Kenneth F. Duggan 🇨🇦

two men in suits and ties are sitting at a table with glasses of water and papers . ALT: two men in suits and ties are sitting at a table with glasses of water and papers .

Like price-earnings (P/E) ratio for stocks, meetings should have a pointless-relevant (P/R) ratio. People could use the P/R ratio as a metric to determine how infuriating it would be to sit on a committee.

I’d rather long meetings with low P/R ratios than a shorter meeting with high P/R ratios.

two men in suits and ties are sitting at a table with glasses of water and papers . ALT: two men in suits and ties are sitting at a table with glasses of water and papers .

Like price-earnings (P/E) ratio for stocks, meetings should have a pointless-relevant (P/R) ratio. People could use the P/R ratio as a metric to determine how infuriating it would be to sit on a committee.

I’d rather long meetings with low P/R ratios than a shorter meeting with high P/R ratios.

This is fantastic. It’s very kind and generous of you to share this work of yours with everyone. Thank you.

This is an outstanding handout on the differences between readings assigned for high school and university classes. It’s useful for both students and instructors.

I highly recommend reading this if you teach first-year university students.

I enjoy talking about this in my medieval crime class. There’s a full week on ordeals. Bread and cheese are fun ones. John Niles wrote a good piece on trial by bread and cheese called “Trial by Ordeal in Anglo-Saxon England: What’s the Problem with Barley”.

If you need a good laugh and haven’t seen the short ad/video, give it a watch (along with the short, followup ads by the Burger King and A&W CEOs). They’re hilarious.

The CEO (a white male) of McDonald’s after taking a tiny bite of a hamburger during an ad campaign. He is awkwardly holding the hamburger in both hands and is wearing a lovely white sweater overtop of a blue collared dress shirt. He acts weird and the ad leaves people wondering if he’s ever had a hamburger before. Even the way he talks about the hamburger is odd. Shortly after the ad, the CEOs of Burger King and A&W used the opportunity to ridicule the McDonald’s CEO and demonstrate how a human would go about eating a hamburger.

TILT the current CEO of McDonald’s had his first bite of a hamburger in 2026.

a man in a suit is pointing at a blackboard that says proff ALT: a man in a suit is pointing at a blackboard that says proff

It’s not just the huge paycheck. It’s also the respect. People look up to academics and value our input. This, in turn, is why we get paid so well.

What a footnote! Pierre Bayle would have loved it.

a man is singing into a microphone in front of a window ALT: a man is singing into a microphone in front of a window

Bluesky needs more Rickrolls.

A small brown dog with a collar is walking underneath a horse. The dog has a fluffy tail and long hair. Also, it's teeth look super sharp, like those that puppies use bite your toes while you're eating breakfast at a table. The horse has been coloured reddish-orange. Reference: The Vie de seint Aedward le Rei (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ee.3.59, fol. 15r)

A fluffy dog walking under a horse, c.1230.

This video is both hilarious and infuriating!

Sorry. I should start putting references in the post rather than the ALT text when I have the space.

It‘s the Vie de seint Aedward le Rei (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ee.3.59, f. 14r). It‘s got fantastic illuminations.

The MS has loads of interesting illuminations. I plan to post some over the next few days. There's a fantastic dog, some great battle scenes, useful images showing pilgrim's attire, and so on. Oh yeah, and the actual Vita is also great.

P.S. I can't wait to read your espionage piece!

I'm not sure. But I was thinking about that, too. Birds don't feature much in the illuminations (the animals in it are mostly just fish, horses, etc.), so I think it might have meaning. I just don't know what it would be. Communication? Spy? What do you think?

Two bishops travel to Rome to fulfill Edward the Confessor's promise to go on pilgrimage. There is a large boat with two bishops at the bow watching over the others on the boat. There are two rowers, one on each side, and a helmsman at the back steering the boat. The boat's sail is raised and it has a cross on it. In addition to the two bishops, two rowers and helmsman, there are at least nine other people on the boat. Beside the large boat is a smaller boat with one person rowing it. In front of them all, perched on land, is a bird, who is watching everything. The water is green and the boat is wooden. The people on the boat are wearing cloaks and tunics in a variety of colours, such as blue, green and orange. Reference: Vie de seint Aedward le Rei (c.1230x1240, Cambridge, University Library, MS Ee.3.59, f. 14r).

Traveling by sea in the Middle Ages!

Two bishops (under the watchful eye of a bird) sail to Rome to fulfill Edward the Confessor's oath to go on pilgrimage.

A small, thin, white dog is on all four legs with its tail in the air. The dog is playfully looking up as if its hoping to get a toy or some food.

A lovely, svelte dog from the late 13th-century Percy Psalter.
(British Library Add MS 70000)

This is an informative, interesting, and well-written piece on medieval Irish and Welsh law codes and manuscripts.

My kid lying on a pink-coloured doughnut mat and wearing a yellow onesie with a rainbow on the chest. There are toys around and the kid (whose face is covered by a large, yellow smiling face) is holding one had high up in the air. It makes me think of Freddie Mercury on stage in his awesome yellow leather jacket.

My little one has a new outfit and is giving off strong Freddie Mercury vibes. We love it!

Way to go! I’ve been struggling with one for a few years and this gives me hope that I might someday soon complete it.

A heading for a collection of legal cases written in brownish-black ink in abbreviated Latin.

Justice Mettingham's clerk kicked of the crown pleas at the 1287 Gloucestershire eyre by forgetting to include "of the crown (corone)" in the standard heading (pleas of the crown), so he had to add it superscript.

This will be amazing!
The pedestrianisation of the Strand in front of King’s is fantastic, and Oxford St will be awesome as pedestrian only!

Three students sitting on the lawn outside the 17th century brick Heslington Hall building.

Come along to our Masters Taster Day on Wednesday 18 March and find out more about our MA in Renaissance and Early Modern Studies.

🦆Explore our campus
🗨️Speak to our staff and students
☕Get advice on accommodation and financing your Masters

www.york.ac.uk/.../meet-us/...

Colleagues, I'd be delighted if you might encourage your promising UGs to consider our interdisciplinary MA here at York. It's particularly well-suited for joint honours students with a passion for the period 1500-1700. Any QNs please do let them know to reach out to me directly! #earlymodern 🗃️

A long case from a thirteenth-century plea roll has been cancelled. Instead of crossing all the writing out or scraping it off the clerk decided to draw two large exes. The writing is in abbreviated Latin and is in brownish-black ink.

I love how this clerk couldn't be bothered to draw more than two large exes to cancel this section of a legal case from Lancashire in 1292, yet he still took the time to add serifs to the letters.

What does SOTU mean? Wrong answers only.

Opening pages of Pauline Stafford's British Academy memoir of Dame Jinty Nelson with abstract text: Summary. Jinty Nelson was a leading scholar of early medieval European history, with a special focus on Francia in the late 8th and 9th centuries. She was at the forefront of a generation that re-vivified the study of the early middle ages, in her case especially concerned with the working of the Carolingian political system and the re-evaluation of the role of the aristocracy alongside king and church in early medieval politics. She was a pioneer of the study of women’s and gender history, demonstrating not only its intrinsic interest and importance, but also that political history could not be understood without attention to both. She had a deep and humane interest in the people of the past. Her academic career was spent entirely at King’s College, London, where she was an outstanding and much-loved teacher. Her professional contribution and recognition went far beyond that, and were marked by her election in 2000 as the first woman President of the Royal Historical Society. She became a champion of the subject and its teaching, wherever that was practised. In 2006 she was made a Dame of the British Empire for services to History.

Now available, the British Academy memoir of Dame Jinty Nelson (1942-2024), historian and first female President of the Royal Historical Society: bit.ly/4qUa0ua

The memoir is written by Professor Pauline Stafford @pstafford.bsky.social and available via @britishacademy.bsky.social #Skystorians

A bearded man in a red cloak is seated at a fire. He's removed his shoes and is warming his feet.

Sending warm thoughts to those in freezing temperatures. I hope you've got a fire to cozy up to, just like this guy from the c.1260 York Psalter.