Anna Cusack
@annacusack.bsky.social
Early modernist. Lecturer at Oxford Conted, IES, AIFS, & WEA. PhD from Birkbeck, 'The Marginal Dead of London, c.1600-1800'. London, suicides, crime & punishment, execution, dead bodies, burial, religious outsiders (esp Quakers). Co-editor How-to History
Reposted by Anna Cusack
November 19, 2025 at 6:30 AM
Reposted by Anna Cusack
Very excited to see my article on ghosts in early modern London published with Urban History! And it's open access! cambridge.org/core/journal...
Ghosts and hidden geographies: the affective resonances of space in early modern London | Urban History | Cambridge Core
Ghosts and hidden geographies: the affective resonances of space in early modern London
cambridge.org
November 19, 2025 at 6:59 AM
Very excited to see my article on ghosts in early modern London published with Urban History! And it's open access! cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Anna Cusack
1620: seeking predictions from an angel, Richard Napier asks whether one of his clients will 'live long & prosp[er]' #earlymodern 🖖
![Manuscript image showing part of a paragraph that reads: 'wheather Mr John Monson hayre to Sir Th shall live long & prosp[er] & attayne to honour & good & a happy mariage', then, added later in a darker ink (but not shown in the image): 'he shall'. (NOTE6839 in the online edition.)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:k254wppy2ojyxlyxgi2odu5z/bafkreid5dg4nfnubkseed4f762m3mngvzupzzf4kqfcmdudv7yahs7hoq4@jpeg)
November 17, 2025 at 3:36 PM
1620: seeking predictions from an angel, Richard Napier asks whether one of his clients will 'live long & prosp[er]' #earlymodern 🖖
Reposted by Anna Cusack
In November 1749, John London walked from his home to vote in the Westminster constituency parliamentary by-election.
As Dr Gillian Williamson explores, this provides the earliest known record of a Black person voting in a British parliamentary election:
As Dr Gillian Williamson explores, this provides the earliest known record of a Black person voting in a British parliamentary election:
John London: Britain's First Black Voter? - The History of Parliament
this election could serve as the earliest known record of a Black person voting in a British parliamentary election - John London
historyofparliament.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:30 PM
In November 1749, John London walked from his home to vote in the Westminster constituency parliamentary by-election.
As Dr Gillian Williamson explores, this provides the earliest known record of a Black person voting in a British parliamentary election:
As Dr Gillian Williamson explores, this provides the earliest known record of a Black person voting in a British parliamentary election:
Reposted by Anna Cusack
I’m thrilled to be giving this year’s Kelmscott Lecture, the annual lecture hosted by the William Morris Society. I’m excited to be dipping my toe into the world of the Arts and Crafts movement. Join us in person or online! Tickets are here: williammorrissociety.org/events/the-k...
November 12, 2025 at 6:24 PM
I’m thrilled to be giving this year’s Kelmscott Lecture, the annual lecture hosted by the William Morris Society. I’m excited to be dipping my toe into the world of the Arts and Crafts movement. Join us in person or online! Tickets are here: williammorrissociety.org/events/the-k...
🧵
Once upon a time in a university near you, in-person teaching was a thing, as you can see in this image of 1612. Young people with hats came together, regularly and voluntarily, prepared for classes, and enjoying a lively learning situation of *checks notes*, a 90 minutes monolog of someone else ...
November 11, 2025 at 10:56 AM
🧵
Reposted by Anna Cusack
Let's play Bucks Name or Name Name
November 7, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Let's play Bucks Name or Name Name
Reposted by Anna Cusack
These catalogue updates allow me, a serious historian, to search for "fart" and find the case where the accused allegedly said he "cared not a fart for the Lord Mayor of London." What will you find? discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_a...
November 9, 2025 at 1:21 PM
These catalogue updates allow me, a serious historian, to search for "fart" and find the case where the accused allegedly said he "cared not a fart for the Lord Mayor of London." What will you find? discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_a...
A year ago my friend told me about this new book he was writing, I was intrigued...it's now out in the world and published in the UK today and I'm so looking forward to diving into this incredible story. It's quite something. Would recommend!
UK PUBLICATION DAY 🇬🇧
A year ago I went to London to visit some grand, old, complicated museums, and track down some big pieces of the puzzle that become my second book #TheButterflyThief 🦋
A year later, pretty much to the day, it’s out now: scribepublications.co.uk/books/the-butterfly-thief
A year ago I went to London to visit some grand, old, complicated museums, and track down some big pieces of the puzzle that become my second book #TheButterflyThief 🦋
A year later, pretty much to the day, it’s out now: scribepublications.co.uk/books/the-butterfly-thief
November 7, 2025 at 8:11 AM
A year ago my friend told me about this new book he was writing, I was intrigued...it's now out in the world and published in the UK today and I'm so looking forward to diving into this incredible story. It's quite something. Would recommend!
Reposted by Anna Cusack
Really pleased to announce the launch of the all-new, all-dancing, London Lives website - www.londonlives.org It has been thoroughly re-engineered to facilitate more types of search, and redesigned for phones and tablets. The team very much hopes peope like it. 1/
London Lives
www.londonlives.org
November 5, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Really pleased to announce the launch of the all-new, all-dancing, London Lives website - www.londonlives.org It has been thoroughly re-engineered to facilitate more types of search, and redesigned for phones and tablets. The team very much hopes peope like it. 1/
Reposted by Anna Cusack
A new 'Will of the Month' post over on the @materialwills.bsky.social blog 👇
October's post looks at the poignant will of Margery Gadyng, a married woman who died in childbirth in 1540, who used her final words to make provisions for her children's future care.
#skystorians #history #EarlyModern
October's post looks at the poignant will of Margery Gadyng, a married woman who died in childbirth in 1540, who used her final words to make provisions for her children's future care.
#skystorians #history #EarlyModern
📢 In Case You Missed It 📢
October's 'Will of the Month' post is now live on our blog 📜
When Margery Gadyng died in childbirth in 1540, she made a nuncupative or 'oral' will, leaving ribbons to the women who witnessed her declare her final wishes.
Read more here👇 sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...
October's 'Will of the Month' post is now live on our blog 📜
When Margery Gadyng died in childbirth in 1540, she made a nuncupative or 'oral' will, leaving ribbons to the women who witnessed her declare her final wishes.
Read more here👇 sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...
October 30, 2025 at 10:02 AM
A new 'Will of the Month' post over on the @materialwills.bsky.social blog 👇
October's post looks at the poignant will of Margery Gadyng, a married woman who died in childbirth in 1540, who used her final words to make provisions for her children's future care.
#skystorians #history #EarlyModern
October's post looks at the poignant will of Margery Gadyng, a married woman who died in childbirth in 1540, who used her final words to make provisions for her children's future care.
#skystorians #history #EarlyModern
Reposted by Anna Cusack
Our latest Viewpoint article is out: 'Guilds and Companies in London, 1200–1700: Contexts and Comparisons' by @mpdavies.bsky.social.
A 🧵 on the insights provided by this article into the history and historiography of these key metropolitan institutions in the medieval and early modern periods.
A 🧵 on the insights provided by this article into the history and historiography of these key metropolitan institutions in the medieval and early modern periods.
Guilds and Companies in London, 1200–1700: Contexts and Comparisons
Published in The London Journal: A Review of Metropolitan Society Past and Present (Ahead of Print, 2025)
www.tandfonline.com
October 28, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Our latest Viewpoint article is out: 'Guilds and Companies in London, 1200–1700: Contexts and Comparisons' by @mpdavies.bsky.social.
A 🧵 on the insights provided by this article into the history and historiography of these key metropolitan institutions in the medieval and early modern periods.
A 🧵 on the insights provided by this article into the history and historiography of these key metropolitan institutions in the medieval and early modern periods.
Reposted by Anna Cusack
👻All Hallow's Eve will soon be upon us! 👻
But what are the spirits associated with this night, and what should you do if one appears before you?
Read my post on #EarlyModern ghost beliefs to find out 🎃 🗃️
manyheadedmonster.com/2016/10/24/d...
But what are the spirits associated with this night, and what should you do if one appears before you?
Read my post on #EarlyModern ghost beliefs to find out 🎃 🗃️
manyheadedmonster.com/2016/10/24/d...
October 29, 2025 at 8:13 AM
👻All Hallow's Eve will soon be upon us! 👻
But what are the spirits associated with this night, and what should you do if one appears before you?
Read my post on #EarlyModern ghost beliefs to find out 🎃 🗃️
manyheadedmonster.com/2016/10/24/d...
But what are the spirits associated with this night, and what should you do if one appears before you?
Read my post on #EarlyModern ghost beliefs to find out 🎃 🗃️
manyheadedmonster.com/2016/10/24/d...
Reposted by Anna Cusack
New #EarlyModern hearth tax transcriptions for Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Norwich published #OpenAccess online!
In Offley 1663, Sir Brocket Spencer, baronet, had 24 hearths, while Widow Pilgrim was ‘poore and not able to pay’. 🗃️
Explore 370,406 others here: gams.uni-graz.at/archive/obje...
In Offley 1663, Sir Brocket Spencer, baronet, had 24 hearths, while Widow Pilgrim was ‘poore and not able to pay’. 🗃️
Explore 370,406 others here: gams.uni-graz.at/archive/obje...
October 27, 2025 at 3:03 PM
New #EarlyModern hearth tax transcriptions for Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Norwich published #OpenAccess online!
In Offley 1663, Sir Brocket Spencer, baronet, had 24 hearths, while Widow Pilgrim was ‘poore and not able to pay’. 🗃️
Explore 370,406 others here: gams.uni-graz.at/archive/obje...
In Offley 1663, Sir Brocket Spencer, baronet, had 24 hearths, while Widow Pilgrim was ‘poore and not able to pay’. 🗃️
Explore 370,406 others here: gams.uni-graz.at/archive/obje...
Reposted by Anna Cusack
I collaborated with cell biologist, Prof. Paul Martin to explore the relationship between early modern and modern wound healing through the lens of the Wound Man. Our article is available open access: www.jprasurg.com/article/S174... (first and likely last time I'll publish in a surgical journal!)
The Renaissance Wound Man: Parallels with today’s understanding of wound repair
The image of the “Wound Man” first appeared in surgical texts from the late fourteenth
century where it served as an illustrated guide to what medical practitioners might
be called upon to treat. Acro...
www.jprasurg.com
October 27, 2025 at 9:37 AM
I collaborated with cell biologist, Prof. Paul Martin to explore the relationship between early modern and modern wound healing through the lens of the Wound Man. Our article is available open access: www.jprasurg.com/article/S174... (first and likely last time I'll publish in a surgical journal!)
Reposted by Anna Cusack
This is an excellent deep dive by @kjkesselring.bsky.social into the Devil in legal records. My (very) small contribution was coming up with the title, which I blurted out mid-conversation with Krista when told about the subject.
What if the Devil made them do it? A new post by
@kjkesselring.bsky.social
'Crime, Culpability, and the Devil in the Details'.
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/10/27/c...
@kjkesselring.bsky.social
'Crime, Culpability, and the Devil in the Details'.
legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/10/27/c...
Crime, Culpability, and the Devil in the Details
Did claims of having fallen for the devil’s seductions heighten or lessen perceptions of a person’s guilt in early modern English legal processes?
legalhistorymiscellany.com
October 27, 2025 at 9:01 AM
This is an excellent deep dive by @kjkesselring.bsky.social into the Devil in legal records. My (very) small contribution was coming up with the title, which I blurted out mid-conversation with Krista when told about the subject.
Just your periodic reminder that there is an early modern pub night once a month for PhDs and ECRs and anyone else who'd like to join in London. If you'd like to be added to the mailing list please DM me.
October 27, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Just your periodic reminder that there is an early modern pub night once a month for PhDs and ECRs and anyone else who'd like to join in London. If you'd like to be added to the mailing list please DM me.
Reposted by Anna Cusack
Memento Mori finger-ring
Possibly made in Flanders, c. 1525-1575. (British Museum)
Possibly made in Flanders, c. 1525-1575. (British Museum)
October 26, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Memento Mori finger-ring
Possibly made in Flanders, c. 1525-1575. (British Museum)
Possibly made in Flanders, c. 1525-1575. (British Museum)
Grading midterms for US study abroad students, and 1) I don't need to worry about AI as it is all handwritten, and 2) I was pleasantly surprised to see one student writing in perfect and beautiful cursive.
a close up of a person 's hand pressing a button on a computer keyboard
ALT: a close up of a person 's hand pressing a button on a computer keyboard
media.tenor.com
October 24, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Grading midterms for US study abroad students, and 1) I don't need to worry about AI as it is all handwritten, and 2) I was pleasantly surprised to see one student writing in perfect and beautiful cursive.
Reposted by Anna Cusack
Birth! Death!! Domestic Religion!!!
Come along (or join online) to hear @emilymayvine.bsky.social's talk at the @ihr.bsky.social next Thursday.
Come along (or join online) to hear @emilymayvine.bsky.social's talk at the @ihr.bsky.social next Thursday.
Join us next Thursday (30/10, 5.30 pm) for Dr Emily Vine’s (@emilymayvine.bsky.social) talk on ‘Birth, Death and Domestic Religion in Early Modern London’! You can sign up to join in-person (IHR Wolfson Room, NB02) or online via Zoom here: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
Birth, Death and Domestic Religion in Early Modern London
Society, Culture and Belief, 1500-1800 Seminar- Session 2
www.history.ac.uk
October 24, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Birth! Death!! Domestic Religion!!!
Come along (or join online) to hear @emilymayvine.bsky.social's talk at the @ihr.bsky.social next Thursday.
Come along (or join online) to hear @emilymayvine.bsky.social's talk at the @ihr.bsky.social next Thursday.
Reposted by Anna Cusack
Here is my first publication from my new project on the history of colonial Newfoundland and the Beothuk people, and I'm rather nervous to put it out in the world. Genuinely, all thoughts on this work are welcome as I head into writing a book about it...
New in 'Transactions': 'Possible Maps: Newfoundland, 1763–1829' bit.ly/4oygf5V
@julialaite.bsky.social shows how overlapping maps highlight complexity of encounter with place over a coherence of colonial ideologies. What were peripheries of some people’s empires were centres of others' worlds 1/2
@julialaite.bsky.social shows how overlapping maps highlight complexity of encounter with place over a coherence of colonial ideologies. What were peripheries of some people’s empires were centres of others' worlds 1/2
October 23, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Here is my first publication from my new project on the history of colonial Newfoundland and the Beothuk people, and I'm rather nervous to put it out in the world. Genuinely, all thoughts on this work are welcome as I head into writing a book about it...
Reposted by Anna Cusack
Coming soon to British Online Archives — Witchcraft and Magic in England, c. 1400–1920.
Featuring rare records from The National Archives, British Library, UCL, and The Folklore Society.
Register your interest: buff.ly/YBeFCF1
Featuring rare records from The National Archives, British Library, UCL, and The Folklore Society.
Register your interest: buff.ly/YBeFCF1
October 22, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Coming soon to British Online Archives — Witchcraft and Magic in England, c. 1400–1920.
Featuring rare records from The National Archives, British Library, UCL, and The Folklore Society.
Register your interest: buff.ly/YBeFCF1
Featuring rare records from The National Archives, British Library, UCL, and The Folklore Society.
Register your interest: buff.ly/YBeFCF1
Reposted by Anna Cusack
📅 Save the Date!
🎉 To mark 50 years of the Social History Society, we’re hosting a Social History Festival with @ihr.bsky.social!
🗓️ Fri 24 April 2026
📍 Senate House, University of London
Panels, a keynote + hands-on activities!
💡 Want to contribute? 👉[email protected]
More info coming soon!
🎉 To mark 50 years of the Social History Society, we’re hosting a Social History Festival with @ihr.bsky.social!
🗓️ Fri 24 April 2026
📍 Senate House, University of London
Panels, a keynote + hands-on activities!
💡 Want to contribute? 👉[email protected]
More info coming soon!
October 22, 2025 at 8:27 AM
📅 Save the Date!
🎉 To mark 50 years of the Social History Society, we’re hosting a Social History Festival with @ihr.bsky.social!
🗓️ Fri 24 April 2026
📍 Senate House, University of London
Panels, a keynote + hands-on activities!
💡 Want to contribute? 👉[email protected]
More info coming soon!
🎉 To mark 50 years of the Social History Society, we’re hosting a Social History Festival with @ihr.bsky.social!
🗓️ Fri 24 April 2026
📍 Senate House, University of London
Panels, a keynote + hands-on activities!
💡 Want to contribute? 👉[email protected]
More info coming soon!
Reposted by Anna Cusack
Good morning to everyone, but especially to all the wombats, for today is their special day!
To celebrate International Wombat Day, here is an engraving of a wombat from 'The Illustrated Natural History' (1863) by J. G. Wood.
📷 Reserve 590.2/WOO
#InternationalWombatDay #WombatDay #RareBooks
To celebrate International Wombat Day, here is an engraving of a wombat from 'The Illustrated Natural History' (1863) by J. G. Wood.
📷 Reserve 590.2/WOO
#InternationalWombatDay #WombatDay #RareBooks
October 22, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Good morning to everyone, but especially to all the wombats, for today is their special day!
To celebrate International Wombat Day, here is an engraving of a wombat from 'The Illustrated Natural History' (1863) by J. G. Wood.
📷 Reserve 590.2/WOO
#InternationalWombatDay #WombatDay #RareBooks
To celebrate International Wombat Day, here is an engraving of a wombat from 'The Illustrated Natural History' (1863) by J. G. Wood.
📷 Reserve 590.2/WOO
#InternationalWombatDay #WombatDay #RareBooks
Reposted by Anna Cusack
Final post in my series on 'The Experience of Work in Early Modern England'. It focuses on the heartbeat of the premodern economy.... the harvest.
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/16/t...
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/16/t...
The Experience of Work in Early Modern England IV: Harvesters
This post is part of a series that marks the publication of The Experience of Work in Early Modern England. The book is co-authored by monster head Mark Hailwood, along with Jane Whittle, Hannah Ro…
manyheadedmonster.com
October 16, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Final post in my series on 'The Experience of Work in Early Modern England'. It focuses on the heartbeat of the premodern economy.... the harvest.
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/16/t...
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/16/t...