Gabriele Passabì
@gabpassabi.bsky.social
Medievalist. Manuscripts enthusiast. Film addict.
PhD | University of Cambridge
Research fellowships at PIMS (Toronto), SISMEL (Florence), and Trier University (Germany).
PhD | University of Cambridge
Research fellowships at PIMS (Toronto), SISMEL (Florence), and Trier University (Germany).
Pinned
Gabriele Passabì
@gabpassabi.bsky.social
· Sep 23
The much-anticipated news is now here. I am very excited to announce that my book, soon out with York Medieval Press, is now available for pre-order! Hats off to @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social and the awesome Mont-Saint-Michel design team for the cover!
boydellandbrewer.com/book/robert-...
boydellandbrewer.com/book/robert-...
You know what makes your day? Receiving the author copies of your book at home! It's genuinely great to hold it finally in my hands, ink on paper and real weight. If you'd like a copy, the code BB135 gets you 35% off all formats when buying from boydellandbrewer.com.
I’m positively chuffed✨
I’m positively chuffed✨
February 6, 2026 at 4:43 PM
You know what makes your day? Receiving the author copies of your book at home! It's genuinely great to hold it finally in my hands, ink on paper and real weight. If you'd like a copy, the code BB135 gets you 35% off all formats when buying from boydellandbrewer.com.
I’m positively chuffed✨
I’m positively chuffed✨
Original thirteenth-century pilgrim canteen found in Brindisi, southern Apulia. I am sure it contained only the least sinful of refreshments.
February 4, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Original thirteenth-century pilgrim canteen found in Brindisi, southern Apulia. I am sure it contained only the least sinful of refreshments.
If you ask my favourite spot in a library, it has to be the temporary storage. This is where books pile up waiting (im)patiently for their place. No shelves yet, no topic categories, no genres. There is only a natural stratification of discovery. Here curiosity leads and the unexpected finds you.
January 23, 2026 at 10:52 AM
If you ask my favourite spot in a library, it has to be the temporary storage. This is where books pile up waiting (im)patiently for their place. No shelves yet, no topic categories, no genres. There is only a natural stratification of discovery. Here curiosity leads and the unexpected finds you.
Reposted by Gabriele Passabì
And for graduate students wanting to edit Latin texts we have a specialist training at London International Palaeography Summer School 2026. #MedievalSky 👇
ies.sas.ac.uk/study-traini...
ies.sas.ac.uk/study-traini...
Textual Editing: philosophical and theological texts throughout the Middle Ages
This course introduces students to textual editing, especially of Latin writings belonging to the earlier and later medieval philosophical and theological tradition
ies.sas.ac.uk
January 21, 2026 at 6:19 PM
And for graduate students wanting to edit Latin texts we have a specialist training at London International Palaeography Summer School 2026. #MedievalSky 👇
ies.sas.ac.uk/study-traini...
ies.sas.ac.uk/study-traini...
Very sad news. Professor Stephen Baxter was a remarkable scholar and I will always be grateful for the opportunity he gave me when he interviewed me for the MA in Medieval History at KCL in 2014. That moment set me on the path to my life in the UK and my career in research. May he rest in peace.
It is with deep sadness that the Master and Fellows of St Peter’s College share news of the death of Professor Stephen Baxter, Fellow and Tutor in Medieval History. Our full tribute will be shared soon. https://ow.ly/cy8J50Y0yrB
January 21, 2026 at 12:39 PM
Very sad news. Professor Stephen Baxter was a remarkable scholar and I will always be grateful for the opportunity he gave me when he interviewed me for the MA in Medieval History at KCL in 2014. That moment set me on the path to my life in the UK and my career in research. May he rest in peace.
Reposted by Gabriele Passabì
It is with deep sadness that the Master and Fellows of St Peter’s College share news of the death of Professor Stephen Baxter, Fellow and Tutor in Medieval History. Our full tribute will be shared soon. https://ow.ly/cy8J50Y0yrB
January 21, 2026 at 11:17 AM
It is with deep sadness that the Master and Fellows of St Peter’s College share news of the death of Professor Stephen Baxter, Fellow and Tutor in Medieval History. Our full tribute will be shared soon. https://ow.ly/cy8J50Y0yrB
Reposted by Gabriele Passabì
Sometimes, the devil is in the details. When scanning this book from 1531, something went wrong badly. Not one page is complete, only nonsense scans. This is #bookhistory too. A story of mistakes and #digitization gone wrong.
October 16, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Sometimes, the devil is in the details. When scanning this book from 1531, something went wrong badly. Not one page is complete, only nonsense scans. This is #bookhistory too. A story of mistakes and #digitization gone wrong.
High quality doodles at the end of this 13 c. manuscript from Piacenza (London, British Library, Harley 3678). Here is a fine example of medieval good boi to help go through your Monday.
January 19, 2026 at 3:09 PM
High quality doodles at the end of this 13 c. manuscript from Piacenza (London, British Library, Harley 3678). Here is a fine example of medieval good boi to help go through your Monday.
Reposted by Gabriele Passabì
Munby Fellowship in Bibliography based @theul.bsky.social in Cambridge - closes on 1 February, so still time to apply.
Munby Fellowship in Bibliography 2026 - 2027 at University of Cambridge
Searching for an academic job? Explore this Munby Fellowship in Bibliography 2026 - 2027 opening on jobs.ac.uk! Click to view more details and browse other academic jobs.
www.jobs.ac.uk
January 14, 2026 at 6:58 PM
Munby Fellowship in Bibliography based @theul.bsky.social in Cambridge - closes on 1 February, so still time to apply.
Reposted by Gabriele Passabì
This 👀:
I run a class on late-medieval political satire and this ⬇️ is going straight in there. Visual literacy has always been important and using animals in images to underscore the abuses of the world is perennial...
I run a class on late-medieval political satire and this ⬇️ is going straight in there. Visual literacy has always been important and using animals in images to underscore the abuses of the world is perennial...
January 18, 2026 at 8:59 AM
This 👀:
I run a class on late-medieval political satire and this ⬇️ is going straight in there. Visual literacy has always been important and using animals in images to underscore the abuses of the world is perennial...
I run a class on late-medieval political satire and this ⬇️ is going straight in there. Visual literacy has always been important and using animals in images to underscore the abuses of the world is perennial...
Just back in Cambridge and glad to see that certain things don't change 🍂🦆
January 17, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Just back in Cambridge and glad to see that certain things don't change 🍂🦆
Sometimes, when browsing through a good library, the books you are looking for may have a history of their own or can contain fragments of tangential stories, often intimate ones. A brief 🧵
January 12, 2026 at 7:39 PM
Sometimes, when browsing through a good library, the books you are looking for may have a history of their own or can contain fragments of tangential stories, often intimate ones. A brief 🧵
This is *positiv(ist)ly* cool.
A blast from my past - the Medieval Soldier database takes nearly 300,000 military service records from 1369-1453 and makes them available as a searchable database.
An invaluable resource for understanding medieval warfare, society and the English medieval state. Learn more in the link. 🗃️
An invaluable resource for understanding medieval warfare, society and the English medieval state. Learn more in the link. 🗃️
We built a database of 290,000 English medieval soldiers – here’s what it reveals
We created the database in order to challenge assumptions about the lack of professionalism of everyday soldiers.
theconversation.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:15 PM
This is *positiv(ist)ly* cool.
This is (also) what happens when one stops making assumptions about a text and, especially, about who may have written it.
Oh wow! This is what happens when you're photographing MSS & don't capture the text in the inner gutter. 1st, here's the photograph (made about 100 yrs ago) of the Codex Salernitanus, f. 82ra. Although that big tear of the page is obvious, the inner gutter hasn't been fully captured in the photo.
November 20, 2025 at 2:06 PM
This is (also) what happens when one stops making assumptions about a text and, especially, about who may have written it.
Reposted by Gabriele Passabì
The serpent head of the Oseberg Viking ship, carved in 820, and shown for the first time to the public in the Oslo Historical Museum
November 18, 2025 at 10:35 AM
The serpent head of the Oseberg Viking ship, carved in 820, and shown for the first time to the public in the Oslo Historical Museum
There is much to look forward to in the next issue of @parergon.bsky.social. I'm keeping my eyes peeled.
The next issue of @parergon.bsky.social is on its way, guest-edited by me, @erinsebo.bsky.social and Cassandra Schilling. There's a great group of scholars here who collectively consider, from multiple perspectives, questions of how medieval England perceived its place in a wide and complex world.
November 18, 2025 at 11:45 AM
There is much to look forward to in the next issue of @parergon.bsky.social. I'm keeping my eyes peeled.
Reposted by Gabriele Passabì
🧪Hold on to your urine flasks, there are only a few weeks left to visit Curious Cures!
📍 Open until 6 December 2025 at the University Library
🔗Book your FREE ticket: https://loom.ly/kVqsPRY
Music by Vlad Bakutov from Pixabay
📍 Open until 6 December 2025 at the University Library
🔗Book your FREE ticket: https://loom.ly/kVqsPRY
Music by Vlad Bakutov from Pixabay
November 17, 2025 at 2:19 PM
🧪Hold on to your urine flasks, there are only a few weeks left to visit Curious Cures!
📍 Open until 6 December 2025 at the University Library
🔗Book your FREE ticket: https://loom.ly/kVqsPRY
Music by Vlad Bakutov from Pixabay
📍 Open until 6 December 2025 at the University Library
🔗Book your FREE ticket: https://loom.ly/kVqsPRY
Music by Vlad Bakutov from Pixabay
Reposted by Gabriele Passabì
The golden age of diversity and democracy in Oz.
November 16, 2025 at 7:04 AM
The golden age of diversity and democracy in Oz.
Looks like an exciting read from @puc-ed.bsky.social. The Colloque de Cerisy always gathers stellar scholarship, and this book seems like it’s going to be a banger. Can’t wait to dive in.
#medievalsky
#medievalsky
November 15, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Looks like an exciting read from @puc-ed.bsky.social. The Colloque de Cerisy always gathers stellar scholarship, and this book seems like it’s going to be a banger. Can’t wait to dive in.
#medievalsky
#medievalsky
Reposted by Gabriele Passabì
📣 Next week we are delighted to host a book launch for Local Priests in the Latin West, 900-1050, by Alice Hicklin, Steffen Patzold, @jbwaagmeester.bsky.social & @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social, who will be joined by John Arnold, Julia Barrow & Conrad Leyser. Weds 19 Nov, 5.30pm, King's. All welcome!
Book Launch: Local Priests in the Latin West, 900-1050
Earlier Middle Ages Seminar- Session 3
www.history.ac.uk
November 14, 2025 at 10:14 AM
📣 Next week we are delighted to host a book launch for Local Priests in the Latin West, 900-1050, by Alice Hicklin, Steffen Patzold, @jbwaagmeester.bsky.social & @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social, who will be joined by John Arnold, Julia Barrow & Conrad Leyser. Weds 19 Nov, 5.30pm, King's. All welcome!
Here is an example of what a politics of temporality looks like in practice and why it is relevant today. It's fascinating that modern Iranian nationalism, which once suppressed its pre-Islamic past, now celebrates the pagan king Shapur I as a national symbol.
theconversation.com/a-roman-empe...
theconversation.com/a-roman-empe...
A Roman emperor grovelling to a Persian king: the message behind a new statue in Tehran
The statue, titled Kneeling Before Iran, shows the emperor grovelling before Persian king Shapur I. Where did this imagery come from? And why now?
theconversation.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Here is an example of what a politics of temporality looks like in practice and why it is relevant today. It's fascinating that modern Iranian nationalism, which once suppressed its pre-Islamic past, now celebrates the pagan king Shapur I as a national symbol.
theconversation.com/a-roman-empe...
theconversation.com/a-roman-empe...
Reposted by Gabriele Passabì
@kawulf.bsky.social wrote this piece in April. But if you haven't read it yet, take some time to do so now: scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/04/02/t...
The Humanities as Canary: Understanding this Crisis Now - The Scholarly Kitchen
The Humanities have always been the canary in the coal mine of the full knowledge industry. What information can help us understand this crisis and its implications?
scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org
November 12, 2025 at 4:52 PM
@kawulf.bsky.social wrote this piece in April. But if you haven't read it yet, take some time to do so now: scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/04/02/t...
Spent the morning at @theul.bsky.social with this remarkable volume from 12 c. Worcester. A fine example of medieval knowledge aggeagation for the community. It also comes with impressive decorations, which is always a plus.
November 12, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Spent the morning at @theul.bsky.social with this remarkable volume from 12 c. Worcester. A fine example of medieval knowledge aggeagation for the community. It also comes with impressive decorations, which is always a plus.
So… I just learned that the Vlad III Țepeș, also known to later legend as Dracula, may be buried in Naples, Italy.
1) Is this true or clickbait?
2) Should I be worried for Neapolitans?
A short🧵 between history and fiction.
1) Is this true or clickbait?
2) Should I be worried for Neapolitans?
A short🧵 between history and fiction.
November 10, 2025 at 6:20 PM
So… I just learned that the Vlad III Țepeș, also known to later legend as Dracula, may be buried in Naples, Italy.
1) Is this true or clickbait?
2) Should I be worried for Neapolitans?
A short🧵 between history and fiction.
1) Is this true or clickbait?
2) Should I be worried for Neapolitans?
A short🧵 between history and fiction.