Gwen Seabourne

@gwenseabourne.bsky.social

1.3K followers 410 following 85 posts

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

Videos

History 39%

Political science 25%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Gwen Seabourne

Manoj Dias-Abey @mdiasabey.bsky.social · 1d

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!

Gwen Seabourne @gwenseabourne.bsky.social · 3d

Bristol Record Society's latest:
archive.org/details/bris...

Documents on the Bristol Slave Trade : Kenneth Morgan : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Kenneth Morgan (ed.), Documents on the Bristol Slave Trade (Bristol Record Society publications, Vol. 80, 2025)A collection of transcribed documents relating...

archive.org

Reposted by Du Plessis, Gwen Seabourne

Caroline Derry @carolinederry.bsky.social · 5d

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

Gwen Seabourne @gwenseabourne.bsky.social · 6d

An excellent #LegalHistory initiative from my #Bristol colleagues. Do have a look!

Elena Caruso @elenacaruso.bsky.social · 7d

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.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Gwen Seabourne

Elena Caruso @elenacaruso.bsky.social · 7d

Gwen Seabourne @gwenseabourne.bsky.social · 10d

whoops - make that vol 8.

Gwen Seabourne @gwenseabourne.bsky.social · 11d

… 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!

Gwen Seabourne @gwenseabourne.bsky.social · 11d

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.

Gwen Seabourne @gwenseabourne.bsky.social · 11d

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...

Gwen Seabourne @gwenseabourne.bsky.social · 11d

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.

Reposted by Sara M. Butler, Gwen Seabourne

Legal History Miscellany @legalmiscellany.bsky.social · 15d

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

Gwen Seabourne @gwenseabourne.bsky.social · 18d

Some new open access #LegalHistory: inc. some thoughts from me on medieval 'petty treason'. www.qub.ac.uk/schools/Scho...

Celebrating "Law and Constitutional Change" New Conference Volume | School of Law | Queen's University Belfast

A new conference volume, Law and Constitutional Change, co-edited by Professor David Capper, Dr Conor McCormick and Professor Norma Dawson, has been published open access by Cambridge University Press...

www.qub.ac.uk

Reposted by Kathleen Kennedy, Gwen Seabourne

Sophie Evans @urbangridlock.bsky.social · 20d

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

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Gwen Seabourne

Caroline Derry @carolinederry.bsky.social · 27d

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

Bristol Centre for Medieval Studies @bristolcms.bsky.social · 28d

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

Gwen Seabourne @gwenseabourne.bsky.social · Oct 11

A #Bristol Libraries event of #LegalHistory and #History interest tomorrow: bristol.events.mylibrary.digital/event?id=235...

Special Collections Sunday : Fugitives in the Archive

During the 18th century, British newspapers published advertisements for runaway enslaved people with rewards for their capture; for the hundreds of Black and Asian people brought to Britain through t...

bristol.events.mylibrary.digital

Reposted by Gwen Seabourne

Paul du Plessis @sententiaepauli.bsky.social · Oct 8

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

Bristol Centre for Medieval Studies @bristolcms.bsky.social · Oct 2

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

Bristol Centre for Medieval Studies @bristolcms.bsky.social · Sep 30

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

Gwen Seabourne @gwenseabourne.bsky.social · Sep 30

Congratulations Paul! 🍾

Paul du Plessis @sententiaepauli.bsky.social · Sep 30

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

Paul du Plessis @sententiaepauli.bsky.social · Sep 30

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 Robert Bickers, Gwen Seabourne

Prof. Ben Pohl @benpohl.bsky.social · Sep 24

🤩 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

Reposted by Kathleen Kennedy, Gwen Seabourne

Arts Matter Bristol @uobartsmatter.bsky.social · Sep 22

'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

Reposted by Keith Lilley, Gwen Seabourne

Bristol Centre for Medieval Studies @bristolcms.bsky.social · Sep 19

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!

Reposted by Keith Lilley, Kathleen Kennedy, Gwen Seabourne

Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland @virtualtreasury.bsky.social · Sep 15

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.

Seal of John, Lord of Ireland. Catalogue reference: C 109/86 (4).

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

Gwen Seabourne @gwenseabourne.bsky.social · Sep 12

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

Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · Sep 12

Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ .

Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ - Research Professional News

Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”

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