Alice Hicklin

@alicehicklin.bsky.social

Historian of medieval Europe, currently researching trouvères through their representation in documentary culture @ MUSLIVE, KCL. Wolves fan 🐺🐺🐺 embroidery enthusiast. She/they 🏳️‍🌈

Does anybody have experience of navigating the Norfolk Record Office catalogue? I'm trying to locate a document from the Cathedral collection, printed in a PRS vol., but coming up stumps for it now. Any help greatly appreciated!

Are you working on the histories of clerics and clerical networks across and beyond political borders? Interested in presenting your research at next year's Leeds IMC? Consider submitting an abstract to our Call for Papers! Deadline 1 Sept, details at: medreligion.wordpress.com/transnationa...

Transnational Clerical Communities

Call for Papers for sessions organised by the Ideology, Society, and Medieval Religion seminar series at the Leeds International Medieval Congress 2027 St. Brendan the Navigator. Bibliothèque de Re…

medreligion.wordpress.com

Dragi prijatelji, imam rukopis za vam! Možete li vi čitati za mene? Wrapper attributes to Stjepan Gradić, s. XVII polymath from Dubrovnik. The language is Croatian, but written with Italian spelling conventions (eg 'gn' = nj, etc.) - looks like a sermon, but can anyone make out the Croatian title?

title page
beginning of text with quotation in Latin of Matthew 15:28end of textwrapper with attribution of authorship

🚨 Amazing #EarlyModern research degree opportunity: The University of Melbourne (Australia) is looking for a Ph.D Candidate who will work as part of an ARC-funded project on "The History of the Hourglass” (c. 1300-1600) ⏳ 🔗 More Info: shorturl.at/3NoNq #HistSTM

Histories of the Hourglass : Find an Expert : The University of Melbourne

<p> <span>Applications are invited for a PhD position as part of the Australian Research Council funded project The History of the Hourglass.</span> </p> <p> <span>This PhD research opportunity forms part of a project that undertakes the first history of the hourglass from its origins c.1300 through to its global circulation in the sixteenth century. The most precise time-measurement device of its era, the hourglass changed the course of history through its role in maritime travel, scientific experiments and everyday time management. It transformed time into a silent, interior flow crucial to a wide range of cultural projects: in Cairo classrooms or alchemical labs; in the cook’s kitchen or preacher’s pulpit. Alongside its critical intervention in the history of time, the project seeks to pioneer new scientific methods for analysing these fragile objects, with major benefits for their conservation in Australian and international collections.</span> </p> <p> <span>Applicants with the following background are particularly encouraged to apply:</span> </p> <ul> <li> <span>An undergraduate or master’s degree with a specialisation in medieval and/or early modern studies</span> </li> <li> <span>Proficiency in one or more languages other than English, with preference for German, Latin, French, Italian, Spanish or Portuguese</span> </li> <li>Awareness of current methods in the history of material and visual culture. </li> </ul> <p> <strong><span>Eligibility</span></strong> </p> <p> <span>Applicants must satisfy the minimum entry requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy-Arts at the University of Melbourne and demonstrate strong research ability and potential.</span> </p> <p> <span>Applicants will normally have completed a master’s degree or an Australian honours degree (or equivalent) that includes a thesis subject, with academic results equivalent to a University of Melbourne H1 standard. This generally means achieving at least 80% overall and 80% in the thesis or major research component.</span> <br> <br> <span>Applicants must review the Doctor of Philosophy (Arts) entry requirements before submitting an Expression of Interest.</span> </p> <p> <a href="https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/courses/dr-philart/entry-participation-requirements" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span>https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/courses/dr-philart/entry-participation-requirements</span> </a> </p> <p> <strong><span>How to apply</span></strong> </p> <p> <span>Expressions of Interest close <strong>Monday 21 September at 1700 (Melbourne time).</strong></span> </p> <p> <span>To apply, click the <strong><em>‘Submit Expressions of Interest’</em></strong> button at the top or bottom of this advertisement.</span> </p> <p> <span>Upload the following three documents as part of your Expression of Interest:</span> </p> <ol> <li> <span><strong>Academic transcripts</strong> for all completed or in-progress tertiary study</span> </li> <li> <strong>A one-page project description</strong> outlining a proposed research project examining the history of the hourglass between 1300 and 1600CE </li> <li> <strong>A current resume.</strong> Applicants are encouraged to use the Faculty’s resume template [<a href="https://go.unimelb.edu.au/otz2">https://go.unimelb.edu.au/otz2</a>]. Before uploding, please append to the end of the resume <strong>a 500-word statement</strong> describing your intellectual interests in the history of temporalities and material culture. </li> </ol> <p> <em>Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted and invited to interview. </em><br> <br> <span>Applicants who are successful at the Expression of Interest stage will be invited to submit a formal application for admission to the Doctor of Philosophy- Arts. An invitation to submit a full application does not guarantee admission or the award of a scholarship.</span> </p> <p> <span>For further information about the application process, please visit the Faculty of Arts Graduate Research applications webpage.</span> </p> <p> <a href="https://arts.unimelb.edu.au/study/graduate-research" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span>https://arts.unimelb.edu.au/study/graduate-research</span> </a> </p>

findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au

It's my favourite time of the semester again: Today I visited the University Library w. my Lampert of Hersfeld class to look at two original charters from the 11th c. issued by the archbishop of Mainz (1043) and the abbot of St. Maximin in Trier (c. 1047), respectively. Charterrific!

Medieval charter with fragment of the original seal. Medieval charter.

Twice a year, Hawai'i experiences a strange moment where the sun appears to be exactly overhead & anything that is completely vertical casts no shadow. Let's learn about Lāhainā Noon, subsolar points & 'Kau ka lā i ka lolo', meaning "the sun rests on the brains."

From a Reddit forum, a photo of a can of coconut milk with a blue label, papyrus text and a flip-top, on a sidewalk.  It seems to hover because there's no visible shadow.  The pavement is sort of unevenly colored, with bright spots, and the grass along it is green and lush.

Celtic chieftain’s bird helmet! An astounding military helmet from some 2,200 years ago! The bird’s wings are hinged so that they flapped when the wearer moved! From Ciumești, Satu Mare County, Romania 📷 by me #Archaeology

My photo shows a remarkable helmet of a Celtic warrior chieftain dated c. 250-175 BC. The helmet body is made of iron, now brown in colour, with some fragments missing. On top of the helmet perches a large bronze bird of prey, now greenish-grey in colour, with outstretched wings made of sheet bronze. The wings are attached to the bird’s body by hinges, allowing them to flap up and down when the wearer moved, likely suggesting flight. There are coral-red and white enamel inserts in the eyes. There is a modern blue support frame beneath the wings and a modern blue replica beak for display purposes.

It was found in a warrior’s grave at Ciumești in Romania, in 1961. Other military equipment amongst the grave goods of the Celtic warrior’s tomb included an iron coat of chainmail and two of its bronze appliques, two bronze greaves and an iron spearhead, as well as clothing accessories (an iron fibula and iron belt buckle) and two pottery vessels (a biconical vase and a bowl).

Side note there is still a community of monks on the island of Saint-Honorat, and some of the 11th-century monastery survives! The monks run boat trips from Cannes to the island. You can also find ball ovens dotted around that they used to heat up cannon balls - something for everyone to enjoy

Alice Hicklin@alicehicklin.bsky.social · 3w ago

I’ve (finally) made a blog to share some of the more intriguing charters I encounter 1st up: an 11th-century land sale where the price included “excellent cloth” called zafalbafal, possibly ṣūf al-baḥr, or sea silk, made from the fibres of Mediterranean shells 🐚 alicehicklin.co.uk/2026/07/14/c...

I’ve (finally) made a blog to share some of the more intriguing charters I encounter 1st up: an 11th-century land sale where the price included “excellent cloth” called zafalbafal, possibly ṣūf al-baḥr, or sea silk, made from the fibres of Mediterranean shells 🐚 alicehicklin.co.uk/2026/07/14/c...

Three Hundred Solidi and a Cloth from the Sea

An early eleventh-century charter from Provence records a land sale paid for with money and a mysterious cloth called zafalbafal: possibly the ‘wool of the sea’.

alicehicklin.co.uk