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Rachel Midura

@rmidura.bsky.social

5.6K followers 2.6K following 590 posts

Digital historian of early modern Europe in Virginia. Posts on historical travel, mail, diplomats, spies 🕵️ Author of Postal Intelligence: The Tassis Family and Communications Revolution in Early Modern Europe (Cornell, 2025). Now on #17thC conspiracy.

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Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · Feb 18

I've just cleared a few to-do list items and been alerted that the first pre-ordered copies of Postal Intelligence have arrived (!) so now seems like as good a time as any to share some exciting and troubling tidbits from my ten years with Europe's postal technocrats 1/? #earlymodern 🗃️

Book cover for Postal Intelligence: The Tassis Family and Communications Revolution in Early Modern Europe featuring an engraving of a messenger

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Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · 21h

Sharing a great new video for our (funded!) History MA here at Virginia Tech. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions or info for students who may be interested: #academicsky
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzZl...

Inside the Master of History Program at Virginia Tech

YouTube video by Virginia Tech College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Rachel Midura

Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 4d

Being a podcaster costs $40 for a decent mic and $18 per month for hosting. The hard part is having something interesting to say. Get a degree in that!

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Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · 4d

Had a lovely brief visit back in the Bay! Great fun discussing #17thcentury conspiracies with groups at Stanford and Berkeley 🕵️‍♀️

Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · 9d

Real “hey girl” energy

a man with blonde hair is wearing a denim vest and says hey girl .

ALT: a man with blonde hair is wearing a denim vest and says hey girl .

media.tenor.com

Reposted by Rachel Midura

Katie McDonough @kmcdono.bsky.social · Aug 28

1. Modeling data does not a historical argument make.

2. Lefebvre might have written an early classic, but his sources are not the complete 'archive' of Great Fear rumors.

1/n

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · Aug 28

Historians may have words to say about this.

An abiding mystery of the French Revolution is solved — by epidemiology

The period of panic and unrest called the Great Fear was triggered by deliberately spread rumours, according to methods borrowed from pandemic playbooks.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Rachel Midura

William Shakespeare @shakespeare.lol · Jul 3

The evil that men do lives after them

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Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · Jun 25

Thank you! ☺️

Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · May 24

Finally got to do the secret itinerary tour of the Palazzo Ducale! It was amazing. Friend described the vibe perfectly as “classy torture bureaucracy.” 🗃️

A false cabinet in an opulent room opens to a secret passage

A rope hangs from a tall wooden ceiling in the center of a room over a pedestal

A small prison cell with no light and visible graffiti

Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · May 24

Thank you, and that must be Eugène Vaillé! It is amazingly still one of the only books on the subject- I’ve got his sevenish-volume French postal series as well.

Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · May 22

Just saw that my article "The Black Chamber: Opening Europe’s Post" is now up on @historytoday.com ! 📯🕵️🗃️
www.historytoday.com/archive/feat...

The Black Chamber: Opening Europe’s Post

www.historytoday.com

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Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · May 21

1,425 photographs at the archive today, that might be a personal best. RIP my shoulders though ☠️

Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · May 14

"Panelists will both demonstrate their experience and critically reflect upon its potential. Finally, an accompanying speed-networking session will give participants the opportunity to see an even broader swath of possibilities, elevating students and up-and-coming scholars." 3/3

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Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · May 14

"How can educators improve student learning outcomes and experiences? What are the ethics of representing history through gameplay? We will link discussion to the opportunities and limitations of the current moment." 2/?

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Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · May 14

Happy to! From submission: "This roundtable and accompanying game demo session bring together historians around the topics of game play, criticism, and design and its place in historical research and teaching. How can scholars use game design to further research and outreach?" 1/?

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Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · May 14

Yay, just got word that the Historical Games in Research and Teaching roundtable has been accepted for #aha2026! Looking forward to talking about the pedagogy keeping me sane during AI-ification and all the rest. This hopefully means the linked panel and creative session will be appearing as well 🤞🗃️

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Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · May 12

I've been there! If you're able to get the original, you might be able to work some magic with spectrometry. Even inverting the colors has been helpful to me in the past.

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Reposted by Rachel Midura

Katie McDonough @kmcdono.bsky.social · May 2

✨✨Maps & newspaper research from LwM & MRM teams (@danielwilson.bsky.social @joshrhodes.bsky.social @jonhistorian61.bsky.social @nottinauta.bsky.social @ruthahnert.bsky.social @npedrazzini.bsky.social @kallewesterling.bsky.social + more) featured in @pnas.org this week!

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Historians use data science to mine the past | PNAS

Historians use data science to mine the past

www.pnas.org

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Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · May 9

I love him 😍

neil guthrie @nguthrie.bsky.social · May 9

Chinese porcelain cat (c1700-50) on a French gilt bronze and enamelled glass stool (c1750-55), recently acquired by the Getty Museum #c18th #c18 #18thc

Grinning turquoise cat perched on a tasselled gold stool

Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · May 9

If anyone cares to weigh in, I'd be curious how realistic this sounds to #earlymodern or #medieval folks who know this particular journey well! I'll also be diving back into the postal materials, of course. 🗃️

Early Modern Digital Itineraries (EMDigIt) @emdigit.bsky.social · May 9

As well as times based on mode of travel. Based on current ratios (still being tested against sources) this 398.48 km path from Rome to Bologna would take fast couriers at least 26 hours (~3 days), riders around 60 (~7 days), and pedestrians around 100 (~12 days).

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Reposted by Rachel Midura

Early Modern Digital Itineraries (EMDigIt) @emdigit.bsky.social · May 9

Two new teasers from the forthcoming Italian Itineraries data for routes in Italy, #16thc - #18thc. On the left, heat map showing difficulty of travel based on elevation and slope. On the right, shortest route by km between Rome and Bologna #earlymodern #digitalhistory 🗃️

Map of Italian Peninsula with legend representing proxy measure for difficulty of travel, as shown by heat scale

Map of Italian Peninsula with waypoints from Rome to Bologna shown in green

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Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · May 8

Finally warm enough to work on the porch with my favorite assistant 🐈‍⬛ #catsofacademia #academicats

A woman smiles in front of a grey cat on the pillow behind her

Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · May 2

Job klaxon for Virginia Tech, please share! #intelligencehistory #militaryhistory #skystorians 🗃️ careers.pageuppeople.com/968/cw/en-us...

Details | Instructor in Modern Military History | Careers | Division of Human Resources | Virginia Tech

careers.pageuppeople.com

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Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · May 2

it's good to annoy historians, much like for cats, it provides stimulation 😂

Rachel Midura @rmidura.bsky.social · Apr 29

enjoying in-my-bones certainty that I am working on the right project for my second book. I can't remember who to thank for this advice, so I'll pay it forward: think of the part you most enjoyed writing from the first project. That's the method and/or sources you want to spend more time with! 🗃️

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Reposted by Rachel Midura

Mariana Z @mariana057.bsky.social · Apr 26

I don't know whose cat needs to hear this, but you LITERALLY just ate.

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