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
Following a pleasant discussion with @maniagnosis.bsky.social, here’s my old thread on evidence for pre-Lindisfarne viking activity
Its miserable weather in the UK so how about some early medieval facts? I present a short dive into viking raids on England before the famous raid on Lindisfarne in 793
#VikingSky #MedievalSky #Vikings
#VikingSky #MedievalSky #Vikings
November 29, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Following a pleasant discussion with @maniagnosis.bsky.social, here’s my old thread on evidence for pre-Lindisfarne viking activity
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
Something ancient and wonderful for the weekend! 🤩
The world’s oldest known sculpture of a horse!
This tiny figurine was carved from mammoth ivory by an Ice Age artist some 40,000 years ago!
📷 by me
#Archaeology
The world’s oldest known sculpture of a horse!
This tiny figurine was carved from mammoth ivory by an Ice Age artist some 40,000 years ago!
📷 by me
#Archaeology
November 29, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Something ancient and wonderful for the weekend! 🤩
The world’s oldest known sculpture of a horse!
This tiny figurine was carved from mammoth ivory by an Ice Age artist some 40,000 years ago!
📷 by me
#Archaeology
The world’s oldest known sculpture of a horse!
This tiny figurine was carved from mammoth ivory by an Ice Age artist some 40,000 years ago!
📷 by me
#Archaeology
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
I have just compiled a bibliography for @lemoyenage.bsky.social covering medieval studies over the last six months (an almost exhaustive list of 450 works).
To save others from having to repeat this huge task, I am sharing the file: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
To save others from having to repeat this huge task, I am sharing the file: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
RMÂ – Veille novembre 2025.docx
AMSTERDAM UP Nautical Rutters and New Bodies of Knowledge in the Age of the First Globalization, 1400-1600: https://www.aup.nl/en/book/9789048572786/nautical-rutters-and-new-bodies-of-knowledge-in-the...
docs.google.com
November 23, 2025 at 7:41 AM
I have just compiled a bibliography for @lemoyenage.bsky.social covering medieval studies over the last six months (an almost exhaustive list of 450 works).
To save others from having to repeat this huge task, I am sharing the file: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
To save others from having to repeat this huge task, I am sharing the file: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
All the people I know in politics are smart, well-educated and intellectual, they just don't actually have time to think about big ideas or underlying concepts - even during summer recess etc. We can create a system that makes for better MPs (staff etc), but it'll cost money we don't want to spend.
I don’t think this is a “politicians have got dumber” issue for the most part. If you look at the *actual CVs* of previous cohorts of MPs, their background is not radically different when you account for, you know, the fact the economy is different! It is primarily a media and ecosystem issue.
We have got to make politics intellectual again. It is the only way that societies thrive is when politicians have the capability to actually think and reflect deeply:
November 28, 2025 at 3:38 PM
All the people I know in politics are smart, well-educated and intellectual, they just don't actually have time to think about big ideas or underlying concepts - even during summer recess etc. We can create a system that makes for better MPs (staff etc), but it'll cost money we don't want to spend.
‘What do points make?’
November 28, 2025 at 12:43 PM
‘What do points make?’
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
For #FindsFriday a denier of Lothar II (855-869) from Cologne, found at Valkhof in Nijmegen. The mangled forms of the king's name (which is written backwards) and the mint-name led to these coins long being unidentified. 📷 Collection Valkhof Museum
November 28, 2025 at 11:37 AM
For #FindsFriday a denier of Lothar II (855-869) from Cologne, found at Valkhof in Nijmegen. The mangled forms of the king's name (which is written backwards) and the mint-name led to these coins long being unidentified. 📷 Collection Valkhof Museum
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
Publication – « Les lois barbares. Dire le droit et le pouvoir en Occident après la disparition de l’Empire romain », éd. Sylvie Joye
rmblf.be/2025/11/27/p...
rmblf.be/2025/11/27/p...
Publication – « Les lois barbares. Dire le droit et le pouvoir en Occident après la disparition de l’Empire romain », éd. Sylvie Joye
Enfants de Rome, les royaumes dits barbares ou post-romains le sont assurément, tout comme leurs lois. Cependant, en ce qui concerne le droit comme le reste, on sut élaborer des structures et des i…
rmblf.be
November 27, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Publication – « Les lois barbares. Dire le droit et le pouvoir en Occident après la disparition de l’Empire romain », éd. Sylvie Joye
rmblf.be/2025/11/27/p...
rmblf.be/2025/11/27/p...
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
@lollardfish.bsky.social has set in motion a positive social media trend urging authors to advertise their own book! too often it can feel like we do this too much, but perhaps it is never enough
Anyway, my new book! www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Little-Kingd...
Anyway, my new book! www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Little-Kingd...
Little Kingdoms
Before England, Wales, and Scotland were created, before Alfred the Great and the Great Viking Army, before even a raid on Lindisfarne, the kingdoms that…
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 7:24 AM
@lollardfish.bsky.social has set in motion a positive social media trend urging authors to advertise their own book! too often it can feel like we do this too much, but perhaps it is never enough
Anyway, my new book! www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Little-Kingd...
Anyway, my new book! www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Little-Kingd...
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
Another year, another end-of-semester infographic presentation from my students. Here's a map showing Alcuin's letter network.
November 27, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Another year, another end-of-semester infographic presentation from my students. Here's a map showing Alcuin's letter network.
Reposted by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby
Ever get a tricky question you don't know how to answer?
One of my colleagues went to a seminar at Berkeley and when someone asked a question Derrida brushed it off saying ‘what you ask may be important but it is not interesting’.
This path leads to chaos.
November 27, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Ever get a tricky question you don't know how to answer?
This week on the blog - are we thinking about Tang China all wrong? Fear not, a western medieval historian is on the case! #medievalsky #china
salutemmundo.wordpress.com/2025/11/27/b...
salutemmundo.wordpress.com/2025/11/27/b...
Balancing the Tang: Thoughts by an Outsider on Early Medieval China
I’ve recently had reason to be thinking about Tang China (618-907). The empire of the Tang is fascinating for an early medievalist whose normal stomping grounds lie in western Eurasia. This is in p…
salutemmundo.wordpress.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:45 PM
This week on the blog - are we thinking about Tang China all wrong? Fear not, a western medieval historian is on the case! #medievalsky #china
salutemmundo.wordpress.com/2025/11/27/b...
salutemmundo.wordpress.com/2025/11/27/b...
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.