The #Vatican came back this week, with 34 #Manuscripts digitized www.wiglaf.org/vatican/2026... Grammar, histories of Florence and Genoa, Longitude, bios of Il Brandano, Carlo Gonzaga, and Cola di Rienzo, a partial catalog of Ott.lat, inside Ott.lat, and more! #MedievalSky #Skystorians

Vatican Manuscripts Added Week 20 of 2026

After two weeks of no digitizations, work recommenced with thirty-four manuscripts added this week. The vast majority of those, twenty-eight, were from the Ott.lat fond. The remainder were split, fo...

wiglaf.org

Time for the headline act on the #HistoryFest’s equivalent of the Pyramid Stage …

OH. MY. GOD. THIS IS THE EARTHSET PHOTO FROM ARTEMIS II. IM SPEECHLESS.

In last week’s assemblies, for International Women’s Day, I spoke about my Nan. Born in Barnsley in 1895, she lived until 1994 - one year short of a telegram from the Queen. No statues. No history books. Just quiet courage, hard work, and the sort of strength that holds families together.

Absolutely fascinating talk at the IHR this evening on newly catalogued legal records at the National Archives. Many thanks to Dan Gosling for such an insightful session. I’m very much looking forward to exploring these resources further in my own research.

Rose Water Vase Persian 17th century (Ackland Museum)

Mary refuses to be distracted by multiple angels, pigeon, & God the Father hanging out in her living room. Good parenting skills, by Cornelis de Bailleur, whose day is today.

Apparently French designer Marie Louise Bruyère was not that keen on Dior’s post war ‘New Look’. Here in 1947, though, is her full hipped ballgown, perhaps reminiscent of c18th France and a different period of excess @ngvmelbourne.bsky.social #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Farewell Valentino, a long life lived at the heart of the couture world. He began his career apprenticed to Jean Dessés, becoming part of the shared DNA of generations of makers. Here a late #1980s chiffon in his signature red @metmuseum.org #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

It is a jewel in dress form, an emerald seemingly engraved with architectural geometric motifs but in fact embroidered in sinuous swirls. A dress in which to shimmy as the band plays faster, #1920s #PalaisGalliera #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

The bear was trying to take possession of the honey reserves owned by the bees. The outcome was not good for the bear. BL Harley 3448; Flore de virtu e de costumi (Flowers of Virtue and of Custom); 15th century; Italy, N. (Padua?); f.10v

UK based stained glass artist Harriet Love #Womensart.

Paolo Veronese (1565-70), Sposalizio mistico di santa Caterina Gallerie dell’Accademia #Venezia

As we approach the Winter Solstice, here's what Stonehenge looked like in the 16th century. #WinterSolstice BL Add MS 28330; Lucas De Heere, Corte Beschryvinghe van Engheland, Schotland, ende Irland; 1573 CE-1575 CE; England (London); f.36r

Cartography couture at The British Library Secret Maps exhibition. Lady Mountbatten’s post-war lingerie, cut from printed silk maps of Italy.

Spotted in BBC History Dec 2025: “A 2025 study sponsored by Microsoft sought to identify those occupations most at risk from GenAI. Historians came second, behind interpreters and translators. Dredge operators, last on the list.” 😳

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Not Just the Tudors - How to Run a Stuart Household - BBC Sounds

Margaret Baker’s Receipt Books: Unearthing 17th Century Domestic Life

bbc.co.uk

Portrait of a girl, c. 1625-35 Attributed to the British School (Royal Collection, HM CIII)

Excellent news — it looks as though the British Library’s online catalogue for manuscripts and archives will soon be back.

A wonderful day at Lambeth Palace Library yesterday. The librarians could not have been kinder or more helpful. I still miss the old library, but the new wing — light, calm, beautifully designed — is a joy.

A neat tool I just came across: Viabundus, a digital road map of northern Europe 1350-1650, that lets you calculate contemporary travel routes/times. In 1500, going Amiens → Köln by horse took almost 7 days and 13 toll payments. #medievalsky www.landesgeschichte.uni-goettingen.de/handelsstras...

C.S. Lewis responding to a letter from an American schoolgirl asking him for some writing advice. (Worth reading? ✅️)

Highly recommend ‘The House at Number 48’ on BBC Sounds — a haunting and fascinating journey into the past, beginning with a suitcase and ending in some remarkable revelations.

📢 Reminder about our CFP for the Mobility and Migration Seminar in collaboration with @ihr.bsky.social! Please see below for more information on the CFP, abstracts are due on 15th November! Please share widely!

HistoryLab@ihrhistorylab.bsky.social · 11mo ago

📢 New Seminar Series! We are thrilled to be working alongside @ihr.bsky.social on a brand new seminar series titled Migration and Mobility. We are coming together for a special edition of the seminar to showcase the work of PGRs and ECRs on migration and mobility history (1/3)

English embroiderer and Pre-Raphaelite artist's model Jane Morris was born #OnThisDay in 1849. It is believed that the embroidery of intertwined floral sprays for this c. 1878 blue silk bag with a metal mount was designed and worked by Morris. V&A collection. #fashionhistory

Delighted to see the open access publication of Crossings: Migrant Knowledges, Migrant Forms -- a superb volume featuring artists, poets, scholars, and a short essay by me on Dutch- and French-speaking women in 16th-century London telling their stories of migration. punctumbooks.com/titles/cross...

Would anyone like to take a guess at the word before “kebob”? Which predates OED - ms is 1660

We invite applications for British Academy/Leverhulme Senior Research Fellowships 2025. The scheme supports established and senior researchers in the humanities and social sciences wishing to complete research through a sustained period of leave for one year. Apply now: https://bit.ly/3VMeTZ9

I’m very tempted by this one-day course at the British Library:

The IHR Tudor and Stuart seminar has joined Bluesky! Please follow and RT! Our programme for the year is starting NEXT WEEK on Monday 29 September with Alison Knight @aeknight.bsky.social speaking on 'Certificates of Religion: Early Modern Belief on Paper'. Online and in-person, 5.30pm Book here:

Certificates of Religion: Early Modern Belief on Paper

history.ac.uk