Helen Castor @hrcastor Twitter profile

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

18 days

well hello available for preorder now wherever you buy your books 🇬🇧 3 Oct 🇺🇸 1 Oct

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

so over this I know right

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

PEOPLE DRESSED UP TO AMUSE OTHER PEOPLE AT FEAST TIMES

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

when I am queen I shall mostly be wearing this

Anne Louise Avery

@AnneLouiseAvery

5 years

An 1895 Arts and Crafts velvet coat in a deep pansy, with a vast medieval collar, hand-embroidered with sprays of Sweet Cicely (Myrrhis odorata), a wild flower much loved by the Elizabethans. By Marshall & Snelgrove, a London department store specialising in bespoke dressmaking.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

The pearl known as 'La Peregrina', worn by two of its owners

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

well this is exciting #penguinelizabeth

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

7 years

LOOK AT THIS GORGEOUS THING and if you'd like one head over to the splendid @foliosociety

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

MY QUEEN

Dr Owen Emmerson

@DrOwenEmmerson

5 years

Love these pics of Glenda Jackson having a fag and a pint in between takes on set for the 1971 film ‘Mary Queen of Scots’🍺🚬 👑

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

On his way back from Jerusalem in 1393, Henry Bolingbroke was given a leopard, which had its own cabin when they sailed from Cyprus to Venice, and ate a third of a sheep per day.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

*clears throat* I have some news (brought to you via the wonderful @bookbrunch ) I am very excited and must now go and do some work

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

never let it be said that I don't do things at the last minute but this is small and almost perfectly stocking-shaped for the Elizabethan in your life

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

the ⁦ @foliosociety ⁩ have done it again 🖤

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

Remember it well. At that point the college I was at had been admitting women for 9 years out of the 640 it had been in existence.

Prof. Frank McDonough

@FXMC1957

6 years

11 October 1988. Women began to study at Magdalene College, Cambridge, for the first time. Male students wore black armbands in protest.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

3 years

My husband and stepson live in another country. From tomorrow, the UK government is making it illegal for me to travel to be with them. The same regulations would allow me to go if they were a property I was 'preparing' for sale or rent.

Petition: Allow international travel to visit partners and family

The Government should class in-person interaction with family members and unmarried partners abroad as an essential reason to travel.

petition.parliament.uk

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

Attempting newly appointed academic face, 1994.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

The fact that there's a medieval history journal called Speculum has always made me think there probably weren't many women involved in choosing its name in 1926

Soraya Chemaly

@schemaly

5 years

How Redesigning the Speculum Could Help Rethink the Rape Kit. This is a fascinating history and project. Kits weren’t built for the fact that 33% of rapes are committed by current/former partners or that 8/10 rape victims know their rapists.(TW graphic.)

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

7 years

A WARNING FROM HISTORY

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

I've never been on a horse but for this I WOULD LEARN

Clare Clarke

@victorianclare

5 years

SWOOON Equestrian Fashion - Riding habit, ca. 1825 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

Didn’t expect ever to use my title on here but 👏 @FernRiddell I am having a moment

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

4 years

Sitting down to write about the Black Death and the Hundred Years’ War. Feels distinctly like escapism.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

3 years

and the day after that and the day after that

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

3 years

of course he has a knife, he always has a knife, we all have knives, it’s 1183

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

4 years

Writing about the children of Edward III and missing the days when royals were identified by where they were born. Particularly fond of Lionel of Antwerp

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

4 years

It's tiring being this angry all the time.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

3 years

How can I have been a medievalist for so very long already and only yesterday heard of Sir Marmaduke Thweng

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

'when a man builds an empire, people don’t ask him why' @anne_theriault 🔥

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

Now, look, you lot. I know there's a lot happening at 9 tonight. But the final whistle will have blown, and you could RECORD Love Island. You could. And then you wouldn't miss the extraordinary @georgiaEtennant as Joan of Arc on @BBCFOUR . JUST SAYING.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

4 years

Lessons from medieval history: 1 If the king is unfit for the job, attempt to stay loyal and fend off impending disaster by blaming 'evil counsellors' 2 If the king is unfit for the job, 1 won't work (h/t @harrytlambert 's article in link below)

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

7 years

march 2018 from @PenguinUKBooks

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

3 years

Name of the day: Malkyn Mustarder, supplying Henry of Bolingbroke’s household with verjuice in 1390

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

7 years

'her Highness hath worn but one change of raiment for many days, and swears much at those that cause her griefs' Elizabeth I, 1601 ALSO ME

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

GOOD LORD. I hadn't seen this before. Joan of ArKardashian. [via @NewberryLibrary : Joan of Arc. In Le champion des dames. Martin Le Franc. Lyon. 1488. Folio Inc. 8695.]

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

ok I will stop going on about Joan of Arc but can I just say that she NEVER SET FOOT IN PARIS She led an assault on the city on 8 September 1429. The attack failed, and Paris remained in the hands of the other side in the French civil war and their allies, the English.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

3 years

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

JOSEPHINE: I can reel a man in with my eyes from across a crowded ballroom JOSEPHINE: they don’t teach you that shit in school 👏👏👏 @anne_theriault

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

C. Hibbert on Elizabeth I: 'Rather than come to a decision she would spend weeks and months in argument and in protracted, useless diplomacy, hoping that difficult problems would resolve themselves - as often, indeed, they did - if left to do so.' AS OFTEN, INDEED, THEY DID

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

3 years

'you should know that four chief things spur all armies to work and labour for what they desire: two are not relevant to our purpose so I shall omit them for the moment, and speak of the other two which are fear and hope' England's Treasurer, 1382 omg WHAT ARE THE FIRST TWO

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

JUST DO IT #sportswear

Anne Louise Avery

@AnneLouiseAvery

5 years

A rare seaside dress from c.1885-88, which would have been worn for tennis, yachting or simply walking, picnicking or sketching by the sea. Whilst the bustle silhouette remains, the dress has been shortened & streamlined for manoeuvrability & sports a jaunty, nautical stripe.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

Well, then. The gallery of curiosities at the duke of Burgundy’s castle of Hesdin in 1433. Details from the gallery’s refurbishment - some features newly made, some restored & updated - which cost Philip the Good £1,000. (Currencies & conversions are tricky, but that’s A LOT): 1/

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

i wouldn't normally do this but he's 16 today no YOU'VE got something in your eye

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

3 years

1380s/1980s

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

8 years

'Farewell, turd!' Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, signs off a letter to his nephew John, duke of Cleves, 1451-2

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

3 years

currently writing about Richard II and this is a whole mood

WikiVictorian

@wikivictorian

3 years

Portrait of English actress Lily Brayton in the Shakespeare's play King Richard II. Photographed in 1896.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

Elizabeth was 10 years old

John McCafferty

@jdmccafferty

6 years

31 July 1544: The earliest surviving letter, in #Italian of Elizabeth (I) written #otd to her stepmother Catherine Parr who was, at this time, Regent of #England during Henry VIII's absence in #France . Elizabeth remained proud of her italic hand all her life.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

8 years

SURPRISE!

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

I know you need to sleep. I do know that. But at half past midnight there's this, with expert contributions from Drs @FernRiddell and @HistorianHelen and Prof Krista Cowman. So what I'm basically saying is SLEEP IS OVERRATED

BBC Four - A Timewatch Guide, Series 3, Women, Sex and Society

How the transformation of the rights and role of women has been documented on television.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

3 years

I didn't think I could love Hilary Mantel more but #semicolons

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

WHY DOES THIS NEVER HAPPEN TO ME

Paris Zarcilla

@ParisZarcilla

6 years

So... I JUST FOUND A CAT THAT IS NOT MINE AND IT HAS HAD BABIES UNDER MY BED.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

I keep thinking I can't get any angrier. It turns out I can.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

4 years

mood...

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

FROM NOW ON I WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDRESSED AS THE TONY SOPRANO OF MEDIEVAL HISTORY AT ALL TIMES THANK YOU

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

Jesus wept. I mean. Just. Everything.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

Not a statue of a woman. A statue of a concept using a woman's body. Like the Statue of Liberty.

Soviet Visuals

@sovietvisuals

7 years

'The Motherland Calls' monument in Volgograd, Russia, erected in 1967. Tallest statue of a woman in the world.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

Just been signing publication-day copies of Elizabeth at the very wonderful @Biggreenbooks BUT HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO COMPETE WITH THIS

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

10 months

Getting there

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

life lessons from the middle ages: DON’T SLEEP UNDER A SAND PIT GUYS

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

Interesting to see what details about Elizabeth's early family life L. Du Garde Peach chose to leave out of the Ladybird book NOTHING TO SEE HERE MOVING SWIFTLY ON THAT UNPLEASANTLY CATHOLIC MARY THO

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

biscuits don’t get much of a look in

Paul Cezanne

@cezanneart

5 years

Apples and Biscuits, 1895 #paulcezanne #frenchart

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

3 years

Been looking forward to this beautiful thing for ages. (Not for Dark Ages, though, obviously) The beginnings of England told with the wit and wisdom of ⁦ @Longshanks1307 ⁩ of which there is A LOT

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

path to enlightenment

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

On the day John of Gaunt died in 1399, his ghost appeared to Thomas Arundel, archbishop of Canterbury, in exile in Utrecht. As Arundel settled to sleep, he heard the door open and saw the ghost walk in. Thing is: if you're a ghost, why not just materialise where you want to be?

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

he can pick me up these days #17

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

4 years

#joydivisionovengloves

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

The jawbone of Richard II was nicked through a hole in the side of his tomb by a Westminster schoolboy in 1766.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

3 years

nobody puts

Irish Literary Times

@IrishLitTimes

3 years

Beckett in the corner (photo by Jerry Bauer) #samuelbeckett

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

7 years

A gorgeous letter. And 'shall' spelt three different ways, with an 'x' every time, in two sentences. I do love the fifteenth century.

Helen Castor

@hrcastor

7 years

'I am sory that ye xall not at hom be for Crystemes... I xhall thynke myselfe halfe a wedowe because ye xal not be at home' M. Paston, 1459

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

4 years

thank you to the brilliant @foliosociety and shameless retweet because LOOK WHAT THEY DID WITH JOAN

The Folio Society

@foliosociety

4 years

Happy birthday to @hrcastor ! A wonderful historian, both her books of She-Wolves and Joan of Arc are available as beautiful Folio editions. Each are resplendent with stunning covers and thorough archive material.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

4 years

I’m thrilled that She-Wolves has found such a wonderful home in Spain Gracias a todos ⁦ @AticoLibros ⁩ #lobas

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

One of Henry IV's outfits - a matching set of two mantles, one tabard, two supertunics, two kirtles (one short, one long), and a large and a small hat - was lined, all in all, with the skins of 80 ermine and nearly 12,000 squirrels.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

turns out marie antoinette wasn't a minimalist

Lucy Worsley

@Lucy_Worsley

5 years

A first look at Marie Antoinette’s bedchamber at Versailles, re-opened this weekend after three years of restoration work.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

Epic thread. EPIC.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

'I’m drawing up a list of important women writers, because I’m teaching a course on the importance of literary influence and the books that influenced me as a writer, and one of my students pointed out they’re all by men.' ONE OF MY STUDENTS POINTED OUT

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

3 years

Nine days since the UK government made it illegal for me to travel to see my husband, but not my holiday home (if I had one, which I don't). This petition is not far off the key target of 100,000 signatures. If anyone else feels moved to add their name, I would be so grateful.

Helen Castor

@hrcastor

3 years

My husband and stepson live in another country. From tomorrow, the UK government is making it illegal for me to travel to be with them. The same regulations would allow me to go if they were a property I was 'preparing' for sale or rent.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

IT IS WELL OLD *technical term*

Alex von Tunzelmann

@alexvtunzelmann

6 years

Who wants to see the tomb of Henry the Lion and Matilda of England in the stunning 12th century Brunswick Cathedral? It’s well old

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

A++ essay containing A++ dick joke @anne_theriault on anne boleyn #TeamAnne

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

4 years

It’s all a bit much, isn’t it

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

I'll be talking about Elizabeth I at the first ever Chelsea History Festival on Saturday 12 October - please come!

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

7 years

CAN I JUST SAY BYRON'S PEN

Patrick Walsh

@Walsh_e_Patrick

7 years

Using Byron's pen, Helen Castor signing the new fellows' register at the Royal Society of Literature @hrcastor

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

3 years

I was going for dry quarantine. Didn’t work. Who knew? So: gin and crushed easy peelers on the rocks. 14/10 would recommend

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

4 years

He turns 18 today. The world won't always be like this. ❤️

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

(I mean I know you all have read it OBV but)

Bookperk

@Bookperk

6 years

Haven’t read She-Wolves by Helen Castor? Download it now for only $1.99! #ebooks #ebookdeals

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

3 years

St Anne the Astronaut

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

This was a while ago. Now, it isn't. Time, eh? #thoughtsofahistorian

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

3 years

#TudorTimes

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

While the world burns. I was lucky enough to see this painting in person last week. Judith with the head of Holofernes. Her face is luminescent. I didn't know the artist. Turns out Holofernes is a self-portrait and Judith the artist's once-upon-a-time lover. It burns.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

2 years

I'm writing a book about a toxic narcissist who believed he wasn't bound by the laws he imposed on his subjects. He lost his throne when it became clear no one would fight for him. #medievalsubtweet

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

I CANNOT RIDE A BICYCLE. There. I said it.

Lucy Worsley

@Lucy_Worsley

5 years

It’s just sickening how good @hrcastor is at everything.

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

Aysha, you've made my day (on Elizabeth's birthday, too) - congratulations!

Aysha 🥰

@themosthappy1

6 years

Dear @hrcastor , you may not see this but it was worth a try. I just completed my Spoken English exam and I was awarded the highest mark available. My whole speech was based on your book and documentary series “She-Wolves”. I just wanted to thank you for inspiring me!

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

@anne_theriault and you saw Joan of VersARCe?

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

OH MY STARS! ⭐️💫

Russell Grant

@THERussellGrant

6 years

If you’ve not seen #englandsforgottenqueen then catch-up on @BBCFOUR Dr Helen Castor @hrcastor is a supreme presenter, undoubtedly one of the best historians on the 📺 box - #telegenic #topnotch

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

3 years

no, autocorrect, I am not looking for Robot de Vere, ninth Earl of Oxford

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

6 years

found rothko

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

4 years

well this is very cool

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

This week I have mostly been learning about tapestries. I mean, look

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Helen Castor

@hrcastor

5 years

I mean, I’m not sure what I thought they did have. But bees don’t have lungs.

Incunabula

@incunabula

5 years

The 180,000 bees housed on the rooftop of Notre Dame miraculously survived the fire, as their hives, as indicated in the photo below, were just outside the burn-zone. Their beekeeper says the smoke didn't hurt them (since they don't have lungs), it just made them fall asleep. 🐝