Oswald's Raven

Book cover. King Oswald wearing a crown on a gold background - image taken from a medieval German manuscript.

Delighted with the cover of "Liturgy, Literature, and History: Oswald of Northumbria and the Cult of Saints in the Middle Ages", which is coming out with @britishacademy.bsky.social and @livunipress.bsky.social later this month!

liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....

A little snapshot into the research colleagues in #Essex are undertaking on interwar #Harwich and #Dovercourt - and the theme of the accompanying blogpost is the rise (and rise) of motor transport. #Skystorians

Interwar Harwich – new draft history available! To mark the upload of a draft chapter on Harwich 1919-1939, VCH Essex researcher Dr Andrew Senter has written a post about the growth of motor traffic, and attempts to accommodate it, as Harwich an…

New draft material available from our friends at VCH Essex: all comment/feedback or corrections gratefully received and acknowledged! #LocalHistory #Skystorians

https://www.history.ac.uk/news-events/events/celebrating-local-place-based-history-westmorland-250th-vch-big-red-book#:~:text=Event%20information%3E&text=In%20September%202025%2C%20the%20UK's,and%20community%20history%20more%20widely.

Join us online on 24 Sept to celebrate the 250th VCH Big Red Book!

Founded in 1899, @vchlondon.bsky.social is writing the #history of every place in #England, with partners across the country. We'll also celebrate #LocalHistory, #communityhistory & #place based history more widely. All welcome!

I empathise, Fraser. The job market outside of academia is not rosy, and there are lots of barriers to entry into related fields. I really hope something comes through for you soon.

Thanks - realise from my bio that it is not obvious that I’m a trustee of #VCHEssex! We’ve just had our quarterly meeting, but I will mention it at the next meeting. Silver End is v interesting and I agree could be a good short.

Main focus for #VCHEssex is currently finishing off our #BigRedBook on Harwich, but I know we are starting to think about possible future projects (and funding for them), so will pass on the idea of Silver End (and possible Crittall support).

Delighted that our animation will soon be available in German 🇩🇪 as part of a set of resources to support German teaching at KS3. Great to work with animator Charlie Minnion again, and with translator and children's author Kathrin Tordasi.

Full English version: oswaldusrex.co.uk/animation/

Statue of St Aidan depicting a bald man with a crosier before a Celtic cross.

Aug 31: Feast of Aidan (†651). Monk of Iona, first bishop and abbot of Lindisfarne. Prelate for whom Bede reserved arguably his highest praise. Evangelist remembered for going everywhere on foot and for his ‘gentleness, devotion and moderation’. Finan succeeded him. #medievalsky

Really looking forward to celebrating the publication of Catherine’s book at the excellent independent bookshop in #Maldon! 📕 🥂

A wooden carving on the stalls in Peterborough Cathedral showing an abbot of Peterborough shown holding Oswald’s arm

Happy St. Oswald’s Day! To paraphrase the words of Henry of Avranches (who was commissioned to write a verse life of Oswald for Peterborough Abbey C13th), “May Oswald lay his incorrupt right arm on all your enterprises”!

A wooden carving on the stalls in Peterborough Cathedral showing an abbot of Peterborough shown holding Oswald’s arm

Happy St. Oswald’s Day! To paraphrase the words of Henry of Avranches (who was commissioned to write a verse life of Oswald for Peterborough Abbey C13th), “May Oswald lay his incorrupt right arm on all your enterprises”!

Enjoy, Rebecca! A long time ago I did the journey all through France on a sailing boat (mast taken down in Port-Saint-Louis and re-stepped in Honfleur) The last section below Rouen was very memorable - we set a speed over ground record that we’ve never beaten since - that tide is something else!!!

I’ve got William and Harold Christmas decorations, courtesy of Reading Museum!

reading-museum-shop.myshopify.com/collections/...

Oswald church dedications - Google My Maps This map shows churches (or ruined churches) dedicated to Oswald of Northumbria. Only churches where the dedication (medieval or modern) to Oswald is certain are included. Currently chapels in monast...

I've now mapped 230 churches and chapels dedicated to Oswald in England, Scotland, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Czechia and Malta. Not a bad reach for a C7th Northumbrian!
www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/e...

I’d missed this one - thank you. It’s interesting to see that he was still popular as a patron saint in C20th - I’ve found a few of them!

Thanks to everyone who replied to the original post - I've now mapped all the churches you mentioned 😀

I've now mapped 212 Oswald churches & chapels and I'm sure there are more I'm still missing. Just found an interesting outlier in Malta - dedicated in 1921, it was the chapel of the Royal Naval Hospital in Mtarfa. 🇲🇹 #MedievalSky

Sorry I wasn't able to meet up you - sadly I was not sailing, but recovering from illness!

Proof of the title page of the edited volume, "Literature, Liturgy and History: Oswald of Northumbria and the Cult of Saints in the High Middle Ages"

Delighted to be a step closer to this book coming out. Honoured to be editor of a volume in the @britishacademy.bsky.social series & grateful to the contributors both for their wonderful essays & their prompt return of corrected proofs!
@livunipress.bsky.social @uclhistory.bsky.social #MedievalSky

Thank you, Catherine, your support, guidance and enthusiasm are all much appreciated!

A privilege to attend the first day of this brilliant conference, as well as the Advisory Board meeting for the Literary and Liturgical Landscapes project the previous day. Wide-ranging but also wonderfully coherent topics and perspectives - lots to keep on thinking about! Thank you and congrats.

We had an amazing two days of discussions about landscapes of sanctity, literal and metaphorical, medieval and modern. Thanks to @ucl-ias.bsky.social for hosting us and to all the speakers and delegates for the thought-provoking papers and questions!

Then we heard about Hild and Whitby from Tom Pickles and Barking from Josh Davies. I flagged a bit due to migraine (which thankfully went away), hence the lack of updates. It was an absolutely amazing conference. Many thanks to Johanna and Sarah and all the speakers. 2/2

During the rest of Landscapes of Sanctity we had some art history thinking about Christian rock art in caves from Bob Mills and Byzantine wall paintings involving biblical mountains from Andrei Dumitrescu. @oswaldsraven.bsky.social #medievalsky 1/

Good reminders that islands as places of isolation is much more a modern phenomenon that a medieval one. Sea is mapped and socialised. Petts also reminding us Bede's influences were European in a correction to 'Celtic' exceptionalism of Iona and Lindisfarne. 2/2

Day 2 of Landscapes of Sanctity @oswaldsraven.bsky.social. David Petts and Mary Kate Harley keeping is cool by talking about Cuthbert's islands and Andrew's journey to Mermadonia through freezing waters respectively. #medievalsky 1/

Yes, great first day thanks. Looking forward to continuing the conversations tomorrow.

Hello Adam!

Miranda Griffin compared 12thc versions of St Patrick's Purgatory with Onkalu, a nuclear waste facility in Finland bringing in Robert Macfarlane and Michael Madsen. Medieval Studies in the prophetic voice #medievalsky. 3/3