Gwen Seabourne
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gwenseabourne.bsky.social
Gwen Seabourne
@gwenseabourne.bsky.social

#LegalHistory prof, U of Bristol Law. Account nobody else's fault. On research leave 25-26, working on books: mayhem; 'legal medievalism'.

History 39%
Political science 25%

Reposted by Gwen Seabourne

The Moving Labour Collective is pleased to invite applications for our biennial Labour Law Summer Camp, taking place in Malmö, Sweden, from 14–17 June 2026. Applications close on 1 December—please feel free to reach out with any questions!

Now open for booking: OU Law School's legal histories conference. This year's theme is 'moments of rupture' and we have an exciting range of speakers, topics, jurisdictions and periods.

20-21 November, online, free.

Programme and booking at the link.
Annual Diversity, Dilemmas and Discoveries Conference - Moments of Rupture
Join us for the 6th annual Diversity, Dilemmas and Discoveries Conference - Moments of Rupture
www.eventbrite.co.uk

An excellent #LegalHistory initiative from my #Bristol colleagues. Do have a look!
Are you working on a paper on law, history and reproduction? My great colleague Dr Gauri Pillai and I are organising a workshop for you at the University of Bristol Law School on 1 May 2026!
Please send your abstract by 15 December 2025.
Travel grants available.
Are you working on a paper on law, history and reproduction? My great colleague Dr Gauri Pillai and I are organising a workshop for you at the University of Bristol Law School on 1 May 2026!
Please send your abstract by 15 December 2025.
Travel grants available.

whoops - make that vol 8.

… And the editor notes a swap of ‘God’ and ‘the Devil’ in one sentence, somewhere between manuscript and printed law report … which is definitely the stuff of academic nightmares!

just how witchcraft works ... when it is OK to call somebody a witch or sorcerer, plus a bit of the Odyssey and a throwback to a medieval case involving allegations of going in possession of a bag containing the face of a dead man and a book of sorcery.

In his note on a defamation case from 1609, Bean v. Mutton (great, though non-spooky, name!) in which Mr Mutton had been found to have called Mr Bean a sorcerer and enchanter, top ruff-wearer E. Coke gives us his inimitable stylings on the exact meanings of soothsaying and enchanting...

Scary #LegalHistory: Nothing particularly Halloween-y in my own research, but feel moved to point out, in honour of the occasion, the is an excellent bit of magic- and witch- related content in the latest Selden Society volume (Sir John Baker's 6th part of Coke's Notebooks), p. 1807.
What if the Devil made them do it? A new post by
@kjkesselring.bsky.social
'Crime, Culpability, and the Devil in the Details'.
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/10/27/c...
Crime, Culpability, and the Devil in the Details
Did claims of having fallen for the devil’s seductions heighten or lessen perceptions of a person’s guilt in early modern English legal processes?
legalhistorymiscellany.com

Reposted by Paula Giliker

Here’s something to look forward to!
In celebration of the publication of Medieval Manuscripts in Bristol Collections: A Descriptive Catalogue / Kathleen E. Kennedy @themedievaldrk.bsky.social & Melek Karataş - 📚 Bristol Central Library are having an exhibition!
🗓️ 4-18 December
Researching a legal moment that was supposed to change everything - whether it did or not? The call for papers for 'Moments of Rupture' is open until 23 October!
Free, online conference in November, hosted by the Open Universities legal histories research cluster.
#LegalHistory #cfp
The Open University
Moments of Rupture Online 20-21 November 2025Some legal and social changes are so profound that they create what seem to be moments of rupture: breaks between the ‘before’ and ‘after’. These moments c...
law-school.open.ac.uk

Reposted by Gwen Seabourne

Exciting news! 📣 The CMS' own Dr Sig Sønnesyn (@sigsonnesyn.bsky.social) is giving a lecture tomorrow (Tuesday) on 'Meaning, Intelligibility, and Fusing Horizons: Medieval Thought as a Case Study' at 3:30pm in G.HO1, Arts Complex. All welcome. We can't wait! 😀 #medievalsky #skystorians

Reposted by Gwen Seabourne

Join us for this event on Friday. Hybrid.

www.law.ed.ac.uk/news-events/...
Utilitas - The Word That Changes Everything? | Edinburgh Law School
www.law.ed.ac.uk

Reposted by Gwen Seabourne

Hwæt?! The amazing Old English Reading Group is BACK and with a new friend?!?

Join Hattie and Co for Old English Reading Group at 3pm Friday in Hattie’s office, followed by the brand new Old Norse Reading Group at 4pm! No prior knowledge or experience needed, and everybody welcome!

Reposted by Gwen Seabourne

We're so excited for the first Centre for Medieval Studies Research Seminar of the year!

Join us on Thursday at 4pm, with our CMS Welcome Party to follow straight after!

All welcome! We hope to see you there! #medievalsky #skystorians

Congratulations Paul! 🍾
It’s publication day, folks. Available from the website of the Press or from Amazon. May you find it useful in your own work.

#AncientLaw
#HenrySumnerMaine
#RomanLaw

Reposted by Gwen Seabourne

It’s publication day, folks. Available from the website of the Press or from Amazon. May you find it useful in your own work.

#AncientLaw
#HenrySumnerMaine
#RomanLaw

🤩 Check out the shiny new website of Bristol's world-class Centre for Medieval Studies (@bristolcms.bsky.social), home to over 35 full-time medievalists and over 160 research students and research associates: medievalstudies.blogs.bristol.ac.uk 🤩 @uobartsmatter.bsky.social #medievalsky #skystorians
CMS; Bristol; University of Bristol; Medieval Studies; MA degree;
medievalstudies.blogs.bristol.ac.uk
'They [maps] are a great research tool and are also equally accessible to people without skills or training.' 🗺️

Dr Evan Jones (@uobrishistory.bsky.social) comments on the addition of historic street names to Bristol's Know Your Place interactive city map for BBC News

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Bristol's forgotten street names revealed in map
Names of roads either lost down the centuries or renamed are available on a new map.
www.bbc.co.uk
A new semester means a new exciting round of CMS seminars! Here's a sneak peek of what we have to look forward to over the next few weeks!

This Fri, 19 September: Join Paul Dryburgh, medieval collections specialist @nationalarchives.gov.uk.web.brid.gy, for "England's first colony: medieval Ireland, 1171-1500". An overview of English intervention in Ireland and its role in the political development of the British and Irish isles.

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

So much sneering ignorance squeezed into three words: "unfunded hobbyist research". Depressing.