The blog for the Borthwick Institute for Archives at the University of York.
Written by Helen Watt, Honorary Fellow, Department of History, University of York On Wednesday, 25 March 2026, the enthronement or installation of the new Archbishop of Canterbury will take place in Canterbury Cathedral. This will be both a solemn and truly momentous ceremony, as the Rt Rev. and Rt Hon. Dame Sarah Mullally will be … Continue reading Welcoming the new Archbishop of Canterbury
A guest post by Dr George Redmonds, author of the Yorkshire Historic Dictionary. If I were accused of eavesdropping I might be mildly embarrassed but I would certainly not expect tobe punished for it. The truth is that we use the word loosely these days, not stopping to consider that the eavesdropper was once the … Continue reading Eavesdroppers
Written by Alexandra Medcalf, Project Archivist for the Yorkshire Historic Dictionary Interactions between Scotland and Yorkshire were clearly, from the surviving terms in the dictionary, many and common-place. Those words which explicitly reference Scotland seem mostly to do with trade between the two areas, as Scottish men brought wares down from their home country to … Continue reading For Burn’s Night, Scotland in Yorkshire
Written by Gary Brannan, Access Archivist The Registers of the Archbishops of York contain a great many interesting stories – but few more dramatic than the story of what has been described as the ‘most notorious clerical strike in medieval English history’ – Archbishop Neville’s feud with the Chapter of Beverley Minster in 1381 from … Continue reading Strike in the Chapter House: Archbishop Neville and the Canons of Beverley
Written by Gary Brannan, Access Archivist We’re now coming to the end of a project which started life in October last year to conserve, digitise and make available online the Registers of the Archbishops of York 1225-1646. The project – generously funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation – will also develop new tools and … Continue reading Revealing the Registers: some personal highlights
Written by Gary Brannan, Access Archivist Saturday 19th and Monday 21st September 2015 will see us undertake one of our yearly highlights – the annual University Open Day. Aimed primarily at students thinking of applying to study here in the near future, Open Day provides us with an opportunity to show off some of the … Continue reading Treasures on display: York University Open Day displays, 19th and 21st September
Written by Dr Paul Dryburgh. If, like me, you’ve been enjoying BBC4’s Medieval Lives, you will have been fascinated by the recent episode on Marriage. The idea that a marriage in the Middle Ages could be contracted and considered valid on the strength of a few words of consent, often spoken in private and/or under … Continue reading Present and Future Consent: proving marriage in fourteenth-century Yorkshire