@jembenham.bsky.social
Historian of espionage, diplomacy and international law in the medieval period. Originally from the snowy north. Professor at Cardiff University. www.jembenham.wordpress.com
This is so super interesting, I cannot wait to read this 😍
New #OnHistory blog, IHR Fellow Chris Lewis writes about new publication, "Making Domesday: Intelligent Power in Conquered England" by Stephen Baxter, Julia Crick, and C. P. Lewis, and Domesday scholarship in the IHR.
blog.history.ac.uk/2025/10/dome...
blog.history.ac.uk/2025/10/dome...
Domesday at the IHR - On History
IHR Fellow, Chris Lewis, writes about new publication, 'Making Domesday'.
blog.history.ac.uk
November 11, 2025 at 1:38 PM
This is so super interesting, I cannot wait to read this 😍
Medievalists will be forever young...
'people who are multilingual are half as likely to show signs of accelerated biological ageing than are those who speak just one language.'
Good thing that schools, universities and governments are so actively promoting modern languages then, isn't it? 1/2
Good thing that schools, universities and governments are so actively promoting modern languages then, isn't it? 1/2
Want a younger brain? Learn another language
A vast study suggests that being multilingual can slow down cognitive ageing.
www.nature.com
November 11, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Medievalists will be forever young...
Reposted
This is an excellent🧵—and a sign of how threadbare & impoverished UK non-stem discourse is that,again and again, such cases need to be mounted in these terms in an affluent & supposedly mature polity.
What's lost when we lose staff, departments, programmes and faculties in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and what's that got to do with organ donation?
Amid the looming losses faced by Cardiff, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leicester and Nottingham (among many others), here's a worked example. 1/8
Amid the looming losses faced by Cardiff, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leicester and Nottingham (among many others), here's a worked example. 1/8
The organ donation ‘opt-out’ has been a fatal failure | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 8:44 PM
This is an excellent🧵—and a sign of how threadbare & impoverished UK non-stem discourse is that,again and again, such cases need to be mounted in these terms in an affluent & supposedly mature polity.
Reposted
Since it’s University Press Week #UPweek, a shout out to my amazing colleagues at University of London Press @uolpress.bsky.social. They are flying the flag for open humanities publishing.
November 10, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Since it’s University Press Week #UPweek, a shout out to my amazing colleagues at University of London Press @uolpress.bsky.social. They are flying the flag for open humanities publishing.
OK have just arrived home in Sweden (via quick visit in Netherlands) and Graham Potter turns up in TV news. He's the new Sweden manager (⚽️) and his Swedish is actually pretty good. Top marks!
November 5, 2025 at 5:33 PM
OK have just arrived home in Sweden (via quick visit in Netherlands) and Graham Potter turns up in TV news. He's the new Sweden manager (⚽️) and his Swedish is actually pretty good. Top marks!
Reposted
What's that? You want another Tang Dynasty camel? Here you are, then.
November 4, 2025 at 5:00 PM
What's that? You want another Tang Dynasty camel? Here you are, then.
Reposted
In case you, like me, missed @magistraetmater.bsky.social's recent post on the unmemorable queen.
magistraetmater.wordpress.com/2025/08/12/t...
magistraetmater.wordpress.com/2025/08/12/t...
The unmemorable queen
There’s been much recent scholarly interest in queenship, and this inevitably leads to the recurring historical question: what changed in medieval queenship and when? To answer this. it’s often use…
magistraetmater.wordpress.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:56 AM
In case you, like me, missed @magistraetmater.bsky.social's recent post on the unmemorable queen.
magistraetmater.wordpress.com/2025/08/12/t...
magistraetmater.wordpress.com/2025/08/12/t...
My OH seems to be having much more fun with his creations than I am with mine at the moment 😍
November 4, 2025 at 4:35 PM
My OH seems to be having much more fun with his creations than I am with mine at the moment 😍
This morning I discover that there is a new university phrase for navel gazing: 'deep, discipline-centric contributions'. I think it complements well, and is not at all contradictory to, other recent university phrases, such as 'avoid silos' and 'global' in referring to disciplines...
November 4, 2025 at 10:17 AM
This morning I discover that there is a new university phrase for navel gazing: 'deep, discipline-centric contributions'. I think it complements well, and is not at all contradictory to, other recent university phrases, such as 'avoid silos' and 'global' in referring to disciplines...
Reposted
Delighted to add this article to my publications available to download:
Who ruled Frisia in the mid-ninth century? works.hcommons.org/records/n3a9...
Who ruled Frisia in the mid-ninth century? works.hcommons.org/records/n3a9...
Who ruled Frisia in the mid-ninth century?
An important article setting out the reasons for retaining the traditional view that Lothar I and II ruled the whole of Frisia between 840 and 869, from the Sincfal to the Weser, not just the western ...
works.hcommons.org
November 2, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Delighted to add this article to my publications available to download:
Who ruled Frisia in the mid-ninth century? works.hcommons.org/records/n3a9...
Who ruled Frisia in the mid-ninth century? works.hcommons.org/records/n3a9...
Reposted
This is very good on his murder itself.
Who really murdered Pier Paolo Pasolini?
One man’s unending mission to solve the mysterious and brutal killing of the Italian film director
on.ft.com
November 1, 2025 at 10:32 AM
This is very good on his murder itself.
Reposted
This week we also announced plans for a new Applied History Fellowship for postdoc historians, with @ihr.bsky.social and publisher DC Thomson bit.ly/4ofWArN
Fellowships will develop historical skills for use in workplaces beyond higher education. Launch event: 2.30pm, 19 Nov, online #Skystorians
Fellowships will develop historical skills for use in workplaces beyond higher education. Launch event: 2.30pm, 19 Nov, online #Skystorians
New programme of 'Applied History Fellowships': launch and introductory event - RHS
In 2025-26 the Institute of Historical Research (IHR), Royal Historical Society and DC Thomson will launch a new Applied History Fellowship partnership. Join us at this online session -- 2.30pm on Wed...
bit.ly
November 1, 2025 at 11:34 AM
This week we also announced plans for a new Applied History Fellowship for postdoc historians, with @ihr.bsky.social and publisher DC Thomson bit.ly/4ofWArN
Fellowships will develop historical skills for use in workplaces beyond higher education. Launch event: 2.30pm, 19 Nov, online #Skystorians
Fellowships will develop historical skills for use in workplaces beyond higher education. Launch event: 2.30pm, 19 Nov, online #Skystorians
Reposted
We're delighted to be returning to the Institute of Historical Research's History Day again this year!
Tuesday 4th November from 11:00 to 16:00. Rumour has it our stall has sweets...
#HistDay25
www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
@ihr.bsky.social
Tuesday 4th November from 11:00 to 16:00. Rumour has it our stall has sweets...
#HistDay25
www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
@ihr.bsky.social
October 28, 2025 at 7:45 AM
We're delighted to be returning to the Institute of Historical Research's History Day again this year!
Tuesday 4th November from 11:00 to 16:00. Rumour has it our stall has sweets...
#HistDay25
www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
@ihr.bsky.social
Tuesday 4th November from 11:00 to 16:00. Rumour has it our stall has sweets...
#HistDay25
www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
@ihr.bsky.social
Reposted
New on History for Atheists: my long awaited and rather long critical review of Alice Roberts' new book *Domination*:
historyforatheists.com/2025/10/revi...
historyforatheists.com/2025/10/revi...
October 30, 2025 at 9:08 PM
New on History for Atheists: my long awaited and rather long critical review of Alice Roberts' new book *Domination*:
historyforatheists.com/2025/10/revi...
historyforatheists.com/2025/10/revi...
In years gone past those pitching an envoy or spy to me were paid in gold coins. Alas, the local mint is out of gold, so this year we'll pay in dinosaur coins instead. 🤣
October 31, 2025 at 9:38 AM
In years gone past those pitching an envoy or spy to me were paid in gold coins. Alas, the local mint is out of gold, so this year we'll pay in dinosaur coins instead. 🤣
My final-year students are gearing up for the 'pitch a spy' event next week. It promises to be epic 😃 Code names, little birds, spy masters, and scouts all feature.
October 24, 2025 at 2:52 PM
My final-year students are gearing up for the 'pitch a spy' event next week. It promises to be epic 😃 Code names, little birds, spy masters, and scouts all feature.
One thing I "love" about AI suggestions is that you can discover that most treaties in 12th-century Europe were witnessed by 21st-century footballers. Never knew how well my interests in treaties and football mix...😬
October 22, 2025 at 2:44 PM
One thing I "love" about AI suggestions is that you can discover that most treaties in 12th-century Europe were witnessed by 21st-century footballers. Never knew how well my interests in treaties and football mix...😬
Reposted
Enjoyed discussing with students this morning the perils of online historical databases, with this case as a key example:
historymatters.sites.sheffield.ac.uk/blog-archive...
historymatters.sites.sheffield.ac.uk/blog-archive...
History Matters - Why Naomi Wolf Misinterpreted Evidence From The Old Bailey Online
Bob Shoemaker | 29 May 2019
◇ British History | Media History | Modern History
historymatters.sites.sheffield.ac.uk
October 22, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Enjoyed discussing with students this morning the perils of online historical databases, with this case as a key example:
historymatters.sites.sheffield.ac.uk/blog-archive...
historymatters.sites.sheffield.ac.uk/blog-archive...
Little Venice, London, this morning 😍
October 22, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Little Venice, London, this morning 😍
Reposted
Reposting for the afternoon crowd...
Hurrah! My new book, Europe in the Eleventh Century: Beyond Revolution and Reform is officially published today by Oxford University Press. 1/5 global.oup.com/academic/pro...
global.oup.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposting for the afternoon crowd...
Reposted
A man digging for worms in southeastern Sweden discovered a medieval hoard containing pearls, pendants, silver rings, and an estimated 20,000 coins. Archaeologists determined that most of the silver coins date to the 12th century.
Up to 20,000 coins from Early Middle Ages discovered by man digging for worms near Stockholm
A man digging for worms at his summer house in Sweden has unearthed a stupendous treasure: a silver hoard of up to 20,000 coins from the Early Middle Ages.
www.livescience.com
October 16, 2025 at 9:46 AM
A man digging for worms in southeastern Sweden discovered a medieval hoard containing pearls, pendants, silver rings, and an estimated 20,000 coins. Archaeologists determined that most of the silver coins date to the 12th century.
Reposted
Need cheering up on a gloomy October afternoon? The new issue of Early Medieval Europe is out!
Articles on justice in Bavaria, tolls in Italy, women in 10th-c. Rome, Carolingian kingship, and child slavery: mostly available Open Access 😎https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14680254/2025/33/4
Articles on justice in Bavaria, tolls in Italy, women in 10th-c. Rome, Carolingian kingship, and child slavery: mostly available Open Access 😎https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14680254/2025/33/4
Early Medieval Europe: Vol 33, No 4
Early Medieval Europe is an interdisciplinary medieval studies journal covering European history from the fall of the Roman Empire up until the 11th century.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 14, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Need cheering up on a gloomy October afternoon? The new issue of Early Medieval Europe is out!
Articles on justice in Bavaria, tolls in Italy, women in 10th-c. Rome, Carolingian kingship, and child slavery: mostly available Open Access 😎https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14680254/2025/33/4
Articles on justice in Bavaria, tolls in Italy, women in 10th-c. Rome, Carolingian kingship, and child slavery: mostly available Open Access 😎https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14680254/2025/33/4
Excellent to have this one in physical form finally. So many excellent contributions. THE place for those interested in treaties in MA and EM periods. (May also have a chapter by me...😇)
October 13, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Excellent to have this one in physical form finally. So many excellent contributions. THE place for those interested in treaties in MA and EM periods. (May also have a chapter by me...😇)
Reposted
Yesterday I was in Brussels for the Global Gateway Forum - a gathering of world leaders to talk about how to connect a fractured world.
What I saw instead was something extraordinary - a moment when peace might have taken shape before our eyes.
🧵👇
What I saw instead was something extraordinary - a moment when peace might have taken shape before our eyes.
🧵👇
October 10, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Yesterday I was in Brussels for the Global Gateway Forum - a gathering of world leaders to talk about how to connect a fractured world.
What I saw instead was something extraordinary - a moment when peace might have taken shape before our eyes.
🧵👇
What I saw instead was something extraordinary - a moment when peace might have taken shape before our eyes.
🧵👇
Woohoo! It's 20:10 on Thursday of week 2 and I finally have a working computer in my office. 🎉🎊
October 9, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Woohoo! It's 20:10 on Thursday of week 2 and I finally have a working computer in my office. 🎉🎊