Associate Professor of Medieval History, University of Oxford Chair, Family Expert Reference Group, National Maternity & Neonatal Taskforce (I can't read private messages here.)https://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.social/post/3mlynmotnlk2kIpswich: hoarding / not hoarding.16 May 2026 20:08 +0000at://did:plc:r45wkoryzsoynbjdnu2vptf7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlynmotnlk2khttps://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.social/post/3mlymc2dzb22kIpswich: low-tide.16 May 2026 19:44 +0000at://did:plc:r45wkoryzsoynbjdnu2vptf7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlymc2dzb22khttps://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.social/post/3mlyhjen6kk2k'I can't disassociate Basil from his bicycle. It was almost a part of his anatomy. And I never knew a man who could cycle so slowly without falling off.' Some lovely vignettes about Basil Brown in this recent biography by Sarah Doig. Thanks to the Sutton Hoo Society for the prompt to read it!16 May 2026 18:19 +0000at://did:plc:r45wkoryzsoynbjdnu2vptf7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlyhjen6kk2khttps://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.social/post/3mlvf4v26ps2aThis looks great: forthcoming from @manchesterup.bsky.social. manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781807071936/15 May 2026 12:58 +0000at://did:plc:r45wkoryzsoynbjdnu2vptf7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlvf4v26ps2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.social/post/3mlv4asp4322sIf you happen to be at a loose end in Ipswich tomorrow, it would be lovely to see you! Tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/annual-basil-brown-memorial-lecture-2026-tickets-1980545539022?aff=oddtdtcreator [contains quote post or other embedded content]15 May 2026 10:19 +0000at://did:plc:r45wkoryzsoynbjdnu2vptf7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlv4asp4322shttps://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.social/post/3mlnwrsqn322gSeems especially unperceptive on this UK news day... [contains quote post or other embedded content]12 May 2026 13:53 +0000at://did:plc:r45wkoryzsoynbjdnu2vptf7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlnwrsqn322ghttps://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.social/post/3mlnn45p7qk2gLooking for something else, I've just stumbled on a piece written forty years ago by an early medieval historian which ends with the sentence, 'what we need is not more books on women but better books on history.' Any guesses (without cheating) who wrote it?12 May 2026 11:00 +0000at://did:plc:r45wkoryzsoynbjdnu2vptf7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlnn45p7qk2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.social/post/3mlngq3wv522lBright sunshine yesterday for a brisk burh walk, led by John Blair, around the Anglo-saxon fort at Oxford. Remarkable that we still don't know for sure if it was built under Mercian or West Saxon authority. @oxembi.bsky.social.12 May 2026 09:06 +0000at://did:plc:r45wkoryzsoynbjdnu2vptf7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlngq3wv522lhttps://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.social/post/3mliycps5cs2gDeath of a Nun: Medieval Women Scribes & Networks of Piety Prof. Elaine Treharne, @etreharne.bsky.social, will be giving the first of her Smithies Lectures, Thursday 14 May 17.15, Gillis Lecture Theatre @ballioloxford.bsky.social. All welcome! @oxmedstud.bsky.social10 May 2026 14:37 +0000at://did:plc:r45wkoryzsoynbjdnu2vptf7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mliycps5cs2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.social/post/3mliycps5cs2gDeath of a Nun: Medieval Women Scribes & Networks of Piety Prof. Elaine Treharne, @etreharne.bsky.social, will be giving the first of her Smithies Lectures, Thursday 14 May 17.15, Gillis Lecture Theatre @ballioloxford.bsky.social. All welcome! @oxmedstud.bsky.social10 May 2026 14:37 +0000at://did:plc:r45wkoryzsoynbjdnu2vptf7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mliycps5cs2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.social/post/3mlimyn54yc2pThe first Oxford Centre for Early Medieval Britain & Ireland for the summer term is a joint event with the Medieval History Seminar.10 May 2026 11:14 +0000at://did:plc:r45wkoryzsoynbjdnu2vptf7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlimyn54yc2phttps://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.social/post/3mlimoh26222pThis is striking: 'by the early C11th the total sailcloth requirements for the Danish & Norwegian fleet would have amounted to about one million square metres - the annual production of two million sheep'. That's a lot of sheep & many looms... Richard Hodges citing Neil Price.10 May 2026 11:09 +0000at://did:plc:r45wkoryzsoynbjdnu2vptf7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlimoh26222phttps://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.social/post/3mlgpimzjwc2mHow about these?! Bronze and gold nutcrackers, c. 2300 years old. Archaeological Museum, Taranto, Puglia. Two female hands, wearing snake-shaped bracelets, hinged for use. Surely they'd be a gift-shop sell out! 📷My own.09 May 2026 16:54 +0000at://did:plc:r45wkoryzsoynbjdnu2vptf7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlgpimzjwc2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.social/post/3mlfurp6mac2aThis new compilation of archaeological, literary and epigraphic evidence for the history of Gaza deserves to be better known. [contains quote post or other embedded content]09 May 2026 08:56 +0000at://did:plc:r45wkoryzsoynbjdnu2vptf7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlfurp6mac2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.social/post/3mlfrx4txns24Excited/ anxious/ honoured to be giving this year's Basil Brown Memorial Lecture for the Sutton Hoo Society next Saturday 16 May, 11am in Ipswich. https://www.suttonhoo.org/index.php/events/upcoming-events09 May 2026 08:05 +0000at://did:plc:r45wkoryzsoynbjdnu2vptf7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlfrx4txns24https://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.social/post/3mleair6ivk2f*New books* on display @bodartlib.bsky.social. An in-depth exploration of the craft of antler, bone, horn and ivory working as it evolved within the pre-Viking emporia of northern Europe. Published by @bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/craft-of-antler-bone-horn-and-ivory-working-in-the-early-medieval-emporia-c-ad-600850-9781350292611/08 May 2026 17:20 +0000at://did:plc:r45wkoryzsoynbjdnu2vptf7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mleair6ivk2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.social/post/3mldiehw6xs2oCrug Hywel hillfort, Table Mountain, Brecon Beacons, last Saturday. Just north of Crickhowell, in the heart of the early medieval kingdom of Brycheiniog.08 May 2026 10:08 +0000at://did:plc:r45wkoryzsoynbjdnu2vptf7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mldiehw6xs2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/helengittos.bsky.social/post/3mldiehw6xs2oCrug Hywel hillfort, Table Mountain, Brecon Beacons, last Saturday. Just north of Crickhowell, in the heart of the early medieval kingdom of Brycheiniog.08 May 2026 10:08 +0000at://did:plc:r45wkoryzsoynbjdnu2vptf7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mldiehw6xs2o