Durham History
@durhamhistory.bsky.social
Durham University's Department of History is nestled right at the heart of this historic city, sitting alongside the World Heritage Cathedral and Castle.
If you’ll be in Durham on 18/11, I’m giving a talk at @durhamhistory.bsky.social seminar “Murder, Magic… Spreadsheets?” about writing my new book on witchcraft in France(1790-1940) due out with Cornell next year. The highs, the lows… the stupid stupid spreadsheets. www.durham.ac.uk/departments/... 🗃️
Excellent - @sathnam.bsky.social is one of the authors I have my 3rd-years @durhamhistory.bsky.social read as an example of writing history for wider audiences (and dealing with the flak). For Empireland - though I have a couple of ‘80s pop music dissertations this year, too. 🗃️
Royal Historical Society@royalhistsoc.org · last wk.At 6pm on Tuesday 3 November we welcome Sathnam Sanghera to give the 2026 RHS Public History Lecture @greshamcollege.bsky.social. Sathnam's lecture is entitled 'What History is NOT'. In-person booking at Gresham opens tomorrow (3 October) bit.ly/4xURpl1 Online booking is also available #Skystorians
I’m really delighted to have been awarded the Singer Prize by the British Society for the History of Science! My essay blends histories of disability, technology and the applied sciences to show how disabled people facilitated the diffusion of scientific management during the interwar period.
Durham History@durhamhistory.bsky.social · 3mo agoCongratulations to Lucy Jameson who has won the Singer Prize from the British Society for the History of Science for an essay based on a chapter of her PhD – ‘Pass the Parcel: Disabled Expertise, Prosthetics of Productivity, and Scientific Management in the British Post Office, 1918–1921’
Congratulations to Lucy Jameson who has won the Singer Prize from the British Society for the History of Science for an essay based on a chapter of her PhD – ‘Pass the Parcel: Disabled Expertise, Prosthetics of Productivity, and Scientific Management in the British Post Office, 1918–1921’
Erin Maglaque's new book *Presence: A Hidden History of the Female Body* was The Guardian's long read this month: www.theguardian.com/news/2026/ju... @erinmaglaque.bsky.social
‘It is comforting to be haunted’: how attitudes to abortion have changed through the ages
The long read: The abortion debate – the language of life, choice and rights – severs women, and their pain, from history. I don’t want to forget my abortion and I don’t want to forget theirs
theguardian.com
Wonderful morning of papers on Anglo-Jewish domestic spaces from Sophie Bellamy @durhamhistory.bsky.social, Daniel Lichman @lbilondon.bsky.social and Keren Darmon @parkesinstitute.bsky.social; Larisa Zorlescu on 19th c Jewish Romania; Eline Van Erdewijk on colonial Algerian elections & antisemitism
Marc Jaffré has a new article out in the Transactions of the Royal Historical Society! 💻🎉💾👑 ‘Dwarfism, Institutionalisation and Marginalisation at the Court in Early Bourbon France, 1589–1715’, doi.org/10.1017/S008... @royalhistsoc.org
Dwarfism, Institutionalisation and Marginalisation at the Court in Early Bourbon France, 1589–1715 | Transactions of the Royal Historical Society | Cambridge Core
Dwarfism, Institutionalisation and Marginalisation at the Court in Early Bourbon France, 1589–1715
doi.org
John Latham-Sprinkle's book, 'The North Caucasian Kingdom of Alania, 850-1240' is described by the judges as 'a masterly study which shows how historical analysis can be brought to bear even when source material is largely absent or fragmentary.' 3/4
Congratulations to our new colleague John Latham-Sprinkle on winning the Royal Historical Society first book prize for *The North Caucasian Kingdom of Alania, 850–1240*!
Royal Historical Society@royalhistsoc.org · 3mo agoYesterday evening, the Society was delighted to announce the winners of its 2026 First Book and Early Career prizes: bit.ly/44HbAH2 Many congratulations to the winners of the 2026 RHS First Book Prize: Dr Kiran Mehta and Dr John Latham-Sprinkle 1/4 #Skystorians
Congratulations to our students graduating today! A cool breeze and lots of graduation gowns this morning on Palace Green 👏 🙌 🥳 🥂 🍃 🧑🎓
Why is Robin Hood a household name while other outlaws remain largely unknown? 🏹 Dr Alex Brown @durhamhistory.bsky.social takes a look 👉 www.durham.ac.uk/research/cur...
🌏💭 Last week, we hosted ‘Durham East Asia Postgraduate Research Conversations’. Organized by IMEMS member Sare Aricanli & theThinking East Asia (TEA) Research Cluster (@durhamhistory.bsky.social), the event also marked rthe inaugural meeting of the ‘East Asia in the North’ (EATN) network.
This week PhD candidate Sophie Bellamy spoke to BBC Look North for a story about Jewish businesses in the North East – Drawing on her doctoral research, she emphasised how Jewish history in our region goes beyond just economics and is linked to our wider social and cultural heritage 👏👏👏
Great to hear Kay Schiller from @durhamhistory.bsky.social discuss the recent history of FIFA Presidents and their increased connection to politics alongside football's economic growth at St. Chad's #OutsidetheBox.
What happens when archival research meets lived experience? After the birth of her son, @erinmaglaque.bsky.social @durhamhistory.bsky.social began exploring how women’s bodies have been understood across history. Her new book uncovers hidden histories of the female body. 👉 bit.ly/4vhyG2y
Presence: A Hidden History of the Female Body, by Erin Maglaque is published today! 'This is the invisible history of the female body – birthing, caring, working, desiring. ... points towards a radical new way of understanding our bodies today.' @erinmaglaque.bsky.social tinyurl.com/bddaumzk
Presence
'A work of remarkable archival scholarship... extraordinary' Harriet Baker 'Illuminating and brave' Alison Light 'A wonderful history... intimate, fascinating and touching' Ian Mortimer An immersive ...
tinyurl.com
New article by our colleague Nick McGee! 'Two Journeys into Diaspora: Qing and British Imperial Investigations in the Dutch East Indies and Australia' 🤩 'demonstrating the surprisingly global reach of the late Qing state' www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Two Journeys into Diaspora: Qing and British Imperial Investigations in the Dutch East Indies and Australia | Comparative Studies in Society and History | Cambridge Core
Two Journeys into Diaspora: Qing and British Imperial Investigations in the Dutch East Indies and Australia
cambridge.org
🚨New paper just published! 📄 What drives #resilience and #sustainability in societies? Our paper reviews research in the #Mediterranean (1000 BCE–1000 CE) and explores how agent-based modelling can help test the mechanisms behind socio-ecological change 🌍 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Scales, Sources, and Simulations: Reviewing Studies on Human–Environment Interactions in the Mediterranean from 1000 BCE to 1000 CE - Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory
Understanding long-term human–environment dynamics is essential for contemporary debates on resilience and sustainability. This paper reviews approaches to studying humans and their environments in th...
link.springer.com
Article by Leverhulme Early Career Fellow @caterose.bsky.social @durhamhistory.bsky.social on the importance of architectural atmospheres for developing our knowledge of the emotional landscapes of the past. Read here: doi.org/10.1163/2208...
'Touristed: European travellers, host communities and the production of local culture (1880–1940)' – a special issue of the Journal of Tourism History edited by our colleague Talitha Ilacqua 🥳🎉🌞 doi.org/10.1080/1755...
Touristed: European travellers, host communities and the production of local culture (1880–1940)
This article introduces the special issue ‘Touristed: European Travellers, Host Communities and the Production of Local Culture’, which emphasises the importance of host communities in creating and...
doi.org
Our colleague Talitha Ilacqua reviews *The First Fascist* in the Times Literary Supplement – 'the picaresque life of an antisemitic agitator' www.the-tls.com/lives/biogra... @thetls.bsky.social
Prophet of ugly modernity
The Marquis de Morès was an uninspiring man. A gambler, a spendthrift and a womanizer, he collected a remarkable number of failed ventures in his short
the-tls.com
Honoured to have served as the internal examiner of Hasaam’s thesis. The fellowship is richly deserved!
Durham History@durhamhistory.bsky.social · 4mo agoCongratulations to Hasaam Latif who has been awarded a Pearsall Fellowship in Naval and Maritime History by the Royal Historical Society! You can read more about Hasaam's research into Lascars, Homelands and the twentieth-century British Empire here: culturesofdisability.mmu.ac.uk/lascars-desc...
Congratulations to Hasaam Latif who has been awarded a Pearsall Fellowship in Naval and Maritime History by the Royal Historical Society! You can read more about Hasaam's research into Lascars, Homelands and the twentieth-century British Empire here: culturesofdisability.mmu.ac.uk/lascars-desc...
Sheik Sulleyman Adam: A Lascar’s Descent into ‘Madness’ - Cultures of Disability
Hasaam Latif explains the cultural isolation and mental challenges faced by Lascar sailors in 1900s Britain.
culturesofdisability.mmu.ac.uk
Congratulations to Alastair on the article! It's also Gold Open Access and based on a recent Durham PhD 🎉🌟⚔️
Alastair Forbes@areforbes.bsky.social · 5mo agoMy new article - examining the implications of the crusader cross as a symbol of group identity within monastic narratives of the First Crusade - is now out (and open access)! ⚔️🛡️✝️ So many thanks to the editors and reviewers for helping bring it to fruition! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Come hear writers Damian Le Bas and John Henry Phillips in conversation @dulib.bsky.social with Alex Barber @durhamhistory.bsky.social and Becky Taylor (UEA) - all about GRT History Month. Plus a screening of 'A Basket Full of Eggs' - about finding Romani heritage in the archive. 🗃️📜 Details in ALT.
The Black Death swept through Europe between 1347 and 1353, killing perhaps half of the population. Yet, little information exists about those who contracted plague and recovered. New article by Alex Brown and @graceowen.bsky.social @durhamhistory.bsky.social on recovery from the Black Death 👇
Surviving the Black Death in medieval England: recovering from illness at Warboys, Huntingdonshire*
Abstract. The Black Death swept through Europe between 1347 and 1353, killing perhaps half of the population. Yet there is remarkably little information ab
doi.org
The Conversation UK@uk.theconversation.com · 5mo agoDespite the deadliness of the disease, it was possible to recover from plague, and medieval chroniclers mention the possibility – however unlikely – of survival.
Len Scales in Die Zeit! Als die Deutschen Deutsche wurden / When the Germans became Germans www.zeit.de/2026/22/deut... @lenscales.bsky.social
Deutsche Identität im Mittelalter: Als die Deutschen Deutsche wurden
Im Mittelalter trat in Europa ein neues Volk in Erscheinung. Man nannte sie die »Deutschen«, lange bevor sie diese Identität selbst annahmen.
zeit.de
New article 📢 written by Jane Whittle and me - about work and the problems of identifying workers in Medieval England. Open access here: doi.org/10.1080/0304... #history #medievalsky
Women's Wage Labour in Rural England, c. 1250-c. 1450: Identifying the Known Unknowns in Manorial Accounts
Rodney Hilton’s observations about women’s work recorded in manorial accounts underpin Tine De Moor and Jan Luiten van Zanden’s influential argument that paid work for women expanded significantly ...
doi.org
What a list of Black Death survivors reveals about the way people recovered from plague 💀⛪💀👑 theconversation.com/what-a-list-...
What a list of Black Death survivors reveals about the way people recovered from plague
Despite the deadliness of the disease, it was possible to recover from plague, and medieval chroniclers mention the possibility – however unlikely – of survival.
theconversation.com
