@matthiasaolafsson
PhD Candidate, Department of History, Trinity College Dublin—State building with early modern investigative commissions; governing the Danish Oldenburg Empire across the Atlantic World and Asia
My @historicaljnl.bsky.social article has been published open access alongside great articles by @adambforsyth.bsky.social, @davidandress.bsky.social, and others I couldn't locate here, in the most recent journal issue.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
New from @imems.bsky.social The Grand Tour of Prince George of Denmark in England, 1669 is an annotated diary describing the politics, cultural richness and practicalities of elite educational travel in England during the early reign of Charles II. Read more > buff.ly/jAXnZqB @saraayres.bsky.social
Cover of book with text in yellow reading: The Firearm Revolution: From Renaissance Italy to the European Empires, overlaid on an image of an angel in seventeenth-century dress with wings and a long gun.
Hello Bluesky! My new book, THE FIREARM REVOLUTION, is out on 14 April. It’s about how a new technology changed society, and how hard it was to control. Here’s a little thread of what’s inside:
Is there space for Andrew in the Tower of London?
Very pleasing to talk early modern news, information, and communication (and two excellent books by Rachel Midura & Joad Raymond Wren) with @moonjets.bsky.social on this week's LRB podcast. @lrb.co.uk
I regularly see people wondering how it's possible that there are so many musicians and writers and film makers and artists from a tiny nation like Iceland.
And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
Congratulations!
A screenshot of a text that reads: "Change is eternal. Nothing ever changes. Both clichés are "true." Structures are those coral reefs of human relations which have a stable existence over relatively long periods of time. But structures too are born, develop, and die.
Sadly, since Immanuel Wallerstein wrote this in 1974, we have lost roughly half of the world's coral reefs. What does that tell us about our present structures of human relations?
I'm presenting a paper on royal investigative commissions operating across the Atlantic World and Asia in the #c17th and #c18th at #AHA26 on Sunday. Part of the session "What Makes an Empire? Integrating Denmark’s Overseas Expansion into Global History." If you're attending, do join us!
Also, favourite fiction reads of 2025!
A Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George Saunders was an absolute favourite. I truly recommend it!
My favourite non-fiction reads of 2025. Happy New Year!
The Eighteenth-Century Ireland Society has a new website that is well-worth checking out for details of the annual conference, journal, and news of the inaugural ECR bursary, which was awarded to @mzukovs.bsky.social. The next bursary will be announced shortly.
www.ecis.ie/news-events/
So delighted to see my first book up online with @oxfordunipress.bsky.social! Huge thanks to @anzamems.bsky.social @memorients.bsky.social @earlymoderncircle.bsky.social. DM or email me for a review copy request form, and ask your uni librarian to buy the book!! global.oup.com/academic/pro...
A reminder that there are still a few days left to apply for this funded PhD, working on literary and cultural reception of the Vikings. University fees and a budget for conference attendance included in addition to the stipend: it's a great opportunity for someone! www.ucc.ie/en/hr/vacanc...
We are thrilled to announce this year's rendition of the Prize Papers Talks Special Edition - an online lecture series organised by the German Maritime Museum and the Prize Papers Project! The first talk will be on November 10th, with Jane Ohlmeyer, Tom Truxes, and John Shovlin on the Amity Papers!
Opened palimpsest codex (Leiden UL Or. 14236) with Syriac upper text and Armenian undertext. The upper text is written in black and red ink and decorated braided band patterns. There's also a fragment with Arabic on it between the two pages of the opened codex.
Mind-numbing how many layers of history there can be to a single manuscript page: Syriac upper text (10th c.), Armenian undertext (pre-10th c.), Arabic material used for binding (11-12th c.?), Coptic foliation in the margin (date?), modern foliation at the bottom. Image: Leiden UL Or. 14236, link ⬇️
Pleased to see my interview with the BBC History Extra podcast has now gone live! Had great fun chatting with Emily Briffett about my book on 'Serious Crime in Late Seventeenth-Century Scotland'. www.historyextra.com/membership/c...
Missið ekki af erindi Péturs Húna í dag!
Professor Lyndal Roper will speak on ‘Turbulence and the German Peasants’ War of 1524-6’. She holds the Regius Chair of History at the University of Oxford. Her most recent publications include Summer of Fire and Blood: The German Peasants’ War (2025), Living I Was Your Plague: Martin Luther's World and Legacy (2021) and Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet (2012). Lyndal Roper’s talk will be preceded by a brief session marking Michael Hunter’s retirement from active involvement with the seminar. This will commemorate Michael’s inauguration of the seminar in 1979 in conjunction with the late Bob Scribner and its continuous existence since its revival in 1987, when one of its co-founders was Lyndal Roper.
Final reminder about Lyndal Roper's talk on Thursday at the @ihrscb.bsky.social on 'Turbulence and the German Peasants' War of 1524-6'.
Register here for in-person or online attendance: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
After seven weeks at my residency here in Jónshús, Copenhagen and numerous hours spent at the Danish National Archives and Saxo Institute, I head back to Dublin. This stay has been a privilege, enriching my research and allowing me to meet new people and spend time with dear friends and family here.
Today is publication day for PAPER AND THE MAKING OF EARLY MODERN LITERATURE! Available in paper or digital form www.pennpress.org/978151282744... @pennpress.bsky.social
At #AHA26, historians are exploring new approaches to research, teaching, professional development, and public engagement through panels, workshops, meetups, poster sessions, networking events, and much more. The annual meeting program—featuring 460+ sessions and events—is now available online.🗃️
Surgeon Christian Løvendahl’s 1768 letter of certification from Flensburg. A beautiful piece of work, produced on official, stamped paper (RA 232 F77).
A detail from a German pamphlet showing three male human heads: a Turk, A Hungarian, and a German. All heads have three mouths and you can see the tongues. The pamphlet was printed in 1605 and will be highlighted in more detail in my upcoming book about early modern news.
Gossiping is both an art and an annoying practice. In #earlymodern Europe, a gossipmonger would often be depicted as a person with three mouths. Like these three fellas that made it on a title page of a pamphlet in 1605, a Turk, a Hungarian, and a German. #skystorians #gossip
Book cover for Susan Dackerman, Dürer's Knots: Early European Print and the Islamic East.
Book cover for Judith Herrin, Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe.
Book cover for Jed Buchwald and Diane Greco Josefowicz, The Riddle of the Rosetta: How an English Polymath and a French Polyglot Discovered the Meaning of Egyptian Hieroglyphs.
Book cover for James Costa, Radical by Nature: The Revolutionary Life of Alfred Russel Wallace.
Through Oct. 31st, @princetonupress.bsky.social has a 70% off sale on a wide range of titles -- Susan Dackerman on Albrecht Dürer, Judith Herrin on Ravenna, Jed Buchwald & Diane Greco Josefowicz on the Rosetta stone, James Costa on Alfred Russel Wallace, and more: press.princeton.edu/sale/70-off
Definitely - and yes, I have used Sandvik's work extensively, as well as Imsen's and Nissen's. Otherwise, all tips on literature that deals with investigative commissions in Norway, especially those operating in the 18th century, are very welcome, thank you - I'll send you a PM!
Globalizing the Baltic in the Early Modern Period:
Conference CfP
'The Baltic Sea and Global Currents: 400 Years After the Battle of Oliwa. Maritime Expansion, Domination, and Water Spaces in a Globalizing World'
networks.h-net.org/group/announ...
#earlymodern #History
This 1749 commission investigated the Catholic conversion of Maren Boyesdatter, a young Lutheran girl from Fredericia, and her subsequent disappearance.
