Continuing with the "someone made a horrific database of poor AI translations of early medieval letters" thing, I had a good laugh at these entirely hallucinated ones. They aren't even based on existing letters! www.lateromanletters.org/letters/epis... www.lateromanletters.org/letters/epis...

Arioald to Pope Honorius I (c. 627 AD) | Roman Letters

Arioald, king, to the most holy Bishop…

lateromanletters.org

Pug loved Leo dearly, but wished he wouldn't insist on taking selfies _everywhere_. #DominieAufUrlaub

I have written up some thoughts on this year's IMC – much more detailed than I had planned! I'll ask for some indulgence as it's an informal musing, not an academic piece, and since I have shamelessly commented on a lot of things I'm not an expert on! mundusbarbarorum.wordpress.com/2026/08/01/s...

Some thoughts on IMC Leeds 2026

“Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.”Francis Bacon, Of Studies I thought it might be a good idea to write a report on my personal experience at …

mundusbarbarorum.wordpress.com

Delighted to see my latest article in PRIA in the wild. It analyses eight fascinating letters sent by Irish kings to the kings of England in the 13thC, while also providing a full transcription and translation of them in the appendix. Even better is that its open access: muse.jhu.edu/pub/423/arti...

CFP, Leeds #IMC2027, July 5-8: 'Communities of Production and Reception in Medieval Hagiography' Theo Long (University of York) and I are organising a panel at the IMC next year about hagiography! See the CFP below for more info. Abstracts due by September 15, 2026. #Medievalsky

Call for papers Communities in Medieval Wales & the March, @imc-leeds.bsky.social 2027, sponsored by the Mortimer History Society. If you are researching any aspect of Medieval Wales & the March, please consider submitting a paper proposal for our strand at next year's IMC. #MedievalSky #Skystorians

I recently had an article on food and patronage by women in late antique and early medieval Iberian monasteries published in the newest issue of Medieval People. ☺️ scholarworks.wmich.edu/medpros/vol4...

The first post inaugurating my new blog is up, asking: was Aistulf crowned on 3 or 4 July 749 in Milan? This blog will host some of my research output that cannot fit into my thesis + more informal musings on medievalism in general. #medievalsky mundusbarbarorum.wordpress.com/2026/07/26/w...

Was Aistulf crowned on 3 or 4 July 749 in Milan?

© Giuseppe Rava “ego, in Dei omnipotentis auxilio Ahistulf, praecellentissimus rex Catholicaegentis Langobardorum” While doing my research on Lombard Italy, I happened upon several hist…

mundusbarbarorum.wordpress.com

#LeSceauDuMardi raconte une histoire avec ce sceau du Couvent des Dominicains de Strasbourg. Ici, on voit le martyre de saint Barthélémy dans toute sa brutalité lorsqu’il a été écorché. Une scène qui rend mal à l’aise, mais une gravure indéniablement belle. sigilla.irht.cnrs.fr/165050 #Medievalsky

New blogpost from me in which I present my IMC paper from this year for anyone who wasn't able to attend and might be interested. longhairedkingsblog.wordpress.com/2026/07/22/i...

IMC 2026 Debrief Part 1: Pre-Christian Beliefs in Early Medieval Frisia

This year I (properly) attended the International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds again. By “properly attended”, I mean I presented a paper and went to other sessions like …

longhairedkingsblog.wordpress.com

Circulating this vote for the new Euro note designs out of civic duty, but I have to say I'm really not impressed with them or the two themes they chose. E and H are the ones I find the "least worst". surveys.ecb.europa.eu/10b/banknote...

@imc-leeds.bsky.social #IMC2027 CALL FOR PAPERS: “Communities and Connections between the Norse and Celtic Worlds” We want to hear all about your research on Norse and Celtic connections ☘️🌊 @irishinstitute.bsky.social

I'm starting to really regret having integrated onomastics into my thesis, it's a pain to figure the morphology out... I have such a headache from all this Proto-Germanic I might as well be Sidonius Apollinaris.

Exciting announcement: this year's Royal Numismatic Society symposium on 'Coinage in the Late Roman Empire and Early Medieval Europe: Continuity and Crisis' will take place in Cambridge on Saturday 5 September. Details, programme and registration here: numismatics.org.uk/2026/05/13/r...

My review of Roger Collins's Variorum collection "Clovis to Charlemagne: Frankish History and Historians" for Early Medieval Europe is now up on Early View. doi.org/10.1111/emed...

<citation type='book' id='emed70053-cit-0002'><bookTitle>From Clovis to Charlemagne: Frankish History and Historians</bookTitle>. By <author><givenNames>Roger</givenNames> <familyName>Collins</familyName></author>. <bookSeriesTitle>Variorum Collected Studies</bookSeriesTitle>. <publisherLoc>London and New York</publisherLoc>: <publisherName>Routledge</publisherName>. <pubYear year='2025'>2025</pubYear>. xiii + 211 pp. £155. ISBN 978 1 032 88052 5.</citation>

Click on the article title to read more.

doi.org

I am circulating my CFP for #IMC2027, concerning how early medieval gentes, equatable with ethnic communities, were delineated, defined and redefined in the sources through active discourse and brokerage, to various identificatory ends – distinction, promotion, inclusion, exclusion, specialness...

I am circulating my CFP for #IMC2027, concerning how early medieval gentes, equatable with ethnic communities, were delineated, defined and redefined in the sources through active discourse and brokerage, to various identificatory ends – distinction, promotion, inclusion, exclusion, specialness...

I had a fantastic time at this year's @imc-leeds.bsky.social, and the sessions on the #Lombards I co-organised with @worthjrw.bsky.social and Kaiyue Zhang were a great, well-attended success. All the papers, including the case-study I presented from my own thesis, led to interesting discussion.

Next week, I'll be presenting research from my PhD thesis on Lombard strategies of identification and rulership discourse, here looking specifically at sources involving the royal couple Ratchis and Tassia – Tuesday at 11:15, in the second of four sessions dedicated to Lombard history!

Absolutely stunned to hear of the passing of Rosamond McKitterick, who did me (like many others) a number of good turns at crucial points in my career. My thoughts are with her family and her many devoted students. May she rest in peace and rise in glory. #MedievalSky #Skystorians

@imc-leeds.bsky.social dear conference organisers, just wanted to warn you (and anyone else seeing it for the first time or searching it up) that the Global Travel phishing scam is back this year.

The Kingdom of Makouria is really one of the most fascinating post-Roman successor polities. Always a pleasure to find out something else about it, and I often wish I knew the necessary languages to work on it.

Antiquity Journal@antiquity.ac.uk · 4mo ago

Reconstruction of an outfit of Nubian Royal Mother Martha, as depicted in a wall painting at the cathedral of Faras in the Kingdom of Makuria #MedievalMonday The rich outfit highlights the elevated status of the royal mother in Nubian society. 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy... 🏺 #Archaeology

I'm pleased to be able to share this book review I wrote, now published in Early Medieval Europe – my first publication! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The Legacy of Medieval Scandinavian Encounters with England and the Insular World. Edited by Richard Dance, Sara M. Pons‐Sanz and Brittany Schorn. Studies in the Early Middle Ages 34. Turnhout: Brepols. 2025. 454 pp. + 11 b/w illustrations, 12 b/w tables, 5 b/w and 3 colour maps. €125. ISBN 978 2 503 60770 2 (hardback); ISBN 978 2 503 60771 9 (e‐book).

Click on the article title to read more.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

The Lombards are travelling through Time (not via TARDIS) to @imc-leeds.bsky.social for 2026! Especial thanks to @samdrowe.bsky.social and Kaiyue Zhang for their significant efforts in bringing this together. We can't wait to see you all!

I'm delighted to be presenting my research on the #Lombards once again at the next IMC. The focus this time is on the very specific and evolving strategies of identification of the eighth-century royal couple Ratchis and Tassia (r. 744–749 and 756–757). #medieval #medievalsky #IMC2026 #identity

Circulating this CfP for Leeds #IMC2026 on the evolution of the Lombards and Lombard identities through time. #MedievalSky #skystorians

It was a pleasure to present at @imc-leeds.bsky.social this year on how Lombard queens navigated strategies of identification, part of the ongoing research for my thesis. Thanks again to the organisers, other speakers and the audience, who had some great questions. #medievalsky