Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
@samottewillsoulsby.bsky.social
Medieval historian and charismatic megafauna enthusiast at the University of Tübingen. Blogs at https://salutemmundo.wordpress.com/
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
Looking forward to discussing academic.oup.com/past/advance... by @rorynaismith.bsky.social at the next @cmrsedinburgh.bsky.social Medieval Reading Group on Tuesday...
Economic Change, Silver, and the Plague of 664–687 in England*
Abstract. Bede and other authors describe a destructive wave of plague sweeping across Britain and Ireland in the period 664–87. In the decades around and
academic.oup.com
November 27, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Looking forward to discussing academic.oup.com/past/advance... by @rorynaismith.bsky.social at the next @cmrsedinburgh.bsky.social Medieval Reading Group on Tuesday...
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
Just out!
As @sarahsemple.bsky.social says, '544 pages and 190 images of pure sculptural joy!'
A fantastic cast list and a tremendous achievement @ascorpus.bsky.social.
boydellandbrewer.com/book/early-m...
As @sarahsemple.bsky.social says, '544 pages and 190 images of pure sculptural joy!'
A fantastic cast list and a tremendous achievement @ascorpus.bsky.social.
boydellandbrewer.com/book/early-m...
November 26, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Just out!
As @sarahsemple.bsky.social says, '544 pages and 190 images of pure sculptural joy!'
A fantastic cast list and a tremendous achievement @ascorpus.bsky.social.
boydellandbrewer.com/book/early-m...
As @sarahsemple.bsky.social says, '544 pages and 190 images of pure sculptural joy!'
A fantastic cast list and a tremendous achievement @ascorpus.bsky.social.
boydellandbrewer.com/book/early-m...
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
This is so important. People who study international relations love to fight over whether interests or values define relationships. It is both. An interest is something you define. And your values come into the equation. It is not either or.
What Trump has made me realise is how much the post-Cold War relationship hinged on shared values rather than shared interests. Trump is illustrating how, whether on Ukraine and Gaza, our interests diverge and, absent those values, there's not much holding us together.
November 25, 2025 at 9:38 AM
This is so important. People who study international relations love to fight over whether interests or values define relationships. It is both. An interest is something you define. And your values come into the equation. It is not either or.
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
A small good thing from social media - I visited a church museum and posted photos of a cool thing and then heard from a scholar who said my photos were the best he could find of said cool thing and could he use one for his article? And now it’s out!
November 26, 2025 at 1:57 PM
A small good thing from social media - I visited a church museum and posted photos of a cool thing and then heard from a scholar who said my photos were the best he could find of said cool thing and could he use one for his article? And now it’s out!
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
More details here - www.francebleu.fr/infos/sante-...
PHOTOS - Des dizaines de milliers de pièces de monnaie de l'époque antique découvertes à Senon, dans la Meuse - ICI
A l'occasion de fouilles préventives avant des travaux sur une parcelle privée, des archéologues ont découvert trois réserves de pièces de monnaie dans des amphores, dans le village de Senon (Meuse). ...
www.francebleu.fr
November 26, 2025 at 11:02 AM
More details here - www.francebleu.fr/infos/sante-...
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
If only new books also came with the gift of some time to read them :)
Just listened to @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social talking about topics of his new book, and it was so interesting. Now I have to get hands on the book (and find some time to read it, which is much more difficult.) www.historyextra.com/membership/1... #medievalsky
11th-century Europe: not just the Norman Conquest
Charles West explains how the 11th century saw a raft of major changes and a plethora of significant events that extend beyond the Norman Conquest
www.historyextra.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:36 AM
If only new books also came with the gift of some time to read them :)
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
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
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
My taxes bring all the boys to the yard.
And they're like "this is bad approach to fiscal policy".
And they're like "this is bad approach to fiscal policy".
November 25, 2025 at 11:55 AM
My taxes bring all the boys to the yard.
And they're like "this is bad approach to fiscal policy".
And they're like "this is bad approach to fiscal policy".
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
Gentle reminder that if you are reviewing (humanities) grants for UKRI or similar organisation giving less than 5/5 or “excellent” is the same as saying “don’t fund this”. Competition is sky high with success rates as low as 1% so you need to grade on a curve.
November 25, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Gentle reminder that if you are reviewing (humanities) grants for UKRI or similar organisation giving less than 5/5 or “excellent” is the same as saying “don’t fund this”. Competition is sky high with success rates as low as 1% so you need to grade on a curve.
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
Environmental DNA evidence of settlement in Iceland from c. 810 rather than the 870s - and much more besides. Summarised in the New Scientist but that's behind a paywall. Here's the original research.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org
November 23, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Environmental DNA evidence of settlement in Iceland from c. 810 rather than the 870s - and much more besides. Summarised in the New Scientist but that's behind a paywall. Here's the original research.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
In Tesco’s this afternoon: an elderly Polish man at the self-checkout, trying to buy a pint of milk and a white radish. There is no picture for the radish on the machine. The assistant doesn’t know what it is. She asks a colleague: “It’s a white radish.” There is no entry for it on the machine.
November 22, 2025 at 1:28 PM
In Tesco’s this afternoon: an elderly Polish man at the self-checkout, trying to buy a pint of milk and a white radish. There is no picture for the radish on the machine. The assistant doesn’t know what it is. She asks a colleague: “It’s a white radish.” There is no entry for it on the machine.
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
[1/3] I know it sometimes seems like people who know their history are weirdly invested in complaining about the "generically medieval" thing, but let me put it in fandom terms.
November 21, 2025 at 7:00 PM
[1/3] I know it sometimes seems like people who know their history are weirdly invested in complaining about the "generically medieval" thing, but let me put it in fandom terms.
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
BREAKING: Reform UK's former Welsh leader and close Nigel Farage associate, Nathan Gill, sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison for repeatedly taking bribes to spread pro-Russian propaganda
November 21, 2025 at 12:52 PM
BREAKING: Reform UK's former Welsh leader and close Nigel Farage associate, Nathan Gill, sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison for repeatedly taking bribes to spread pro-Russian propaganda
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
Looking the financial indices out of the UK and apologies if this has ever come up before, but have they considered reviving the economy by joining a large economic and political consortium of countries nearby, say in Europe?
November 21, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Looking the financial indices out of the UK and apologies if this has ever come up before, but have they considered reviving the economy by joining a large economic and political consortium of countries nearby, say in Europe?
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
Yes, the book is here, in the flesh 🤩
November 17, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Yes, the book is here, in the flesh 🤩
Checking my work emails and finding this ominous Subject Line.
November 21, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Checking my work emails and finding this ominous Subject Line.
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
A comparison of the beast on the west porch at Deerhurst with the one on the coppergate helmet. Both drawn by Maggie Kneen and published in this article: www.academia.edu/144740312/Ni...
November 20, 2025 at 11:31 PM
A comparison of the beast on the west porch at Deerhurst with the one on the coppergate helmet. Both drawn by Maggie Kneen and published in this article: www.academia.edu/144740312/Ni...
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
I am by no means a prominent public intellectual, but my inbox is increasingly filled with messages from people who have been convinced by sycophantic chatbots that they have discovered revolutionary theories that entirely upend our scientific understanding of the universe.
November 21, 2025 at 2:49 AM
I am by no means a prominent public intellectual, but my inbox is increasingly filled with messages from people who have been convinced by sycophantic chatbots that they have discovered revolutionary theories that entirely upend our scientific understanding of the universe.
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
My favorite ever letter of recommendation is one Ficino wrote in the late 1500s, recommending a pupil for a secretary job with King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, in which he says the young man is “the reincarnation of Saint Thomas Aquinas.”
It’s letter-of-recommendation season again, when universities ask me to rate a 21 year old student’s ability to “see the big picture of life” while I eat leftover pasta in a Tupperware…
a man with a mustache says but why in yellow letters
ALT: a man with a mustache says but why in yellow letters
media.tenor.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:04 PM
My favorite ever letter of recommendation is one Ficino wrote in the late 1500s, recommending a pupil for a secretary job with King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, in which he says the young man is “the reincarnation of Saint Thomas Aquinas.”
Stuck on the sofa feeling sorry for myself with a stomach bug so I thought I’d give The Expanse tv show a go. Four episodes in and it’s very good but none of the characters look anything like how I imagined them from the books (apart from Avasarala, who is not nearly foul-mouthed enough yet.)
November 19, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Stuck on the sofa feeling sorry for myself with a stomach bug so I thought I’d give The Expanse tv show a go. Four episodes in and it’s very good but none of the characters look anything like how I imagined them from the books (apart from Avasarala, who is not nearly foul-mouthed enough yet.)
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
In October 745, Pope Zachary (r. 741-752) sent a letter to the Frankish people. He observed that because the Franks had followed false priests ‘this is the reason why the pagan nations prevailed over you in battle’
Who are Pope Zachary’s Pagans?
salutemmundo.wordpress.com/2025/08/07/a...
Who are Pope Zachary’s Pagans?
salutemmundo.wordpress.com/2025/08/07/a...
A Saracen, a Saxon and a Frisian Walk into a Bar: Who are Pope Zachary’s Pagans?
In October 745, Pope Zachary (r. 741-752) sent a letter to the Frankish people. He had been told that a synod had taken place among them, summoned by the Mayors of the Palace, Pippin (d. 768) and C…
salutemmundo.wordpress.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:18 AM
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
In October 745, Pope Zachary (r. 741-752) sent a letter to the Frankish people. He observed that because the Franks had followed false priests ‘this is the reason why the pagan nations prevailed over you in battle’
Who are Pope Zachary’s Pagans?
salutemmundo.wordpress.com/2025/08/07/a...
Who are Pope Zachary’s Pagans?
salutemmundo.wordpress.com/2025/08/07/a...
A Saracen, a Saxon and a Frisian Walk into a Bar: Who are Pope Zachary’s Pagans?
In October 745, Pope Zachary (r. 741-752) sent a letter to the Frankish people. He had been told that a synod had taken place among them, summoned by the Mayors of the Palace, Pippin (d. 768) and C…
salutemmundo.wordpress.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:09 PM
In October 745, Pope Zachary (r. 741-752) sent a letter to the Frankish people. He observed that because the Franks had followed false priests ‘this is the reason why the pagan nations prevailed over you in battle’
Who are Pope Zachary’s Pagans?
salutemmundo.wordpress.com/2025/08/07/a...
Who are Pope Zachary’s Pagans?
salutemmundo.wordpress.com/2025/08/07/a...
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
But also maybe they should ruin his life?
A guy asking Epstein for advice on how to sexually harass a junior colleague knows exactly what Epstein was and was clearly OK with it. I am frankly OK with someone ruining his life.
Evidently it ought to have happened decades ago.
A guy asking Epstein for advice on how to sexually harass a junior colleague knows exactly what Epstein was and was clearly OK with it. I am frankly OK with someone ruining his life.
Evidently it ought to have happened decades ago.
Larry Summers is 70. Firing him is not ruining his life.
November 18, 2025 at 1:50 AM
But also maybe they should ruin his life?
A guy asking Epstein for advice on how to sexually harass a junior colleague knows exactly what Epstein was and was clearly OK with it. I am frankly OK with someone ruining his life.
Evidently it ought to have happened decades ago.
A guy asking Epstein for advice on how to sexually harass a junior colleague knows exactly what Epstein was and was clearly OK with it. I am frankly OK with someone ruining his life.
Evidently it ought to have happened decades ago.
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
Interested in early medieval history? Read the proceedings of the latest Dorestad conference online FREE here, including my chapter about gold and silver in Frisia after Dorestad's disappearance in the 850s. For a .pdf of my chapter, DM/email me. #medievalsky
www.sidestone.com/books/dorest...
www.sidestone.com/books/dorest...
Dorestad and Everything After @ Sidestone Press
Dorestad was the largest town of the Low Countries in the Carolingian era. As an inland port on the edge of the Frankish Empire, it functioned as an international hub, connecting the North Sea World w...
www.sidestone.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Interested in early medieval history? Read the proceedings of the latest Dorestad conference online FREE here, including my chapter about gold and silver in Frisia after Dorestad's disappearance in the 850s. For a .pdf of my chapter, DM/email me. #medievalsky
www.sidestone.com/books/dorest...
www.sidestone.com/books/dorest...