Hello all, Florence here!
Firstly I just want to say welcome to everyone who has subscribed to this newsletter so far. I have absolutely loved reading your comments on Substack and on social media and discussing the content of the biographies. I know many of you have also been sharing the newsletter with friends and through social channels which is so appreciated.
This is just a quick update on what has been happening with the newsletter over the last few weeks:
Subscriber milestones
Two weeks ago the newsletter hit the milestone of 500 subscribers, with views on the latest edition (Godgifu/Lady Godiva) exceeding triple that! Then yesterday the newsletter hit the next milestone of 600 subscribers! I can see from the statistics available from Substack that this is in so small part due to subscribers sharing my newsletter with others, so thank you so much for that!
Featured by Substack
There has also been a increase in traffic over the last few days due to the Substack editorial team choosing this newsletter to feature on Substack’s homepage! The team hand-pick interesting and thoughtful newsletters to feature so I’m incredibly proud to have been chosen.
Interview with University of Leeds Institute for Medieval Studies
The University of Leeds interviewed me about the newsletter and the article is available to read on the Institute for Medieval Studies website. In this interview I talk about why I began the newsletter and what the future of the newsletter might look like!
The next issue?
The next issue will focus on the lives of two unnamed women, one from Elmham, Norfolk, and one from Fairford, Gloucestershire, whose skeletons have been deemed by archaeologists to be of ‘African’ origin. I will examine interpretations of these skeletons to reveal more about the lives of the women themselves, dispelling the harmful idea that early medieval England was a place that had no cultural or ethnic diversity. This is the first newsletter that will feature both ‘further reading’ suggestions and an illustration drawn by me... eek. This will be in your inbox on Monday!
Watch this space…
There will be more exciting news about Ælfgif-who? in the coming weeks, so expect another newsletter update soon. Until then, keep safe and please share the newsletter to anyone you think might be interested.