Oswald's Raven
@oswaldsraven.bsky.social
Account of the AHRC-funded project "Liturgical and literary landscapes: the cult of St Oswald of Northumbria in the German-speaking world" run by Johanna Dale (UCL) & Sarah Bowden (KCL).
www.oswaldusrex.co.uk
www.oswaldusrex.co.uk
For the feast day of St Martin of Tours, the cover of the amazing Berthold Sacramentary from Weingarten, Germany (now Morgan Library MS M.710). Created 1215-17, its decoration reflects the rededication of the abbey church to St Oswald, St Martin and the Blessed Virgin Mary. #MedievalSky
November 11, 2025 at 12:19 PM
For the feast day of St Martin of Tours, the cover of the amazing Berthold Sacramentary from Weingarten, Germany (now Morgan Library MS M.710). Created 1215-17, its decoration reflects the rededication of the abbey church to St Oswald, St Martin and the Blessed Virgin Mary. #MedievalSky
📗New project publication📗
"Liturgy, Literature & History: Oswald of Northumbria and the Cult of Saints in the Middle Ages" is now available #OpenAccess from @britishacademy.bsky.social & @livunipress.bsky.social
Free download here: liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....
#MedievalSky
"Liturgy, Literature & History: Oswald of Northumbria and the Cult of Saints in the Middle Ages" is now available #OpenAccess from @britishacademy.bsky.social & @livunipress.bsky.social
Free download here: liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....
#MedievalSky
October 29, 2025 at 11:05 AM
📗New project publication📗
"Liturgy, Literature & History: Oswald of Northumbria and the Cult of Saints in the Middle Ages" is now available #OpenAccess from @britishacademy.bsky.social & @livunipress.bsky.social
Free download here: liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....
#MedievalSky
"Liturgy, Literature & History: Oswald of Northumbria and the Cult of Saints in the Middle Ages" is now available #OpenAccess from @britishacademy.bsky.social & @livunipress.bsky.social
Free download here: liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....
#MedievalSky
For St Cedd's day, a view of the C7th chapel at Bradwell on Sea, built on the ruined Roman Saxon shore fort of Othona.
Sound on for the birdsong! 🎵🎶
#Essex #MedievalSky
Sound on for the birdsong! 🎵🎶
#Essex #MedievalSky
October 26, 2025 at 3:41 PM
For St Cedd's day, a view of the C7th chapel at Bradwell on Sea, built on the ruined Roman Saxon shore fort of Othona.
Sound on for the birdsong! 🎵🎶
#Essex #MedievalSky
Sound on for the birdsong! 🎵🎶
#Essex #MedievalSky
Or any pilot book? Here‘s an example for East Anglia. Numbers are speed in knots at neaps and springs. Obviously the coastline has changed since the early Middle Ages. But I’d be surprised if that made more than local differences to overall picture.
October 20, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Or any pilot book? Here‘s an example for East Anglia. Numbers are speed in knots at neaps and springs. Obviously the coastline has changed since the early Middle Ages. But I’d be surprised if that made more than local differences to overall picture.
There will also be ski lifts ⛷️! So, if you are curious as to why a modern chair lift in the Dolomites is named after a C7th Northumbrian king, do book a ticket!
October 14, 2025 at 9:14 AM
There will also be ski lifts ⛷️! So, if you are curious as to why a modern chair lift in the Dolomites is named after a C7th Northumbrian king, do book a ticket!
I'm giving an online lecture next Thursday evening, in aid of Peterborough Cathedral. I'll be talking about Oswald's cult at Peterborough and his continental connections. There will be arm relics and ravens! 💪 #MedievalSky
To book tickets: peterborough-cathedral.org.uk/event/in-per...
To book tickets: peterborough-cathedral.org.uk/event/in-per...
October 8, 2025 at 1:33 PM
I'm giving an online lecture next Thursday evening, in aid of Peterborough Cathedral. I'll be talking about Oswald's cult at Peterborough and his continental connections. There will be arm relics and ravens! 💪 #MedievalSky
To book tickets: peterborough-cathedral.org.uk/event/in-per...
To book tickets: peterborough-cathedral.org.uk/event/in-per...
Delighted with the cover of "Liturgy, Literature, and History: Oswald of Northumbria and the Cult of Saints in the Middle Ages", which is coming out with @britishacademy.bsky.social and @livunipress.bsky.social later this month!
liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....
liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....
October 1, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Delighted with the cover of "Liturgy, Literature, and History: Oswald of Northumbria and the Cult of Saints in the Middle Ages", which is coming out with @britishacademy.bsky.social and @livunipress.bsky.social later this month!
liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....
liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....
Delighted that our animation will soon be available in German 🇩🇪 as part of a set of resources to support German teaching at KS3. Great to work with animator Charlie Minnion again, and with translator and children's author Kathrin Tordasi.
Full English version: oswaldusrex.co.uk/animation/
Full English version: oswaldusrex.co.uk/animation/
September 10, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Delighted that our animation will soon be available in German 🇩🇪 as part of a set of resources to support German teaching at KS3. Great to work with animator Charlie Minnion again, and with translator and children's author Kathrin Tordasi.
Full English version: oswaldusrex.co.uk/animation/
Full English version: oswaldusrex.co.uk/animation/
Happy St. Oswald’s Day! To paraphrase the words of Henry of Avranches (who was commissioned to write a verse life of Oswald for Peterborough Abbey C13th), “May Oswald lay his incorrupt right arm on all your enterprises”!
August 5, 2025 at 5:38 AM
Happy St. Oswald’s Day! To paraphrase the words of Henry of Avranches (who was commissioned to write a verse life of Oswald for Peterborough Abbey C13th), “May Oswald lay his incorrupt right arm on all your enterprises”!
I’ve got William and Harold Christmas decorations, courtesy of Reading Museum!
reading-museum-shop.myshopify.com/collections/...
reading-museum-shop.myshopify.com/collections/...
July 30, 2025 at 5:09 PM
I’ve got William and Harold Christmas decorations, courtesy of Reading Museum!
reading-museum-shop.myshopify.com/collections/...
reading-museum-shop.myshopify.com/collections/...
Delighted to be a step closer to this book coming out. Honoured to be editor of a volume in the @britishacademy.bsky.social series & grateful to the contributors both for their wonderful essays & their prompt return of corrected proofs!
@livunipress.bsky.social @uclhistory.bsky.social #MedievalSky
@livunipress.bsky.social @uclhistory.bsky.social #MedievalSky
July 9, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Delighted to be a step closer to this book coming out. Honoured to be editor of a volume in the @britishacademy.bsky.social series & grateful to the contributors both for their wonderful essays & their prompt return of corrected proofs!
@livunipress.bsky.social @uclhistory.bsky.social #MedievalSky
@livunipress.bsky.social @uclhistory.bsky.social #MedievalSky
We had an amazing two days of discussions about landscapes of sanctity, literal and metaphorical, medieval and modern. Thanks to @ucl-ias.bsky.social for hosting us and to all the speakers and delegates for the thought-provoking papers and questions!
July 3, 2025 at 5:37 PM
We had an amazing two days of discussions about landscapes of sanctity, literal and metaphorical, medieval and modern. Thanks to @ucl-ias.bsky.social for hosting us and to all the speakers and delegates for the thought-provoking papers and questions!
In the alps, Oswald is often prayed to as a weather saint. We're hoping he will intercede for us to ensure cooler weather for our project conference @ucl-ias.bsky.social this week!
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
#MedievalSky
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
#MedievalSky
July 1, 2025 at 12:11 PM
In the alps, Oswald is often prayed to as a weather saint. We're hoping he will intercede for us to ensure cooler weather for our project conference @ucl-ias.bsky.social this week!
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
#MedievalSky
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
#MedievalSky
Oswald did make it almost as far as Verona - the church at Cerro Veronese dates from C14th - but Oswald’s cult appears to have been most successful in the mountains and didn’t take hold on the northern Italian plains. #OswaldHunting
May 22, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Oswald did make it almost as far as Verona - the church at Cerro Veronese dates from C14th - but Oswald’s cult appears to have been most successful in the mountains and didn’t take hold on the northern Italian plains. #OswaldHunting
And since it was Saint Zeno’s feast day yesterday (21 May), a few images from the Basilica San Zeno of Verona’s patron saint depicted in bronze, in a fresco and in marble.
May 22, 2025 at 3:07 PM
And since it was Saint Zeno’s feast day yesterday (21 May), a few images from the Basilica San Zeno of Verona’s patron saint depicted in bronze, in a fresco and in marble.
A quick pit stop in Verona on the way back home. No Oswald (he didn’t make it quite this far down the River Adige), but lots of wonders to enjoy!
May 22, 2025 at 3:02 PM
A quick pit stop in Verona on the way back home. No Oswald (he didn’t make it quite this far down the River Adige), but lots of wonders to enjoy!
Any other saints from the British Isles got a ski lift named after them? ⛷️ #OswaldHunting
May 19, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Any other saints from the British Isles got a ski lift named after them? ⛷️ #OswaldHunting
Today’s church (No. 10) stands at 2220m. St Oswald under the Ifinger mountain was 1st mentioned in 1447 in connection with a dispute about grazing rights. The current chapel dates from 1879 as the earlier building (which was even higher up) was destroyed by a lightning strike. #OswaldHunting
May 19, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Today’s church (No. 10) stands at 2220m. St Oswald under the Ifinger mountain was 1st mentioned in 1447 in connection with a dispute about grazing rights. The current chapel dates from 1879 as the earlier building (which was even higher up) was destroyed by a lightning strike. #OswaldHunting
Oswald church number 9 at Sankt Oswald near Kastelruth was an absolute stunner! On a C13th keystone we found our earliest raven and there were also wall paintings from c.1450 showing Oswald kneeling before battle. Exciting to find a raven together with a scene from Bede. #OswaldHunting
May 18, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Oswald church number 9 at Sankt Oswald near Kastelruth was an absolute stunner! On a C13th keystone we found our earliest raven and there were also wall paintings from c.1450 showing Oswald kneeling before battle. Exciting to find a raven together with a scene from Bede. #OswaldHunting
Today in Bozen we visited a former castle chapel dedicated to Oswald, the foundations of an Oswald church that was destroyed by allied bombing in 1943, and - the highlight - a C14th wall-painting depicting Oswald with his raven in the little church of S. Magdalena in Prazöll. #OswaldHunting
May 17, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Today in Bozen we visited a former castle chapel dedicated to Oswald, the foundations of an Oswald church that was destroyed by allied bombing in 1943, and - the highlight - a C14th wall-painting depicting Oswald with his raven in the little church of S. Magdalena in Prazöll. #OswaldHunting
We had a day off Oswald hunting to visit Rodenegg Castle and see the extraordinary frescoes of Hartmann von Aue’s Iwein legend. Dating from c.1220, they are the earliest non-religious wall paintings in the German-speaking world.
May 16, 2025 at 3:28 PM
We had a day off Oswald hunting to visit Rodenegg Castle and see the extraordinary frescoes of Hartmann von Aue’s Iwein legend. Dating from c.1220, they are the earliest non-religious wall paintings in the German-speaking world.
Don’t think Bede would even recognise alpine Oswald…
#OswaldHunting
#OswaldHunting
May 16, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Don’t think Bede would even recognise alpine Oswald…
#OswaldHunting
#OswaldHunting
Turns out that when Bede wrote of Oswald that “the fame of this illustrious hero was not confined to Britain, for the rays of his beneficent light shone far overseas”, he wasn’t exaggerating #OswaldHunting
May 15, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Turns out that when Bede wrote of Oswald that “the fame of this illustrious hero was not confined to Britain, for the rays of his beneficent light shone far overseas”, he wasn’t exaggerating #OswaldHunting
Oswald is so present in the landscape around the church, first mentioned in 1197, from which the village of Sankt Oswald (Gemeinde Badkleinchheim) takes its name. The brook, which still supplies most of the village’s water supply, is named after him as is a promontory at 1863m! #OswaldHunting
May 15, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Oswald is so present in the landscape around the church, first mentioned in 1197, from which the village of Sankt Oswald (Gemeinde Badkleinchheim) takes its name. The brook, which still supplies most of the village’s water supply, is named after him as is a promontory at 1863m! #OswaldHunting
In rural alpine areas Oswald became associated with the harvest and cattle and people prayed to him asking for favourable weather for their agricultural endeavours. We found this depiction of Oswald as a weather saint on a wayside shrine. #OswaldHunting
May 14, 2025 at 3:33 PM
In rural alpine areas Oswald became associated with the harvest and cattle and people prayed to him asking for favourable weather for their agricultural endeavours. We found this depiction of Oswald as a weather saint on a wayside shrine. #OswaldHunting