Live-Tweeting the Breaking Medieval News

What started as one insomniacal expression of dramatic tension and a few retweets and then one tweet of my own with a quotation I liked from the Richard III press conference turned into a full-on live tweeting of the thing. It was kind of fun, a way to feel like I was participating, and a good way to channel the excitement and suspense, but I'd definitely not want to live-tweet academic papers as some people do. Even putting aside the intellectual property issues, it pulls just enough attention away that following a press conference for lay people was no problem but I could tell I was just distracted enough that I'd have had a hard time if it had been an academic argument.

For the record, this is what my Twitter feed looked like at 6am, once it was all over, inverted for ease of reading (that is, no need to scroll to the bottom and read up — do click on the jump to see all of it, though):

Drunken prophecies, libels and dreams... It's so rare that "breaking news" and "medieval" occur in the same sentence. bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…
— S.J. Pearce (@homophonous) February 4, 2013

Am I right that #RichardIII, according to Thomas More, didn't have a hunched back? So strange they'll take Shakespeare's evidence for this
— Julian Harrison (@julianpharrison) February 4, 2013

It's streaming here. Could be the first time that historians have ever crashed the BBC website. bbc.co.uk/radioleicester…
— Gavin R. (@gavmr) February 4, 2013

They're dragging this out, aren't they?! Can't blame them. When else do historians get to hold the world in rapt attention? #RichardIII
— S.J. Pearce (@homophonous) February 4, 2013

We can speculate that the individual must have lost his helmet at this stage #RichardIII
— Uni of Leicester (@uniofleicester) February 4, 2013

The Greyfriars skeleton therefore advocates the importance of professional historical research, justifying the historian's place in society.
— Steffen Hope (@HopeSteffen) February 4, 2013

"Because we don't always understand the perspective of the writers, it can be difficult to interpret texts definitively." #RichardIII
— S.J. Pearce (@homophonous) February 4, 2013

Setting text against the material record. #RichardIII #methodology
— S.J. Pearce (@homophonous) February 4, 2013

I'm rather enjoying the latest episode of CSI:Leicester. They should do another series. #RichardIII
— Iain McCulloch (@SempaiScuba) February 4, 2013

"...several blind alleys." Scholarly discovery is the result of relentless, persistent detail work. #RichardIII
— S.J. Pearce (@homophonous) February 4, 2013

@homophonous the current crown-jugglers should keep their heads down!
— Susannah Davis (@aethelflaed) February 4, 2013

@aethelflaed Just a Q that occurred to me during the press conf. We're a little fuzzy on how that all works over here. #impelledtoseparation
— S.J. Pearce (@homophonous) February 4, 2013

BREAKING – Confirmation Richard III has been found #RichardIII ow.ly/i/1t0A9
— Uni of Leicester (@uniofleicester) February 4, 2013

*fist pumps the air* It's a great day to be a late medievalist!!!!! :D *implodes with too much medieval excitement*
— Bex Lyons (@MedievalBex) February 4, 2013

Listening to a report on the traffic in Leicester at 6am in bed in Philadelphia. BBC is taking the car park angle a little far. #RichardIII
— S.J. Pearce (@homophonous) February 4, 2013

Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York. #RichardIII #hadtobesaidsoonerorlater
— S.J. Pearce (@homophonous) February 4, 2013

Glorious pun of York... RT @uniofleicester: CONFIRMATION - Richard III not a below-par King. Just below parking. le.ac.uk/richardiii
— S.J. Pearce (@homophonous) February 4, 2013

Updated on 2/5 to include the rest of the day:

This made me chuckle heartily! RIII vows to pick up the War of Roses where he left off thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/r…
— Bex Lyons (@MedievalBex) February 4, 2013

Shakespeare's #RichardIII provides our earliest recorded examples of the words 'snail-paced', 'hunch-backed', and 'gentlefolk'.
— The OED (@OEDonline) February 4, 2013

Suppose #Israel found the skeleton of King David in a Bethlehem parking lot? All bloody hell would break loose, #MiddleEast wd implode.
— Fania Oz-Salzberger (@faniaoz) February 4, 2013

The caption of this photograph seems to have left out a detail or two: metro.co.uk/2013/02/04/gal… #RichardIII
— S.J. Pearce (@homophonous) February 4, 2013

Imagine the quarrels there wld be between pagans, Muslims & the Greek Orthodox Church if they ever found the bones of Alexander the Great...
— Tom Holland (@holland_tom) February 4, 2013