Dr Francis Young
@DrFrancisYoung
Historian of religion & belief | folklorist | Balticist | indexer | CofE Reader and lay canon @stedscath | tutor @oxfordconted | series editor for @CambridgeUP
Today is publication day for the long-awaited PAPERBACK edition of ‘Magic in Merlin’s Realm’, my book about the political significance of magic in Britain from the Middle Ages to modern times 📚🧙♂️🔮 cambridge.org/gb/universityp… @CambridgeUP

‘[A] comprehensive, critically intelligent, challenging and original book, which genuinely breaks new ground in mapping the religious history of Europe.’ Thank you to Rowan Williams for his amazing review of ‘Silence of the Gods’ in @ObserverUK! 📚 observer.co.uk/culture/books/…
I'm convinced he got this mainly for reading out one of my translations once on Radio 4
🎓 Sir Simon Russell Beale, distinguished actor celebrated for his prolific stage, film and television work, received an honorary Doctorate in Letters
🚨 Cappa clausa klaxon 🚨
Congratulations to the 8 recipients of honorary degrees from the University of Cambridge today 👏 The distinguished individuals from the worlds of arts, music, science, sport and politics, are:
I have some exciting news! Weird in the Wade has been nominated for a British Podcast Award this year! I am absolutely chuffed to bits. There are so many great podcasts nominated across the categories. WitW is nominated in the history category bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…
This afternoon the College of Canons at St Edmundsbury Cathedral is electing Joanne Grenfell as the 12th Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich. In a new post on my blog, I explain this rather arcane legal process, which is closed to anyone who isn't a canon: drfrancisyoung.com/2025/07/24/ele…

I’m playing a London Underground card game and it’s striking how few combinations of lines make national flags - but Notting Hill Gate is Ghana 🇬🇭, Shepherd’s Bush is Indonesia 🇮🇩 and Euston is so very nearly Estonia 🇪🇪 (Eustonia?)

It’s good that universities have abandoned weird dead languages and now communicate in language everyone can understand
A @uniofwarwick spokesperson comments on the Beyond rebrand: “We have leveraged our academic expertise as part of the Vogue media partnership as well as our professional services marketing and communications work” #Beyond #branding timeshighereducation.com/news/warwick-m…
The fact that Mary I was technically queen consort of Spain from 1556 is easily forgotten!
In 1555 the Spanish Netherlands eagerly waited for their new monarchs to inherit. This beautiful brass token celebrates Philip & Mary. The reverse acknowledges Mary as Queen of Spain.
The tower of the Lego @stedscath (apart from the top) was completed this afternoon


Lord Chris Smith has been elected as the new Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. Lord Smith said “To be elected as Chancellor of the University I love is a huge honour. I’m thrilled." Read more about Lord Smith and the Chancellor election 👉 cam.ac.uk/news/new-chanc…
PHOTO OF THE DAY. The first aerial photo of Stonehenge 📷 Lieutenant Philip Henry Sharpe (1906).
Soon to be joined by Elements in Folklore!
Celebrating 2,000 Elements 🎉 “The Elements series is an international treasure. In a way, it’s a whole world. A standing ovation to all those who have made it possible.” - Cass R. Sunstein, author of 'Behavioral Science and Public Policy'. Read more 🔗 cup.org/46SVWL2
I don’t understand why anyone even needs ChatGPT to review an article - just fill in the blanks on the Reviewer 2 template under ‘flawed presuppositions’, ‘reliance on old scholarship’, ‘doesn’t cite my work’ and ‘should cite my work more often’
in case you are wondering this is academia now
As a teenager in the 90s, being interested in Christianity in a Christian school was so uncool (possibly *because* it was a Christian school) that the only person I could talk to about it openly was an American student on an ESU scholarship
Wait... are Christians cool now? My latest for @Christianitymag *Hides* premierchristianity.com/columnists/wai…
Ivy-leaved toadflax growing on an #Oxford wall💜 Its 17th century name was ‘Oxford ivy' or 'Oxford weed’ because it was thought to have arrived from Italy via the packaging of a marble statue destined for an Oxford college garden💜🐸💜🐸
On 31 October @GeoffreyMunn1 will be speaking to the Society of Antiquaries about a mysterious quartz charm-stone, allegedly used for scrying by John Dee. I know the talk will reference my research on the Peterborough Lapidary! Tickets available here: sal.org.uk/event/myth-mag…
I understand justice matters but the reopening of cold cases is surely going too far now
