Jay Rubenstein
@medievaljay.bsky.social
Medieval historian interested in other stuff
Pinned
Jay Rubenstein
@medievaljay.bsky.social
· Sep 14
So who am I and what am I doing? I am a historian of medieval Europe and am writing a book on the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099-1187). It is under contract with Basic Books. The goal is to write a narrative history the incorporates cultural, religious, apocalyptic, and romantic (!) material
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
Why was I not made of stone, like thee?
From the Pont Neuf in Paris, a gargoyle wagging his tongue and looking a bit out of sorts
November 8, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Why was I not made of stone, like thee?
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
ha ha! Las Vegas?!
WHERE AM I??
Go ahead and have a guess, if you think you’re clever enough.
Go ahead and have a guess, if you think you’re clever enough.
November 8, 2025 at 3:47 PM
ha ha! Las Vegas?!
A foggy morning in the nation’s capital.
November 9, 2025 at 7:37 AM
A foggy morning in the nation’s capital.
From the Pont Neuf in Paris, a gargoyle wagging his tongue and looking a bit out of sorts
November 8, 2025 at 8:07 PM
From the Pont Neuf in Paris, a gargoyle wagging his tongue and looking a bit out of sorts
WHERE AM I??
Go ahead and have a guess, if you think you’re clever enough.
Go ahead and have a guess, if you think you’re clever enough.
November 8, 2025 at 3:31 PM
WHERE AM I??
Go ahead and have a guess, if you think you’re clever enough.
Go ahead and have a guess, if you think you’re clever enough.
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
November 8, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
La ville s'endormait
Et j'en oublie le nom
Sur le fleuve en amont
Un coin de ciel brûlait
Et j'en oublie le nom
Sur le fleuve en amont
Un coin de ciel brûlait
November 6, 2025 at 7:06 AM
La ville s'endormait
Et j'en oublie le nom
Sur le fleuve en amont
Un coin de ciel brûlait
Et j'en oublie le nom
Sur le fleuve en amont
Un coin de ciel brûlait
I’m starting to think that this may not be the year for an all-Texas Super Bowl.
November 6, 2025 at 2:22 PM
I’m starting to think that this may not be the year for an all-Texas Super Bowl.
La ville s'endormait
Et j'en oublie le nom
Sur le fleuve en amont
Un coin de ciel brûlait
Et j'en oublie le nom
Sur le fleuve en amont
Un coin de ciel brûlait
November 6, 2025 at 7:06 AM
La ville s'endormait
Et j'en oublie le nom
Sur le fleuve en amont
Un coin de ciel brûlait
Et j'en oublie le nom
Sur le fleuve en amont
Un coin de ciel brûlait
Not a bad end to the day. But wait. That’s not London …
November 5, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Not a bad end to the day. But wait. That’s not London …
Rosy fingered dawn really brought her A game today
November 5, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Rosy fingered dawn really brought her A game today
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
#OTD in 1539 Abbot John Reeve surrendered the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds to the King's commissioners, 519 years after the foundation of the Abbey and 650 years after the establishment of the shrine of St Edmund there
November 4, 2025 at 9:03 AM
#OTD in 1539 Abbot John Reeve surrendered the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds to the King's commissioners, 519 years after the foundation of the Abbey and 650 years after the establishment of the shrine of St Edmund there
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
If anyone lost a bag of books from LRB Bookshop on the Metropolitan Line between Baker St- Watford, I handed it to a cleaner when the train terminated at Watford tube station. And if you have far more followers than me, please share this status. LRB bookshop is not cheap!
November 1, 2025 at 5:05 PM
If anyone lost a bag of books from LRB Bookshop on the Metropolitan Line between Baker St- Watford, I handed it to a cleaner when the train terminated at Watford tube station. And if you have far more followers than me, please share this status. LRB bookshop is not cheap!
I’ll be there
Or you can come to our London book launch later this month, where Alice, Bastiaan, Steffen and I will be joined (and critiqued!) by John Arnold, Julia Barrow and Conrad Leyser www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
Book Launch: Local Priests in the Latin West, 900-1050
Earlier Middle Ages Seminar- Session 3
www.history.ac.uk
November 3, 2025 at 9:05 AM
I’ll be there
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
It turns out that all it took for the Dodgers to play to their potential was me leaving town for two years.
November 2, 2025 at 10:50 AM
It turns out that all it took for the Dodgers to play to their potential was me leaving town for two years.
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
Around this time yesterday I stopped at St. Katharine’s Chapel in Limehouse to check out their 14th century misericords. Thankfully it was otherwise empty of visitors, I had to lie flat on my back and shimmy underneath a big chair to photograph the hidden demon and its brides in the fourth image...
April 4, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Around this time yesterday I stopped at St. Katharine’s Chapel in Limehouse to check out their 14th century misericords. Thankfully it was otherwise empty of visitors, I had to lie flat on my back and shimmy underneath a big chair to photograph the hidden demon and its brides in the fourth image...
It turns out that all it took for the Dodgers to play to their potential was me leaving town for two years.
November 2, 2025 at 10:50 AM
It turns out that all it took for the Dodgers to play to their potential was me leaving town for two years.
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
OTD 1993: Kate Bush in The Red Shoes
Why Should I Love You?
Why, for the most sublime of Doctor Who New Adventures Kate chapter titles
— The Fine Purple, the Purest Gold, the Red of the Sacred Heart, the Grey of a Ghost
+ fabulous title song and film
( “They burn! They burn!”)
Why Should I Love You?
Why, for the most sublime of Doctor Who New Adventures Kate chapter titles
— The Fine Purple, the Purest Gold, the Red of the Sacred Heart, the Grey of a Ghost
+ fabulous title song and film
( “They burn! They burn!”)
November 1, 2025 at 2:16 PM
OTD 1993: Kate Bush in The Red Shoes
Why Should I Love You?
Why, for the most sublime of Doctor Who New Adventures Kate chapter titles
— The Fine Purple, the Purest Gold, the Red of the Sacred Heart, the Grey of a Ghost
+ fabulous title song and film
( “They burn! They burn!”)
Why Should I Love You?
Why, for the most sublime of Doctor Who New Adventures Kate chapter titles
— The Fine Purple, the Purest Gold, the Red of the Sacred Heart, the Grey of a Ghost
+ fabulous title song and film
( “They burn! They burn!”)
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
On this Halloween, a reminder that a sculptor included a Xenomorph gargoyle during the 1990s restoration of Paisley Abbey
October 31, 2025 at 11:07 AM
On this Halloween, a reminder that a sculptor included a Xenomorph gargoyle during the 1990s restoration of Paisley Abbey
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
I admire my neighbor’s Halloween decorating ambition. The Headless Horseman at his front door complete with jack o’ lantern head
October 28, 2025 at 12:02 PM
I admire my neighbor’s Halloween decorating ambition. The Headless Horseman at his front door complete with jack o’ lantern head
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
The madness continues! Just finished a draft of Chapter 30 (😱), getting me to 1152. Spoiler for my crusade friends: I think we've gotten Melisende's reign largely wrong, starting with basic chronology about the 2 revolts/civil wars. Now, on to Part IV, titled "Land of the Pharaohs"
October 30, 2025 at 2:47 PM
The madness continues! Just finished a draft of Chapter 30 (😱), getting me to 1152. Spoiler for my crusade friends: I think we've gotten Melisende's reign largely wrong, starting with basic chronology about the 2 revolts/civil wars. Now, on to Part IV, titled "Land of the Pharaohs"
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
An autumnal Primrose Hill bathed in the light of a proper dawn.
October 30, 2025 at 7:26 AM
An autumnal Primrose Hill bathed in the light of a proper dawn.
An autumnal Primrose Hill bathed in the light of a proper dawn.
October 30, 2025 at 7:26 AM
An autumnal Primrose Hill bathed in the light of a proper dawn.
Reposted by Jay Rubenstein
This effect is especially impressive, the ghostly black horse charging directly out of the doorway
October 28, 2025 at 12:31 PM
This effect is especially impressive, the ghostly black horse charging directly out of the doorway