Katherine CM Cross

Yes, pretty excited about this!

Today the Church of England commemorates Alfred the Great (to my surprise! 😂) As I have a Tuesday service rather than one on Monday, we'll commemorate him tomorrow - his love of learning, alms to Rome, translation of texts into English, and baptism of Guthrum. www.ashmolean.org/alfred-jewel

cool, cool

But why? Why?? It’s not like there is a shortage of books to read.

Poetic irony alert

In other words it's not just that there are few academic jobs for humanists in the academy; it’s also that the academic jobs that exist are mostly bad in the sense that you have to struggle against the institution to have any semblance of intellectual life you thought the job was supposed to provide

Currently writing about this kind of imagery in the early Middle Ages - Paul calls himself ‘nutrix’ (nurse) and whether that meant a wet-nurse or mother was a matter of some debate

We all see where this is headed right? Or where it already is: reading flagged by the AI censorship tool included ‘materials related to a class about the Holocaust (that professor was told to drop material regarding Nazi persecution of LGBTQ people)’

Working in the public sector this is exactly how I think things are going. Someone writes a bullet list of stuff. They ask AI to turn it into a lengthy report for a committee. The committee members ask AI to turn the report into an easier to read bullet list. Chinese whispers happens in between.

Digital Humanities and IMS talk by Derek Parrott in Leeds on MONDAY at 5.30 pm. Hybrid. All welcome. To register: forms.cloud.microsoft/e/1idhssgfZF

A veritable feast!

Birmingham has opened a virtual book of condolences and is establishing a PhD scholarship in Chris Wickham's memory. All info on how to contribute here: www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2026/pr... #SkyStorians #MedievalSky

I love it when institutions step up & face the challenges. And this is @ihr.bsky.social stepping up. Sure, will be directly helping only a few people, but what a solace to know clever people are trying to come up with support in the face of the overwhelming crisis. www.history.ac.uk/fellowships-...

Loki is feeling salty on the anniversary of the battle of hastings #UoLTapestry

Dear #PublicHistory people: I am teaching a class, very last minute, on public history and am looking for a #PublicHistorian who is open to talk to my class (in person/over zoom) about their practical experiences - on the 28th of October. Any ideas? Thanks for your help!!

This is the only Battle of Hastings thread you need! 👇 historical understanding is not about believing that there was a ‘rightful king’

My heart breaks for mathematicians whose lives and careers are being destroyed by AI — and especially this PhD student, who doesn’t even know he is a poet

A late 9th century wall painting fragment of an angel which was found during excavations at New Minster in Winchester; possibly part of the monastic buildings founded by King Alfred. Now on display at Winchester Cathedral. 📷 My own. #WallpaintingWednesday #WinchesterCathedral

This looks very useful: a new online searchable version of Cappelli's _Dizionario di abbreviature_ reader.contubernalesbooks.com#/paleo/cappe... There is also a section on how to actually read a manuscript, which looks like a very useful teaching/learning tool: reader.contubernalesbooks.com#/paleo

😍 how many exhibition catalogues get a second edition? A wonderful and beautifully illustrated book

Call for contributions to an essay cluster on the Reception of the Early Medieval Insular Church (c.300-1100) ed. by Dr Robyn Stewart & I for the journal postmedieval. Deadline for abstracts is 15 December 2026, with first full drafts due 01 November 2027. Please share! #medievalsky #skystorians

RIP Chris Wickham. Unlike so many historians who emphasise particularities and contingencies, he was the master of constructing grand, coherent, beautifully rendered worlds out of his evidence. This, from his 2021 Past and Present essay, is a masterpiece of historical writing.

A New Series From @EmpirePodUK where we dive deep into THE NORMAN CONQUESTS Episode 1: Rollo & the Viking Conquest of Normandy linktr.ee/empirepoduk

”Cher Monsieur Germain, Without you, without the affectionate hand you extended to the small poor child that I was, without your teaching & example none of all this would have happened…” Albert Camus wrote to his teacher after winning Nobel Prize for Literature 1957 #WorldTeachersDay @nobelprize.org

Well, one week of teaching has made my voice disappear. Any remedy recommendations before my 9am lecture tomorrow welcome…

might make an app for gallery visitors which you point at a portrait and it tells you why that guy is dodgy

lol

Looks like a great job for medieval historians, at either Assistant or Associate (tenured) level, at John Hopkins.

PhD funding at Liverpool, happy to mentor medievalist with Irish Sea/ North Sea/ Atlantic interest in this theme #phds #academia #medievalsky

🧵8 Posts: High on the windy ridge above the Spen Valley, beside Walton Cross Farm at Hartshead, stands a remarkable survivor from Yorkshire’s medieval past. At first glance, it appears to be little more than a weathered block of grey gritstone. Yet this is the surviving base of

For those not on Instagram, details of a memorial service in memory of Rosamond McKitterick: 5 p.m. on Friday 23 October 2026, at Great St Mary’s, the University Church.

Reminder to all Old Norse PGRs and ECRs! The next NECRON event is happening NEXT WEEK! Hope to see many of you there 🌟

Norse in the North 2027: Life and Death Abstract deadline: 1st February 2027 We welcome proposals from postgraduate students for papers in any area of Old Norse, medieval Scandinavian, and Viking studies relating to the theme. We look forward to reading your proposals! #callforpapers #oldnorse

Who is the we in the last sentence then?

new idea "one email a day" you should only be able to send or read one email a day

⚔️ Alt Clut: A Volcanic Kingdom 🌋 Episode 1 - Viking Longships on the Clyde From Dumbarton Rock 🏰 to the @govanstones.bsky.social 🪨

I've now gotten three reviews from right-wing media outlets of Pregnancy Interrupted while most center and left-wing outlets have avoided coverage of a book that contests the cultural norms we put around the science of pregnancy.

After a hot Norse summer of incredible finds, we are transitioning into hoard autumn 🍁 The beginning of September brought the news of the 18,5kg Rebild hoard, the largest silver hoard ever found in Denmark! [photo credits: Nordjyske Museer] #NorseMap #MedievalSky

“Universities have managed staff costs significantly below inflation,[between 2016-17 and 2023-24] increasing only 14% compared to the 41.2% increase in RPIX [measure of inflation]” Substantial real terms pay cut, which continues a trend existing years before that…

Introducing the Parish Churches App: a photographic archive and guide to England's parish churches. Available on Android, Apple iOS, Windows and Apple Mac. parishchurches.org/parishchurch... 1/6