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Clare Downham

@downham.bsky.social

Medievalist. She/Her. All DMs are blocked (Bluesky ID issue)

2089 Posts5534 Follower2860 Folgt
Clare Downham@downham.bsky.social · 14h ago

In London today filming for a short stint on a documentary. Another lovely drawing by J. Robert Travis of the runestone from St Paul’s Cathedral #London commemorating Ginna and Toki, early 11th Century. Museum of London #medievalsky Imagine how different London looked when this stone was raised!

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Robert Saunders@robertsaunders.bsky.social · 4w ago

A few thoughts on this. 1. More than 2/3 of full-time students *already* do paid work in termtime - to an extent that already shrinks what we can realistically ask them to do. Just adding more (unpaid?) employment risks further squeezing the space for what they're actually at university to do.

Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 4w ago

'Every undergraduate in England would be given the chance to do work experience and will receive lifelong careers advice from their institution under new proposals from Universities UK (UUK).'

Alasdair Mackenzie@alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · yesterday

This is almost certainly true, and the UK fails women refugees in multiple ways, including by refusing safe routes to come here, wrongly rejecting asylum claims, barring family reunion & not recognising trafficking victims promptly or at all. If only Mahmood had the power to do something about this

Nearly all women arriving on small boats have been raped, says Shabana Mahmood

Home secretary warns people traffickers will exploit asylum seekers because they decide who comes to the UK

theguardian.com

The Observer@theobserveruk.bsky.social · 2d ago

“It’s like my degree is now unimportant,” said Nahla Smyth-Daly, 19, a third-year student at Edinburgh University. “It makes me worried for my future career.” Read more as Edinburgh lecturers strike as more than 90 arts and humanities courses are dropped https://bit.ly/3VmJ2RW

Edinburgh lecturers strike as more than 90 arts and human...

Vice-chancellor says £140m of cuts are necessary, but critics claim the university has been on a ‘spending binge’

bit.ly

Clare Downham@downham.bsky.social · 2d ago

Reading book proofs and enjoying this grumpy queen from the Lewis Chessmen. She’s just spent a day at war surrounded by less competent courtiers, no other woman to bitch to & a husband with no sense of urgency to move anywhere fast. Strong drink in hand, she’s so done with this week #medievalsky

Image of Queen chess piece drawn by J. Robert Travis
Clare Downham@downham.bsky.social · 2d ago

#gaeilge #gàidhlig speakers - how familiar is usage 2? gall 1. foreigner 2. (derogatory) Anglified Gael, interesting for insight into the gall-góidil of the Viking Age (there is some debate if they are Gaelicised vikings or Scandinavianised Gaels). Mòran taing/ Go raibh maith agat :)

North Ages@northages.bsky.social · 5d ago

Scottish journalist George Buist, who brought the Norrie’s Law Hoard to public attention, died #OTD in 1860. Found near Largo, Fife, in 1819, much of the Pictish silver was illegally sold and the rest kept secret for 20 years until Buist investigated. 📸National Museums Scotland

The Norrie’s Law Hoard spread out for display.
Dr Grace Khuri@gracekhuri.bsky.social · 5d ago

For my new role as RA for the #OxfordUniversity project: 'British Fantasy and the #FirstWorldWar', I'll be drawing on my extensive research experience with the widespread mythic framing of #WorldWarI. Below is an illustrated article on the topic. academia.edu/113103338/Th... #Norsemyth #medievalsky

The Politics of Norse Medievalism in the British Press during the First World War

The Norse-Germanic branch of medievalism in Britain during the First World War has been strangely neglected in both literary-cultural and historical scholarship. 1 Several studies have addressed that ...

academia.edu

Juliane Witte@julianewitte.bsky.social · 5d ago

So I've had a speaker drop-out last minute from the session dedicated to Old Norse female networks and communities! I still need to figure out next steps but is there coincidentally anyone who'd like to present in this session? #MedievalSky #OldNorse

Juliane Witte@julianewitte.bsky.social · 4mo ago

I'm organising sessions about medieval female networks and communities for next year's (2027) @imc-leeds.bsky.social!! The CFP is purposefully broad and open, so do share with whoever you think might be interested and hit me up with any questions! #MedievalSky

In line with IMC’s thematic focus on communities, this series of sessions will explore female networks and communities in the Middle Ages from a variety of methodological, theoretical, and disciplinary angles. While many medieval sources focus expressly on men and male characters, relationships between women and female characters exist, even if they are sometimes hidden away at the margins. The goal of these sessions is to put female networks, communities, and relationships at the centre of our focus and thereby gain a more nuanced insight into the Middle Ages and our engagement with the time period and its various outputs. In this context, both “network” and “community” are defined as broadly as possible, namely as relationships of any sort between medieval women, female characters in texts, and/or female audiences (both medieval and modern, both scholarly and popular). The aim of these sessions is to explore where and how such networks and communities can be located, how they are depicted, what effect they have upon their narratives or their historical surroundings, and how we connect to them now. The desire is for these sessions to be as broad and exploratory as possible, inviting scholars from a variety of disciplines. Papers could address intersectional communities, religious networks, the performance of community, inclusion/exclusion, and much more in historical, literary, and/or material contexts. Doctoral Candidates, late-stage MA students, and Early Career Researchers are actively encouraged to send in proposals. I am planning an edited volume based on these sessions. Please send an abstract (max. 300 words) and a short biography to juliane.witte@uni-tuebingen.de by the 31st of July 2026. Please do state whether you’d prefer to attend in person or online. Feel free to also reach out with any questions!
Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦@kfduggan.bsky.social · 4d ago

Perhaps the most dangerous hunting accidents in the Middle Ages weren't accidents at all: they were actually instances of killer rabbits hunting humans. All people from emperor to lowly peasants feared these rabbits, especially the killer Rabbit of Caerbannog (from Monty Python😊).🧵7/7

A rabbit is reloading a crossbow in the left side of the image while another rabbit on the right side of the image is carrying away a human that has been hunted. The human is hanging upside-down from a staff that is being held over the rabbit's shoulder. In the centre is a human hiding in a small tree, seemingly hoping that he won't be killed. Beneath his is another, smaller rabbit that is looking up at him in the tree. Ref: Roman d’Alexandre, Bodleian Library, MS. Bodl. 264 (14th century).