Prof Ben Pohl
@benpohl.bsky.social
Professor of Medieval History, University of Bristol 📚 w/ Oxford Univ Press, Cambridge Univ Press, Boydell & Brewer, Schnell & Steiner, ARC Humanities Press; now writing ‘The Medieval Library: Using and Abusing Books in the Middle Ages’ for Reaktion Books
More recently this table in Werner, Papsturkunden vom 9. bis ins 11. Jahrhundert (2017), p. 512, with reference to JL 4019:
January 3, 2026 at 11:31 PM
More recently this table in Werner, Papsturkunden vom 9. bis ins 11. Jahrhundert (2017), p. 512, with reference to JL 4019:
The standard reference is JL 4366:
January 3, 2026 at 10:58 PM
The standard reference is JL 4366:
Great to see my new study of the Bayeux Tapestry getting some traction across the Channel! If you’re interested in my argument—namely that the embroidery was designed as mealtime reading in a monastic refectory—you can read the article for free here: academic.oup.com/histres/arti...
January 3, 2026 at 8:16 AM
Great to see my new study of the Bayeux Tapestry getting some traction across the Channel! If you’re interested in my argument—namely that the embroidery was designed as mealtime reading in a monastic refectory—you can read the article for free here: academic.oup.com/histres/arti...
A little challenge for my fellow #skystorians (esp. art historians): we found this rather lovely piece of devotional art w/ Cyrillic(?) letters in a late relative’s house. Origin/provenance and date unknown. Any suggestions?
December 28, 2025 at 1:03 PM
A little challenge for my fellow #skystorians (esp. art historians): we found this rather lovely piece of devotional art w/ Cyrillic(?) letters in a late relative’s house. Origin/provenance and date unknown. Any suggestions?
I always enjoy telling people about the reconstructed antique statue of Apollon in the collections of Schloss Wilhelmshöhe in my hometown of Kassel (“Kasseler Apollon”), which is positivity hideous (the statue, not the town)! More info here: naehrlich.de/daserberoms/...
December 27, 2025 at 4:34 PM
I always enjoy telling people about the reconstructed antique statue of Apollon in the collections of Schloss Wilhelmshöhe in my hometown of Kassel (“Kasseler Apollon”), which is positivity hideous (the statue, not the town)! More info here: naehrlich.de/daserberoms/...
Home sweet home ❄️🌞
December 25, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Home sweet home ❄️🌞
Civilisation = Deutsche Bahn ICE Bordbistro!
December 23, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Civilisation = Deutsche Bahn ICE Bordbistro!
That’s it, folks—see you in 2026! Look after yourselves, and after one another!
December 22, 2025 at 5:35 PM
That’s it, folks—see you in 2026! Look after yourselves, and after one another!
Aaaaaaand breathe…. 😌 Anyone who dares to email me before the New Year shall be cursed—anathema maranatha!
December 22, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Aaaaaaand breathe…. 😌 Anyone who dares to email me before the New Year shall be cursed—anathema maranatha!
Driving where the streets have no names… guess he still hasn’t found what he’s looking for!
December 19, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Driving where the streets have no names… guess he still hasn’t found what he’s looking for!
Can’t say that making it into the printed edition of the Daily Mail was top of my list of academic career goals, but hey-ho..!
December 16, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Can’t say that making it into the printed edition of the Daily Mail was top of my list of academic career goals, but hey-ho..!
Very happy to have signed the contract for my next book with @reaktionbooks.bsky.social! ✍️
December 11, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Very happy to have signed the contract for my next book with @reaktionbooks.bsky.social! ✍️
Sometimes it’s the little things that really brighten your day, like this lovely thank-you note from @magdalenoxford.bsky.social which I received yesterday. They didn’t need to do this, which makes it all the more special.
December 3, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Sometimes it’s the little things that really brighten your day, like this lovely thank-you note from @magdalenoxford.bsky.social which I received yesterday. They didn’t need to do this, which makes it all the more special.
The search for the best advent calendar ever is officially over! 😍
November 29, 2025 at 2:06 PM
The search for the best advent calendar ever is officially over! 😍
🚨 Hwæt, medievalists: following its successful inauguration last year, the Bristol Medieval Studies Summer School will be running again in 2026! 🚨 Please share the good news or—even better—sign up yourself: www.bristol.ac.uk/centre-for-s... We're so proud of this course, and we'd love to see you! 🚨
November 27, 2025 at 8:15 AM
🚨 Hwæt, medievalists: following its successful inauguration last year, the Bristol Medieval Studies Summer School will be running again in 2026! 🚨 Please share the good news or—even better—sign up yourself: www.bristol.ac.uk/centre-for-s... We're so proud of this course, and we'd love to see you! 🚨
The latest but by no means the only example of an alarming trend in which the UK’s foremost academic publishers are haemorrhaging highly prestigious journals at a rate of knots…
October 7, 2025 at 8:23 AM
The latest but by no means the only example of an alarming trend in which the UK’s foremost academic publishers are haemorrhaging highly prestigious journals at a rate of knots…
Here’s the image by itself:
October 5, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Here’s the image by itself:
Took me a second or two to realise that KLM’s napkins show a pair of windmills, rather than a crudely sketched crucifixion scene!
October 5, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Took me a second or two to realise that KLM’s napkins show a pair of windmills, rather than a crudely sketched crucifixion scene!
Home is where a LIDL is!
October 3, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Home is where a LIDL is!
I’m sick to the back teeth of this so-called progressive govt spouting utter xenophobic nonsense & throwing migrants under the bus to curry favour with the lowest of the low. We’re not your scapegoat. We’re not the enemy. We’re what’s holding this community together. With all due respect: F*CK YOU!
September 29, 2025 at 8:25 AM
I’m sick to the back teeth of this so-called progressive govt spouting utter xenophobic nonsense & throwing migrants under the bus to curry favour with the lowest of the low. We’re not your scapegoat. We’re not the enemy. We’re what’s holding this community together. With all due respect: F*CK YOU!
There are conference venues, and then there are CONFERENCE VENUES! 😲
September 18, 2025 at 7:16 AM
There are conference venues, and then there are CONFERENCE VENUES! 😲
Have you checked the catalogue/volume of essays of the recent Mannheim exhibit?
September 10, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Have you checked the catalogue/volume of essays of the recent Mannheim exhibit?