Chris Herde - Medieval Joy Edition
@mustachiomusketeer.bsky.social
PhD Student in medieval history at UW Madison. Games, sports, and competition in the medieval Mediterranean and the Mamluk Sultanate. Medievalism and Medieval Joy
No AI
Do not @me about chess.
Hazard Yet Forward
No AI
Do not @me about chess.
Hazard Yet Forward
Well, of course! Don't you know that the war against Iran can only be won on the playing fields of Eaton?
Yet, Ben Sasse and the @wsj.com seem to think that it is appropriate to double down on sacrificing American boys to the death sentence that is this sport.
www.wsj.com/opinion/free...
www.wsj.com/opinion/free...
September 5, 2026 at 2:52 PM
Well, of course! Don't you know that the war against Iran can only be won on the playing fields of Eaton?
Reposted by Chris Herde - Medieval Joy Edition
"Professors didn’t choose the battlefield, but we’re no longer willing to pretend we aren’t standing on one."
— Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
— Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
Opinion | What professors gained by winning with El-Sayed
The American Association of University Professors' endorsement, back to school advice and more.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 18, 2026 at 1:54 AM
"Professors didn’t choose the battlefield, but we’re no longer willing to pretend we aren’t standing on one."
— Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
— Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
Reposted by Chris Herde - Medieval Joy Edition
out it goes: my long post about Rachel Hope Cleves's claim that Tillie Walden plagiarised her book.
It's long because Cleves's claim is much, much more bizarre than it looked on first reading. I'm not going to bury the lede here. Cleves's claim does not hold up.
buttondown.com/thene/archiv...
It's long because Cleves's claim is much, much more bizarre than it looked on first reading. I'm not going to bury the lede here. Cleves's claim does not hold up.
buttondown.com/thene/archiv...
August 13, 2026 at 1:04 PM
out it goes: my long post about Rachel Hope Cleves's claim that Tillie Walden plagiarised her book.
It's long because Cleves's claim is much, much more bizarre than it looked on first reading. I'm not going to bury the lede here. Cleves's claim does not hold up.
buttondown.com/thene/archiv...
It's long because Cleves's claim is much, much more bizarre than it looked on first reading. I'm not going to bury the lede here. Cleves's claim does not hold up.
buttondown.com/thene/archiv...
Reposted by Chris Herde - Medieval Joy Edition
If you have so much work to do that you feel you need AI in order to get it all done: you don't. You need a union.
August 8, 2026 at 11:50 PM
If you have so much work to do that you feel you need AI in order to get it all done: you don't. You need a union.
Reposted by Chris Herde - Medieval Joy Edition
Every so often I teach someone how to spin yarn on a spindle. And I always tell them that the first yarn you make will not be good yarn, and it's not meant to be, because right now you are not making wool into yarn, you're making yourself into a spinner.
July 29, 2026 at 10:32 AM
Every so often I teach someone how to spin yarn on a spindle. And I always tell them that the first yarn you make will not be good yarn, and it's not meant to be, because right now you are not making wool into yarn, you're making yourself into a spinner.
*taps sign*
Accuracy is not inherently a virtue and would not give you the right to be a shitty person even if it was.
differentvisions.org/open-the-gat...
Accuracy is not inherently a virtue and would not give you the right to be a shitty person even if it was.
differentvisions.org/open-the-gat...
July 22, 2026 at 11:24 AM
*taps sign*
Accuracy is not inherently a virtue and would not give you the right to be a shitty person even if it was.
differentvisions.org/open-the-gat...
Accuracy is not inherently a virtue and would not give you the right to be a shitty person even if it was.
differentvisions.org/open-the-gat...
Reposted by Chris Herde - Medieval Joy Edition
There was some strange system where they all got their food and shelter and education and medical for free, no matter what job they did.
July 13, 2026 at 3:50 AM
There was some strange system where they all got their food and shelter and education and medical for free, no matter what job they did.
Unassailable truth
In my experience, scholars of a particular historical period are the LEAST uptight about "accuracy" in fictional representations of their period, which is why, as a medievalist, I can assure you that A Knight's Tale is the greatest movie set in medieval England that has ever been made.
July 9, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Unassailable truth
Reposted by Chris Herde - Medieval Joy Edition
On this day in 1981, Richard Cobb got an honorary degree from the University of Essex. That may not seem significant to you, but it makes this afternoon the 45th anniversary of one of the finest graduation addresses ever delivered 🧵
July 9, 2026 at 12:31 PM
On this day in 1981, Richard Cobb got an honorary degree from the University of Essex. That may not seem significant to you, but it makes this afternoon the 45th anniversary of one of the finest graduation addresses ever delivered 🧵
Reposted by Chris Herde - Medieval Joy Edition
Google long ago did away with ad-blocking on mobile devices (reverse engineering an app is a felony, which means an app is just a web-page skinned with the right kind of IP to make it a crime to protect your privacy while you use it).
29/
29/
June 29, 2026 at 4:48 PM
Google long ago did away with ad-blocking on mobile devices (reverse engineering an app is a felony, which means an app is just a web-page skinned with the right kind of IP to make it a crime to protect your privacy while you use it).
29/
29/
I have heard the arguments as to how this is supposed to cool you down.
I was even convinced to try it in the depths of a Yorkshire summer.
All love and affection to my British colleagues, but:
It's bullshit. Drink cold drinks and challenge your neighbors to water balloon fights like a normal person
I was even convinced to try it in the depths of a Yorkshire summer.
All love and affection to my British colleagues, but:
It's bullshit. Drink cold drinks and challenge your neighbors to water balloon fights like a normal person
british person 1: i'm so hot i might die
british person 2: cup of tea?
british person 1: yes please
british person 2: cup of tea?
british person 1: yes please
June 25, 2026 at 4:02 PM
I have heard the arguments as to how this is supposed to cool you down.
I was even convinced to try it in the depths of a Yorkshire summer.
All love and affection to my British colleagues, but:
It's bullshit. Drink cold drinks and challenge your neighbors to water balloon fights like a normal person
I was even convinced to try it in the depths of a Yorkshire summer.
All love and affection to my British colleagues, but:
It's bullshit. Drink cold drinks and challenge your neighbors to water balloon fights like a normal person
Hell yeah MuderBirds!
Exactly the #medievaljoy I needed today
Exactly the #medievaljoy I needed today
Here's the link to MMA podcast webpage: www.multiculturalmiddleages.com/post/the-glo.... I'm looking forward to listening to this, b/c the trade in & lore about hunting birds offers a super opportunity to explore #GlobalMiddleAges questions. #MedievalSky
June 25, 2026 at 3:20 PM
Hell yeah MuderBirds!
Exactly the #medievaljoy I needed today
Exactly the #medievaljoy I needed today
As an aficionado of the sea shanty, Applegate's inclusion of a chapter on work songs has my attention
Take a break from work this #mossewednesday to check out Pamela Potter's review of "The Work of Music: Labor and Creativity in Germany's Long Nineteenth Century" by Celia Applegate!
#UWHistdept #EuropeanstudiesatUWMadison
mosseprogram.wisc.edu/2026/06/15/p...
#UWHistdept #EuropeanstudiesatUWMadison
mosseprogram.wisc.edu/2026/06/15/p...
Pamela M. Potter, review of Celia Applegate’s “The Work of Music: Labor and Creativity in Germany’s Long Nineteenth Century”
Celia Applegate. The Work of Music: Labor and Creativity in Germany’s Long Nineteenth Century. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2025. 164 PP. Cloth $49.95. ISBN: 9780299353308. Celia Applegate’...
mosseprogram.wisc.edu
June 17, 2026 at 5:29 PM
As an aficionado of the sea shanty, Applegate's inclusion of a chapter on work songs has my attention
Reposted by Chris Herde - Medieval Joy Edition
Empowerment is not emancipation & if AI does any empowering, it’s of the already powerful elite who are shifting our economy to accommodate the digital forms of arbitration and decision-making that these tools were devised to perform. Academics who shill for it are complicit.
June 13, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Empowerment is not emancipation & if AI does any empowering, it’s of the already powerful elite who are shifting our economy to accommodate the digital forms of arbitration and decision-making that these tools were devised to perform. Academics who shill for it are complicit.
As much as I initially hated the brutalist architecture, I have to admit it did provide a convenient approximation of a medieval churchyard/monastic courtyard.
In any other building, I might not have been inspired to have my undergrad class play Jeu de Paume.
So...thanks, Mosse Humanities.
In any other building, I might not have been inspired to have my undergrad class play Jeu de Paume.
So...thanks, Mosse Humanities.
This may be the last #mossewednesday posted from inside Mosse Humanities, but we'll always carry a bit of this ol' monstrosity with us.
If you remember the building (fondly or not), consider sharing a story or ordering Doug Haynes' book of sketches.
#UWHistdept
checkout.square.site/merchant/MLX...
If you remember the building (fondly or not), consider sharing a story or ordering Doug Haynes' book of sketches.
#UWHistdept
checkout.square.site/merchant/MLX...
Preorder- The Humanities Building: Do you love it or hate it? - Wisdomcrumbs LLC
description
checkout.square.site
June 3, 2026 at 5:47 PM
As much as I initially hated the brutalist architecture, I have to admit it did provide a convenient approximation of a medieval churchyard/monastic courtyard.
In any other building, I might not have been inspired to have my undergrad class play Jeu de Paume.
So...thanks, Mosse Humanities.
In any other building, I might not have been inspired to have my undergrad class play Jeu de Paume.
So...thanks, Mosse Humanities.
This post sponsored by Bass-Liners Against Treble (BLAT)
I wish I could write like this. And I wish Lindy West wrote tutorial papers in psychometrics.
(Source: Lindy West, 2019 essay collection 'The Witches Are Coming')
(Source: Lindy West, 2019 essay collection 'The Witches Are Coming')
June 2, 2026 at 1:56 PM
This post sponsored by Bass-Liners Against Treble (BLAT)
Happy #Pride, especially to the millions of people who are protecting and uplifting their local LGBTQ community in small, everyday ways. Each and every act which helps a single light in our constellation - including your own - to burn a little longer and brighter means more than you can ever know.
June 1, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Happy #Pride, especially to the millions of people who are protecting and uplifting their local LGBTQ community in small, everyday ways. Each and every act which helps a single light in our constellation - including your own - to burn a little longer and brighter means more than you can ever know.
Heartily recommend this one!
My book, "The Middle Ages in Computer Games" is out in paperback tomorrow (2 Jun). If you've been waiting to get hold of it, now could be a good time!
boydellandbrewer.com/book/the-mid...
boydellandbrewer.com/book/the-mid...
June 1, 2026 at 11:47 AM
Heartily recommend this one!
Maybe I shouldn't be surprised that universities are institutionally disinclined to defend rights or democracy. Uni admin seemingly only hold polls/elections to justify doing whatever they already wanted to do. If the students/faculty vote incorrectly they're more than happy to ignore the results
May 26, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Maybe I shouldn't be surprised that universities are institutionally disinclined to defend rights or democracy. Uni admin seemingly only hold polls/elections to justify doing whatever they already wanted to do. If the students/faculty vote incorrectly they're more than happy to ignore the results
It is a lovely day in the Field Museum, and your wife is a Horrible Goose
May 24, 2026 at 6:26 PM
It is a lovely day in the Field Museum, and your wife is a Horrible Goose
Reposted by Chris Herde - Medieval Joy Edition
“It is not my job to compensate for a person’s erasure of me by making myself more present.”
really like this, from @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social
You Do Not Need an AI Policy — Sonja Drimmer
You do not need an AI policy. Forget the crisis in plagiarism and cheating; that’s yesterday’s news. It is becoming increasingly common for my colleagues, both within my own university and elsewhere,...
sonjadrimmer.com
May 23, 2026 at 2:25 AM
“It is not my job to compensate for a person’s erasure of me by making myself more present.”
The resurgence of "historical accuracy" discourse re: the Odyssey means it's time to tap the sign again:
Please stop treating racism like a valid historiographic position!
differentvisions.org/open-the-gat...
Please stop treating racism like a valid historiographic position!
differentvisions.org/open-the-gat...
Open the Gates: Medievalism and the Movement Beyond Accuracy - Different Visions
Christopher Herde • University of Wisconsin Download PDF Recommended citation: Christopher Herde, “Open the Gates: Medievalism and the Movement Beyond Accuracy,” Different Visions: New Perspective...
differentvisions.org
May 22, 2026 at 1:03 PM
The resurgence of "historical accuracy" discourse re: the Odyssey means it's time to tap the sign again:
Please stop treating racism like a valid historiographic position!
differentvisions.org/open-the-gat...
Please stop treating racism like a valid historiographic position!
differentvisions.org/open-the-gat...
I will be seeing this in theaters
okay god damn
May 18, 2026 at 12:02 AM
I will be seeing this in theaters
Julban, Amir of 10, Amir of 40, Amir of 100, Muqaddam Alif, Sultan
what are the Six Genders? wrong answers only
May 15, 2026 at 7:57 PM
Julban, Amir of 10, Amir of 40, Amir of 100, Muqaddam Alif, Sultan
No, please, tell me more about how giving up more of the classroom to centralized third-party tech startups will make education more efficient. I'm just fielding emails from dozens of panicked students while digging through the physical backups of everything they've done this semester. I've got time
May 8, 2026 at 3:35 PM
No, please, tell me more about how giving up more of the classroom to centralized third-party tech startups will make education more efficient. I'm just fielding emails from dozens of panicked students while digging through the physical backups of everything they've done this semester. I've got time