Reflecting upon Four Years of Criminal Corpses. By Rachel Bennett
Almost four years ago to the day I travelled to Leicester to attend my first PhD supervisory meeting armed with only a pen, a notepad and a head swirling with ideas. When I walked out of that meeting I was nervous yet excited about the mammoth task of getting to grips with such a […]
Rest in Pieces: The story of a hanged woman and her journey to becoming a museum object. By Ali Wells
When referring to “skeletons in the cupboard” we rarely expect these to be literally true, but in the case of Mary Ann Higgins and the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry, it is. In the early 1970s the Herbert acquired an unusual and unique object – the head of the penultimate woman […]
Introducing Exciting Guest Bloggers. By Emma Battell Lowman
Here at the Power of the Criminal Corpse blog, it has been a great year. All of our project team members have contributed, and our posts have been used in undergraduate teaching, spread with interest across social media, and have even nabbed the attention of the university’s press office. Even better, it has provided a […]
#SocialHistoryAssociationAnnualConference2016. By Emma Battell Lowman
In late March 2016, the Social History Association (SHA) met for its annual conference. In beautiful Lancaster, at the University of Lancaster, a large group of energetic scholars met to share new research, connect with colleagues, and celebrate four decades of successful operation. This was my first engagement with the Association. I have hesitated […]
A chance to talk about gibbeting and hanging in France? Yes, please! By Emma Battell Lowman
One of the joys of academic work is participating in study days or workshops that bring together a diverse group of scholars to approach a theme or issue from multiple vantage. It is easy to fall into working within the same networks and groups – whether textually in the form of the bodies of […]
The Geography of the Criminal Corpse: Magic, therapies and bodily pieces across Europe. By Francesca Matteoni
I have been involved in the first two years of the project as a postdoctoral researcher working on the medico-magical employment of the criminal corpse’s pieces: hands, fingers, blood, corporeal fragments, but even those objects who had a direct contact with the body, such as the rope, or more intangible, mysterious substances like the […]
Writing the Magic of the Criminal Corpse. By Owen Davies
It is that time in a major research project when the final outputs are being worked on. In my case that is co-writing a short monograph entitled Executing Magic: The Power of Criminal Bodies. This will explore the magical ‘life cycle’ of the criminal corpse from the seventeenth to the early-twentieth century. The book […]
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