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Steffen Hope

@hopesteffen.bsky.social

2.7K followers 750 following 5.1K posts

Norwegian medievalist, bibliophile, music lover and art enthusiast. [Header: Valenciennes - BM - ms. 0320, f.120v]

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Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · Dec 16

Some months ago, a collection of articles edited by Grzegorz Pac, myself, &Jón Viðar Sigurðsson was published by Brepols. The book is in open access, & can be found here: www.brepols.net/products/IS-....

Cover of the book, which features a medieval illumination. The illumination depicts King Wenceslas carrying a bowl to some nobles seated at a table. Behind the king, the archangel Michael appears, holding a spear in his left hand, and placing his right hand on Wenceslas' head in benediction. Wenceslas points backwards to the angel.

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Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 18h

It's amazing what the brain does

- Stevie Martin, Taskmaster S19E07

#Epigraphfor2025

Reposted by Steffen Hope

claire m. l. bourne @roaringgirle.bsky.social · 19h

a tiny bit of good news is that we have secured funding to digitize john milton's copy of holinshed's CHRONICLES (1587).

the images will form part of MILTON'S LIBRARY, an open-access site featuring the 10 books positively identified as milton's w/ transcriptions/translations of his marginal notes.

A close-up image of a handwritten note in a sixteenth-century book. The note reads: 'Spenser repor / teth otherwise / [o]f this Knight / [D]ialogue of Ire- / [la]nd / [p]. 76.

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Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 19h

Brilliant!

Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 20h

Ah, excellent, congratulations! What is the thesis topic?

And yes, I agree, it can be very challenging, but it is also a great exercise for thinking about the topic at hand in more concise ways.

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Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 20h

It very much is! Which is why I was happy to accept the invitation right away. I'm always glad to be able to contribute in such ways.

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Reposted by Steffen Hope

Klara Sjo @nullnullsjo.bsky.social · 22h

Det er vinterdag i dag, og i gamle dagar minte ordbøkene deg på at du skulle ta på vottane denne dagen.

"Den 14. Octob. kaldis Calixtus. Oc da holdis 1. Vinter Dag i Norge. Oc fra den begyndis Rimstafven [sic] og er tegnet med en Vante, at mand sig paa den skal laffue[?] vil mand ikke fryse."

Bilde fra Christen Jensøns ordbok, med eit utsnitt av primstaven som mellom anna viser ein vott og teksten: "Den 14. Octob. kaldis Calixtus. Oc da holdis 1. Vinter Dag i Norge. Oc fra den begyndis Rimstafven og er tegnet med en Vante, at mand sig paa den skal laffue[?] vil mand ikke fryse."

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Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 21h

This evening, I was invited to write a piece for an upcoming popular publication on my local parish church back home. The editor pointed out in an apologetic way that I would not get paid for this work. I laughed in academic.

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Reposted by Steffen Hope

Sarah Pickman @sarahmpicks.bsky.social · 1d

Very happy to announce the latest In Vivo article in Endeavour from @spacesword.bsky.social! Now available to read open access #polarhistory www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

From the South Pole to the stars: Antarctica and outer space

The histories of Antarctica and outer space share relational trajectories. In our modern era of increasing commercialisation of space and discussion o…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 1d

This is also a great reminder that research is being done with an eye towards more than the immediate future. When I made this report in early 2018, I hoped that it would be a foundation to be built upon, but this was not guaranteed. To see the fruits of my labour seven years later is phenomenal.

Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 1d

I am delighted because this is how historical research works: Slow, small, steady steps towards greater certainty. Moreover, the report was made to be improved. It was a first overview into material that had not then been examined. Knowing that better, more extensive research is being done is great.

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Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 1d

Today, I learned that a report describing some 20 manuscript fragments that I put together during a pilot project seven years ago is currently being used by a PhD candidate for her research. I cannot put into words how utterly delighted I am by this.

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Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 1d

I sympathise. I'm more easily compelled by frivolous choices, & even when I do want to read certain books in that category, I am slow to act on it.

Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 1d

One of my slightly less hinged literary opinions might be that only reading so-called high-brow literature is bad for your brain.

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Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 1d

I have a lot of literary opinions, some of which are unusual, uncommon, or even unpopular. But I - in my sempiternal humility - consider all of my opinions to be very hinged & of course entirely correct.

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 2d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

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Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 1d

I think this is one of the aspects of culture that was seriously damaged by the hipster trend. It is incredibly important to read small & obscure literature, but not for performative reasons.

Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 1d

Wonderful news, huge congratulations! (And a great reminder that I need to buy a copy of this book.)

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Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 1d

And in this house, Christopher Columbus is a hero

- Tony Soprano, The Sopranos (S04E03)

[Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 020, f.61r]

Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 1d

Brilliant thread, thank you so much! I did my MA on the cult of Saint Edward, so it's great to see these treasures!

Reposted by Steffen Hope

Carin Ruff @carinr.bsky.social · 1d

And finally for his day, I present Edward's Laws in the Cartulary of Peterborough Abbey, Peterborough Cathedral, MS 1. The red text in the detail says "Leges Edwardi quas Willelmus postea confirmauit."

Cartulary of Peterborough Abbey, Peterborough Cathedral, MS 1, fol. 291r

Cartulary of Peterborough Abbey, Peterborough Cathedral, MS 1, fol. 291r, detail

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Reposted by Steffen Hope

Carin Ruff @carinr.bsky.social · 1d

Today the #ChurchofEngland commemorates Edward the Confessor, who died (memorably) in 1066. 🕯️ And do I have manuscripts for you! #medievalsky 🧵

Here's William of Malmesbury, my historian boyfriend, relating Edward's accession in 1042, in the late-12th-c. manuscript BNF lat. 6047.

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Reposted by Steffen Hope

Bristol Centre for Medieval Studies @bristolcms.bsky.social · 1d

Exciting news! 📣 The CMS' own Dr Sig Sønnesyn (@sigsonnesyn.bsky.social) is giving a lecture tomorrow (Tuesday) on 'Meaning, Intelligibility, and Fusing Horizons: Medieval Thought as a Case Study' at 3:30pm in G.HO1, Arts Complex. All welcome. We can't wait! 😀 #medievalsky #skystorians

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Reposted by Steffen Hope

Ideas Roadshow @ideasroadshow.bsky.social · 2d

This #medieval illuminated manuscript has been digitized and is now available online #openaccess !

🗃️ #arthistory #skystorians #medievalsky 🏺

www.openculture.com/2025/10/the-...

The Aberdeen Bestiary, One of the Great Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts, Now Digitized in High Resolution & Made Available Online

For thousands of years, ordinary people all over the world not only worked side-by-side with domestic animals on a daily basis, they also observed the wild fauna around them to learn how to navigate a...

www.openculture.com

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Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 2d

For many Christians, it is equally difficult to see Antichrist in the rich as it is to se Christ in the maimed & wounded, & that's partly why we are where we are.

Reposted by Steffen Hope

Joumana Medlej @majnouna.com · 3d

There's still time to sign up for my Thursday talk. Teaching the Abjad numerals while going on interesting tangents about astrolabes, how Indian numerals changed Arab mathematics, and how disinformation is far older than the internet.

www.arabbritishcentre.org.uk/whatson/when...

When Letters Were Numbers: Rediscovering the Abjad Numerals with Joumana Medlej - The Arab British Centre

In this online talk, Joumana Medlej shares her research into this forgotten aspect of Arabic writing history, that is also known as hisāb al-jummal. She tells the story of the Abjad numerals — their o...

www.arabbritishcentre.org.uk

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Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 3d

That makes sense to me. Thanks to some autistic friends, I have come to understand how this can be used as a tool for navigating social conventions & expectations that seem irrational to them. But for non-autistic men, I think the wingman syndrome is a key motivator.