Julia Hillner
@writinghelena.bsky.social
Writing about imperial women to understand late antiquity:
history - ideology - dynasty - violence - agency - memory
Also working on: crime, punishment, prosopography, digital humanities, and the city of Rome
@dependencybonn.de
history - ideology - dynasty - violence - agency - memory
Also working on: crime, punishment, prosopography, digital humanities, and the city of Rome
@dependencybonn.de
Pinned
Julia Hillner
@writinghelena.bsky.social
· Mar 18
Related Digital Projects
www.dependency.uni-bonn.de
At the Connecting Late Antiquities project we've compiled a list of digital projects on late antiquity - one step to, erm, connecting late antiquities!
Huge thanks to @bnduman.net & @laurahartmann.bsky.social
Take a look, the variety is mindblowing!
www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/research/...
Huge thanks to @bnduman.net & @laurahartmann.bsky.social
Take a look, the variety is mindblowing!
www.dependency.uni-bonn.de/en/research/...
Not long now until the full special issue 👇🏻
Wonderful to see latest in Special Issue of @genderandhistory.bsky.social edited @writinghelena.bsky.social, Lisa Hellman, Rachel Jean-Baptiste and me out! Christina Thomas on educator Geraldine Wilson: "A Black Girl's Coming of Age in Jim Crow Philadelphia, Pennsylvania" 🌟 doi.org/10.1111/1468...
A Black Girl's Coming of Age in Jim Crow Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
In the late twentieth century, Geraldine L. Wilson emerged as one of the leading voices in early Black childhood education, grounding her pedagogy in Black history and culture. This article traces th...
doi.org
November 26, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Not long now until the full special issue 👇🏻
Reposted by Julia Hillner
This is a late ancient (5-7th c.?) Greek account of the life of a rich woman who was raised Jewish, converted to Christianity when her parents died, lived for 20 years as a male monk named John, was discovered & made head of a woman's monastery, & was later martyred
well, what the heck. it's the tuesday before thanksgiving, and whoever is on here deserves a treat: the first new translation I've posted in a long while: the Life and Martyrdom of Susanna:
andrewjacobs.org/translations...
andrewjacobs.org/translations...
Life and Martyrdom of Susanna
andrewjacobs.org
November 25, 2025 at 3:27 PM
This is a late ancient (5-7th c.?) Greek account of the life of a rich woman who was raised Jewish, converted to Christianity when her parents died, lived for 20 years as a male monk named John, was discovered & made head of a woman's monastery, & was later martyred
Although Uta is the star here, I am more intrigued by the female founder figures who appear in Naumburg cathedral’s coir without a husband or male companion: above all, so-called “Gerburg”, not a nun, perhaps a widow?
November 23, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Although Uta is the star here, I am more intrigued by the female founder figures who appear in Naumburg cathedral’s coir without a husband or male companion: above all, so-called “Gerburg”, not a nun, perhaps a widow?
Up close with Uta at Naumburg cathedral today, aka the “most beautiful woman” of the Middle Ages.
Remind you of someone?
Remind you of someone?
November 23, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Up close with Uta at Naumburg cathedral today, aka the “most beautiful woman” of the Middle Ages.
Remind you of someone?
Remind you of someone?
Many congratulations to my colleague and very old friend Marios Costambeys and his entire team for winning one of these! Early medieval monasticism rulez 💪https://www.dfg.de/de/aktuelles/neuigkeiten-themen/info-wissenschaft/2025/ifw-25-96
UK-German Research Projects in the Arts and Humanities
www.dfg.de
November 20, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Many congratulations to my colleague and very old friend Marios Costambeys and his entire team for winning one of these! Early medieval monasticism rulez 💪https://www.dfg.de/de/aktuelles/neuigkeiten-themen/info-wissenschaft/2025/ifw-25-96
In case anyone is wondering about my sudden outbursts on afterlives of Constantinian women, I am currently at the amazing Max-Weber-Kolleg in Erfurt (Religion & Urbanity group) comparing how they each were remembered in the early medieval city of Rome
www.uni-erfurt.de/en/max-weber...
www.uni-erfurt.de/en/max-weber...
Julia Hillner | Fellow | Max-Weber-Center | University of Erfurt
Julia Hillner is currently fellow at the Max-Weber-Center of the University of Erfurt.
www.uni-erfurt.de
November 20, 2025 at 6:14 PM
In case anyone is wondering about my sudden outbursts on afterlives of Constantinian women, I am currently at the amazing Max-Weber-Kolleg in Erfurt (Religion & Urbanity group) comparing how they each were remembered in the early medieval city of Rome
www.uni-erfurt.de/en/max-weber...
www.uni-erfurt.de/en/max-weber...
Today I suddenly realised that the Life of Constantia, an extremely rare 7th c. hagiographical text about Constantina, daughter of Constantine, is modelled on the Acts of Silvester, with Constantina replacing Silvester, nb a bishop of Rome. 💡
That made me happy 😊 1/
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
That made me happy 😊 1/
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
global.oup.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Today I suddenly realised that the Life of Constantia, an extremely rare 7th c. hagiographical text about Constantina, daughter of Constantine, is modelled on the Acts of Silvester, with Constantina replacing Silvester, nb a bishop of Rome. 💡
That made me happy 😊 1/
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
That made me happy 😊 1/
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Great sum-up of our roundtable on the power and powerlessness of so-called “flagship” history journals at the last Historikertag (in German). A huge thanks to its authors, Mia Schumacher and Charlotte Sophie Metternich
www.hsozkult.de/conferencere...
www.hsozkult.de/conferencere...
November 15, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Great sum-up of our roundtable on the power and powerlessness of so-called “flagship” history journals at the last Historikertag (in German). A huge thanks to its authors, Mia Schumacher and Charlotte Sophie Metternich
www.hsozkult.de/conferencere...
www.hsozkult.de/conferencere...
When Constantine buried his mother Helena, he clothed her in robes adorned with jewels and gave her golden grave goods. This at least according to an account detailing how these things were stolen in the mid 12th century, contained in this manuscript legendiers-latins.irht.cnrs.fr/113938 1/
exemplaire_manuscrit : Roma, Biblioteca Vallicelliana, tomo VII
Notice de Roma, Biblioteca Vallicelliana, tomo VII
legendiers-latins.irht.cnrs.fr
November 14, 2025 at 4:50 PM
When Constantine buried his mother Helena, he clothed her in robes adorned with jewels and gave her golden grave goods. This at least according to an account detailing how these things were stolen in the mid 12th century, contained in this manuscript legendiers-latins.irht.cnrs.fr/113938 1/
Reposted by Julia Hillner
Rachel Jean-Baptiste, Lisa Hellman, @writinghelena.bsky.social and I are delighted to see Husseina Dinani's @genderandhistory.bsky.social article out investigating Ithna Asheri girls experiences of school in Dar es Salaam c.1980s-2000s🌟
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Being Ithna Asheri: Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri Girls, the International School of Tanganyika and Segregation in Postcolonial Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
This study examines segregation in postcolonial Dar es Salaam through the lens of girlhood by focusing on Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri (Ithna Asheri) women's experiences of being students at the city's mo...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Rachel Jean-Baptiste, Lisa Hellman, @writinghelena.bsky.social and I are delighted to see Husseina Dinani's @genderandhistory.bsky.social article out investigating Ithna Asheri girls experiences of school in Dar es Salaam c.1980s-2000s🌟
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Julia Hillner
And also Early View from @writinghelena.bsky.social, Lisa Hellman, Rachel Jean-Baptiste & my Special Issue of @genderandhistory.bsky.social, Meghan Healy-Clancy explores the life of South African activist Bertha Mkhize (1889–1981) doi.org/10.1111/1468...
Gendering a Public Educational Campaign Against Leprosy in the US‐Occupied Philippines, 1928–1929
The gendered nature of anti-leprosy campaigns in the colonial Philippines remains understudied in historical scholarship. Through the lens of gender, this article examines an educational campaign (19...
doi.org
November 11, 2025 at 3:15 PM
And also Early View from @writinghelena.bsky.social, Lisa Hellman, Rachel Jean-Baptiste & my Special Issue of @genderandhistory.bsky.social, Meghan Healy-Clancy explores the life of South African activist Bertha Mkhize (1889–1981) doi.org/10.1111/1468...
Reposted by Julia Hillner
Next 2 articles are now out on Early View from @writinghelena.bsky.social, Lisa Hellman, Rachel Jean-Baptiste & my Special Issue of @genderandhistory.bsky.social! Febe Pamonag writes on a public education campaign about leprosy in the U.S- occupied Philippines during 1920s doi.org/10.1111/1468...
Gendering a Public Educational Campaign Against Leprosy in the US‐Occupied Philippines, 1928–1929
The gendered nature of anti-leprosy campaigns in the colonial Philippines remains understudied in historical scholarship. Through the lens of gender, this article examines an educational campaign (19...
doi.org
November 11, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Next 2 articles are now out on Early View from @writinghelena.bsky.social, Lisa Hellman, Rachel Jean-Baptiste & my Special Issue of @genderandhistory.bsky.social! Febe Pamonag writes on a public education campaign about leprosy in the U.S- occupied Philippines during 1920s doi.org/10.1111/1468...
Reposted by Julia Hillner
This week I am taking a crack at gender, heterarchies and military retinues at the workshop I helped organising: Heterarchies and Power Dynamics in Post-Roman Europe. If you want to join us online it is possible by subscribing to the mailing list here:
listen.uni-bonn.de/wws/subscrib...
listen.uni-bonn.de/wws/subscrib...
November 3, 2025 at 3:09 PM
This week I am taking a crack at gender, heterarchies and military retinues at the workshop I helped organising: Heterarchies and Power Dynamics in Post-Roman Europe. If you want to join us online it is possible by subscribing to the mailing list here:
listen.uni-bonn.de/wws/subscrib...
listen.uni-bonn.de/wws/subscrib...
Reposted by Julia Hillner
Five years, four authors, one book. Out now (fully open access), our new book on local priests in the tenth century 🌟 www.cambridge.org/core/books/l... @jbwaagmeester.bsky.social
Local Priests in the Latin West, 900–1050
Cambridge Core - European Studies - Local Priests in the Latin West, 900–1050
www.cambridge.org
November 3, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Five years, four authors, one book. Out now (fully open access), our new book on local priests in the tenth century 🌟 www.cambridge.org/core/books/l... @jbwaagmeester.bsky.social
Reposted by Julia Hillner
📬 In our November blog post, Jamie Wood, former BCDSS Guest Researcher and Prof. of History and Education at Lincoln University (UK), shares insights into the research he conducted during his stay in Bonn: buff.ly/XBlQiLo
#Intermediaries #Christianity #Visigoths
@unibonn.bsky.social @dfg.de
#Intermediaries #Christianity #Visigoths
@unibonn.bsky.social @dfg.de
November 3, 2025 at 8:50 AM
📬 In our November blog post, Jamie Wood, former BCDSS Guest Researcher and Prof. of History and Education at Lincoln University (UK), shares insights into the research he conducted during his stay in Bonn: buff.ly/XBlQiLo
#Intermediaries #Christianity #Visigoths
@unibonn.bsky.social @dfg.de
#Intermediaries #Christianity #Visigoths
@unibonn.bsky.social @dfg.de
Yep - late antiquity, famously invented by the Carolingians!
Jokes aside, it does pay off knowing a bit about the centuries post Roman rule to understand the Romans!
Jokes aside, it does pay off knowing a bit about the centuries post Roman rule to understand the Romans!
Such a fascinating Carolingian source ;)
"IT IS AGREED AND MOST EVIDENT THAT ALL MASTERS ARE EVIL..."
So begins the speech of the slave character Pantomalus in the Querolus, the only extant late antique comedy.
It will feature in a slavery sourcebook that we are working on.
Read more in our newest blog post: tinyurl.com/zrmc4a6s
So begins the speech of the slave character Pantomalus in the Querolus, the only extant late antique comedy.
It will feature in a slavery sourcebook that we are working on.
Read more in our newest blog post: tinyurl.com/zrmc4a6s
October 31, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Yep - late antiquity, famously invented by the Carolingians!
Jokes aside, it does pay off knowing a bit about the centuries post Roman rule to understand the Romans!
Jokes aside, it does pay off knowing a bit about the centuries post Roman rule to understand the Romans!
A taster of our special issue on gender and segregation, due out in a few weeks.
Thank you also to @dependencybonn.de for funding the conference during which many of these ideas were first discussed.
Thank you also to @dependencybonn.de for funding the conference during which many of these ideas were first discussed.
Critical introduction to forthcoming "Gender & Segregation" special issue of @genderandhistory.bsky.social by Lisa Hellman, @writinghelena.bsky.social, Rachel Jean-Baptiste & me is now out and #OpenAccess! Issue itself to follow shortly... 🌟
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Gender and Segregation: An Introduction
This introduction to the Special Issue explores the ways in which a gendered analysis illuminates histories of segregation. It argues three key points. First, it is essential to understand segregatio....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 29, 2025 at 9:21 AM
A taster of our special issue on gender and segregation, due out in a few weeks.
Thank you also to @dependencybonn.de for funding the conference during which many of these ideas were first discussed.
Thank you also to @dependencybonn.de for funding the conference during which many of these ideas were first discussed.
Reposted by Julia Hillner
Chris Wickham's 'Framing the early Middle Ages, Europe and the Mediterranean, 400-800' (2005) is widely seen as a milestone in early medieval studies.
New research published by Robert Portass, Peter Sarris and Caroline Goodson (@cjg70.bsky.social) now offers a critical response to Wickham’s ideas ⬇️
New research published by Robert Portass, Peter Sarris and Caroline Goodson (@cjg70.bsky.social) now offers a critical response to Wickham’s ideas ⬇️
Vol. 43 Núm. 2 (2025): El modo de producción campesino: un replanteamiento de la sociedad rural de la Europa altomedieval | Studia Historica. Historia Medieval
Con la colaboración de la Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología | Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades.
revistas.usal.es
October 23, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Chris Wickham's 'Framing the early Middle Ages, Europe and the Mediterranean, 400-800' (2005) is widely seen as a milestone in early medieval studies.
New research published by Robert Portass, Peter Sarris and Caroline Goodson (@cjg70.bsky.social) now offers a critical response to Wickham’s ideas ⬇️
New research published by Robert Portass, Peter Sarris and Caroline Goodson (@cjg70.bsky.social) now offers a critical response to Wickham’s ideas ⬇️
Just submitted a review of Wolfram Kinzig's amazing book A History of Early Christian Creeds.
It was such a joy reading it and discussing it back in the summer at the book launch.
Go read it or perhaps, given the length, browse it - you will never think about the Nicene creed in the same way again.
It was such a joy reading it and discussing it back in the summer at the book launch.
Go read it or perhaps, given the length, browse it - you will never think about the Nicene creed in the same way again.
October 16, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Just submitted a review of Wolfram Kinzig's amazing book A History of Early Christian Creeds.
It was such a joy reading it and discussing it back in the summer at the book launch.
Go read it or perhaps, given the length, browse it - you will never think about the Nicene creed in the same way again.
It was such a joy reading it and discussing it back in the summer at the book launch.
Go read it or perhaps, given the length, browse it - you will never think about the Nicene creed in the same way again.
Reposted by Julia Hillner
#History #SkyStorians Very timely blog by Julia Moses and @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social on 'Using Large Learning Models in the History Classroom: Practical Perspectives' www.history.org.uk/higher-ed/re...
Using Large Learning Models in the History Classroom: practical perspectives
www.history.org.uk
October 16, 2025 at 11:58 AM
#History #SkyStorians Very timely blog by Julia Moses and @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social on 'Using Large Learning Models in the History Classroom: Practical Perspectives' www.history.org.uk/higher-ed/re...
Reposted by Julia Hillner
Hurrah! My new book, Europe in the Eleventh Century: Beyond Revolution and Reform is officially published today by Oxford University Press. 1/5 global.oup.com/academic/pro...
global.oup.com
October 16, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Hurrah! My new book, Europe in the Eleventh Century: Beyond Revolution and Reform is officially published today by Oxford University Press. 1/5 global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Reposted by Julia Hillner
Delighted that latest article from forthcoming Special Issue of @genderandhistory.bsky.social is now available, co-edited by @writinghelena.bsky.social, Lisa Hellman, Rachel Jean-Baptiste & me! Elisabetta Iob explores purdah & resistance in 1950s Pakistan 🌟
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The Girls Are in Town: Purdah, Emotions and Everyday Resistance in Urban Pakistan
Pakistan, mid-1950s. Many upper-class women had already left or were about to leave purdah (or its remnants). This article investigates how these women challenged seclusion, redefining relations of p...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 11, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Delighted that latest article from forthcoming Special Issue of @genderandhistory.bsky.social is now available, co-edited by @writinghelena.bsky.social, Lisa Hellman, Rachel Jean-Baptiste & me! Elisabetta Iob explores purdah & resistance in 1950s Pakistan 🌟
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Julia Hillner
Druckfrisch und #openaccess: Das neue Heft der HZ, u.a. mit Beiträgen zu Antiochos dem Großen, #Rassismus im Mittelalter, Pharma-Industrie und #Kolonialismus sowie zum Ende der Weimarer Republik: www.degruyterbrill.com/journal/key/...
@kim-todzi.de @writinghelena.bsky.social #skystorians
@kim-todzi.de @writinghelena.bsky.social #skystorians
October 9, 2025 at 5:33 AM
Druckfrisch und #openaccess: Das neue Heft der HZ, u.a. mit Beiträgen zu Antiochos dem Großen, #Rassismus im Mittelalter, Pharma-Industrie und #Kolonialismus sowie zum Ende der Weimarer Republik: www.degruyterbrill.com/journal/key/...
@kim-todzi.de @writinghelena.bsky.social #skystorians
@kim-todzi.de @writinghelena.bsky.social #skystorians