John Jenkins
armentarius.bsky.social
John Jenkins
@armentarius.bsky.social
Medieval historian working on cathedrals, pilgrimage, Thomas Becket, Yorkshire etc. Director, Centre for Pilgrimage Studies, University of York
Pinned
My new book on Medieval Pilgrimage is out on New Years' Eve! A short, scholarly introduction to the history and theory of pilgrimage in the medieval West from c.300 to c.1500, available for pre-order at Blackwells or Barnes and Noble at the moment www.arc-humanities.org/978180270224...
Medieval Pilgrimage - Arc Humanities Press
This book offers a fresh, approachable look at medieval pilgrimage in the Christian West, the first of its kind in over twenty years and the first to take ac...
www.arc-humanities.org
A small collection of thirteenth- and fourteenth-century faces from the MS I'm working on (Cartulary of Torre Abbey, Devon, TCD MS 524)
January 22, 2026 at 10:11 AM
Reading 14thC Anglo-Norman out loud is like French in a southern American accent: 'le venderdi procheyn a pres'

Also give it up for Roy Dengletere in the line above, we should bring that back as the thing everyone calls the King.
January 21, 2026 at 10:16 PM
Can anyone help with the text highlighted here? The rest of it is a total of the valuation of abbey properties excepting vicarages, then a breakdown of whatever this part of it is by archdeaconry. It's something like ... 'quibus de qualibet [marcato? ?liolum,] est summa...'

TCD MS 524 fo. 5r
January 6, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Reposted by John Jenkins
855 years ago Monday, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket was hacked to death inside his own cathedral.

If you want to mark the anniversary, you can always listen to my 2-part podcast with Dr. John Jenkins (U of York) on the life, death and cult of Thomas.
carleton.ca/aah/2021/hta...
HTA Podcast: Medieval Chats, Episode 4 - Art and Architectural History
The Life, Death and Cult of Thomas Becket: A Conversation with Dr. John Jenkins Canterbury Cathedral, from the East. I vividly recall watching the movie
carleton.ca
December 29, 2025 at 4:01 AM
My new book on Medieval Pilgrimage is out on New Years' Eve! A short, scholarly introduction to the history and theory of pilgrimage in the medieval West from c.300 to c.1500, available for pre-order at Blackwells or Barnes and Noble at the moment www.arc-humanities.org/978180270224...
Medieval Pilgrimage - Arc Humanities Press
This book offers a fresh, approachable look at medieval pilgrimage in the Christian West, the first of its kind in over twenty years and the first to take ac...
www.arc-humanities.org
November 25, 2025 at 5:04 PM
My punchy little book about pilgrimage in medieval Western Christendom has a cover, should be out soon. I've tried to make it accessible and thought-provoking, reviews would be appreciated once it comes out.
October 12, 2025 at 11:12 PM
I predict the new pope Leo XIV will follow in the footsteps of Leo XIII and publicly declare his love for Bovril
May 9, 2025 at 2:27 PM
I wonder if this somehow derives from an article I co-wrote on Westminster Cathedral arguing that in the 1900s it was intended as a very 'English' national chuch at a time when the Catholics seriously believed they might convert the country. TLDR: it didn't work. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
May 3, 2025 at 9:17 AM
This lovely book plopped through my door, with a chapter by me and the brilliant @ebenbow.bsky.social on so-called 'pilgrim souvenirs', medieval staff toppers, mould-making, trade in trinkets, and why we should embrace ambiguity in studying these objects.
March 25, 2025 at 3:52 PM
My talk on medieval pilgrimage in Yorkshire for the Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust is on Youtube www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lmN...
Medieval Pilgrimages in Yorkshire - John Jenkins
YouTube video by Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust
www.youtube.com
February 28, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Some recent work of mine has been mapping the pre-Norman Conquest churches of the north of England. Each church has either links to its pre-Conquest stonework, a brief description of why it is included, or a fuller description for the more significant ones.

faithinthenorth.org/resource-hub...
Discover the hundreds of churches founded in the Anglo-Saxon period - Faith in the North
This map shows the hundreds of churches across the North of England whose stories go back to the Anglo-Saxon period. Almost all of the buildings have evolved considerably over time, and some have been...
faithinthenorth.org
February 27, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Thanks @liber-ray.bsky.social for an extremely thorough (and gratifyingly positive!) review of my 'Customary of the Shrine of St Thomas Becket' in the latest issue of Medium Aevum!
December 5, 2024 at 6:11 PM