Josh Coulthard

Real Enough? How Forgeries and AI Hoaxes Shape Historical Memory How do you know your understanding of history is accurate? Historical deception has been a constant throughout human history, with forged and fake copies of documents or works made with the intent to ...

In case anyone was wondering how much AI can warp our understanding of the past see:

www.epoch-magazine.com/post/real-en...

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

The Witch and Her Cow-Sucking Bag: Saving Souls in the Fourteenth Century Lo heer a tale of a wiccheÞat leued no bettur Þan a bicche [Behold! Hear a tale of a witchThat lived no better than a bitch] Using profane language whose meaning was no different from today, these are...

Don’t forget to check out @jgmanley.bsky.social’s article on a late medieval religious tale of a witch and her cow sucking bag in issue 23 of @epoch-history.bsky.social, it was a pleasure to work with him!

www.epoch-magazine.com/post/the-wit...

Early Medieval Aquitaine and Carolingian Dynastic Drama Snow closed over the trail almost as soon as Pippin fled. The winter of late 831 was, as Louis’ biographer, known as the Astronomer, put it, ‘very harsh and inclement’, and the imperial army could not...

Don’t forget to check out @eddiemeehan99.bsky.social’s article on the early medieval Carolingian dynastic drama in issue 23 of @epoch-history.bsky.social, it was a pleasure to work with him!

www.epoch-magazine.com/post/early-m...

Nun Too Soon – Recovering Victorian Convent Histories Where I grew up in the English Midlands, it isn’t entirely unusual to see friars and religious sisters travelling by train between major cities like Coventry and Leicester.

Don’t forget to check out Heather Glovers’ article on recovering the archival histories of nineteenth century nuns in issue 23 of @epoch-history.bsky.social, it was a pleasure to work with her!

www.epoch-magazine.com/post/nun-too...

A Beginner’s Guide to Medieval Irish and Welsh Legal Manuscripts Finding his people 'misusing the law', Hywel Dda, King of all Wales, summoned the realm’s wisest men to an assembly.

Celebrate Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant the way it was supposed to be - reading about medieval Welsh and Irish legal manuscripts and the people who used them 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 #medievalsky #skystorians #epoch23

Out now @epoch-history.bsky.social issue 23

www.epoch-magazine.com/post/a-begin...

Video now also on Youtube:
Includes some of my favourite bits from my #envhist #medievalsky #earlymodern research into Alpine & Animal history, like the mysterious exploding pigs Andeer & retirement homes for cows from the title & more, like the iron eating cows of Disentis

youtu.be/t3xiWUfztmk

Poster advertising H M. Chadwick Memorial Lecture, Cambridge, 19 March 2026. See link.

Léacht ar an mborradh a tháinig faoin litríocht Breatnaise i dtréimhse Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (c. 1173-1240).
A lecture on the flourishing of Welsh literature in the age of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (c. 1173-1240).
Cambridge, 19 Máirt/March 2026.
#DIASdiscovers
www.english.cam.ac.uk/news/archive...

Nun Too Soon – Recovering Victorian Convent Histories Where I grew up in the English Midlands, it isn’t entirely unusual to see friars and religious sisters travelling by train between major cities like Coventry and Leicester.

Don’t forget to check out Heather Glovers’ article on recovering the archival histories of nineteenth century nuns in issue 23 of @epoch-history.bsky.social, it was a pleasure to work with her!

www.epoch-magazine.com/post/nun-too...

The Witch and Her Cow-Sucking Bag: Saving Souls in the Fourteenth Century Lo heer a tale of a wiccheÞat leued no bettur Þan a bicche [Behold! Hear a tale of a witchThat lived no better than a bitch] Using profane language whose meaning was no different from today, these are...

Don’t forget to check out @jgmanley.bsky.social’s article on a late medieval religious tale of a witch and her cow sucking bag in issue 23 of @epoch-history.bsky.social, it was a pleasure to work with him!

www.epoch-magazine.com/post/the-wit...

Early Medieval Aquitaine and Carolingian Dynastic Drama Snow closed over the trail almost as soon as Pippin fled. The winter of late 831 was, as Louis’ biographer, known as the Astronomer, put it, ‘very harsh and inclement’, and the imperial army could not...

Don’t forget to check out @eddiemeehan99.bsky.social’s article on the early medieval Carolingian dynastic drama in issue 23 of @epoch-history.bsky.social, it was a pleasure to work with him!

www.epoch-magazine.com/post/early-m...

A Beginner’s Guide to Medieval Irish and Welsh Legal Manuscripts Finding his people 'misusing the law', Hywel Dda, King of all Wales, summoned the realm’s wisest men to an assembly.

Celebrate Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant the way it was supposed to be - reading about medieval Welsh and Irish legal manuscripts and the people who used them 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 #medievalsky #skystorians #epoch23

Out now @epoch-history.bsky.social issue 23

www.epoch-magazine.com/post/a-begin...

⏰ It's Release Day! ⏰

Join us for Issue 23 of EPOCH, 'Religion & Belief'! With over a dozen articles on topics ranging from the lives of Victorian nuns to the dangers of AI, you don't want to miss this one!

Check it out 👇
www.epoch-magazine.com

Medieval Literature and Society: A Tutorial for Historians By the end of this tutorial, which examines the vernacular literatures of medieval Ireland and Wales (circa 1000–1500), you will have the tools to read medieval Irish and Welsh texts critically and si...

My latest magazine article in @epoch-history.bsky.social in which I look at medieval Irish and Welsh literature is out now! #medievalsky #skystorians

www.epoch-magazine.com/post/medieva...

Welsh Grammar

This manuscript was written in the early 17th century. It was probably owned by Iolo Morgannwg as it contains notes in his hand. It is a copy of the grammar used by the poets in the 16th century, although not an exact copy.

Date: 17th century BMSS/2

www.jstor.org/stable/commu...

One week! Just one week left to register for in-person attendance at Borders, Boundaries, and Barriers: Real and Imagined in the Middle Ages (20-21 April)! To mark the occasion, we have swanky new advertising posters (courtesy of Callie Jenman).

Registration buytickets.at/bordersbound...

Thank you to Josh Mangle, Natasha Symes, and Josh Coulthard for another fantastic session and for fielding so many thoughtful questions! We'll now break for lunch and reconvene for our keynote lecture with Prof. Carolyne Larrington!

Sneak at my @ccasnc.bsky.social paper for Saturday!

The Council of Nicaea (audio story) The Council of Nicaea was the seventy-first story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Caroline Symcox and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Nicola Bryant as Peri Brown and Carol...

There is at least one thing about in pop culture 😂

tardis.fandom.com/wiki/The_Cou...

Sneak at my @ccasnc.bsky.social paper for Saturday!

The first page of the programme for the conference reads as follows: Rhagflaenir gan Ddarlith Goffa Henry Loyn, 24 Ebrill 2026 Preceded by the Henry Loyn Memorial Lecture, 24 April 2026 16:45: Derbyniad / Reception (Oriel Viriamu Jones, Prif Adeilad / Viriamu Jones Gallery, Main Building) 17:30: Darlith Goffa Henry Loyn / Henry Loyn Memorial Lecture (Darlithfa Wallace, Prif Adeilad / Wallace Lecture Theatre, Main Building) Yr Athro / Professor John Hines: ''Pentref diffaith' neu 'Dasgwedd': golygion ar y safle hanesyddol ac archeolegol yn Cosmeston, Bro Morgannwg’ / ‘'Deserted Village' or 'Taskscape': perceptions of the historical and archaeological site at Cosmeston, Vale of Glamorgan’ Saturday 25 April / Dydd Sadwrn 25 Ebrill All sessions will be held in the Glamorgan Building (Committee Room 1). Cynhelir pob sesiwn yn Adeilad Morgannwg (Ystafell Bwyllgor 1). 9.30-10:00 Welcome and Coffee / Croeso a Choffi 10:00-12:00 Session 1 / Sesiwn 1 Thomas Clancy, ‘What's the Commotion? Sound, Structure and Sense in Ystoria Gereint uab Erbin’ Natalia Petrovskaia, ‘“Revisiting the “Cauldron Story”: Some Implications of Fractal Structures in the Second Branch of the Mabinogi’ Kit Treadwell, ‘A widowed countess owns the castle’: Positions of Widows in Medieval Welsh Literature’ Jessica Shales, ‘The Arthur of the Welsh?’ 12:00-13:00 Lunch / Cinio 13:00-14.30 Session 2 / Sesiwn 2 Russell O Riagain, ‘The Welsh kingdoms and the Scandianvian diaspora, c.AD790–1110’ Buffy Revell, ‘Economy, Diet and Status: New perspectives on human:animal relations in medieval Wales’ Gwen Jones-Edwards, ‘Yr Hen Ogledd: Cyfarfyddiad y Gymraeg a’r Aeleg ar lannau’r Clud, ac olion y cyfarfyddiad hwnnw yn y ganrif rhwng 1150 -1250' (*‘The Old North: The meeting of Welsh and Gaelic on the banks of the Clyde and its traces in the century 1150-1250')

The second page of the programme reads as follows: 4.45 - 16.15 Session 3 / Sesiwn 3 Jenny Day, 'O ‘Gaerau Ffwg’ i ‘Dir Meigion’: hunaniaethau’r Gororau ym marddoniaeth Gutun Owain' (*‘From ‘Caerau Ffwg’ to ‘Tir Meigion’: Marcher Identities in the Poetry of Gutun Owain’) Gruffudd Antur, ‘Gutun Owain: ailystyried ei lawysgrifau a thymor ei oes' (*‘Gutun Owain: Reconsidering his manuscripts and lifespan’) Adam Chapman, ‘Negotiating the bounds of Personal Authority in the 15th century March: Edward IV and William Herbert through the eyes of Hywel Dafi and Guto'r Glyn’ 16.15-17:00 SSMLL Annual Meeting / Cyfarfod Blynyddol SSMLL 17:00-18:00 SSMLL Keynote Lecture / Darlith Gyweirnod SSMLL Professor/ Yr Athro Helen Fulton, ‘Political Poetry in the Wars of the Roses: Constructing Marcher Lordship in Welsh, English, and French’ Sunday 26 April / Dydd Sul 26 Ebrill 9:00-11:00 Session 4 / Sesiwn 4 Scott Lloyd, ‘From Tref to Cantref: Mapping Medieval Welsh Boundaries for the Digital Age’ Elissa Chiariotti, ‘The Rubricators of the Hendregadredd Manuscript (NLW MS 6680B)’ Pietro Giusteri, ‘A Digital Scholarly Edition of the Liber Commonei: Work in Progress' Makenzie Marshall, ‘The Missing Dark Dragon: An Exploration of the Modified ‘Prophecy of the Eagle’ in Peniarth 27ii’ 11:00-11.30 Coffee / Coffi 11.30-13:00 Session 5 / Sesiwn 5 Rhiannon Jones, ‘Courtly Love Codes for a Poet’s Politics: A Re-examination of ‘Rhieingerdd Efa ferch Madog ap Maredudd’ by Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr’ Josh Coulthard, ‘ “Boen ar Gymry beunydd”: The Political Worlds of the Uchelwyr in Fourteenth-Century Wales and Beyond' Philip Hume, ‘Cherchez la Mère (‘shulde Roger Mortimer [d.1282] of right have been Prince of Wales’?)’

The third page of the conference programme reads as follows: 1-2 Cinio / Lunch 2-3.30 Session 6 / Sesiwn 6 Luciana Cordo Russo, ‘Crusade discourse and epic elements in Kedymdeithyas Amlyn ac Amic' Peter McIntosh, ‘The Hidden Queen: Do the Hereford Gospels hold a clue to a lost queen of Wales?’ Brigid Ehrmantraut, ‘Geoffrey of Monmouth, Gerald of Wales, and the Ruins of Caerleon Revisited’ * Papers in Welsh with simultaneous English translation. / Papurau yn Gymraeg gyda chyfieithu ar y pryd i'r Saesneg. To register for the conference today, visit mediumaevum.org.uk/events/medieval-wales Registration closes on 20 April I gofrestru ar gyfer y gynhadledd, ewch i mediumaevum.org.uk/events/medieval-wales Bydd cofrestru'n cau ar 20 Ebrill. The prices for attendance are then given as a table. In person attendance for members is £50, while online attendance is £10. In person attendance for non-members is £60, while online attendance is £15. In person attendance for students is £20, while online attendance is free.

The full programme for the SSMLL Annual Conference 2026, Medieval Wales, is now available!

Join us 25-26 April at @cardiffuni.bsky.social and online for two days of research exploring the languages and literature of medieval Wales.

21 February is right around the corner! If you missed the window to register for in-person attendance, registration for online admission will stay open until Friday night! (And will only set you back £3!)
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Also great for Middle Welsh! gỽerthvaỽr yaỽn

Reminder! Registration for in-person attendance closes on Monday, but online registration will remain open until Friday the 20th! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

The Experience of Disability and Becoming Disabled in the Hundred Years’ War ‘In our said service he was and is mutilated in one of his arms’ (‘en notre dit service il a este et est mutile dun de ses bras’), is the text justifying the pardon by the council of the King of Engla...

How did individuals with combat and trauma related disabilities adapt to life in medieval society during and after the One Hundred Years' War?

In Issue 22, Eleanor J Bailey shed light on a fascinating subject.

Click here for more! 👇
www.epoch-magazine.com/post/the-exp...

How Many Kingdoms were there in Early Medieval Britain? YouTube video by History With Hilbert

m.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ0o...

Me and @history-w-hilbert.bsky.social talking about LITTLE KINGDOMS

I hate it

Do you know what I really hate about GenAI (beyond the bland hyperbole it churns out)?

It's that when I read a great piece of student work, I am immediately suspicious, then proved right by a quick check of the citations.

Marking is taking 3x longer & is soul destroying
#skystorians #academicsky

This is the final week to register for CCASNC! Ergo, to hear Fergus Holmes-Stanley speak on 'Exploring the changing roles of women in the Pictish matrilineal succession narratives’!
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

We also experienced the jump-scare of a faded Tellytubby preserved via haunted fax from 1999.