Thomas Lecaque
@tlecaque.bsky.social
Scholar of religious violence and apocalypticism from the Crusades to contemporary America, living and teaching on occupied Baxoje, Meskwaki and Sauk land. Joyful swearbear. Amateur cook. He/him.
Pinned
Thomas Lecaque
@tlecaque.bsky.social
· Jul 12
To be a historian is to speak ill of the dead and the rest of you should take more history classes and join us.
The 1930s called, they'd like appeasement back.
September 20, 2026 at 9:30 PM
The 1930s called, they'd like appeasement back.
I'm French. I will vote for bad people to stop fascists. But I will be mad as all hell doing it and I won't contribute a single fucking dime. And I will criticize them every god damn step of the way with the lone exception of the polling place itself, and then only because it is illegal.
September 20, 2026 at 5:06 PM
I'm French. I will vote for bad people to stop fascists. But I will be mad as all hell doing it and I won't contribute a single fucking dime. And I will criticize them every god damn step of the way with the lone exception of the polling place itself, and then only because it is illegal.
Home alone all afternoon and should do work but don't want to. Was Resident Evil good enough to see in theater?
September 20, 2026 at 5:04 PM
Home alone all afternoon and should do work but don't want to. Was Resident Evil good enough to see in theater?
I want the name of every consultant who convinces a Democrat to run an ad ceding ground to trans hatred, and I want them blacklisted by the party and noted so I can never give a cent to anyone who hires them ever again.
September 20, 2026 at 4:30 PM
I want the name of every consultant who convinces a Democrat to run an ad ceding ground to trans hatred, and I want them blacklisted by the party and noted so I can never give a cent to anyone who hires them ever again.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
Peltola joins the transphobia caucus. Really, really bad stuff in that ad.
I don't think anything any of us does changes the outcome in Alaska to be frankly honest, so ousting the consultants around her and yelling at her campaign to be less incredibly evil is about what I see as the options.
I don't think anything any of us does changes the outcome in Alaska to be frankly honest, so ousting the consultants around her and yelling at her campaign to be less incredibly evil is about what I see as the options.
September 20, 2026 at 1:19 PM
Peltola joins the transphobia caucus. Really, really bad stuff in that ad.
I don't think anything any of us does changes the outcome in Alaska to be frankly honest, so ousting the consultants around her and yelling at her campaign to be less incredibly evil is about what I see as the options.
I don't think anything any of us does changes the outcome in Alaska to be frankly honest, so ousting the consultants around her and yelling at her campaign to be less incredibly evil is about what I see as the options.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
The arch design, in 2 more weeks
September 20, 2026 at 2:32 PM
The arch design, in 2 more weeks
If I won the lottery I'd probably just reduce my teaching load and spend a lot of time traveling to cool historical sites around the country and around the world. I hate the idea of influencers, but if I could just do travel + history, I might.
September 20, 2026 at 3:22 PM
If I won the lottery I'd probably just reduce my teaching load and spend a lot of time traveling to cool historical sites around the country and around the world. I hate the idea of influencers, but if I could just do travel + history, I might.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
Precisely this—the power attributed to technology makes it incredibly useful for laundering responsibility
The AI industry wants you to say "the AI just did that thing on its own!"
Like, United Health's AI that's denying a shitload of claims with a 90% error rate? They wanted you to think it's just the AI.
Like, United Health's AI that's denying a shitload of claims with a 90% error rate? They wanted you to think it's just the AI.
September 19, 2026 at 6:23 PM
Precisely this—the power attributed to technology makes it incredibly useful for laundering responsibility
I have so much reading to do this weekend, but from a moral high ground perslective it's important for me to do all the reading I ask my students to do for every single class every single day.
September 20, 2026 at 12:35 AM
I have so much reading to do this weekend, but from a moral high ground perslective it's important for me to do all the reading I ask my students to do for every single class every single day.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
ooh ("discovery")
"Closer inspection reveals Ha-Kohen infused his work with his own biting criticism of Spanish colonialism & ...the position of Jews ...For example, he wrote that the land did not belong to Christianity and termed the murder of native Americans an “extermination.”"
"Closer inspection reveals Ha-Kohen infused his work with his own biting criticism of Spanish colonialism & ...the position of Jews ...For example, he wrote that the land did not belong to Christianity and termed the murder of native Americans an “extermination.”"
New grant to shed light on Jewish view of discovery, conquest of the New World
www.brandeis.edu
September 19, 2026 at 11:43 PM
ooh ("discovery")
"Closer inspection reveals Ha-Kohen infused his work with his own biting criticism of Spanish colonialism & ...the position of Jews ...For example, he wrote that the land did not belong to Christianity and termed the murder of native Americans an “extermination.”"
"Closer inspection reveals Ha-Kohen infused his work with his own biting criticism of Spanish colonialism & ...the position of Jews ...For example, he wrote that the land did not belong to Christianity and termed the murder of native Americans an “extermination.”"
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
For those who want to follow along (& I have to say, at this point, I have no idea how many days this will take), I want to give a "deep dive" into how historians of medicine (#histmed) who work on the pre-modern/pre-print era actually go about researching a question. Today, I just discovered this:
![The first part of an entry for a 13th-century English cardinal, Hugh of Evesham, who is said to have died in Rome in 1287 as the result of either "pestilence" or poisoning. Below is both the French text and an English translation.
"Hugues Atratus de Evesham. - Né à Evesham (Angleterre), il fréquenta les Universités de son pays natal, puis celles de France et d'Italie, se livrant surtout à l'étude des mathématiques et de la médecine. Il obtint des prébendes ecclésiastiques en Angleterre et fut appelé à Rome, en 1280, pour donner son avis sur des questions médicales. On a prétendu, à tort selon Marini, qu’il avait été le médecin du pape Martin IV, qui le fit cardinal."
"Hugh (the Black) of Evesham. Born at Evesham (England), he attended the universities of his home country, then those of France and Italy, focusing especially on the study of mathematics and medicine. He secured ecclesiastical prebends [appointments] in England and was called to Rome in 1280 to give his advice on medical matters. It is said (erroneously, according to Marini) that he was the (personal) physician to Pope Martin IV [r. 1281-1285], who made him a cardinal.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:twqucin7jqhlteuk37lqltr7/bafkreibhft6retz3lci4no6celltonyojiogbktouakcjrivth5e3hyjjq)
![The latter part of an entry from Wickersheimer's 1936 biographical dictionary of medieval French medical practitioners, for a 13th-century English cardinal, Hugh of Evesham, who is said to have died in Rome in 1287 as the result of either "pestilence" or poisoning. Below is both the French text and an English translation.
"Il mourut à Rome, en 1287, du poison suivant les uns, de la peste suivant d'autres[2] et fut enterré dans l'église Saint-Laurent « in Lucina ». Il composa divers ouvrages dont deux de médecine, Canones medicinales et Super opere febrium Isaac[3]; le seul qui ait été conservé est un Sermo in dominica Septuagesime [4]."
He died in Rome, in 1287, from poisoning according to some, from "pestilence" according to others, and was interred in the church of Saint Laurence in Lucina. He composed various works of which two were on medicine: "Medical Canons" and "On Isaac [Israeli's] Work on Fevers." His only work that survives is a sermon on Septuagint Sunday [the ninth Sunday before Easter].](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:twqucin7jqhlteuk37lqltr7/bafkreibfavaliqanxfw3imo4xt5qfmgfegg4iu7e5j7hnwp62mztojj5ne)
September 19, 2026 at 7:59 PM
For those who want to follow along (& I have to say, at this point, I have no idea how many days this will take), I want to give a "deep dive" into how historians of medicine (#histmed) who work on the pre-modern/pre-print era actually go about researching a question. Today, I just discovered this:
My 12 year old scored twice in a row within minutes of coming in and I am yelling and cheering in the most suburban dad caricature and I could not be happier.
September 19, 2026 at 5:18 PM
My 12 year old scored twice in a row within minutes of coming in and I am yelling and cheering in the most suburban dad caricature and I could not be happier.
I haven't been able to do a lot of free reading this year--depression is bad, news at 10!--but I've ordered China Mieville's new book on the strength of @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social 's review and I'm rereading my favorite @aptshadow.bsky.social book and bought the sequel and... reading is joyful.
September 19, 2026 at 4:28 PM
I haven't been able to do a lot of free reading this year--depression is bad, news at 10!--but I've ordered China Mieville's new book on the strength of @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social 's review and I'm rereading my favorite @aptshadow.bsky.social book and bought the sequel and... reading is joyful.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
The Vanderbilt Report complex perfectly encapsulates this phenomenon: academic celebrities attacking solid scholarship by completely misrepresenting it, and then blaming scholarship for academia’s demise.
There’s more to be said about the relationship between Pinker-style stardom and the state of academia. Not because academia is Woke, but because star systems loosen rigor at the top while solid scholarship becomes a dead end lower down. Shoddy celebrities and broke PhDs proceed from the same machine
September 19, 2026 at 2:39 PM
The Vanderbilt Report complex perfectly encapsulates this phenomenon: academic celebrities attacking solid scholarship by completely misrepresenting it, and then blaming scholarship for academia’s demise.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
Dick-measuring is now an official Pentagon policy.
We need soldiers with fully erect dicks.
We need soldiers with fully erect dicks.
NEWS: The Pentagon has announced mandatory low-testosterone screenings for male troops 30 and older, including screening for symptoms such as “reduced libido, loss of spontaneous morning erections, erectile dysfunction,” and other symptoms.
September 19, 2026 at 12:51 AM
Dick-measuring is now an official Pentagon policy.
We need soldiers with fully erect dicks.
We need soldiers with fully erect dicks.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
If my company killed 123 children, the U.S. government would shut us down and send me to jail
US officials say overreliance on Palantir's Maven AI system was among the factors that contributed to a February missile strike in Iran that killed 123 children (Bloomberg)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
September 18, 2026 at 11:58 PM
If my company killed 123 children, the U.S. government would shut us down and send me to jail
Pork burgers with grilled onions and a metric fuck ton of Dijon mustard until I can breath with all 62 of my nostrils?
September 19, 2026 at 12:17 AM
Pork burgers with grilled onions and a metric fuck ton of Dijon mustard until I can breath with all 62 of my nostrils?
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
Medieval history included
EXC: 90 programmes in Edinburgh University's College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences are to be closed.
The casualties, which include 48 language and literature programmes, will be 'taught out', w/ no admissions after 2027.
@heraldscotland.bsky.social
www.heraldscotland.com/news/2655839...
The casualties, which include 48 language and literature programmes, will be 'taught out', w/ no admissions after 2027.
@heraldscotland.bsky.social
www.heraldscotland.com/news/2655839...
Ninety programmes to close at leading university as savings plan takes shape
According to the document, a total of 90 programmes will be “taught out” over the next several years, including 48 in the School of Language.
www.heraldscotland.com
September 17, 2026 at 10:49 PM
Medieval history included
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
David Lynch and Jocelyn Montgomery collaborated on a haunting album of Hildegard’s music. It does not aim for historical authenticity but does, I think, achieve emotional authenticity, which is more difficult and admirable. faroutmagazine.co.uk/lux-vivens-d...
September 17, 2026 at 2:49 PM
David Lynch and Jocelyn Montgomery collaborated on a haunting album of Hildegard’s music. It does not aim for historical authenticity but does, I think, achieve emotional authenticity, which is more difficult and admirable. faroutmagazine.co.uk/lux-vivens-d...
Not as disappointed in me as 41 year old me is, tbh.
Would 20 y/o you be impressed or disappointed by you today?
September 17, 2026 at 3:59 AM
Not as disappointed in me as 41 year old me is, tbh.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
Once again, the median pay for an adjunct professor in the United States of America is $3,500 per course. Not per month, per course.
Oh. That's a heck of a subsidy.
September 17, 2026 at 2:18 AM
Once again, the median pay for an adjunct professor in the United States of America is $3,500 per course. Not per month, per course.
YOU COULD HIRE SO MANY FUCKING TENURE TRACK FACULTY FOR THIS. SON OF A BITCH.
Oh. That's a heck of a subsidy.
September 17, 2026 at 3:56 AM
YOU COULD HIRE SO MANY FUCKING TENURE TRACK FACULTY FOR THIS. SON OF A BITCH.
Reposted by Thomas Lecaque
Trump said that if I didn’t vote for him, gas prices would double. It looks like he was right.
September 17, 2026 at 1:11 AM
Trump said that if I didn’t vote for him, gas prices would double. It looks like he was right.
Game Design and Game Studies are robust fully fleshed out fields that don't require historians Columbusing them, thanks though.
Also, I'm *so* happy the AHA is encouraging vibecoding of games, instead of drawing on colleagues who've been creating with students using Twine. And thank god *someone* is using video games in the classroom, at last! 🙃
@gamingthepast.bsky.social @chriskempshall.bsky.social @tlecaque.bsky.social
@gamingthepast.bsky.social @chriskempshall.bsky.social @tlecaque.bsky.social
September 16, 2026 at 8:05 PM
Game Design and Game Studies are robust fully fleshed out fields that don't require historians Columbusing them, thanks though.