Emily Vine
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emilymayvine.bsky.social
Emily Vine
@emilymayvine.bsky.social
2.9K followers 560 following 200 posts
Early modern historian, University of Exeter. Research Fellow: @materialwills.bsky.social. Former fellow @ihr.bsky.social; History Wrangler #HorribleHistories
https://experts.exeter.ac.uk/41880-emily-vine
NEW BOOK: https://www.cambridge.org/9781009457231
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emilymayvine.bsky.social
Emily Vine @emilymayvine.bsky.social · Aug 7
Delighted that the print copies of my first book 'Birth, Death, and Domestic Religion in early modern London', just published with @universitypress.cambridge.org, have arrived! 📚📚📚
A photo of the author holding up a copy of her book, which has a red cover.
Reposted by Emily Vine
justincolson.bsky.social
Did medieval people buy each other Christmas gifts? New Year's Day was the main gifting day, but little is known about everyday people's present giving. Our project on London's customs records has uncovered a wealth of affordable items imported around this time: gloves and hats to toys and rattles🧵
Medieval Londoners’ cheaply imported mass-produced Christmas gifts look surprisingly familiar
We often imagine medieval life as dull, dirty and short, with little in the way of material comfort or decoration. However, medieval Londoners were importing toys, treats and trinkets by the boatload ...
theconversation.com
December 22, 2025 at 3:56 PM
emilymayvine.bsky.social
🎄New bonus Christmas Blog Post at @materialwills.bsky.social ! 🎄

@lsangha.bsky.social collected the names of our most Christmassy testators, featuring:

- Mr Christmas 🎅
- John Turkey 🦃
- Christopher Pudding 🍪

#History #SkyStorians #EarlyModern @uoearchhist.bsky.social @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social
materialwills.bsky.social The Material Culture of Wills Project @materialwills.bsky.social · 15d
🎄A FESTIVE TREAT: BONUS CHRISTMAS BLOG POST🎄

🎁As we approach the holidays, @lsangha.bsky.social has collected some of the best 'Christmassy' names in The National Archives' will registers.

🎅Featuring Mr Christmas, Christopher Pudding, John Turkey & many more 👇

sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...
A black and white printed frontispiece from an early modern book. The text in the centre reads 'Four Choice Carols for Christmas Holidays.' Carol I. On Christmas Day. Carol II. On St. Stephen's Day. Carol III. On St. John's-Day. Carol IV. On Innocent's Day. Being very necessary and proper to be had in all Christian Families. There are three woodcut images underneath - of St Matthew on the left, the Virgin and child in the centre, and St John on the right. Detail from FOUR Choice CAROLS for CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS (London, 1700-1).
December 22, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Reposted by Emily Vine
lsangha.bsky.social
🎄CHRISTMAS BLOG POST!🎄

A silly gift for you all: I dug through The National Archive wills looking for Christmassy names. There were a lot, inc:

Mr 🎅
Christopher 🍮
❄️ Green
Thomas 🦃
Theophilia 🛷

sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

📜 #EarlyModern 🗃️ @leverhulme.ac.uk @uoearchhist.bsky.social
Woodcut showing three men. Two are dressed in 17th century clothesm the one in the centre is in a long robe with a fun hat. The man on the left says 'Keep out, you come not here', the one on the right says 'Old Christmas welcome, no not fear'. The man in the centre says 'O Sir I bring good cheere'.
December 22, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Reposted by Emily Vine
materialwills.bsky.social
🚨FAB PROJECT NEWS🚨

We are delighted to report that we have been awarded a free study break at a Landmark Trust property as part of their Landmark Futures scheme!

The whole team will spend a week in Bath at the handsome Georgian building, Elton House.

More here: sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...
Photograph of Georgian buildings in Bath, in the centre is Elton House, owned by the Landmark Trust. It is a three story building with regular windows top to bottom. It's frontage has not been blast cleaned so is shades of darker brown. Photo of the dining room at Elton House. A long wooden table with lit candlesticks in the centre, pale blue walls and a fireplace with a mirror over it.
December 18, 2025 at 4:39 PM
emilymayvine.bsky.social
December's 'Will of the Month' post is live over at @materialwills.bsky.social 👇

Featuring parrots, Spanish wine, Venetian carpets & a commissioned altarpiece featuring the testator 🧔‍♂️🖼️

@uniofexeterhass.bsky.social @uoearchhist.bsky.social @cemsexeter.bsky.social #history #SkyStorians #EarlyModern
materialwills.bsky.social The Material Culture of Wills Project @materialwills.bsky.social · 20d
📢 NOW LIVE: December's 'Will of the Month' post! 📢

Read on to find out about the life of a Ragusan merchant who found himself in Stuart London, sick of 'the Disease of the Stone' 👇

He left bequests of: 1 parrot 🦜, 300 pairs of stockings 🧦, & 360 jars of wine 🍾

sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...
A seventeenth-painting of a red parrot, with some blue and yellow feathers, against a brown rocky landscape. The parrot is on a brown perch, and is facing towards the left side of the painting. The file is: Parrot or Ara rouge sur son perchoir, seventeenth century, attributed to Tommaso Salini, File:Exposition Phantasma (Le Voyage à Nantes 2014) (14792256749).jpg
December 17, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Reposted by Emily Vine
lsangha.bsky.social
🎅December Will of the Month!🎅

This merchant from the Republic of Ragusa made reference to the altarpiece he commissioned ✝️ 300 silk stockings🧦400 pairs of stirrups🐴, and a parrot 🦜.

#EarlyModern 🗃️

sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult... @leverhulme.ac.uk @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social
Will of the Month: A merchant of Ragusa and 300 pairs of stockings
When selecting previous wills to feature in our monthly series, we browsed testator metadata, looking for particular names or locations, or filtering by occupational, social, and marital status. All o...
sites.exeter.ac.uk
December 16, 2025 at 9:28 AM
emilymayvine.bsky.social
📜 December's 'Will of the Month' post has got it all:

- 300 pairs of stockings 🧦
- A Parrot 🦜
- An elaborate altar painting ⛪🖼️
- 360 Jars of Wine 🍷

Read on to find out more about the life & trade of a Ragusan merchant in Stuart London 👇

#skystorians #history #EarlyModern @uoearchhist.bsky.social
materialwills.bsky.social The Material Culture of Wills Project @materialwills.bsky.social · 21d
📢 NEW Will of the Month post 📢

For December's post, we searched for Christmas-related bequests🎅

'Stockings' led us to the will of a Ragusan merchant: featuring 300 pairs of stockings 🧦, a parrot & 360 jars of wine, & insights into foreign trade in Stuart London👇

sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...
A photograph of a cream coloured stocking, folded over, and photographed against a black background. The stocking has green stitching on the side. Man’s stockings or boot hose, 1590-1630, English; linen embroidered with green silk thread https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O78739/pair-of-stockings-unknown/ © Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2025
December 16, 2025 at 8:35 AM
emilymayvine.bsky.social
A very strong showing of Christmas jumpers and festive backgrounds all round! 🎄🧑‍🎄☃️
materialwills.bsky.social The Material Culture of Wills Project @materialwills.bsky.social · 28d
The last Wills Project meeting before Christmas!

As you can see, we came suitably attired, but held off on the mulled wine since it was only 11am ..

A very productive year for us & our amazing community of volunteers - look out for our December will of the month & a special Christmas blog soon!🎉🎄🎅
Screenshot of an online meeting with 6 attendees. All are wearing Christmas jumpers, three are seated in front of Christmas trees or decorations, two wear floppy santa hats.
December 9, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Reposted by Emily Vine
lsangha.bsky.social
Found the 'people named after birds' page of the will register
The margins of a will register, showing text reading 'Abraham Swallow' and 'Anne Turkey'.
December 4, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Emily Vine
lsangha.bsky.social
❓Question please for #Skystorians - has anyone come across examples of people being baptised in punch bowls in 17th and 18th-century England?

We've found one in a will ... 🗃️
December 3, 2025 at 2:57 PM
emilymayvine.bsky.social
📜 Catch up on everything the @materialwills.bsky.social team have been up to with this latest project update 👇

#EarlyModern #DigitalHumanities #History #CitizenScience

@uoearchhist.bsky.social @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social
@leverhulme.ac.uk @transkribus.bsky.social
@zooniverse.bsky.social
materialwills.bsky.social The Material Culture of Wills Project @materialwills.bsky.social · Dec 4
📢 In Case You Missed It! 📢

We've been busy - catch up with our latest 'Project Progress Update' Blog Post 👇
sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

Find our more about our recent milestones, and the building of our project database 💻📜

@uniofexeterhass.bsky.social @leverhulme.ac.uk #skystorians
A screenshot of a working version of the project database. The cells of the datasheet are grey, with the top row highlighted blue. The datasheet shows lists of testator names, their occupation, location and archive reference.
December 4, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Reposted by Emily Vine
lsangha.bsky.social
📢The wills team have been very busy of late!📢

Here's a little update on our progress over recent months - our volunteers completed Zooniverse and the database is on it's way...

#EarlyModern #DigitalHumanities #Transkribus 🗃️ @uoearchhist.bsky.social @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social @leverhulme.ac.uk
A snapshot of a database showing lists of testators, their occupation, location and archive reference.
December 2, 2025 at 10:53 AM
emilymayvine.bsky.social
📜 There's a new 'Project Progress Update' blog post over on the @materialwills.bsky.social blog! 📜

Read on for more about our research progress, featuring @zooniverse.bsky.social news & updates about our database 👇

#skystorians #history #citizenscience @leverhulme.ac.uk @transkribus.bsky.social
materialwills.bsky.social The Material Culture of Wills Project @materialwills.bsky.social · Dec 2
📢 NEW 'Project Progress Update' Blog Post! 📢

We've recently reached a very significant project milestone, and thought this would be the perfect moment to provide a research update: sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

Featuring @zooniverse.bsky.social news, and a sneak peek at our database! 📜✍️💻
A screenshot from our Zooniverse website, with a banner that shows that the project data has now been completed. The webpage contains black, green, and gold banners spanning across the top of the page, and the title of the Zooniverse project 'The Material Culture of Wills: England 1540-1790'. On the left half of the screen is a close up of an early modern manuscript, and on the right half, a textual description of the zooniverse project, featuring grey text on a white background.
December 2, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Reposted by Emily Vine
lsangha.bsky.social
slightly obsessed about the end of this lady's effigy tomb with the voluminous folds of her dress and petite heeled shoes
The side of an woman's effigy tomb showing the bottom of her dress and her feet (she lays on her back). The dress is depicted as many wiggled folds of fabric, and we can see the soles of her small shoes.
November 14, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Reposted by Emily Vine
cemsexeter.bsky.social
We are delighted to welcome Dr Kate Gibson (Manchester) on Wednesday 12 November, 3.30-5pm in Forum Seminar Room 10 and on Teams for the following CEMS seminar:

'Fostering and Adoption in Eighteenth-Century Britain'.

Full description attached. Please join us! @lsangha.bsky.social
A text description of ‘Fostering and Adoption in Eighteenth-Century Britain’
November 10, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Reposted by Emily Vine
timhitchcock.bsky.social
Really pleased to announce the launch of the all-new, all-dancing, London Lives website - www.londonlives.org It has been thoroughly re-engineered to facilitate more types of search, and redesigned for phones and tablets. The team very much hopes peope like it. 1/
London Lives
www.londonlives.org
November 5, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Reposted by Emily Vine
lsangha.bsky.social
This is the first recording of any of Chris Hoban's wills inspired music!

For lucky people in Devon, Chris will be performing ALL the wills songs at Topsham Folk Club on 18 January, with support from Miranda Sykes.

Grab your ticket now 👇

#Exeter #Devon 🗃️ #Events

wegottickets.com/event/680386
Chris Hoban
A master songwriter -- inventive and inspiring Show of Hands favourite - has crafted a unique evening with classical and folk musicians, retelling in song the moving, joyful and absorbing stories of ...
wegottickets.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Reposted by Emily Vine
lsangha.bsky.social
Alice Walter's will might be familiar if you read our project blog, as it was our Will of the Month in October 2024.

Read @emilymayvine.bsky.social's post, and see a transcription of the whole will here:

#EarlyModern 🗃️

sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...
Will of the Month: Alice Walter and Her ‘Deaths Head’ Ring
The end of October and the beginning of November marks ‘Allhallowtide’ – the time of the year when Western Christians, including in early modern England, have traditionally turned their thoughts to th...
sites.exeter.ac.uk
November 5, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Reposted by Emily Vine
lsangha.bsky.social
📜WILLS ON THE RADIO!📜

The brilliant Chris Hoban was on local radio talking about the wills project and playing some songs!

This one is perhaps my favourite: based on the will of London widow Alice Walter, proved September 1665. TNA PROB 11/317/428.

#EarlyModern 🗃️

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXwB...
Chris Hoban - Rings On My Fingers (one )
YouTube video by Will Pollard
www.youtube.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Reposted by Emily Vine
lsangha.bsky.social
And here we all are, not being at all self-conscious about having our photo taken and enjoying Harry's visualisation of our bequests.
Photo of six people seated around a table with water and computers on the table top. Photo of six people seated around a table with lots of books and computers on the table. A screen showing a coloured graphic is on the wall at the front of the room.
October 29, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by Emily Vine
materialwills.bsky.social
And we continue to share full transcriptions and blog posts about interesting wills! 📜

In case you missed it, last week we published our latest 'Will of the Month' post 👇

#skystorians #history #EarlyModern
🧵3/4

bsky.app/profile/mate...
materialwills.bsky.social The Material Culture of Wills Project @materialwills.bsky.social · Oct 30
📢 In Case You Missed It 📢

October's 'Will of the Month' post is now live on our blog 📜

When Margery Gadyng died in childbirth in 1540, she made a nuncupative or 'oral' will, leaving ribbons to the women who witnessed her declare her final wishes.

Read more here👇 sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...
A photograph of a brown embroidered ribbon on a black background. The ribbon is curled on the right hand side, and decorated with embroidery, including green plants and white and yellow flowers. Ribbon, embroidered, ca. 1600, English https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O10418/ribbon-unknown/ ©Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2025
November 3, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Reposted by Emily Vine
materialwills.bsky.social
Our Zooniverse volunteers reached this fantastic milestone while the project team were in Exeter, and meeting to discuss next steps for the transcriptions and the database.

We were delighted to reach this milestone, and discussed how valuable all the Zooniverse contributions have been.

🧵3/4
A photograph of the Wills project team meeting in a room at the University of Exeter. There are six people in the photograph, sitting around a table with laptops in front of them, looking at a screen on the wall which contains a colourful graph. The carpet is grey and the walls are white. There are glass doors in the wall at the back of the room which overlook grass.
November 3, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Reposted by Emily Vine
materialwills.bsky.social
You can find out more on our Zooniverse 'Talkboards' - which we'll continue to monitor.

We hope to be able to share preliminary results in the near future, and BlueSky will be one of the first places we'll update - so watch this space! 📜

www.zooniverse.org/projects/hjs...

🧵2/4
Zooniverse
The Zooniverse is the world’s largest and most popular platform for people-powered research.
www.zooniverse.org
November 3, 2025 at 7:43 AM
emilymayvine.bsky.social
A round up of recent @materialwills.bsky.social project news below 👇

Including recent @zooniverse.bsky.social milestones, project meetings, and new blog posts!

#earlymodern #history #skystorians @leverhulme.ac.uk @uoearchhist.bsky.social @cemsexeter.bsky.social
materialwills.bsky.social The Material Culture of Wills Project @materialwills.bsky.social · Nov 3
It's been a busy week for the project!

1. A huge milestone: we're delighted to share that our @zooniverse.bsky.social volunteers have now checked ALL images! 🎉

Thank you to everyone who has contributed.

We're going to pause Zooniverse for now while we evaluate if more training is required.

🧵1/4
November 3, 2025 at 7:45 AM
emilymayvine.bsky.social
A new 'Will of the Month' post over on the @materialwills.bsky.social blog 👇

October's post looks at the poignant will of Margery Gadyng, a married woman who died in childbirth in 1540, who used her final words to make provisions for her children's future care.

#skystorians #history #EarlyModern
materialwills.bsky.social The Material Culture of Wills Project @materialwills.bsky.social · Oct 30
📢 In Case You Missed It 📢

October's 'Will of the Month' post is now live on our blog 📜

When Margery Gadyng died in childbirth in 1540, she made a nuncupative or 'oral' will, leaving ribbons to the women who witnessed her declare her final wishes.

Read more here👇 sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...
A photograph of a brown embroidered ribbon on a black background. The ribbon is curled on the right hand side, and decorated with embroidery, including green plants and white and yellow flowers. Ribbon, embroidered, ca. 1600, English https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O10418/ribbon-unknown/ ©Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2025
October 30, 2025 at 10:02 AM