Gemma Hollman
@gemmahauthor.bsky.social
Historian, author, and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Runs the Just History Posts blog. Specialises in late medieval women and the English court. Find my links: https://lnk.bio/GemmaHAuthor
The absolutely stunning Tiddy House in Exeter, Devon, England, possibly built in the late 16th century.
A 4-storey brick and timber-framed house with slate tile roof, it is wonderfully wonky and was lovingly restored to glory by Bill Lovell, who bought the severely disrepaired building in the 1960s
A 4-storey brick and timber-framed house with slate tile roof, it is wonderfully wonky and was lovingly restored to glory by Bill Lovell, who bought the severely disrepaired building in the 1960s
November 1, 2025 at 2:15 PM
The absolutely stunning Tiddy House in Exeter, Devon, England, possibly built in the late 16th century.
A 4-storey brick and timber-framed house with slate tile roof, it is wonderfully wonky and was lovingly restored to glory by Bill Lovell, who bought the severely disrepaired building in the 1960s
A 4-storey brick and timber-framed house with slate tile roof, it is wonderfully wonky and was lovingly restored to glory by Bill Lovell, who bought the severely disrepaired building in the 1960s
The urn and gold oak wreath of Alexander IV, made in Greece c310 BC. Alexander IV was the son of Alexander the Great, king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. Born after his father had died, a series of regents ruled whilst he grew up but he was assassinated when he came of age at 14 🧵 #history
October 28, 2025 at 2:15 PM
The urn and gold oak wreath of Alexander IV, made in Greece c310 BC. Alexander IV was the son of Alexander the Great, king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. Born after his father had died, a series of regents ruled whilst he grew up but he was assassinated when he came of age at 14 🧵 #history
Newsletter out now!
This month I had to focus on the 9 year celebration of Just History Posts. It's so interesting to look at how far the blog has come this year in comparison to last year. Make sure to take a read for free now!
justhistoryposts.substack.com/p/9-years-of... #history #blogs
This month I had to focus on the 9 year celebration of Just History Posts. It's so interesting to look at how far the blog has come this year in comparison to last year. Make sure to take a read for free now!
justhistoryposts.substack.com/p/9-years-of... #history #blogs
October 27, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Newsletter out now!
This month I had to focus on the 9 year celebration of Just History Posts. It's so interesting to look at how far the blog has come this year in comparison to last year. Make sure to take a read for free now!
justhistoryposts.substack.com/p/9-years-of... #history #blogs
This month I had to focus on the 9 year celebration of Just History Posts. It's so interesting to look at how far the blog has come this year in comparison to last year. Make sure to take a read for free now!
justhistoryposts.substack.com/p/9-years-of... #history #blogs
Items frozen in time hit me differently. This is a tub of Ancient Roman cosmetic cream, made around 150AD, found in London during excavations in 2003. It was found in a Roman temple alongside other ritual items as an offering to the gods in the boundary ditch 🧵 #history
October 20, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Items frozen in time hit me differently. This is a tub of Ancient Roman cosmetic cream, made around 150AD, found in London during excavations in 2003. It was found in a Roman temple alongside other ritual items as an offering to the gods in the boundary ditch 🧵 #history
On Wednesdays, we wear pink 💅
This is the beautiful Chesme Church, Saint Petersburg, Russia, build in the 1770s at the instigation of Catherine the Great. It was intended to serve as a memorial to the Russian victory over the Turks at the Battle of Chesme #history
This is the beautiful Chesme Church, Saint Petersburg, Russia, build in the 1770s at the instigation of Catherine the Great. It was intended to serve as a memorial to the Russian victory over the Turks at the Battle of Chesme #history
October 15, 2025 at 3:45 PM
On Wednesdays, we wear pink 💅
This is the beautiful Chesme Church, Saint Petersburg, Russia, build in the 1770s at the instigation of Catherine the Great. It was intended to serve as a memorial to the Russian victory over the Turks at the Battle of Chesme #history
This is the beautiful Chesme Church, Saint Petersburg, Russia, build in the 1770s at the instigation of Catherine the Great. It was intended to serve as a memorial to the Russian victory over the Turks at the Battle of Chesme #history
It's fashion, dahhling ✨
This 4th century mosaic from the Villa Romana del Casale, Sicily, shows female athletes, some of whom are wearing outfits similar to our modern-day bikinis. The women are shown competing in a variety of sports, including weight-lifting, discus, running & ball games #history
This 4th century mosaic from the Villa Romana del Casale, Sicily, shows female athletes, some of whom are wearing outfits similar to our modern-day bikinis. The women are shown competing in a variety of sports, including weight-lifting, discus, running & ball games #history
October 2, 2025 at 3:15 PM
It's fashion, dahhling ✨
This 4th century mosaic from the Villa Romana del Casale, Sicily, shows female athletes, some of whom are wearing outfits similar to our modern-day bikinis. The women are shown competing in a variety of sports, including weight-lifting, discus, running & ball games #history
This 4th century mosaic from the Villa Romana del Casale, Sicily, shows female athletes, some of whom are wearing outfits similar to our modern-day bikinis. The women are shown competing in a variety of sports, including weight-lifting, discus, running & ball games #history
In this month's newsletter I'm having a chat about the Archives and Records Association Conference, Pontefract Castle, Victorian electric fashion, heritage vandalism, jewellery auctions and Nazi-stolen paintings. Phew! Have a read: justhistoryposts.substack.com/p/electricit... #history #newsletters
September 29, 2025 at 2:01 PM
In this month's newsletter I'm having a chat about the Archives and Records Association Conference, Pontefract Castle, Victorian electric fashion, heritage vandalism, jewellery auctions and Nazi-stolen paintings. Phew! Have a read: justhistoryposts.substack.com/p/electricit... #history #newsletters
Hi bluesky! Sorry I've been a little quiet, I've been recovering from two conferences in two weeks 😮💨 great fun, learnt so much, but it's knackering!
I want to connect with more history accounts on here - so please, who are your favourite #skystorians, podcasts, blogs? Please tag them below!
I want to connect with more history accounts on here - so please, who are your favourite #skystorians, podcasts, blogs? Please tag them below!
September 18, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Hi bluesky! Sorry I've been a little quiet, I've been recovering from two conferences in two weeks 😮💨 great fun, learnt so much, but it's knackering!
I want to connect with more history accounts on here - so please, who are your favourite #skystorians, podcasts, blogs? Please tag them below!
I want to connect with more history accounts on here - so please, who are your favourite #skystorians, podcasts, blogs? Please tag them below!
Women in the Middle Ages is currently 25% off on both the UK&US Amazon shops!
If you want to find out how artwork and artefacts can help us piece together the lives of women in Europe from 1000-1500, then this is for you
www.amazon.co.uk/Women-Middle-Ages-Illuminating-Peasants/dp/0789214962
#history
If you want to find out how artwork and artefacts can help us piece together the lives of women in Europe from 1000-1500, then this is for you
www.amazon.co.uk/Women-Middle-Ages-Illuminating-Peasants/dp/0789214962
#history
August 30, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Women in the Middle Ages is currently 25% off on both the UK&US Amazon shops!
If you want to find out how artwork and artefacts can help us piece together the lives of women in Europe from 1000-1500, then this is for you
www.amazon.co.uk/Women-Middle-Ages-Illuminating-Peasants/dp/0789214962
#history
If you want to find out how artwork and artefacts can help us piece together the lives of women in Europe from 1000-1500, then this is for you
www.amazon.co.uk/Women-Middle-Ages-Illuminating-Peasants/dp/0789214962
#history
August's newsletter is now live!
I chat in depth about my recent visit to Sutton Hoo, we revisit the latest blog post about jewellery through history, and I regale you with just how much history is going on in my life at the moment!
justhistoryposts.substack.com/p/a-summer-o...
#Skystorians
I chat in depth about my recent visit to Sutton Hoo, we revisit the latest blog post about jewellery through history, and I regale you with just how much history is going on in my life at the moment!
justhistoryposts.substack.com/p/a-summer-o...
#Skystorians
August 26, 2025 at 12:06 PM
August's newsletter is now live!
I chat in depth about my recent visit to Sutton Hoo, we revisit the latest blog post about jewellery through history, and I regale you with just how much history is going on in my life at the moment!
justhistoryposts.substack.com/p/a-summer-o...
#Skystorians
I chat in depth about my recent visit to Sutton Hoo, we revisit the latest blog post about jewellery through history, and I regale you with just how much history is going on in my life at the moment!
justhistoryposts.substack.com/p/a-summer-o...
#Skystorians
This gorgeous little chapel is the Church of the Good Shepherd, Lullington, England, and was built in the early 13th century. Measuring just 5 metres square it can only seat 20 people. Today, it is the smallest church in Sussex and is one of the smallest churches in the country. I want to visit!
August 20, 2025 at 3:52 PM
This gorgeous little chapel is the Church of the Good Shepherd, Lullington, England, and was built in the early 13th century. Measuring just 5 metres square it can only seat 20 people. Today, it is the smallest church in Sussex and is one of the smallest churches in the country. I want to visit!
This incredibly fragile glass perfume container is made from carefully blown glass & dates to the 1st or 2nd century AD. Found in Begram, Afghanistan, an important trading city of the Kushan Empire, it is thought to have been imported from Roman Alexandria. Held at the National Museum of Afghanistan
August 15, 2025 at 4:23 PM
This incredibly fragile glass perfume container is made from carefully blown glass & dates to the 1st or 2nd century AD. Found in Begram, Afghanistan, an important trading city of the Kushan Empire, it is thought to have been imported from Roman Alexandria. Held at the National Museum of Afghanistan
A fabulous Emile Pingat dress made in Paris in 1897. Formed of a bodice and skirt, both are made from silk velvet & silk compound weave but the bodice is decorated with linen lace, cotton and silk, with metallic-thread applique and glass beads decorating the edges. Held at LA County Museum of Art.
August 6, 2025 at 4:50 PM
A fabulous Emile Pingat dress made in Paris in 1897. Formed of a bodice and skirt, both are made from silk velvet & silk compound weave but the bodice is decorated with linen lace, cotton and silk, with metallic-thread applique and glass beads decorating the edges. Held at LA County Museum of Art.
This stunning Book of Hours was made for King Francis I of France in 1532. An illuminated manuscript of 140 pages, it has 16 full-page miniatures and is luxuriously covered in an enameled gold binding decorated with rubies and turquoise gems. It was bought by the Louvre in 2018 for €10 million!
August 2, 2025 at 1:17 PM
This stunning Book of Hours was made for King Francis I of France in 1532. An illuminated manuscript of 140 pages, it has 16 full-page miniatures and is luxuriously covered in an enameled gold binding decorated with rubies and turquoise gems. It was bought by the Louvre in 2018 for €10 million!
The hats were fastened with long, decorative hatpins - which were also very sharp! Women started using these pins against "mashers", men who would attempt to sexually assault them in public, and this allowed them to confidently move about society unescorted (see one case in this newspaper).
July 29, 2025 at 3:04 PM
The hats were fastened with long, decorative hatpins - which were also very sharp! Women started using these pins against "mashers", men who would attempt to sexually assault them in public, and this allowed them to confidently move about society unescorted (see one case in this newspaper).
Something always gets me about historic children's toys. This miniature pewter knight on horseback was made around 1300, and measures just 53x40mm. Held at the Museum of London, many metal toys have been found in London dating to the period, which shows they must have been popular #medieval
July 23, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Something always gets me about historic children's toys. This miniature pewter knight on horseback was made around 1300, and measures just 53x40mm. Held at the Museum of London, many metal toys have been found in London dating to the period, which shows they must have been popular #medieval
New newsletter!
This month I'm chatting about my recent trip to the north of England, visiting Kirkstall Abbey and Pontefract. We also look at my latest blog post, and historical news including the long awaited arrival of the Bayeux Tapestry in the UK!
justhistoryposts.substack.com/p/castles-ab...
This month I'm chatting about my recent trip to the north of England, visiting Kirkstall Abbey and Pontefract. We also look at my latest blog post, and historical news including the long awaited arrival of the Bayeux Tapestry in the UK!
justhistoryposts.substack.com/p/castles-ab...
July 21, 2025 at 7:08 PM
New newsletter!
This month I'm chatting about my recent trip to the north of England, visiting Kirkstall Abbey and Pontefract. We also look at my latest blog post, and historical news including the long awaited arrival of the Bayeux Tapestry in the UK!
justhistoryposts.substack.com/p/castles-ab...
This month I'm chatting about my recent trip to the north of England, visiting Kirkstall Abbey and Pontefract. We also look at my latest blog post, and historical news including the long awaited arrival of the Bayeux Tapestry in the UK!
justhistoryposts.substack.com/p/castles-ab...
St Catherine's Oratory, the Isle of Wight, England, built in the 14th century - making it Britain's only surviving medieval lighthouse.
Originally attached to another building, it is 4 storeys high and has 8 walls on the outside, but only 4 on the inside. A priest used to be paid to tend to it.
Originally attached to another building, it is 4 storeys high and has 8 walls on the outside, but only 4 on the inside. A priest used to be paid to tend to it.
July 19, 2025 at 4:19 PM
St Catherine's Oratory, the Isle of Wight, England, built in the 14th century - making it Britain's only surviving medieval lighthouse.
Originally attached to another building, it is 4 storeys high and has 8 walls on the outside, but only 4 on the inside. A priest used to be paid to tend to it.
Originally attached to another building, it is 4 storeys high and has 8 walls on the outside, but only 4 on the inside. A priest used to be paid to tend to it.
A surprising amount of the ruined complex still stands, and was lovely to walk around. There was some graffiti on the pillars in the main church, as incredibly for a period after the church was ruined, one of Leeds' main roads went right through the middle!
July 15, 2025 at 11:57 AM
A surprising amount of the ruined complex still stands, and was lovely to walk around. There was some graffiti on the pillars in the main church, as incredibly for a period after the church was ruined, one of Leeds' main roads went right through the middle!
I loved the tiny library off the cloisters - the picture doesn't do justice to how small it was! Books were obviously very expensive as they all had to be handmade, and so the monastery library was not a vast space.
July 15, 2025 at 11:57 AM
I loved the tiny library off the cloisters - the picture doesn't do justice to how small it was! Books were obviously very expensive as they all had to be handmade, and so the monastery library was not a vast space.
At the weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Kirkstall Abbey. There was a festival/funfair on so the place was filled, but it was a great chance to see the space. It's stunning and so much remains. Originally founded in 1152, it was one of the victims of the Dissolution #medieval #history
July 15, 2025 at 11:57 AM
One of my favourite objects is this gorgeous frog purse made between 1650-1680. A gap below the face allows an opening with a drawstring, and the legs are formed with wire covered in padding. The body is silver-gilt thread, whilst the eyes are formed from black beads. Held at the Museum of London.
July 9, 2025 at 3:52 PM
One of my favourite objects is this gorgeous frog purse made between 1650-1680. A gap below the face allows an opening with a drawstring, and the legs are formed with wire covered in padding. The body is silver-gilt thread, whilst the eyes are formed from black beads. Held at the Museum of London.
For when one book won't do 📖 💅
This Bible created in Oxford, England, in 1756 is designed so that the reader can see the Old & New Testaments simultaneously. The cover of the book opens in the middle, creating the effect of two separate books joined together. Held at Chetham Library, Manchester.
This Bible created in Oxford, England, in 1756 is designed so that the reader can see the Old & New Testaments simultaneously. The cover of the book opens in the middle, creating the effect of two separate books joined together. Held at Chetham Library, Manchester.
July 3, 2025 at 5:31 PM
For when one book won't do 📖 💅
This Bible created in Oxford, England, in 1756 is designed so that the reader can see the Old & New Testaments simultaneously. The cover of the book opens in the middle, creating the effect of two separate books joined together. Held at Chetham Library, Manchester.
This Bible created in Oxford, England, in 1756 is designed so that the reader can see the Old & New Testaments simultaneously. The cover of the book opens in the middle, creating the effect of two separate books joined together. Held at Chetham Library, Manchester.
Time for this month's newsletter (just squeezed it in) and I go over my website redesign and the new Book Hub, as well as chatting about my latest blog post, and some fun pieces of historical news: justhistoryposts.substack.com/p/website-re...
#history #newsletters #HistoryBlogs
#history #newsletters #HistoryBlogs
June 29, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Time for this month's newsletter (just squeezed it in) and I go over my website redesign and the new Book Hub, as well as chatting about my latest blog post, and some fun pieces of historical news: justhistoryposts.substack.com/p/website-re...
#history #newsletters #HistoryBlogs
#history #newsletters #HistoryBlogs
