Lenny Hodges

@lrhodges.bsky.social

Historian of the early modern world. Postdoc at Durham. Associate Editor for French History. Also pottery.

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).

This week, members of our #InventingFutures team, including Professor Richard Scholar, Dr Rob Twiss and Joost Oosterhuis, visited Sorbonne Université to participate in a workshop entitled 'Traduction, Adaptation, Invention en Europe à l’époque de la première modernité'.

BildBild

This is a very interesting new resource, The Register of British Slave-Traders. 'The Register focusses on the individuals who sought to profit from the enslavement of over 3 million African men, women, and children, whose identity was – for the most part – erased from the historical record.' 🗃️

The Register of British Slave-Traders

The Register of British Slave-traders compiles and presents information on all known slave-traders in Britain who invested in the trafficking of captive Africans from 1563 to 1807.

britishslavetraders.org

🧵 Medieval Inquests & Bail Records I’ve been working on Inquests & writs of bail (C144 records) for nearly a decade. They’re a great source for many aspects of medieval life, not just the law. For instance, they reveal causes of death unrelated to crimes, e.g. drunkenness. bsky.app/profile/kfdu...

Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦@kfduggan.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A demon sketched at the bottom of a 13th-century writ of bail for homicide. I love working with the C144 records from The National Archives.

A small creature with pointy, animal ears but a mostly human face is sketched in brownish-black ink at the bottom of a writ of bail. The sketch is on parchment. The creature is staring at the reader with wide eyes and a smile, and appears to be wearing a hat.

Final call! We are hiring a new Editorial Fellow who specialises in pre-1800 CE history from any part of the globe 🌍 👉 this 2-year fellowship runs from October 2026 - September 2028 👉 this role is paid and part-time (3 hours per week) 👉 the application deadline is tomorrow, Friday 7 August

Call for Applications: Editorial Fellowship at History Workshop, 2026

History Workshop is seeking to appoint one Editorial Fellow in 2026, with specialism in pre-1800 CE history from any part of the globe.

historyworkshop.org.uk

🎉 Congratulations to Dr Chloe Ireton on the forthcoming publication of Plotting for Freedom this November! 📚 A powerful new contribution to the history of slavery, resistance and the Atlantic world. Congratulations, Chloe! 👏 shorturl.at/TsSpH

Plotting for Freedom: New book by Chloe L. Ireton

Congratulations to Dr Chloe Ireton, Associate Professor in the History of the Iberian World, 1500–1800, on the forthcoming publication of Plotting for Freedom in November 2026.

shorturl.at

Some historical background to the fires in southwestern France, drawing on reading I did for my 2019 book about the moorlands, and lamenting the deeply depressing reality that we have known many of the causes of this ecological disaster for 150years 🗃️ williamgpooley.wordpress.com/2026/07/30/u...

Unintentional Arson

The fires in southwestern France are an appalling demonstration of the reality of climate change in 2026. But this is not the first ecological devastation in the region, and the role of human actio…

williamgpooley.wordpress.com

Reminder that the deadline for Birkbeck's Access to Postgraduate Study Scholarships is 31 July. A great scheme for studying on a master's degree programme at an ace institution. Wide range of eligibility criteria (see next post). Do encourage eligible applicants (or apply yourself). 1/2

Birkbeck Access to Postgraduate Study Scholarship - Birkbeck, University of London

The Birkbeck Access to Postgraduate Study Scholarships offer funding towards tuition fees for full-time and part-time taught postgraduate courses.

bbk.ac.uk

'Professor Alavi’s research has transformed the understanding of South Asia’s transition from its Indo-Persian legacy to the colonial era. Her work examines the military, religious and medical cultures of the region, while exploring...intellectual, social and cultural exchanges'.

Ashoka University's Professor Seema Alavi elected International Fellow of the British Academy 2026 - PNI

New Delhi  : Ashoka University, India’s leading interdisciplinary and research university, congratulates Professor Seema Alavi, Professor of History and one of India’s leading historians, on being ele...

pninews.com