Francis (Buster) Whitfill

Is it just me, or has bluesky just turned into threads and x? I get all the political drama that I'm trying to not invest all my time into.

29th September is the Feast of St Michael and All Angels. Here are the angelic orders of Seraphs, Cherubs, and Thrones.

BL Royal MS 6 E IX; Convenevole da Prato, Carmina regia; c1335 CE; Italy (Tuscany); f.6r

I think it's lovely that you're offering to meet people where and when they can learn. I did my master's degree online while working full-time. It was the leap I needed to start my PhD. I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to study affordably when and where I could.

My inbox is getting away from me 😩

Reading up on the mester de clerecia poetry and looking out the window. I've got a lot to catch up on this weekend

Catchy

‘Deeply concerning’: reading for fun in the US has fallen by 40%, new study says Over the last 20 years, the number of Americans who read daily for pleasure has seen a considerable decline

I can't say I'm surprised 😢 #reading
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Sorry. I saw a connection and forgot the original intent of your question. RSA just wrapped up CfPs for the conference in San Francisco in February. Other than h-net or the UPenn CfPs, I'm not really sure where else to check right off the top of my head.

Do you know Allison Bigelow? While her work is more about mining, it looks like metalwork is something she might have suggestions on.

#Skystorians I’d like to workshop some of my research (preferably some time next year) and am looking for fitting conferences or seminars that welcome interdisciplinary work and material culture studies. Does anyone have suggestions? #EarlyModern #HistSci #ArtHistory #HistTech 🗃️

It has hit my family. I'm terrified for some of them.

I had a similar thought yesterday. Do I think this is how we should handle things? No. Do I feel like it might swing ignorant people looking for someone strong and mouthy? Maybe? Honestly, it's worth a shot at this point.

What the hell? I hope some day being included here is seen as a badge of honor

How are we somehow more ignorant today than before everyone kept a phone in their pocket? It baffles. I remembered 2015, feeling like the world was generally, slowly, moving in the right direction. Nowadays I just want to get the hell out of "civilized" society

So, Kim Davis, happily in her fourth marriage following some rocky affairs, is the champion of Biblical marriage. If I wrote a book with a character like that, it would be considered far-fetched. God bless America

Sounds fun, though! I've tried several times to get into comics. I feel like I just need the right one to get me hooked, if that makes sense.

Medieval Latin class I'm taking this fall, and for pleasure reading "The Invisible College" (Wheeler). There are others but I'm just curious what others are checking out right now. Also, any good #satan texts would be appreciated. About to start Maria Tausiet's "El Diablo en la Edad Moderna"

General question for #booksky, #academicsky, #earlymodern, #medieval, #literature people: what are you reading right now? As for me, just finished Reception (Willis), working my way through Berceo (about to read Santo Domingo de Silos), Historia Apolonii for #latin practice and for my 🧵

The most stabilizing action would be impeachment

In 8 weeks of intensive #Latin, you have to learn the most essential terms, like "interficio," which means "to kill." Or "neco," "to kill." Or "occido," "to kill." Or "caedo," "to cut down" or "to kill." Or "deleo," "to blot out" or "to destroy." This has been such an enriching opportunity

Hentist and harepist

BL Stowe 17; 'The Maastricht Hours'; 14th century; f.92v

While taking intensive latin this summer has been exhausting, there is something special about it. Cur verba antiqua tam magica sunt? ✨

Title page of 1577 pamphlet: "A straunge, and terrible Wunder wrought very late in the parish church of Bungay: a town of no great distance from the citie of Norwich, namely the fourth of this August, in the yeere of our Lord 1577. in a great tempest of violent raine, lightning, and thunder, the like wherof hath been seldome seene. With the appeerance of an horrible shaped thing, sensibly perceiued of the people then and there assembled. Drawen into a plain method according to the written copye. by Abraham Fleming."

Brace yourselves. It’s the 448th anniversary today of the documented and very real appearance of the Terrifying! Satanic! One-Eyed! ghost dog Black Shuck at two churches in Suffolk, where he wilfully murdered “two persons, as they were kneeling uppon their knees, and occupied in prayer”

Reminder. We'll be accepting submissions for our panel on #satan in #earlymodern Europe until tomorrow. Come join us at #rensa26
#sin #demonicpacts

Greetings #earlymodern friends, the deadline for submissions for this #cfp on #satan, #sin, #demonicpacts has been extended to August 3! Come join us at @rsaorg.bsky.social's 2026 conference in San Francisco! #rensa26 More details on flyer or at tinyurl.com/76rw4cz7. Please spread the word!

I might try this down the road and might reach out on here if I have questions. Thank you for putting this idea out into the world

One of the things I think we inevitably run into when we study historical periods is that we face things with a 21st c. perspective. I often wonder how our scholarship would differ if we knew what it's like to wake up in the 16th c. & go about our daily lives. Clever way of confronting that :)

print | British Museum The Village Fair; in the centre a group eating at table, on left a procession to a church, on the right a fight, printed from four blocks on four sheets joined to form continuous frieze. 1535 Woodcut

I taught my students to build audio soundscapes today to use as a tool of historical analysis and I am having so much fun listening to their tracks and reading their thoughtful reflections. They used this woodcut by Sebald Beham as their visual inspiration: www.britishmuseum.org/collection/o...

Sounds like fun! I'm going to keep this in mind. Thank you for sharing. It's a really cool idea. Well done :)

I'm curious how you're doing your soundscapes. This sounds like a great project.