David Defries @ddefries.bsky.social

The introduction to my book is available on academia.edu at this page academia.edu/40653231/Intro…

C’est demain

The two stats I learned this week that blew me away were that the US federal govt gives more to Lockheed Martin than to the Dept of Education, and that some universities get more from Dept of War than they do from tuition. Upended my understanding of universities as warmakers.

For #FindsFriday a unique portrait coin of Pippin III (751-768), very little known among historians. Bruno Foucray has suggested it may have been minted at Quentovic - found in the Marne département.

For today's #Take5 we are sharing five deserted Medieval villages. These are villages that were abandoned during the Middle Ages and exist now only through crop marks and/or earthworks, with little structure remaining above ground. There are about 3000 such villages in Britain!

The other reason for why Sartre’s existentialism became a fad during a War economy: Being and Nothingness was large enough to substitute for copper weights: theguardian.com/books/2018/jul…

Are you a historian? Are you able to come to Laramie, WY this month to talk about your research (expenses paid + an honorarium)? If you are interested in this exciting, madcap opportunity to help me spend a pot of money before it is lit on fire, get in touch!

Paris research fellowships for 2025-26 now open @IEAdeParis, a wonderful institution on Ile St Louis where I was lucky to spend 2022-23: happy to offer advice to anyone considering it, deadline May 3 paris-iea.fr/en/apply/calls…

.@marijamdid’s forthcoming book on the political economy of the videogame industry is one of the sharpest & most mind blowing I’ve read in a while 🎮👾 The industry’s profits are bigger than film & music combined - why don’t we talk about it?@VersoBooks penguinrandomhouse.com/books/761170/e…

1 April 1957. BBC TV broadcast the famous “April Fool’s Day spaghetti tree hoax” on Panorama, narrated by Richard Dimbleby. At the time, spaghetti was relatively unknown in the UK, with British people unaware that it is made from wheat flour and water.

@FXMC1957 @KOschema I hate to admit it, but I saw this (probably on PBS) as a kid in the 1970s and believed for a long time that spaghetti grows on trees! Thank you for letting me know where I got the idea. I vividly remember those images.

Margaret's life merits a series ! Her father Count Baldwin IX was elected Emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, but vanished, she supported the Knights Templar, married twice and sort of facilitated a war of succession whilst she was still alive !

A tremendously important acquisition for the Public Library in Bruges.

On Wednesday 1 May I'll be giving my inaugural professorial lecture @unibirmingham and it would be great if you could join me. Details here: birmingham.ac.uk/schools/histor… @artsatbham @History_Bham @CeSMABirmingham #MedievalTwitter #Twitterstorians #Crusades

Today it was confirmed that Art History will be ‘phased out’ at the University of Kent – along with Anthropology, Journalism, Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Music. What a tremendous loss.

Offre d’emploi – Poste d’Assistant diplômé en histoire de l’art médiéval (Université de Lausanne) rmblf.be/2024/03/20/off…

#beiaardhistorie in 100 jaartallen (64/100) 1925 – In het stadhuis van #Kaapstad speelt de Antwerpenaar Anton Brees een herdenkingsbeiaard in, gefinancieerd door de Zuid-Afrikaanse vrouwen. Enkele klokken verwijzen naar slagvelden in Vlaanderen: Ypres, Messines en Passchendaele.

A 2000-year-old Roman blue glass bowl unearthed in pristine condition at an archaeological dig in Nijmegen in 2021.

Medievalist friends! We're advertising a full-time, open-ended, non-tenure track Lectureship in Medieval & Renaissance Studies. (Initially up to two years, renewable, w/ promotion to possible!) If you're interested and/or have questions, feel free to message me!