Dr Laura Sangha
@lsangha.bsky.social
Associate Prof at Exeter Uni | English history 1480-1700 | CI: Material Culture in English Wills | reformation | angels & ghosts | she/her | brown-ish | 1st gen
Wills Project: https://sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcultureofwills/
Blog: manyheadedmonster.com
Wills Project: https://sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcultureofwills/
Blog: manyheadedmonster.com
Pinned
Chris Hoban - Rings On My Fingers (one )
YouTube video by Will Pollard
www.youtube.com
📜WILLS ON THE RADIO!📜
The brilliant Chris Hoban was on local radio talking about the wills project and playing some songs!
This one is perhaps my favourite: based on the will of London widow Alice Walter, proved September 1665. TNA PROB 11/317/428.
#EarlyModern 🗃️
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXwB...
The brilliant Chris Hoban was on local radio talking about the wills project and playing some songs!
This one is perhaps my favourite: based on the will of London widow Alice Walter, proved September 1665. TNA PROB 11/317/428.
#EarlyModern 🗃️
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXwB...
🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷
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November 24, 2025 at 9:45 AM
🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷
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Today is my 'Mega Monday' - five hours teaching with three dashes from the top to the bottom of the campus hill scattered in between. Tudor National Identity, cheap print, and an EEBO workshop.
'Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage...'
'Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage...'
November 24, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Today is my 'Mega Monday' - five hours teaching with three dashes from the top to the bottom of the campus hill scattered in between. Tudor National Identity, cheap print, and an EEBO workshop.
'Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage...'
'Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage...'
Puffing my ches out after completing my cycle in despite the dark, cold, lashing rain and high winds.
Sun's out now, naturally
Sun's out now, naturally
November 24, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Puffing my ches out after completing my cycle in despite the dark, cold, lashing rain and high winds.
Sun's out now, naturally
Sun's out now, naturally
A classic Devon weekend: Friday talk in ancient stannary town Tavistock to the Devonshire Association; following by an outstanding Saturday gig by Chagford's own Dominie Hooper at the brillant community pub The Drewe Arms. Very special songwriting and absolutely electrifying live.
November 24, 2025 at 8:08 AM
A classic Devon weekend: Friday talk in ancient stannary town Tavistock to the Devonshire Association; following by an outstanding Saturday gig by Chagford's own Dominie Hooper at the brillant community pub The Drewe Arms. Very special songwriting and absolutely electrifying live.
Reposted by Dr Laura Sangha
'In this magnificent book, the first scholarly biography of Holbein in more than 100 years, art historian Elizabeth Goldring characterises the Cleves affair as a “debacle” but...points out that it was a rare misstep for Holbein, whose portraits...struck contemporaries as uncannily lifelike.'
Holbein: Renaissance Master by Elizabeth Goldring review – a magnificent portrait of the artist
The first scholarly biography in more than 100 years of the man who immortalised the Tudor court does not disappoint
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:38 AM
'In this magnificent book, the first scholarly biography of Holbein in more than 100 years, art historian Elizabeth Goldring characterises the Cleves affair as a “debacle” but...points out that it was a rare misstep for Holbein, whose portraits...struck contemporaries as uncannily lifelike.'
Reposted by Dr Laura Sangha
'Ahead of the autumn budget on 26 November, Universities UK (UUK) has calculated that funding per student for teaching in 2025-26 is at 64 per cent of the level it was in 2015-16.' 1/3
University teaching income ‘£6.4 billon less’ than 10 years ago
UUK says shortfall in teaching money is ‘baked in’ to higher education funding system as institutions brace for new tax in upcoming budget
www.timeshighereducation.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:45 AM
'Ahead of the autumn budget on 26 November, Universities UK (UUK) has calculated that funding per student for teaching in 2025-26 is at 64 per cent of the level it was in 2015-16.' 1/3
Reposted by Dr Laura Sangha
If you feel you must put this owl on the wall of your toilet, despair not, for I can draw one for you! www.worldofmoose.com/collections/...
October 23, 2025 at 10:02 AM
If you feel you must put this owl on the wall of your toilet, despair not, for I can draw one for you! www.worldofmoose.com/collections/...
on this day in 2013
November 22, 2025 at 7:13 AM
on this day in 2013
cold snap in Devon this time last year as well
November 21, 2025 at 9:36 AM
cold snap in Devon this time last year as well
a real 'double-glover' this morning 🥶🧤
November 21, 2025 at 7:00 AM
a real 'double-glover' this morning 🥶🧤
oh the horror the horror
a decent sized spider just made the dreadful mistake of crawling up from between the floorboards just next to where little cat was sitting
a decent sized spider just made the dreadful mistake of crawling up from between the floorboards just next to where little cat was sitting
an older woman is crying while leaning against a door .
Alt: an older woman is crying while leaning against a door .
media.tenor.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:35 PM
oh the horror the horror
a decent sized spider just made the dreadful mistake of crawling up from between the floorboards just next to where little cat was sitting
a decent sized spider just made the dreadful mistake of crawling up from between the floorboards just next to where little cat was sitting
always a thrill when your home parish pops up in a 17th-century document
November 20, 2025 at 1:38 PM
always a thrill when your home parish pops up in a 17th-century document
I AM JUSTICE!
Copying out wills day in, day out must have been quite boring for a legal clerk. A good idea to break up the monotony with an excellent and approripate illustration then!
#EarlyModern 📜 #Manuscripts 🗃️ #Doodles ⚖️👨⚖️
Copying out wills day in, day out must have been quite boring for a legal clerk. A good idea to break up the monotony with an excellent and approripate illustration then!
#EarlyModern 📜 #Manuscripts 🗃️ #Doodles ⚖️👨⚖️
November 20, 2025 at 11:56 AM
I AM JUSTICE!
Copying out wills day in, day out must have been quite boring for a legal clerk. A good idea to break up the monotony with an excellent and approripate illustration then!
#EarlyModern 📜 #Manuscripts 🗃️ #Doodles ⚖️👨⚖️
Copying out wills day in, day out must have been quite boring for a legal clerk. A good idea to break up the monotony with an excellent and approripate illustration then!
#EarlyModern 📜 #Manuscripts 🗃️ #Doodles ⚖️👨⚖️
Reposted by Dr Laura Sangha
Cosy season is well upon us
Curl up w/ a warm drink & NEW post on CUP's blog:
The #Autumnal Experience of Work in #EarlyModern England
This seasonal celebration of our new book features apples & pears, cider & ale, meat & markets, & the #Christmas milling craze
cambridgeblog.org/2025/11/the-...
Curl up w/ a warm drink & NEW post on CUP's blog:
The #Autumnal Experience of Work in #EarlyModern England
This seasonal celebration of our new book features apples & pears, cider & ale, meat & markets, & the #Christmas milling craze
cambridgeblog.org/2025/11/the-...
November 20, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Cosy season is well upon us
Curl up w/ a warm drink & NEW post on CUP's blog:
The #Autumnal Experience of Work in #EarlyModern England
This seasonal celebration of our new book features apples & pears, cider & ale, meat & markets, & the #Christmas milling craze
cambridgeblog.org/2025/11/the-...
Curl up w/ a warm drink & NEW post on CUP's blog:
The #Autumnal Experience of Work in #EarlyModern England
This seasonal celebration of our new book features apples & pears, cider & ale, meat & markets, & the #Christmas milling craze
cambridgeblog.org/2025/11/the-...
📢WEBSITE UPDATE📢
I've created a page on our project website capturing everything that composer, lyricist & performer Chris Hoban & I have been doing with wills.
📜 Reflective essays
📷 Reports on events
🎵 Live footage!
sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...
#EarlyModern 🗃️ @uoearchhist.bsky.social
I've created a page on our project website capturing everything that composer, lyricist & performer Chris Hoban & I have been doing with wills.
📜 Reflective essays
📷 Reports on events
🎵 Live footage!
sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...
#EarlyModern 🗃️ @uoearchhist.bsky.social
November 20, 2025 at 7:25 AM
📢WEBSITE UPDATE📢
I've created a page on our project website capturing everything that composer, lyricist & performer Chris Hoban & I have been doing with wills.
📜 Reflective essays
📷 Reports on events
🎵 Live footage!
sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...
#EarlyModern 🗃️ @uoearchhist.bsky.social
I've created a page on our project website capturing everything that composer, lyricist & performer Chris Hoban & I have been doing with wills.
📜 Reflective essays
📷 Reports on events
🎵 Live footage!
sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...
#EarlyModern 🗃️ @uoearchhist.bsky.social
For all the dog people, some great research from my colleagues in The Conversation:
'Dogs were already remarkably diverse in their skull size and shape more than 10,000 years ago, long before kennel clubs and pedigrees.'
theconversation.com/its-a-myth-t...
'Dogs were already remarkably diverse in their skull size and shape more than 10,000 years ago, long before kennel clubs and pedigrees.'
theconversation.com/its-a-myth-t...
It’s a myth that the Victorians created modern dog breeds – we’ve uncovered their prehistoric roots
Dogs were already remarkably diverse more than 10,000 years ago, long before kennel clubs and pedigrees.
theconversation.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:59 AM
For all the dog people, some great research from my colleagues in The Conversation:
'Dogs were already remarkably diverse in their skull size and shape more than 10,000 years ago, long before kennel clubs and pedigrees.'
theconversation.com/its-a-myth-t...
'Dogs were already remarkably diverse in their skull size and shape more than 10,000 years ago, long before kennel clubs and pedigrees.'
theconversation.com/its-a-myth-t...
Reposted by Dr Laura Sangha
Also Hilliard père did quite the upmarket line in cups...
rammcollections.org.uk/collections/...
rammcollections.org.uk/collections/...
(and was followed into the business his second son, Jeremy, also in Exeter, and also a spoonmaker extraordinaire)
rammcollections.org.uk/collections/...
rammcollections.org.uk/collections/...
(and was followed into the business his second son, Jeremy, also in Exeter, and also a spoonmaker extraordinaire)
communion cup (cup)
This communion cup was created by Richard Hilliard. Father of the renowned Elizabethan portrait miniaturist Nicholas Hilliard, Richard was a highly skilled craftsman himself. He worked within a commun
rammcollections.org.uk
November 19, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Also Hilliard père did quite the upmarket line in cups...
rammcollections.org.uk/collections/...
rammcollections.org.uk/collections/...
(and was followed into the business his second son, Jeremy, also in Exeter, and also a spoonmaker extraordinaire)
rammcollections.org.uk/collections/...
rammcollections.org.uk/collections/...
(and was followed into the business his second son, Jeremy, also in Exeter, and also a spoonmaker extraordinaire)
Reposted by Dr Laura Sangha
Spoons = SO exciting.
As if those early slightly bootleggy Exeter X townmarks aren't sexy enough already, your readers might not know that Richard Hilliard - father of Nicholas - was uh 'spooning' in Exeter bang on for this period.
rammcollections.org.uk/collections/...
As if those early slightly bootleggy Exeter X townmarks aren't sexy enough already, your readers might not know that Richard Hilliard - father of Nicholas - was uh 'spooning' in Exeter bang on for this period.
rammcollections.org.uk/collections/...
seal top spoon (spoon)
This seal top spoon was created by Richard Hilliard. Father of the renowned Elizabethan portrait miniaturist Nicholas Hilliard, Richard was a highly skilled craftsman himself. He worked within a commu
rammcollections.org.uk
November 19, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Spoons = SO exciting.
As if those early slightly bootleggy Exeter X townmarks aren't sexy enough already, your readers might not know that Richard Hilliard - father of Nicholas - was uh 'spooning' in Exeter bang on for this period.
rammcollections.org.uk/collections/...
As if those early slightly bootleggy Exeter X townmarks aren't sexy enough already, your readers might not know that Richard Hilliard - father of Nicholas - was uh 'spooning' in Exeter bang on for this period.
rammcollections.org.uk/collections/...
Now moved on to 'other interesting Tavistock wills' in the PCC collection, and Agnes Cervington, a widow who died in 1571 has caught my eye.
She leaves piles of tin to many people (tin and copper were mined on Dartmoor) and describes her silver plate (basin, ewer, goblets, salt etc) in detail. 1/
She leaves piles of tin to many people (tin and copper were mined on Dartmoor) and describes her silver plate (basin, ewer, goblets, salt etc) in detail. 1/
November 19, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Now moved on to 'other interesting Tavistock wills' in the PCC collection, and Agnes Cervington, a widow who died in 1571 has caught my eye.
She leaves piles of tin to many people (tin and copper were mined on Dartmoor) and describes her silver plate (basin, ewer, goblets, salt etc) in detail. 1/
She leaves piles of tin to many people (tin and copper were mined on Dartmoor) and describes her silver plate (basin, ewer, goblets, salt etc) in detail. 1/
As usual, Pevsner provides us with some poetry suitable for the occasion:
'New Bridge: Early C16; six pointed arches with cutwaters and refuges'.
'New Bridge: Early C16; six pointed arches with cutwaters and refuges'.
p.s.
In 1546 John Williams left money in his will to workman 'for finishing the causye that I have begun at New Bridge upon Tamar'.
That's this 16th-century bridge at Gunnislake, linking Devon and Cornwall - still carrying road traffic to this day.
In 1546 John Williams left money in his will to workman 'for finishing the causye that I have begun at New Bridge upon Tamar'.
That's this 16th-century bridge at Gunnislake, linking Devon and Cornwall - still carrying road traffic to this day.
November 19, 2025 at 4:17 PM
As usual, Pevsner provides us with some poetry suitable for the occasion:
'New Bridge: Early C16; six pointed arches with cutwaters and refuges'.
'New Bridge: Early C16; six pointed arches with cutwaters and refuges'.
and here we see that once it gets late enough in the day, the historian naturally reverts to the spelling conventions of the time they study
Strangely to us, John's wiffe was called Richard - one of many early modern names now gendered differently.
November 19, 2025 at 4:15 PM
and here we see that once it gets late enough in the day, the historian naturally reverts to the spelling conventions of the time they study
Obviously a bit of a dissolution day!
New blog post! 📜✨
Dr Harriet Lyon (Cambridge) dives into the Dissolution of the Monasteries and why it might make you rethink what 'early modern' really means in England.
A must-read for our #Reformation lovers! 👀
eccleshistsoc.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/a... #SkyStorians #Tudorhistory
Dr Harriet Lyon (Cambridge) dives into the Dissolution of the Monasteries and why it might make you rethink what 'early modern' really means in England.
A must-read for our #Reformation lovers! 👀
eccleshistsoc.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/a... #SkyStorians #Tudorhistory
A Revolution in Time: The Dissolution of the Monasteries and English History
Dr Harriet Lyon is the J. H. Plumb College Lecturer in History at Christ’s College, University of Cambridge. Her first book examined how the Dissolution of the Monasteries in England and Wales (153…
eccleshistsoc.wordpress.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Obviously a bit of a dissolution day!
Looking at the Tavistock wills in our sample ahead of a talk I am giving there on Friday.
The second earliest is the 1546 will of John Peryn, clerk of Tavistock. He leaves some nice material culture: his second best and best featherbeds, silver spoons with decorated knapps & a gilt goblet.
1/
The second earliest is the 1546 will of John Peryn, clerk of Tavistock. He leaves some nice material culture: his second best and best featherbeds, silver spoons with decorated knapps & a gilt goblet.
1/
November 19, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Looking at the Tavistock wills in our sample ahead of a talk I am giving there on Friday.
The second earliest is the 1546 will of John Peryn, clerk of Tavistock. He leaves some nice material culture: his second best and best featherbeds, silver spoons with decorated knapps & a gilt goblet.
1/
The second earliest is the 1546 will of John Peryn, clerk of Tavistock. He leaves some nice material culture: his second best and best featherbeds, silver spoons with decorated knapps & a gilt goblet.
1/
Reposted by Dr Laura Sangha
We have all kinds of resources for Devon writers available on our website, but if you're on the hunt for a space to write look no further!
We've got a selection of Writing Spaces near and far available to view here: www.exetercityofliterature.com/literary-res...
We've got a selection of Writing Spaces near and far available to view here: www.exetercityofliterature.com/literary-res...
November 19, 2025 at 3:05 PM
We have all kinds of resources for Devon writers available on our website, but if you're on the hunt for a space to write look no further!
We've got a selection of Writing Spaces near and far available to view here: www.exetercityofliterature.com/literary-res...
We've got a selection of Writing Spaces near and far available to view here: www.exetercityofliterature.com/literary-res...