheadedmonster.com/2025/02/27/p...

27.02.2025 10:41 β€” πŸ‘ 23    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2
Screenshot of the front page of British Printed Images to 1700. Printed images border the screen on both sides, in the centre is the website title and various links: About, Search, Resources, Research.

Screenshot of the front page of British Printed Images to 1700. Printed images border the screen on both sides, in the centre is the website title and various links: About, Search, Resources, Research.

πŸ“’NEW MANY-HEADED MONSTER SERIESπŸ“’

Today I introduce 'Visual Culture in #EarlyModern England', a series that celebrates the relaunch of the brilliant 'British Printed Images to 1700' database and showcases historians' use of printed images.

πŸ—ƒοΈ #Skystorians

manyheadedmonster.com/2025/02/24/a...

24.02.2025 07:56 β€” πŸ‘ 109    πŸ” 56    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 2
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Concert Review: Birmingham Bach Choir, The Rainbow Comes & Goes (November 2024) - David Barton Music In many respects, this concert was never going to be easy as we and about 35 other music-lovers battled Storm Bert, the German Market and the craziness of the Birmingham Christmas shoppers to make it ...

CONCERT REVIEW | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Overall, the programme was intriguing and brave, and the Birmingham Bach Choir delivered a committed and stylistic performance of these challenging works, for which the whole team should be congratulated.

www.davidbartonmusic.co.uk/concert-revi...

24.11.2024 11:05 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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From the Margins to the Centre in Seventeenth-Century England - Boydell and Brewer Collection of essays showcasing how one of the greatest historians of seventeenth-century England has shaped and continues to influence the direction of stud...

New Book coming out! boydellandbrewer.com/978183765166...

16.11.2024 22:02 β€” πŸ‘ 34    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 3

Pevsner on Brum: 'There have been no dramatic events in the history of Birmingham, and only a few national heroes. But there has been the constant industry and ingenuity of many people, which has gradually gathered momentum to establish a great city.'

13.03.2024 12:21 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The first in what's likely to become a series of occasional posts with (linguistic rather than architectural) gems from Pevsner's 'Buildings of England'. On Bedworth, Warks: 'A depressing small town. The church, though neutral, is architecturally too good and too solid for it.'!

13.03.2024 11:58 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Merry Christmas everybody, I hope you have a lovely time, whatever you are doing, wherever you are, whoever you are spending it with!

24.12.2023 17:32 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks so much Rebecca, it's taken a long time to write, and so many people have helped and influenced the work that's gone into it, but it's great to finally see it out in the world!

05.12.2023 17:50 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Thrilled that Tara Hamling's and my article 'From Rejection to Reconciliation: Protestantism and the Image in Early Modern England' is now available to view open access on the Journal of British Studies website!
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

05.12.2023 16:00 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Understanding Early Modern Primary Sources Understanding Early Modern Primary Sources is an introduction to the rich treasury of source material available to students of early modern history. During this period, political development, economic...

Routledge are having a 25% off sale!

You could buy @drjpw.bsky.social and my guide to finding and working with #EarlyModern primary sources πŸ—ƒοΈ

www.routledge.com/Understandin...

27.11.2023 08:29 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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A rosy-fingered dawn in south east Birmingham this morning!

22.11.2023 17:04 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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"The Rabble that Can Write"

*NEW* post from @markhailwood.bsky.social giving you a taste of the many, many different ways people left their mark (ha!) in #EarlyModern England: manyheadedmonster.com/2023/11/21/t...

21.11.2023 08:13 β€” πŸ‘ 48    πŸ” 26    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1

Mark's arrival means all the monster heads are here now, polluting these once blue skies ... #EarlyModern πŸ—ƒοΈ

@brodiewaddell.bsky.social @drjpw.bsky.social

17.11.2023 11:03 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Autumn in full swing!

05.11.2023 16:39 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

There's definite [risk of entering/opportunity to enter - delete as applicable] Hyacinth Bucket territory there...

03.11.2023 15:56 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

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