Dr Rory MacLellan

A late medieval doodle of an owl.

Still my favourite piece of marginalia. BL, Cotton MS Vespasian B XIV. #medievalsky

The Argument About Project Spire and the Real History of the Church of England as an Enslaver Alan Lester Immediately before and after the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, a number of prominent British organisations assessed their entanglements with slavery and its afterlives. They incl…

The Church of England is developing a reparative justice scheme in recognition of its complicity in trans-Atlantic slavery. Project Spire has been attacked in Parliament and the right wing press with claims of flawed historical research. What’s the truth?

alanlester.co.uk/blog/the-arg...

Have you enjoyed this week’s episode? 🎧✨ Support the author, and me 📚❤️ by buying a copy of "Warrior Monks" by @rorymaclellan.bsky.social through the History Rage Bookshop!

📖 Buy the book: uk.bookshop.org/a/10...
🎧 Listen now : pod.fo/e/37b7e4

#History #Knights #Hospitallers #Templars

YouTube video by Bruce Davies A Man's A Man For A' That (Opening of Scottish Parliament) - Sheena Wellington

Listen to Robert Burns, "A Man's A Man For A' That"
#poetry #Scots #Scotland #BurnsNight
youtu.be/hudNoXsUj0o?...

The Hospitallers: Warrior Monks | Gone Medieval

It was great speaking to @mattlewishistory.bsky.social about my book on the Knights Hospitaller in Britain and their part in everything from the earliest witch trials to the Wars of the Roses #medievalsky

shows.acast.com/gone-medieva...

Frodo: I wish so much unbelievably stupid shit had not happened in my time Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. This is all exceptionally stupid, though

🚨 NEW EPISODE🚨
Think you know medieval history? Think again! @rorymaclellan.bsky.social shines a light on the Knights Hospitaller, revealing how they outlasted the Templars and shaped politics for centuries.

🎧 Full episode 👉 pod.fo/e/37b7e4
#History #Hospitallers #Medieval #Podcast

🚨 NEXT WEEK🚨
Ready to ditch the Templars? ⚔️ @rorymaclellan.bsky.social argues the Knights Hospitaller were the true heroes of the medieval world. From military force to political powerbrokers, their story is wilder than you think.

#HistoryRage #KnightsHospitaller #MedievalHistory #Podcast

A tweet saying: 'We order @Brepols to immediately cease & desist publishing the libel The Medieval Journal, (TMI/SAIMS prize essay by @RFMacLellan who has calumniated our corporation in associating its President with the far right movement, and as a hater of Muslims! cf'

7 years since a new 'military order' took issue with my article on them. I think they missed my followup article talking about their hilarious novel which has electronic trebuchets, a green ghost sent by God to kill Pope Francis, and the author writing himself in as the heir to Charlemagne.

It's not unusual to see the crusades referenced by the far-right here, like Nick Griffin's Templar cosplayers or the EDL's Templar-inspired logo. Haven't seen a (very minor) political party be so blatant though.

The Iron Cross-like logo definitely feels like a crusader reference, probably to the Teutonic Knights, which is odd as the UK far-right hasn't engaged with them that much. Normally their past appropriation by the Nazis was a step too far.

Starring the Domesday Book's best names: Humphrey aurei testiculi (of the Golden-testicle) and Alfred Caddebelloc (Testicle-testicle)

1216 charter dated 'anno secundo relaxationis generaliter interdicti Anglie'.

In the archives for my new postdoc on inclusive histories at Royal Holloway. Working on John and Magna Carta currently.

Found a charter of Stephen Langton that he rather passive aggressively dated as 'the second year after the end of the interdict' (which John caused by opposing Langton).

One of the key figures in the Department of Manuscripts' history. Can't imagine he'd be pleased to know that the BL today has a room named after his nemesis Panizzi but not after him.

16th century tomb effigy of a man in a habit, with fleur de lys and cross heraldry

Inscription reading 'Hic iacet frater Bernadus Despuig magister XII Montesie'.

The tomb of Bernat Despuig (d. 1537), 12th master of the Knights of Montessa. Now in the Església del Templo in València.

Taxidermied head of the owner's pet dog in a box at the entrance to the archive.

In the old Department of Manuscripts archive there's a moving set of letters from the father of one of the men here, A. C. Stewart, recounting his death in battle in April 1918, just a few months after he wrote to his colleagues to say he was sure the war would be over soon.

Anna Aslanyan | On the Picket Line On Monday morning, more than a hundred people formed a picket line outside one of the entrances to the British Library...

British Library staff asked for a decent pay. Instead they got ‘a few money-saving present ideas’, such as ‘consider not giving presents this holiday season’. They are on strike this week. I wrote about it for @lrb.co.uk. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/de...

AI mural of a Christmas market?

A dog? With a kangaroo's face and a cloven foot.

The majestic chicken-dog runs through the icy water alongside an elephant-dog. Below, a dog-duck does the splits.

A snowman with a beauty spot and 2 scarves winces in pain as a man pulls at his head. In the background, a pagan festival?

There is an AI Christmas mural in Kingston filled with horrors to rival Bosch or Dr Moreau. The chicken-dog is my favourite.

Does Britain value culture any more? Ask the striking workers at the British Library

(edited transcript of a speech given on the picket line outside the British Library on Friday 7th November)

Zadie Smith’s script should be archived @britishlibrary.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Like the cursed protagonist of a Twilight Zone episode.

The Assassins and the Knights Templar have become two of the most iconic groups of fighters from the period of the Crusades. In recent times, they have been popularised through the video game and… Assassins versus Templars - Talking Templars, Episode 1

Check out the first episode of Talking Templars with Steve Tibble and Tony McMahon www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGhC... #medieval #medievalsky

Kindly supplied by a friend

Wish I had a photo of the graffiti in my old PhD office of St Hippo of Augustine, a hippo in a mitre

🚨 NEXT WEEK🚨
Discover the hidden truths behind one of the most iconic images in Christian art! Join us as historian @drfaithtibble.bsky.social reveals the real story of the crown of thorns, its cultural significance, and how history shapes our understanding of art.

Medieval institutions were not nearly as powerful as people today imagine. The extremes discussed in this thread are much more modern threats, ones made possible by modern technology.

Inspired by Cináed mac Ailpin's Great Leap Forward in the 9th century and Charlemagne's Five Year Plan.

Doesn't look good for their still unknown owners

I guess it's not out of the norm for him. Surprised that the JC's editors or subeditors didn't spot it though

Ah that must be it. Impressive to get London and Granada mixed up.