Matthew Symonds
@mattsymonds.bsky.social
Reposted by Matthew Symonds
Always keen to explode the myth (and myth it is) that George I could not speak English!
historyofparliament.com/2019/06/06/c...
historyofparliament.com/2019/06/06/c...
Ich bin in meinem Herzen Englisch: Could George I speak English? - The History of Parliament
George I's linguistic weakness was supposedly the reason for the preference shown to his German advisors over most English politicians, who were for the most part similarly limited in their knowledge ...
historyofparliament.com
January 21, 2026 at 8:16 AM
Always keen to explode the myth (and myth it is) that George I could not speak English!
historyofparliament.com/2019/06/06/c...
historyofparliament.com/2019/06/06/c...
my quality of life has just gone up immeasurably
Cramped footpaths no longer. Camden Council plans to pedestrianize the street in front of the British Museum.
January 23, 2026 at 12:27 PM
my quality of life has just gone up immeasurably
actual dream job
In February 2026 @senatehouselib.bsky.social is seeking to appoint a Printer in Residence.
This is to be an important part of the public engagement programme for the upcoming exhibition ‘The English Print Revolution: Caxton and Beyond’, and to provide a contemporary response to it in print.
1/3
This is to be an important part of the public engagement programme for the upcoming exhibition ‘The English Print Revolution: Caxton and Beyond’, and to provide a contemporary response to it in print.
1/3
Senate House Library launches Printer in Residence Scheme
Senate House Library is seeking to appoint a Printer in Residence, to produce a contemporary response to the Caxton and Beyond exhibition.
www.london.ac.uk
January 21, 2026 at 12:06 PM
actual dream job
Reposted by Matthew Symonds
In February 2026 @senatehouselib.bsky.social is seeking to appoint a Printer in Residence.
This is to be an important part of the public engagement programme for the upcoming exhibition ‘The English Print Revolution: Caxton and Beyond’, and to provide a contemporary response to it in print.
1/3
This is to be an important part of the public engagement programme for the upcoming exhibition ‘The English Print Revolution: Caxton and Beyond’, and to provide a contemporary response to it in print.
1/3
Senate House Library launches Printer in Residence Scheme
Senate House Library is seeking to appoint a Printer in Residence, to produce a contemporary response to the Caxton and Beyond exhibition.
www.london.ac.uk
January 21, 2026 at 10:35 AM
In February 2026 @senatehouselib.bsky.social is seeking to appoint a Printer in Residence.
This is to be an important part of the public engagement programme for the upcoming exhibition ‘The English Print Revolution: Caxton and Beyond’, and to provide a contemporary response to it in print.
1/3
This is to be an important part of the public engagement programme for the upcoming exhibition ‘The English Print Revolution: Caxton and Beyond’, and to provide a contemporary response to it in print.
1/3
afternoon reading: the OG centrist melt
January 19, 2026 at 2:25 PM
afternoon reading: the OG centrist melt
Reposted by Matthew Symonds
#DIBBlog ‘Sé seo stáisiún 2RN Baile Átha Cliath ag triail’ (This is 2RN Dublin testing). Séamus Hughes' words, broadcast on 14 Nov. 1925, marked the dawn of Irish broadcasting. Read our new blog by Dr Finola Doyle-O'Neill, first published by @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social.
www.dib.ie/blog/2rn-and...
www.dib.ie/blog/2rn-and...
January 19, 2026 at 9:07 AM
#DIBBlog ‘Sé seo stáisiún 2RN Baile Átha Cliath ag triail’ (This is 2RN Dublin testing). Séamus Hughes' words, broadcast on 14 Nov. 1925, marked the dawn of Irish broadcasting. Read our new blog by Dr Finola Doyle-O'Neill, first published by @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social.
www.dib.ie/blog/2rn-and...
www.dib.ie/blog/2rn-and...
Reposted by Matthew Symonds
So exciting! The first IMEMS Press publication of 2026. 🎉
New from @imems.bsky.social in the @catholicismsem.bsky.social series, this book uncovers the hidden networks behind Catholic publishing in Restoration London, where politics, religion, and print intersected in unexpected ways under. Learn more 👉 buff.ly/JlXm0RY
#skystorians #catholicism
#skystorians #catholicism
January 14, 2026 at 9:59 AM
So exciting! The first IMEMS Press publication of 2026. 🎉
Reposted by Matthew Symonds
We’re hiring a two-year DH postdoc for our HAVI project, to work on a new type of knowledge graph architecture for the humanities (and beyond). Deadline soon (18 Jan)! www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
Research Assistant/Research Associate (Fixed Term)
Applications are invited for a full time post doctoral researcher to work on an international collaboration to develop AI-based solutions for research on archival materials as part of the Humanities
www.cam.ac.uk
January 13, 2026 at 10:14 AM
We’re hiring a two-year DH postdoc for our HAVI project, to work on a new type of knowledge graph architecture for the humanities (and beyond). Deadline soon (18 Jan)! www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
Reposted by Matthew Symonds
Wikipedia uploaded the whole film to watch as soon as it entered the public domain: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:An...
January 3, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Wikipedia uploaded the whole film to watch as soon as it entered the public domain: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:An...
Reposted by Matthew Symonds
In at number 2 of our countdown of our most popular articles of the year is a piece by Dr Robin Eagles of @georgianlords.bsky.social, who after the death of Pope Francis investigated the last member of the royal family to take part in a papal conclave: Henry Benedict, Cardinal York.
The Last of the Jacobites: Henry Benedict - The History of Parliament
Henry Benedict, Cardinal York (1725-1807), born 300 years ago this March, was the last member of the royal family to take an active role in a papal Conclave,
historyofparliament.com
December 30, 2025 at 9:01 AM
In at number 2 of our countdown of our most popular articles of the year is a piece by Dr Robin Eagles of @georgianlords.bsky.social, who after the death of Pope Francis investigated the last member of the royal family to take part in a papal conclave: Henry Benedict, Cardinal York.
One thing about this (my mum was one of the “WI leaders“ consulted and was there for the speech) is that Blair’s advisers were right — an “old-fashioned values” speech would have gone down even worse. The WI *hate* being mistaken for the Mothers‘ Union.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
‘Too complacent’: how Blair’s advisers misjudged his disastrous WI speech
Former PM’s team suggested initial less-politicised drafts seemed patronising and appealed to ‘fuddy-duddy Britain’
www.theguardian.com
December 30, 2025 at 1:12 PM
One thing about this (my mum was one of the “WI leaders“ consulted and was there for the speech) is that Blair’s advisers were right — an “old-fashioned values” speech would have gone down even worse. The WI *hate* being mistaken for the Mothers‘ Union.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Fell off a treadmill next to Liam Gallagher.
Right folks. Feeling rather down at the moment so bringing back an oldie
Please Quote this with your most minor celebrity interaction
Please Quote this with your most minor celebrity interaction
December 29, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Fell off a treadmill next to Liam Gallagher.
I know I’m a stuck record on this, but MMcS makes more sense if you place him within the history of Fine Gael, not the Labour Party.
One interesting nugget in this piece could explain the (otherwise baffling) appearance of Ramsay MacDonald in a 2024 Labour Party Election Broadcast
December 18, 2025 at 1:32 PM
I know I’m a stuck record on this, but MMcS makes more sense if you place him within the history of Fine Gael, not the Labour Party.
Reposted by Matthew Symonds
i feel really conflicted about the people who insist that the Humanities needs to be a 100% technology free space. I get you - I am very analog in my daily life, with my piles of paper and pens - but AI is also doing a lot of things you actually like and enjoy having. R's thread is right on
The collateral damage of people upset (often with good reasons) about generative AI is their digital humanities colleagues. It’s outpacing 2010 levels of vitriol, by a lot. The irony is we’re the best allies — we understand how the tech works and can translate between the doom and the hype. +
December 16, 2025 at 4:25 PM
i feel really conflicted about the people who insist that the Humanities needs to be a 100% technology free space. I get you - I am very analog in my daily life, with my piles of paper and pens - but AI is also doing a lot of things you actually like and enjoy having. R's thread is right on
travelling home and experiencing my usual Proustian cocktail of nausea at Cambridge and elation at Newmarket
December 16, 2025 at 1:26 PM
travelling home and experiencing my usual Proustian cocktail of nausea at Cambridge and elation at Newmarket
I can only hope the new tv show about the dreadful, dreadful Mitfords includes a scene dramatising that time my great aunt tried to shove Diana into the traffic on Piccadilly.
December 11, 2025 at 4:54 PM
I can only hope the new tv show about the dreadful, dreadful Mitfords includes a scene dramatising that time my great aunt tried to shove Diana into the traffic on Piccadilly.
Reposted by Matthew Symonds
Lads on tour
'Skull of St. Thomas Aquinas being transported to Fossanova Abbey.'
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
December 10, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Lads on tour
Reposted by Matthew Symonds
Welcome to MATER (Medievalists Against the Extreme Right), an offshoot of the @errnetwork.bsky.social at @uninorthampton.bsky.social. The network is run by @menysnoweballes.bsky.social. Get in touch for details of meetings and events.
December 5, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Welcome to MATER (Medievalists Against the Extreme Right), an offshoot of the @errnetwork.bsky.social at @uninorthampton.bsky.social. The network is run by @menysnoweballes.bsky.social. Get in touch for details of meetings and events.
Reposted by Matthew Symonds
📢 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! 📜✍️💻
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! 📜✍️💻
December 2, 2025 at 8:19 AM
📢 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! 📜✍️💻
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! 📜✍️💻
Reposted by Matthew Symonds
Very sad news. Plenty of times in the early 90s he was the one batter England could rely on
December 2, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Very sad news. Plenty of times in the early 90s he was the one batter England could rely on
Reposted by Matthew Symonds
Starting a campaign to bring back the On The Record crocodile
November 30, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Starting a campaign to bring back the On The Record crocodile
Reposted by Matthew Symonds
*small embarrassed voice*
A little plug for my article on Devon book sales c. 1700, which has gone online open access. tl;dr book auctions weren't just a London/Oxbridge thing: a flourishing second-hand book market centred on Exeter included auctions from the 1680s.
doi.org/10.1093/libr...
A little plug for my article on Devon book sales c. 1700, which has gone online open access. tl;dr book auctions weren't just a London/Oxbridge thing: a flourishing second-hand book market centred on Exeter included auctions from the 1680s.
doi.org/10.1093/libr...
A Provincial Market in Second-Hand Books: Book Sales in Devon, 1688–1725
Abstract. Comparatively little is known about England’s early book-auction trade outside of London and the university towns, with few catalogues surviving
doi.org
November 27, 2025 at 9:31 AM
*small embarrassed voice*
A little plug for my article on Devon book sales c. 1700, which has gone online open access. tl;dr book auctions weren't just a London/Oxbridge thing: a flourishing second-hand book market centred on Exeter included auctions from the 1680s.
doi.org/10.1093/libr...
A little plug for my article on Devon book sales c. 1700, which has gone online open access. tl;dr book auctions weren't just a London/Oxbridge thing: a flourishing second-hand book market centred on Exeter included auctions from the 1680s.
doi.org/10.1093/libr...
Reposted by Matthew Symonds
Alan Turing Institute staff decry ‘unjustified’ cuts to research
Internal documents detail extent of changes to projects and personnel at national AI institute
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-c...
Internal documents detail extent of changes to projects and personnel at national AI institute
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-c...
Alan Turing Institute staff decry ‘unjustified’ cuts to research - Research Professional News
Internal documents detail extent of changes to projects and personnel at national AI institute
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Alan Turing Institute staff decry ‘unjustified’ cuts to research
Internal documents detail extent of changes to projects and personnel at national AI institute
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-c...
Internal documents detail extent of changes to projects and personnel at national AI institute
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-c...
Reposted by Matthew Symonds
Budget day at last.
November 26, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Budget day at last.
The guy here who starts by saying “a budget that’s good for the gilt market isn’t necessarily one that’s good for the UK economy” should be marched into the BBC newsroom and asked to repeat himself every time a political correspondent says “yield”.
on.ft.com/4irx6Ww
on.ft.com/4irx6Ww
What big bond investors want from the UK Budget
Gilt market players call on government to cut spending and steer clear of inflationary tax rises
on.ft.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:21 PM
The guy here who starts by saying “a budget that’s good for the gilt market isn’t necessarily one that’s good for the UK economy” should be marched into the BBC newsroom and asked to repeat himself every time a political correspondent says “yield”.
on.ft.com/4irx6Ww
on.ft.com/4irx6Ww