Liesbeth Corens
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onslies.bsky.social
Liesbeth Corens
@onslies.bsky.social
6.9K followers 1.3K following 6K posts
Historian: mobility & recordkeeping of #earlymodern Catholic minorities. Book: confessional mobility and English Catholics in Early Modern Europe. Also grumpy about the state of UK Higher Education so likely to talk about how it is being failed...(She/Her)
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onslies.bsky.social
Toy hearse.

My parents get the new year gifts for the parish (bottles, chocolate, the expected) especially from the funerary firms who want to keep them sweet. The one who gave them a toy hearse remains everyone’s favourite.
Picture of a hand holding, and I kid you not, a toy car that is shaped like a funerary hearse. It’s black and has a large back for, one would presume, a toy coffin? In the back is the car track and other non-funerary toy cars
December 8, 2025 at 11:28 PM
onslies.bsky.social
I should dig up my anti-racism placard from when my parents took toddler-me on anti-racism marches, and I then spent the next week getting the entire playground to march against racism... 😅

(I'm nothing if not stubborn. Not effective in sorting out racism, but stubborn.)
picture from a family picture album. An extrrrrrrrrrrremely 1990s-looking bunch of toddlers are standing in a row with the one at the front holding a placard. The mum of the one in the front has written underneath the photograph 'niet vechten niet ruzie maken!' (don't fight, don't quarrel) which was the slogan the little determined troupe of protestors had been chanting across the playground for a week...
December 8, 2025 at 7:23 PM
onslies.bsky.social
The weirdos are tearing down posters again. And I’m very tempted to plaster the remaining 2/3rds of my door full of Dutch language posters so they have to spend a good hour trying to figure out what language that is and whether they have any (fake) grounds for taking down the poster.
Picture of an office door with posters about the union, about the research programme, about specific learning differences, about trans rights. And a quote from Ursula K Le Guin: we live in capitalism. It’s power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings.
December 8, 2025 at 7:19 PM
onslies.bsky.social
Calvin and Hobbes Cartoon. Calvin is fulminating, in the middle of an epic rant, thumping his left fist in his right palm in the first image while frowning so hard you can't see his pupils. In the next he is opening his eyes wide, eyebrows in his hairline, his shoulders up, arms outstretched inviting you into his anger. In the third he is shouting so loudly his eyes are scrunched up in the effort and his open mouth takes up two thirds of his face. His left fist is in the air, while his right hand is daintily held against his chest in a gesture of indignation. What is body language is drawing you in on is the following monologue / rant: We don't value craftsmanship anymore! All we value is ruthless efficiency, and I say we deny our own humanity that way! Without any appreciation for grace and beauty, there's no pleasure in creating things and no pleasure in having them! Our lives are made drearier, rather than richer! How can a person take pride in his work when skill and care are considered luxuries! We're not machines! We have a human need for craftsmanship!
December 6, 2025 at 7:27 PM
onslies.bsky.social
#BringBackBeguinages!

I do love the playfulness in keeping the old buildings and making them suitable to current needs.
pictures of a wall in an old beguinage from the the mantelplace has been cut out
November 30, 2025 at 10:45 AM
onslies.bsky.social
We’re going to need a collective noun for Bartmann jugs. Because they look adorable as a little choir (and because there’s a SHITTON of them trades across the North Sea).
Slide with a bunch of Bartmann jugs: very round jugs with faces on the neck
November 28, 2025 at 6:23 PM
onslies.bsky.social
More slides should carry the title “why tennis balls?” 🎾 🎾 🎾

(Amused how the local merchants tried to claw back the trade in all the goods of daily life from the Low Countries merchants)
Slide with “why tennis balls” - the import bans of 1463/4
November 28, 2025 at 6:18 PM
onslies.bsky.social
LOOK AT THE BEAUTIFUL ARCHIVE BAG!
Slide with a vellum bag containing searchers account and memoranda
November 28, 2025 at 6:15 PM
onslies.bsky.social
Yesssssss! The cool material STUFF Eliot studies: made in the Low Countries, imported in large numbers through London, and lost in the ground all over England… 😅
Screenshot of a slide with pipe clay figurines from the Low Countries found in London
November 28, 2025 at 5:58 PM
onslies.bsky.social
ELIOT!! Excited to hear what @ebenbow.bsky.social’s been up to since his brilliant PhD @qmul.bsky.social!
Picture of a speaker and a PowerPoint slide
November 28, 2025 at 5:38 PM
onslies.bsky.social
OMG. I supervised a brilliant MA dissertation on Grace O’Malley’s afterlife. And am now the owner of Grace O’Malley’s gin. 🤩

This is amazing. It is too early right now to check how female pirate gin tastes, right?
Picture of a gin bottle Ames Grace O’Malley: Irish pirate queen
November 27, 2025 at 12:27 PM
onslies.bsky.social
calvin & hobbes: comic books aren't just escapist fantasy, they're sophisticated social critiques
November 26, 2025 at 9:48 PM
onslies.bsky.social
Calvin & Hobbes cartoon. The pair is lying on the floor reading newspapers. With his little face in his hands, elbows on the floor, Calvin observes 'These are interesting times.' He then gets up and wide-armed declares 'we don't trust the government, we don't trust the legal system, we don't trust the media, and we don't trust each other! we've undermined all authority and with it, the basis for replacing it!'. 'Intersting is a mild way of putting it,' Hobbes mumbles, mouth an inch from the floor and face mostly hidden in his crossed arms. A more delighted Calvin adds 'it's like a six-year-old's dream come true!'
November 26, 2025 at 8:09 PM
onslies.bsky.social
hang on. where on earth is York in this? Had you already shed all international students?

(suddenly realising that in that brilliant FT piece you guys only have 20% of your income reliant on international students! on.ft.com/4rdqcId)
screenshot from the ft comparing the university of essex with other institutions on surplus/deficit as percentage of income; on net operating cash flow as percentage of income; and on international fees as percentage of income
November 24, 2025 at 8:35 PM
onslies.bsky.social
THIS FRIDAY! Come and hear the fabulous @ebenbow.bsky.social about #LowCountries Merchants in and around London: Specialising in the Trade of Everyday Goods

FRI 28 Nov, 17:30, @ihr.bsky.social & on zoom (register for link): www.history.ac.uk/news-events/... #MedievalSky #EarlyModern #Skystorians
programme of hte Low Countries Seminar, Institute of Historical research, Fridays 17:30 17 October: Alexander Marr: Three Renaissance ‘Grotesques’: Holbein, Dürer, Massys 31 October: Dirk van Miert: The Synod of Dordrecht: binding the Anglo-Dutch orthodox Republic of Letters 17 November: Eliot Benbow: Low Countries Merchants in and around London c. 1350-1550: Specialising in the Trade of Everyday Goods programme of hte Low Countries Seminar, Institute of Historical research, Fridays 17:30 17 October: Alexander Marr: Three Renaissance ‘Grotesques’: Holbein, Dürer, Massys 31 October: Dirk van Miert: The Synod of Dordrecht: binding the Anglo-Dutch orthodox Republic of Letters 28 November: Eliot Benbow: Low Countries Merchants in and around London c. 1350-1550: Specialising in the Trade of Everyday Goods
November 24, 2025 at 1:32 PM
onslies.bsky.social
WHO IS CALLING THE BELGIAN ROYAL LIBRARY *DUSTY*???

Look at it:
Picture of a rather imposing imperialistic building
November 24, 2025 at 7:39 AM
onslies.bsky.social
Calvin & Hobbes cartoon. Moe, the school bully looks threateningly at Calvin and declares 'I'm gonna pound you at recess, twinky.'. Shocked, Calvin retorts 'Why?? It's no contest! You've got the entire advantage! What could you possibly get out of pounding someone completely defenseless!'. 'It's fun,' Moe replies, wringing his hands in pleasure. Calvin is left alone to ponder the future. He looks straight at the viewer with fear in his eyes and a very thin mouth and observes 'oh, he's a sportsman'.
November 18, 2025 at 7:00 PM
onslies.bsky.social
ROFL. Eco is not wrong. He's not wrong at all.
The fact is that the world is divided between users of the Macintosh computer and users of MS-DOS compatible computers. I am firmly of the opinion that the Macintosh is Catholic and that DOS is Protestant. Indeed, the Macintosh is counterreformist and has been influenced by the “ratio studiorum” of the Jesuits. It is cheerful, friendly, conciliatory, it tells the faithful how they must proceed step by step to reach – if not the Kingdom of Heaven – the moment in which their document is printed. It is catechistic: the essence of revelation is dealt with via simple formulae and sumptuous icons. Everyone has a right to salvation. DOS is Protestant, or even Calvinistic. It allows free interpretation of scripture, demands difficult personal decisions, imposes a subtle hermeneutics upon the user, and takes for granted the idea that not all can reach salvation. To make the system work you need to interpret the program yourself: a long way from the baroque community of revelers, the user is closed within the loneliness of his own inner torment.
November 18, 2025 at 6:53 PM
onslies.bsky.social
All say 'happy birthday to Liesbeth's amazing goddaughter'. (and to Calvin & Hobbes)
Calvin and hobbes cartoon. Hobbes is smiling beguilingly into camera while doffing his party hat and holding a massive flower.
November 18, 2025 at 6:50 PM
onslies.bsky.social
nooooo! £19 delivery cost! Or you bet I'd have been a walking Christmas tree for December (and would have found a necklace with three little king figures who could be making their way to the stable....)

www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1...
picture of a pair of earrings in the shape of a shed with a little baby in a wooden construction. The baby is giving off yellow rays to indicate his specialness.
November 16, 2025 at 6:46 PM
onslies.bsky.social
Calvin & Hobbes cartoon. Calvin is outside, looking at a piece of trash and giving the mother of all side-eyes to all of humanity. "I'll bet future civilizations find out more about us than we'd like them to know," he observes.
November 16, 2025 at 11:35 AM
onslies.bsky.social
calvin and hobbes cartoon. The pair is outside in mid-season, judging from Calvin's light jacket. They're looking with quite desperate eyes at the remnants of a tree while Calvin observes 'Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us'
November 16, 2025 at 11:18 AM
onslies.bsky.social
amazing. I note you haven't put an end-date on the plan so assume it's still going.
calvin & hobbes cartoon. the pair is outside and a UFO is just flying away, starting clouds still visible. Hobbes asks in consternation 'you're trading the earth for 50 alien tree leaves??' A proud calvin, hands on hips, responds 'I'll have the coolest project in class!' He transitions to waving his arms around expansively, 'And best of all, now we don't need to waste any more time on this! The aliens are doing all the work! We can goof off the rest of the day!' Hobbes looks on frowningly and his body language conveys disapproval, with a slightly limp are and one in a gesture of explanation 'but then the aliens take over the earth.' 'Well,' Calvin retorts, also frowning and arms crossed in determination, 'it's not like the grownups have done such a bang-up job'.
November 16, 2025 at 10:06 AM
onslies.bsky.social
Some saai seems to be going through the 'Gold Coast' though? dutchtextiletrade.org/projects/tex...
screenshot of a pie chart with the textile distribution for ghana. It's mostly stockings I think, but some orange stuff as well
November 14, 2025 at 8:28 PM
onslies.bsky.social
historians, we may need to sit this one out. For our own sanity.
Calvin and Hobbes cartoon: Calvin is at his breakfast table, we see a toast, a knife, and a butter container, but we see very little of Calvin's face as it is all scrunched up in anger and he's yelling "haven't I suffered enough?? where will it all end??"
November 14, 2025 at 8:18 PM