Andrew Ayton
@andrewayton.bsky.social
Historian (ret’d Univ of Hull, UK) working on late medieval military, maritime, soc & economic; & Napoleonic. MSS, prosopography, networks. Classical music, wildlife, cinema, coins, postal history, Dorset, France, Hungary. 🦋& #Shugborough Staffs pictures.
Pinned
Andrew Ayton
@andrewayton.bsky.social
· Jun 26
We’ve launched a new collection of openly accessible videos, Interviews with Historians, in which prominent 20th century historians reflect on their lives and professional practices. Access the collection here:
www.history.ac.uk/library-digi...
www.history.ac.uk/library-digi...
This is a splendid resource: just played Moses Finley. An exile from the US, interesting just at the moment.
Reposted by Andrew Ayton
New Medieval Books: The Medieval Persian Gulf www.medievalists.net/2024/11/new-... #books
New Medieval Books: The Medieval Persian Gulf - Medievalists.net
Although the Persian Gulf was not as prosperous or influential in the Middle Ages as it is today, the region boasts a fascinating history. This book delves into its communities, exploring their…
www.medievalists.net
November 26, 2025 at 2:10 PM
New Medieval Books: The Medieval Persian Gulf www.medievalists.net/2024/11/new-... #books
Reposted by Andrew Ayton
Sarah Bochicchio, Postcards from Virginia Woolf (@parisreview.bsky.social; #skystorians): www.theparisreview.org/blog/2025/11...
Postcards from Virginia Woolf by Sarah Bochicchio
November 7, 2025 – "Woolf likely imagined these cards would end up in a garbage can or, at best, someone’s attic."
www.theparisreview.org
November 26, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Sarah Bochicchio, Postcards from Virginia Woolf (@parisreview.bsky.social; #skystorians): www.theparisreview.org/blog/2025/11...
Reposted by Andrew Ayton
Lovely review of my new book @engelsbergideas.bsky.social
Schopenhauer's philosophy of hope
A new biography shows how Schopenhauer’s philosophy of universal suffering might offer surprising grounds for hope.
engelsbergideas.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Lovely review of my new book @engelsbergideas.bsky.social
Reposted by Andrew Ayton
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
So true. When unfamiliar visitors are expected, I go through a book-pile embarrassment phase, and then conclude ‘who cares’? (Just watch a few French films - there are piles everywhere.) My wife gamely seeks to keep the orchids alive - cacti are easy; obsolete cables and rustic pottery - well, yes.
Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.
November 23, 2025 at 11:33 PM
So true. When unfamiliar visitors are expected, I go through a book-pile embarrassment phase, and then conclude ‘who cares’? (Just watch a few French films - there are piles everywhere.) My wife gamely seeks to keep the orchids alive - cacti are easy; obsolete cables and rustic pottery - well, yes.
You know how your ‘phone throws up photos randomly. This from August 2020. I can’t recall now why I was reading Isaiah Berlin, but the Red Admiral butterfly on my slightly sweaty blue linen shirt is the real reason for recalling the occasion.
November 23, 2025 at 12:28 AM
You know how your ‘phone throws up photos randomly. This from August 2020. I can’t recall now why I was reading Isaiah Berlin, but the Red Admiral butterfly on my slightly sweaty blue linen shirt is the real reason for recalling the occasion.
Reposted by Andrew Ayton
High Street, Hull Old Town.
#hull #yorkshire #travel #architecture #photography #photographerofbluesky #photographersunited #eastcoastkin #autumn #history
#hull #yorkshire #travel #architecture #photography #photographerofbluesky #photographersunited #eastcoastkin #autumn #history
November 22, 2025 at 8:47 PM
High Street, Hull Old Town.
#hull #yorkshire #travel #architecture #photography #photographerofbluesky #photographersunited #eastcoastkin #autumn #history
#hull #yorkshire #travel #architecture #photography #photographerofbluesky #photographersunited #eastcoastkin #autumn #history
Reposted by Andrew Ayton
*Archaeological find of national significance broken up and dispersed overseas*
There, fixed that headline for you
www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/2562811...
There, fixed that headline for you
www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/2562811...
Roman coin find in Dorset field sells for over £16,000
A hoard of 97 Roman coins found in Dorset by metal detectorist Trenton Oliver sold for £16,625 at Noonans Mayfair auction, exceeding estimates.
www.dorsetecho.co.uk
November 21, 2025 at 11:17 PM
*Archaeological find of national significance broken up and dispersed overseas*
There, fixed that headline for you
www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/2562811...
There, fixed that headline for you
www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/2562811...
Reposted by Andrew Ayton
On Free Thinking: geology considered as one of the humanities and everything you wanted to know about Object Oriented Ontology but were afraid to ask. With Rosemary Hill, Sarah Jackson, @anjanakhatwa.bsky.social @peterfrankopan.bsky.social @objectoriented.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - Free Thinking, Rocks
How can earth sciences like geology transform our understanding of history and society?
www.bbc.co.uk
November 21, 2025 at 9:05 PM
On Free Thinking: geology considered as one of the humanities and everything you wanted to know about Object Oriented Ontology but were afraid to ask. With Rosemary Hill, Sarah Jackson, @anjanakhatwa.bsky.social @peterfrankopan.bsky.social @objectoriented.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Reposted by Andrew Ayton
It’s #HillfortsWednesday!
Did you know that there are more than 150 hillforts, hilltop and hillslope enclosures recorded on land cared for by the National Trust?
They're amazing archaeological sites, but also real havens for nature. 🧵
Did you know that there are more than 150 hillforts, hilltop and hillslope enclosures recorded on land cared for by the National Trust?
They're amazing archaeological sites, but also real havens for nature. 🧵
November 19, 2025 at 10:01 AM
It’s #HillfortsWednesday!
Did you know that there are more than 150 hillforts, hilltop and hillslope enclosures recorded on land cared for by the National Trust?
They're amazing archaeological sites, but also real havens for nature. 🧵
Did you know that there are more than 150 hillforts, hilltop and hillslope enclosures recorded on land cared for by the National Trust?
They're amazing archaeological sites, but also real havens for nature. 🧵
Vingt Dieux (Holy Cow; Louise Courvoisier, 2024) is quite something - an anti-hero, whose life is grim, sees a future (initially, and unrealistically, prizes) in making cheese. And it’s a sort of RomCom as well.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Co...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Co...
Holy Cow (2024 film) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 19, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Vingt Dieux (Holy Cow; Louise Courvoisier, 2024) is quite something - an anti-hero, whose life is grim, sees a future (initially, and unrealistically, prizes) in making cheese. And it’s a sort of RomCom as well.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Co...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Co...
Reposted by Andrew Ayton
I have been WAITING for a journalist to write this story.
I specialize in manuscripts produced in England between 1300 and 1500. If this had occurred in the midst of writing my dissertation or first book, it would have exploded my career.
I specialize in manuscripts produced in England between 1300 and 1500. If this had occurred in the midst of writing my dissertation or first book, it would have exploded my career.
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:48 PM
I have been WAITING for a journalist to write this story.
I specialize in manuscripts produced in England between 1300 and 1500. If this had occurred in the midst of writing my dissertation or first book, it would have exploded my career.
I specialize in manuscripts produced in England between 1300 and 1500. If this had occurred in the midst of writing my dissertation or first book, it would have exploded my career.
Reposted by Andrew Ayton
It’s publication day for Law, Society and Political Culture in Late Medieval and Reformation Germany! At last, the key sources from the Holy Roman Empire - laws, treaties, and polemics - are available in English translation. #medievalsky #earlymodern
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526165893/
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526165893/
November 18, 2025 at 2:56 PM
It’s publication day for Law, Society and Political Culture in Late Medieval and Reformation Germany! At last, the key sources from the Holy Roman Empire - laws, treaties, and polemics - are available in English translation. #medievalsky #earlymodern
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526165893/
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526165893/
Reposted by Andrew Ayton
Starting “The Revolutionary War” now and boy, this thing is choppy
By not starting micro and going macro like the makers usually do makes it hard to focus on the story
Happy with the talking heads thus far, at least
By not starting micro and going macro like the makers usually do makes it hard to focus on the story
Happy with the talking heads thus far, at least
November 17, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Starting “The Revolutionary War” now and boy, this thing is choppy
By not starting micro and going macro like the makers usually do makes it hard to focus on the story
Happy with the talking heads thus far, at least
By not starting micro and going macro like the makers usually do makes it hard to focus on the story
Happy with the talking heads thus far, at least
Last person to watch ‘Oppenheimer’ (Nolan, 2023). Extraordinary tour de force, of course. Felt that 10 hours had been skilfully edited to 3. But the UK contribution? A Soviet spy at Los Alamos and liberating Niels Bohr? Really? For the real story, as ever: ‘In Our Time’
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, The Manhattan Project
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the race to build an atom bomb before anyone else in WW2
www.bbc.co.uk
November 16, 2025 at 12:38 AM
Last person to watch ‘Oppenheimer’ (Nolan, 2023). Extraordinary tour de force, of course. Felt that 10 hours had been skilfully edited to 3. But the UK contribution? A Soviet spy at Los Alamos and liberating Niels Bohr? Really? For the real story, as ever: ‘In Our Time’
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Reposted by Andrew Ayton
Clever review from Linda Colley of Edmond Smith’s much anticipated account of the British Industrial Revolution. Bound to set the hares running through the culture war cracks.
‘Biased?’ I hear you ask.
‘How can I be biased? I’ve only had two glasses’
ftweekend.com
www.ft.com/content/67c1...
‘Biased?’ I hear you ask.
‘How can I be biased? I’ve only had two glasses’
ftweekend.com
www.ft.com/content/67c1...
Ruthless by Edmond Smith — the brutal rise of Britain’s industrial power
The historian’s splendid account sets out the ideas, inventions and relentless exploitation that drove the nation’s growth from 1660-1800
www.ft.com
November 15, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Clever review from Linda Colley of Edmond Smith’s much anticipated account of the British Industrial Revolution. Bound to set the hares running through the culture war cracks.
‘Biased?’ I hear you ask.
‘How can I be biased? I’ve only had two glasses’
ftweekend.com
www.ft.com/content/67c1...
‘Biased?’ I hear you ask.
‘How can I be biased? I’ve only had two glasses’
ftweekend.com
www.ft.com/content/67c1...
Those, like me, who cherished Matthew Sweet’s Saturday afternoon ‘Sound of Cinema’ might be interested in this. At some point, Radio 3 need to understand how they are alienating their core audience.
simonohagan.substack.com/p/the-credit...
simonohagan.substack.com/p/the-credit...
The credits roll on Matthew Sweet's Sound of Cinema
As Edith Bowman takes over the Radio 3 show, what this particular end of an era means
simonohagan.substack.com
November 15, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Those, like me, who cherished Matthew Sweet’s Saturday afternoon ‘Sound of Cinema’ might be interested in this. At some point, Radio 3 need to understand how they are alienating their core audience.
simonohagan.substack.com/p/the-credit...
simonohagan.substack.com/p/the-credit...
Reposted by Andrew Ayton
FYI. The recording of my talk last night is available below. Come for the discussion of sources and medieval Scotland, stay for the images of heads on sticks... "The Death of David Strathbogie, earl of Atholl, in 1335: What was going on?" www.youtube.com/watch?v=StHs... #medievalsky #skystorians
"The Death of David Strathbogie, earl of Atholl, in 1335: What was going on?" By Dr Iain MacInnes
YouTube video by Society of Highland & Island Historical Research
www.youtube.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:52 AM
FYI. The recording of my talk last night is available below. Come for the discussion of sources and medieval Scotland, stay for the images of heads on sticks... "The Death of David Strathbogie, earl of Atholl, in 1335: What was going on?" www.youtube.com/watch?v=StHs... #medievalsky #skystorians
Finally got round to watching ‘Quand vient l'automne’, François Ozon’s latest (annual) film. Tremendously crafted, with an acting masterclass by the octogenarian Hélène Vincent. At the end of it, do you really know what happened?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Fa...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Fa...
When Fall Is Coming - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 14, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Finally got round to watching ‘Quand vient l'automne’, François Ozon’s latest (annual) film. Tremendously crafted, with an acting masterclass by the octogenarian Hélène Vincent. At the end of it, do you really know what happened?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Fa...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Fa...
Reposted by Andrew Ayton
Will you be in Vienna in mid-December? If so, you can come hear me give the annual IMAFO lecture on editing the East Frankish royal charters! You know you want to... #charterrific
November 13, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Will you be in Vienna in mid-December? If so, you can come hear me give the annual IMAFO lecture on editing the East Frankish royal charters! You know you want to... #charterrific
Reposted by Andrew Ayton
Hey hey, it’s now official on Concordia UP’s website, 20% discount code KENNEDY2026 at CUP (CAN) or Chicago (USD, link in next post) for Illuminating Media: Transmitting the Renaissance in England, 1400-1550! concordia.ca/press/illumi...
November 13, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Hey hey, it’s now official on Concordia UP’s website, 20% discount code KENNEDY2026 at CUP (CAN) or Chicago (USD, link in next post) for Illuminating Media: Transmitting the Renaissance in England, 1400-1550! concordia.ca/press/illumi...
Reposted by Andrew Ayton
Psychiatric Educator of the Year award for my brilliant wife @agnesayton.bsky.social. So pleased to trumpet this achievement to a broader constituency than would normally hear about such things.
4th photo: Agnes & two colleagues (see ALT text) who contributed to this work.
4th photo: Agnes & two colleagues (see ALT text) who contributed to this work.
November 10, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Psychiatric Educator of the Year award for my brilliant wife @agnesayton.bsky.social. So pleased to trumpet this achievement to a broader constituency than would normally hear about such things.
4th photo: Agnes & two colleagues (see ALT text) who contributed to this work.
4th photo: Agnes & two colleagues (see ALT text) who contributed to this work.
Reposted by Andrew Ayton
Students & researchers have a tough time keeping the names of Roman emperors and elites straight. But we do have a database to help name and number each. It is called the Prospographia Imperii Romani (=PIR) and has 15061 persons, of which 1932 are women. Please use the database! pir.bbaw.de#/search
Prosopographia Imperii Romani
pir.bbaw.de
November 10, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Students & researchers have a tough time keeping the names of Roman emperors and elites straight. But we do have a database to help name and number each. It is called the Prospographia Imperii Romani (=PIR) and has 15061 persons, of which 1932 are women. Please use the database! pir.bbaw.de#/search
Psychiatric Educator of the Year award for my brilliant wife @agnesayton.bsky.social. So pleased to trumpet this achievement to a broader constituency than would normally hear about such things.
4th photo: Agnes & two colleagues (see ALT text) who contributed to this work.
4th photo: Agnes & two colleagues (see ALT text) who contributed to this work.
November 10, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Psychiatric Educator of the Year award for my brilliant wife @agnesayton.bsky.social. So pleased to trumpet this achievement to a broader constituency than would normally hear about such things.
4th photo: Agnes & two colleagues (see ALT text) who contributed to this work.
4th photo: Agnes & two colleagues (see ALT text) who contributed to this work.
My rather clever wife punted this on to me; after all the kerfuffle of recent days, it’s rather good.
November 10, 2025 at 12:10 AM
My rather clever wife punted this on to me; after all the kerfuffle of recent days, it’s rather good.