Dr Paula Del Val Vales
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pauladelval.bsky.social
Dr Paula Del Val Vales
@pauladelval.bsky.social
Senior Content Curator at The Social History Archive, PhD in History from the University of Lincoln, Medieval Women enthusiast and interested in households and comparative history.
Reposted by Dr Paula Del Val Vales
I was fascinated to learn that the earliest surviving evidence of writing in Italy comes from a woman's tomb from the 8th century BC and it probably says 'the one who spins well'. (Found at Gabii, now at the Diocletian Baths in Rome).
November 20, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Reposted by Dr Paula Del Val Vales
📣 New opportunity for Early Career Historians & late-stage PhDs

Join us to learn about the new Applied History Fellowships from Institute of Historical Research, Royal Historical Society & The Social History Archive.

🔗 bit.ly/4nAurL5
#HistoryFellowships #AppliedHistory#AcademicSky
October 30, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Reposted by Dr Paula Del Val Vales
Secret Maps opens today! 🤫 🗺️

From medieval manuscripts to Cold War espionage, our new exhibition explores how maps have hidden as much as they revealed for over 600 years.

Book now: bit.ly/BLSecretMaps
October 24, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Reposted by Dr Paula Del Val Vales
Immensely proud to be part of the incredible team who authored this report! The 'Great History Heist' presents results from a national survey of the teaching of women in History at KS3, and suggests pathways for improving the systemic barriers affecting representation in the classroom.
We’re launching the results of our research into gender balance in the History curriculum today.

The report - The Great History Heist: Reclaiming Women’s Place in the History Curriculum - found only 12% of History lessons feature women as their main focus. 59% featured no women at all.
Sexism in the History Curriculum - End Sexism in Schools
End Sexism In School’s second crowd research project is looking into the History curriculum taught at KS3 (years 7-9) in England and Wales.
endsexisminschools.org.uk
September 24, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Dr Paula Del Val Vales
Natasha Hodgson @nrhodgson-hist.bsky.social also talked more about the findings of the @endsexisminschools.bsky.social report in the following Tes article.
Most key stage 3 history lessons don’t feature any women, research shows. Teachers tell Tes about the changes they are making to address this gender imbalance in the curriculum
Why are women missing from school history?
The extent to which history lessons ignore female figures has been revealed by new research. Here, teachers share the changes they are making to address this gender imbalance
www.tes.com
October 2, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Reposted by Dr Paula Del Val Vales
The next Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Sources (our peer-reviewed annual) @archumanities.bsky.social @lincolnmedieval.bsky.social is out now. A massive thanks to Graham Barrett (Durham) and Danna, Anna and the ARC team. #IMC2025
July 8, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Reposted by Dr Paula Del Val Vales
Delighted that some of my recent PhD research has just been published in Historical Research! It explores connections between the chronicle written at Burton Abbey in the mid-C13 and the royal chancery
More here: academic.oup.com/histres/adva...
Documents of revolution and reform: Henry of Marchington, the king’s chancery and the chronicle of Burton*
Abstract. This article aims to demonstrate that much of the information found in the chronicle of Burton for the 1250s was obtained through Henry of Marchi
academic.oup.com
June 5, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Dr Paula Del Val Vales
Our 2025 winners, Yael van der Wouden and @doctoroxford.com with the #Bessie and #Charlotte🏆 👏 Both Yael and Rachel will be at Waterstones Piccadilly from 5:30pm today signing copies of their incredible books, #TheSafekeep and #TheStoryofaHeart! Learn more here: www.waterstones.com/events/meet-...
June 13, 2025 at 8:51 AM
It has been an absolute pleasure collaborating with Historic Royal Palaces on writing this brand-new page for their website about Eleanor of Provence, exploring her life and her legacy as a queen consort with strong ties to the Tower of London: www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-lon...
June 10, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Turns out 'bed-rotting' isn’t new, Victorian ladies were *literally* doing it first. Read more on this (and other news from 19th-century ladies' newspapers) in this latest blog 👇

www.thesocialhistoryarchive.com/editorial/ni...
For her eyes only: Nineteenth-century ladies’ newspapers
This blog explores pioneering nineteenth-century newspapers and magazines created for female readers, sourced from the British Library and accessible via the Social History Archive.
www.thesocialhistoryarchive.com
March 27, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Reposted by Dr Paula Del Val Vales
This #WomensHistoryMonth @findmypast.bsky.social and @pauladelval.bsky.social shares some examples of the records and newspapers that shine a light on women's history: linktr.ee/womensprize

What will you discover to inspire your next chapter?
#findmyp#findmypast
March 19, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Dr Paula Del Val Vales
You haven’t heard about Eleanor of Castile, until you’ve heard @medievalfemina.bsky.social tell you about Eleanor of Castile!
March 5, 2025 at 7:34 PM
So exciting to have access again to these gems, run don't walk to check them out 👇
It's the final week of our #MedievalWomen exhibition and we've been working on restoring our Medieval and Renaissance Women digitisation project online. The first manuscripts are now available!

blogs.bl.uk/digitisedman...
February 26, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by Dr Paula Del Val Vales
My contributor copy has arrived! Lots of beautiful images of exhibition items. Do go along to the British Library's amazing exhibition, Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, if you can - on until 2 March 2025.
www.seetickets.com/timeslot/med...
#MedievalSky 📜 🗃️
November 23, 2024 at 2:24 PM
Reposted by Dr Paula Del Val Vales
Today will be talking about Women and the Memories of Invisibility @ NOVA FCSH.
#womenshistory

ihc.fcsh.unl.pt/events/memor...
November 28, 2024 at 10:02 AM
Reposted by Dr Paula Del Val Vales
Hurray! Our research cluster on ‘The Economic Power of European Queens: Sources, Resources and Expenditure’ is out now in the Journal of Medieval History issue 50.5–the first of a series of forthcoming outputs from the first phase of The Queen’s Resources project www.tandfonline.com/toc/rmed20/c...
Journal of Medieval History
Volume 50, Issue 5 of Journal of Medieval History
www.tandfonline.com
November 25, 2024 at 1:40 PM
Here's some Christine de Pizan to brighten this rainy Tuesday morning (and go see the Medieval Women exhibit @britishlibrary.bsky.social if you haven't already to see these beauties in person).
November 19, 2024 at 9:31 AM