Jonathan Willis
@drjpw.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Birmingham (UK): English Reformation; music; Decalogue; sin & salvation; puritans; parishes; emotion; archives; material culture. Gay husband & cat dad; choral singer; aspiring pianist; nerd.
Pinned
Jonathan Willis
@drjpw.bsky.social
· Sep 2
‘your poore distressed suppliant’: ‘Madness’, Emotion and the Archive in Early Modern England | Transactions of the Royal Historical Society | Cambridge Core
‘your poore distressed suppliant’: ‘Madness’, Emotion and the Archive in Early Modern England
doi.org
Are you curious about the potential for archival practices to shape the study of emotion; why there are letters in the English State Papers labelled 'mad'; or how the culture & politics of Elizabethan England shaped people's experience of distress? Find out here! doi.org/10.1017/S008... #earlymodern
Reposted by Jonathan Willis
As the agricultural cycle starts to wind down for the winter, my next post on 'The Experience of Work in Early Modern England' looks forward to its resumption in the new year, when...
‘Ploughmen go whistling to their toils’
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/14/t...
‘Ploughmen go whistling to their toils’
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/14/t...
The Experience of Work in Early Modern England III: ‘Ploughmen go whistling to their toils’
This post is part of a series that marks the publication of The Experience of Work in Early Modern England. The book is co-authored by monster head Mark Hailwood, along with Jane Whittle, Hannah Ro…
manyheadedmonster.com
October 14, 2025 at 9:18 AM
As the agricultural cycle starts to wind down for the winter, my next post on 'The Experience of Work in Early Modern England' looks forward to its resumption in the new year, when...
‘Ploughmen go whistling to their toils’
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/14/t...
‘Ploughmen go whistling to their toils’
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/14/t...
Reposted by Jonathan Willis
As you dig out your chunky knitwear from the back of the draw, I know you are wondering: 'How did people prepare for winter 400 years ago?'
Read today's post to find out (and whet your appetite for our new book The Experience of Work in Early Modern England)
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/07/t...
Read today's post to find out (and whet your appetite for our new book The Experience of Work in Early Modern England)
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/07/t...
The Experience of Work in Early Modern England I: Winter is Coming
This post is part of a series that marks the publication of The Experience of Work in Early Modern England. The book is co-authored by monster head Mark Hailwood, along with Jane Whittle, Hannah Ro…
manyheadedmonster.com
October 7, 2025 at 8:47 AM
As you dig out your chunky knitwear from the back of the draw, I know you are wondering: 'How did people prepare for winter 400 years ago?'
Read today's post to find out (and whet your appetite for our new book The Experience of Work in Early Modern England)
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/07/t...
Read today's post to find out (and whet your appetite for our new book The Experience of Work in Early Modern England)
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/07/t...
Reposted by Jonathan Willis
📢NEW MANY HEADED MONSTER POST📢
A series of posts to celebrate the publication of a really important new study of work in #EarlyModern England, by Jane Whittle, Mark Hailwood, Hannah Robb, Taylor Aucoin.
Just off to fetch a 'burden of wood'. 🪵🪵🪵🪵🪵 🗃️
A series of posts to celebrate the publication of a really important new study of work in #EarlyModern England, by Jane Whittle, Mark Hailwood, Hannah Robb, Taylor Aucoin.
Just off to fetch a 'burden of wood'. 🪵🪵🪵🪵🪵 🗃️
As you dig out your chunky knitwear from the back of the draw, I know you are wondering: 'How did people prepare for winter 400 years ago?'
Read today's post to find out (and whet your appetite for our new book The Experience of Work in Early Modern England)
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/07/t...
Read today's post to find out (and whet your appetite for our new book The Experience of Work in Early Modern England)
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/07/t...
The Experience of Work in Early Modern England I: Winter is Coming
This post is part of a series that marks the publication of The Experience of Work in Early Modern England. The book is co-authored by monster head Mark Hailwood, along with Jane Whittle, Hannah Ro…
manyheadedmonster.com
October 7, 2025 at 8:53 AM
📢NEW MANY HEADED MONSTER POST📢
A series of posts to celebrate the publication of a really important new study of work in #EarlyModern England, by Jane Whittle, Mark Hailwood, Hannah Robb, Taylor Aucoin.
Just off to fetch a 'burden of wood'. 🪵🪵🪵🪵🪵 🗃️
A series of posts to celebrate the publication of a really important new study of work in #EarlyModern England, by Jane Whittle, Mark Hailwood, Hannah Robb, Taylor Aucoin.
Just off to fetch a 'burden of wood'. 🪵🪵🪵🪵🪵 🗃️
Reposted by Jonathan Willis
Some big news: the University of Birmingham is launching a new MA in Gender & Sexuality. It's interdisciplinary, with a focus on combining theory & practice. It's going to be amazing. I'm convening it: message or email with questions. www.birmingham.ac.uk/study/postgr... @unibirmingham.bsky.social
Gender and Sexuality MA - University of Birmingham
Course information for prospective postgraduate students on our MA History taught masters degree programme at the University of Birmingham.
www.birmingham.ac.uk
September 15, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Some big news: the University of Birmingham is launching a new MA in Gender & Sexuality. It's interdisciplinary, with a focus on combining theory & practice. It's going to be amazing. I'm convening it: message or email with questions. www.birmingham.ac.uk/study/postgr... @unibirmingham.bsky.social
Reposted by Jonathan Willis
#CallforApplications 📣
The GHIL awards a number of #scholarships to #postgraduate students, Habilitanden and #postdocs at German universities to enable them to carry out research in Britain. Scholarships are generally awarded for a period of up to three months. 📜
1/3
The GHIL awards a number of #scholarships to #postgraduate students, Habilitanden and #postdocs at German universities to enable them to carry out research in Britain. Scholarships are generally awarded for a period of up to three months. 📜
1/3
September 2, 2025 at 3:00 PM
#CallforApplications 📣
The GHIL awards a number of #scholarships to #postgraduate students, Habilitanden and #postdocs at German universities to enable them to carry out research in Britain. Scholarships are generally awarded for a period of up to three months. 📜
1/3
The GHIL awards a number of #scholarships to #postgraduate students, Habilitanden and #postdocs at German universities to enable them to carry out research in Britain. Scholarships are generally awarded for a period of up to three months. 📜
1/3
Are you curious about the potential for archival practices to shape the study of emotion; why there are letters in the English State Papers labelled 'mad'; or how the culture & politics of Elizabethan England shaped people's experience of distress? Find out here! doi.org/10.1017/S008... #earlymodern
‘your poore distressed suppliant’: ‘Madness’, Emotion and the Archive in Early Modern England | Transactions of the Royal Historical Society | Cambridge Core
‘your poore distressed suppliant’: ‘Madness’, Emotion and the Archive in Early Modern England
doi.org
September 2, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Are you curious about the potential for archival practices to shape the study of emotion; why there are letters in the English State Papers labelled 'mad'; or how the culture & politics of Elizabethan England shaped people's experience of distress? Find out here! doi.org/10.1017/S008... #earlymodern
Contrasting musical choices for Good Friday!
April 18, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Contrasting musical choices for Good Friday!
How did living through a period of violent religious change transform people’s experience of distress? What new light does a history of emotions approach shed on our understanding of the English Reformation? For answers see my new OA article in the JEH! doi.org/10.1017/S002...
‘Strange Enthusiastical Exhortations’: Distress, Religious Identity and the English Reformation | The Journal of Ecclesiastical History | Cambridge Core
‘Strange Enthusiastical Exhortations’: Distress, Religious Identity and the English Reformation
doi.org
April 4, 2025 at 4:32 PM
How did living through a period of violent religious change transform people’s experience of distress? What new light does a history of emotions approach shed on our understanding of the English Reformation? For answers see my new OA article in the JEH! doi.org/10.1017/S002...
Reposted by Jonathan Willis
📢NEW POST: Visual Culture in #EarlyModern England📢
Today Adam Morton considers what historians should do with the alien and often cruel humour of past ages that he finds in in satirical prints
🗃️ #Skystorians
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/02/27/p...
Today Adam Morton considers what historians should do with the alien and often cruel humour of past ages that he finds in in satirical prints
🗃️ #Skystorians
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/02/27/p...
Printed Images, Laughter and early modern History
This is the first guest post in the new monster mini-series Visual Culture in Early Modern England (read the introduction here). To begin, Adam Morton considers what historians should do with the a…
manyheadedmonster.com
February 27, 2025 at 10:41 AM
📢NEW POST: Visual Culture in #EarlyModern England📢
Today Adam Morton considers what historians should do with the alien and often cruel humour of past ages that he finds in in satirical prints
🗃️ #Skystorians
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/02/27/p...
Today Adam Morton considers what historians should do with the alien and often cruel humour of past ages that he finds in in satirical prints
🗃️ #Skystorians
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/02/27/p...
Reposted by Jonathan Willis
📢NEW MANY-HEADED MONSTER SERIES📢
Today I introduce 'Visual Culture in #EarlyModern England', a series that celebrates the relaunch of the brilliant 'British Printed Images to 1700' database and showcases historians' use of printed images.
🗃️ #Skystorians
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/02/24/a...
Today I introduce 'Visual Culture in #EarlyModern England', a series that celebrates the relaunch of the brilliant 'British Printed Images to 1700' database and showcases historians' use of printed images.
🗃️ #Skystorians
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/02/24/a...
February 24, 2025 at 7:56 AM
📢NEW MANY-HEADED MONSTER SERIES📢
Today I introduce 'Visual Culture in #EarlyModern England', a series that celebrates the relaunch of the brilliant 'British Printed Images to 1700' database and showcases historians' use of printed images.
🗃️ #Skystorians
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/02/24/a...
Today I introduce 'Visual Culture in #EarlyModern England', a series that celebrates the relaunch of the brilliant 'British Printed Images to 1700' database and showcases historians' use of printed images.
🗃️ #Skystorians
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/02/24/a...
Reposted by Jonathan Willis
CONCERT REVIEW | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall, the programme was intriguing and brave, and the Birmingham Bach Choir delivered a committed and stylistic performance of these challenging works, for which the whole team should be congratulated.
www.davidbartonmusic.co.uk/concert-revi...
Overall, the programme was intriguing and brave, and the Birmingham Bach Choir delivered a committed and stylistic performance of these challenging works, for which the whole team should be congratulated.
www.davidbartonmusic.co.uk/concert-revi...
Concert Review: Birmingham Bach Choir, The Rainbow Comes & Goes (November 2024) - David Barton Music
In many respects, this concert was never going to be easy as we and about 35 other music-lovers battled Storm Bert, the German Market and the craziness of the Birmingham Christmas shoppers to make it ...
www.davidbartonmusic.co.uk
November 24, 2024 at 11:05 AM
CONCERT REVIEW | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall, the programme was intriguing and brave, and the Birmingham Bach Choir delivered a committed and stylistic performance of these challenging works, for which the whole team should be congratulated.
www.davidbartonmusic.co.uk/concert-revi...
Overall, the programme was intriguing and brave, and the Birmingham Bach Choir delivered a committed and stylistic performance of these challenging works, for which the whole team should be congratulated.
www.davidbartonmusic.co.uk/concert-revi...
Reposted by Jonathan Willis
New Book coming out! boydellandbrewer.com/978183765166...
From the Margins to the Centre in Seventeenth-Century England - Boydell and Brewer
Collection of essays showcasing how one of the greatest historians of seventeenth-century England has shaped and continues to influence the direction of stud...
boydellandbrewer.com
November 16, 2024 at 10:02 PM
New Book coming out! boydellandbrewer.com/978183765166...
Pevsner on Brum: 'There have been no dramatic events in the history of Birmingham, and only a few national heroes. But there has been the constant industry and ingenuity of many people, which has gradually gathered momentum to establish a great city.'
March 13, 2024 at 12:21 PM
Pevsner on Brum: 'There have been no dramatic events in the history of Birmingham, and only a few national heroes. But there has been the constant industry and ingenuity of many people, which has gradually gathered momentum to establish a great city.'
The first in what's likely to become a series of occasional posts with (linguistic rather than architectural) gems from Pevsner's 'Buildings of England'. On Bedworth, Warks: 'A depressing small town. The church, though neutral, is architecturally too good and too solid for it.'!
March 13, 2024 at 11:58 AM
The first in what's likely to become a series of occasional posts with (linguistic rather than architectural) gems from Pevsner's 'Buildings of England'. On Bedworth, Warks: 'A depressing small town. The church, though neutral, is architecturally too good and too solid for it.'!
Merry Christmas everybody, I hope you have a lovely time, whatever you are doing, wherever you are, whoever you are spending it with!
December 24, 2023 at 5:32 PM
Merry Christmas everybody, I hope you have a lovely time, whatever you are doing, wherever you are, whoever you are spending it with!
Thrilled that Tara Hamling's and my article 'From Rejection to Reconciliation: Protestantism and the Image in Early Modern England' is now available to view open access on the Journal of British Studies website!
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
December 5, 2023 at 4:00 PM
Thrilled that Tara Hamling's and my article 'From Rejection to Reconciliation: Protestantism and the Image in Early Modern England' is now available to view open access on the Journal of British Studies website!
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Jonathan Willis
Routledge are having a 25% off sale!
You could buy @drjpw.bsky.social and my guide to finding and working with #EarlyModern primary sources 🗃️
www.routledge.com/Understandin...
You could buy @drjpw.bsky.social and my guide to finding and working with #EarlyModern primary sources 🗃️
www.routledge.com/Understandin...
Understanding Early Modern Primary Sources
Understanding Early Modern Primary Sources is an introduction to the rich treasury of source material available to students of early modern history. During this period, political development, economic...
www.routledge.com
November 27, 2023 at 8:29 AM
Routledge are having a 25% off sale!
You could buy @drjpw.bsky.social and my guide to finding and working with #EarlyModern primary sources 🗃️
www.routledge.com/Understandin...
You could buy @drjpw.bsky.social and my guide to finding and working with #EarlyModern primary sources 🗃️
www.routledge.com/Understandin...
A rosy-fingered dawn in south east Birmingham this morning!
November 22, 2023 at 5:04 PM
A rosy-fingered dawn in south east Birmingham this morning!
Reposted by Jonathan Willis
"The Rabble that Can Write"
*NEW* post from @markhailwood.bsky.social giving you a taste of the many, many different ways people left their mark (ha!) in #EarlyModern England: manyheadedmonster.com/2023/11/21/t...
*NEW* post from @markhailwood.bsky.social giving you a taste of the many, many different ways people left their mark (ha!) in #EarlyModern England: manyheadedmonster.com/2023/11/21/t...
November 21, 2023 at 8:13 AM
"The Rabble that Can Write"
*NEW* post from @markhailwood.bsky.social giving you a taste of the many, many different ways people left their mark (ha!) in #EarlyModern England: manyheadedmonster.com/2023/11/21/t...
*NEW* post from @markhailwood.bsky.social giving you a taste of the many, many different ways people left their mark (ha!) in #EarlyModern England: manyheadedmonster.com/2023/11/21/t...
Reposted by Jonathan Willis
Mark's arrival means all the monster heads are here now, polluting these once blue skies ... #EarlyModern 🗃️
@brodiewaddell.bsky.social @drjpw.bsky.social
@brodiewaddell.bsky.social @drjpw.bsky.social
Hello blue sky!
Right, I've spent ages not quite getting my picture right. What's next?
Right, I've spent ages not quite getting my picture right. What's next?
November 17, 2023 at 11:03 AM
Mark's arrival means all the monster heads are here now, polluting these once blue skies ... #EarlyModern 🗃️
@brodiewaddell.bsky.social @drjpw.bsky.social
@brodiewaddell.bsky.social @drjpw.bsky.social
Autumn in full swing!
November 5, 2023 at 4:39 PM
Autumn in full swing!