Gabriele Passabì

It's my pleasure, Ben! Also, thank you very much indeed for your kind words. (I cannot help but noticing they've slightly damaged a corner of the book: ira gravissima!)

I'm happy to share that I've recently joined @ghilondon.bsky.social as a Research Associate! A few weeks into this new chapter, and I'm already enjoying working with @marcusmeer.bsky.social, combing my work in historiography with new research avenues in medieval economic culture. Thrilled!

Universal chronicle-writing finally receives the international attention it deserves. Very much look forward to be giving a paper at this conference 📚

I may have experimented with building various forms of architecture, yes.

You know what makes your day? Receiving the author copies of your book at home! It's genuinely great to hold it finally in my hands, ink on paper and real weight. If you'd like a copy, the code BB135 gets you 35% off all formats when buying from boydellandbrewer.com.

I’m positively chuffed✨

Original thirteenth-century pilgrim canteen found in Brindisi, southern Apulia. I am sure it contained only the least sinful of refreshments.

Of course! I will send it via email.

That’s a great project! While in Toronto I found, by chance, a letter from Ker to John C. Pope about the death of Pope’s wife, Jean. It was inside a copy of Ker’s Catalogue at PIMS library. It seemed authentic but I’m unsure whether it was ever catalogued? I took a pic and I’d be happy to send it!

If you ask my favourite spot in a library, it has to be the temporary storage. This is where books pile up waiting (im)patiently for their place. No shelves yet, no topic categories, no genres. There is only a natural stratification of discovery. Here curiosity leads and the unexpected finds you.

Textual Editing: philosophical and theological texts throughout the Middle Ages This course introduces students to textual editing, especially of Latin writings belonging to the earlier and later medieval philosophical and theological tradition

And for graduate students wanting to edit Latin texts we have a specialist training at London International Palaeography Summer School 2026. #MedievalSky 👇

ies.sas.ac.uk/study-traini...

Very sad news. Professor Stephen Baxter was a remarkable scholar and I will always be grateful for the opportunity he gave me when he interviewed me for the MA in Medieval History at KCL in 2014. That moment set me on the path to my life in the UK and my career in research. May he rest in peace.

It is with deep sadness that the Master and Fellows of St Peter’s College share news of the death of Professor Stephen Baxter, Fellow and Tutor in Medieval History. Our full tribute will be shared soon. https://ow.ly/cy8J50Y0yrB

This is such a shock.

A wrongly scanned page from the book "Anzaygung grüntlicher || natürlicher vrsachen der natur..." (1531), nowadays in München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek -- Res/4 Astr.p. 528,44.

Another wrongly scanned page from the book "Anzaygung grüntlicher || natürlicher vrsachen der natur..." (1531), nowadays in München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek -- Res/4 Astr.p. 528,44.

And another wrongly scanned page from the book "Anzaygung grüntlicher || natürlicher vrsachen der natur..." (1531), nowadays in München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek -- Res/4 Astr.p. 528,44.

a screenshot of a couple of scanned pages, all not readable, from the book "Anzaygung grüntlicher || natürlicher vrsachen der natur..." (1531), nowadays in München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek -- Res/4 Astr.p. 528,44.

Sometimes, the devil is in the details. When scanning this book from 1531, something went wrong badly. Not one page is complete, only nonsense scans. This is #bookhistory too. A story of mistakes and #digitization gone wrong.

High quality doodles at the end of this 13 c. manuscript from Piacenza (London, British Library, Harley 3678). Here is a fine example of medieval good boi to help go through your Monday.

Munby Fellowship in Bibliography 2026 - 2027 at University of Cambridge Searching for an academic job? Explore this Munby Fellowship in Bibliography 2026 - 2027 opening on jobs.ac.uk! Click to view more details and browse other academic jobs.

Munby Fellowship in Bibliography based @theul.bsky.social in Cambridge - closes on 1 February, so still time to apply.

This 👀:
I run a class on late-medieval political satire and this ⬇️ is going straight in there. Visual literacy has always been important and using animals in images to underscore the abuses of the world is perennial...

Just back in Cambridge and glad to see that certain things don't change 🍂🦆

5. I was only supposed to check a manuscript in Ker’s catalogue. Instead, the unexpected presence of the letter drew me into Neil Ker’s and John Pope’s intimate world, sharing with them their story of grief, love, and friendship. This is also why we study history.

4. The event left a deep mark. To honour the memory of his wife, John Pope gifted to Yale University this delicate portrait of a “Woman Standing with Hands Behind her Head" by American artist Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928).

3. The letter is Neil Ker's heartfelt response upon receiving the news of Jean Werner Pope's death in 1971, the beloved wife of John Pope. The news came as “a bit of a bombshell” to Neil Ker, something for which “we can’t be really prepared”.

2. This copy of Neil Ker’s Catalogue of the Manuscripts containing Anglo-Saxon, which I found at PIMS Medieval Library, contained an autograph letter written by Neil Ker on 31 March 1971 to the great American historian of early medieval England John Collins Pope (1904-1997).

Sometimes, when browsing through a good library, the books you are looking for may have a history of their own or can contain fragments of tangential stories, often intimate ones. A brief 🧵

This is *positiv(ist)ly* cool.

This is (also) what happens when one stops making assumptions about a text and, especially, about who may have written it.

The serpent head of the Oseberg Viking ship, carved in 820, and shown for the first time to the public in the Oslo Historical Museum

There is much to look forward to in the next issue of @parergon.bsky.social. I'm keeping my eyes peeled.

🧪Hold on to your urine flasks, there are only a few weeks left to visit Curious Cures!

📍 Open until 6 December 2025 at the University Library
🔗Book your FREE ticket: https://loom.ly/kVqsPRY

Music by Vlad Bakutov from Pixabay

The golden age of diversity and democracy in Oz.

Merci beaucoup ! J'en suis sûr ! 😁