Well-Behaved Women Rarely Make History: Eleanor of Aquitaine’s Political Career and Its Significance to Noblewomen
Eleanor of Aquitaine played an indirect role in the formation of medieval and early modern Europe through her resources, wit, and royal connections.
Exposing Virginal Bodies in Early Norman England
Although they reached toward the eternal, the saints and their biographers easily became entangled in worldly affairs, and in colonial contexts such as those of Norman England the saints could become pawns in monumental cultural, social, and political struggles.
Social Perception of Infertility and Its Treatment in Late Medieval Italy: Margherita Datini, an Italian Merchant’s Wife
This article seeks to elucidate the common social perception of infertility and its treatment in late medieval Europe by analyzing the case of Margherita Datini, an Italian merchant’s wife who lived in the 1400s.
Scoring Masculinity: the English Tournament and the Jousting Cheques of the early Sixteenth Century
Charles Brandon was the perfect companion for King Henry VIII, whom he resembled in both looks and build. He also shared Henry’s love of the joust, becoming the King’s valiant partner in the lists.
Mapping Women’s Movement in Medieval England
Women, as a less-dominant group in all periods and most cultures in history, have experienced many forms of spatial limitation.
Recovering the Histories of Women Religious in England in the Central Middle Ages: Wilton Abbey and Goscelin of Saint-Bertin
Building upon the efforts made by scholars over the past twenty years to enrich our understanding of literary cultures fostered within English communities of women religious during the central Middle Ages, this article offers evidence of these women keeping their communities’ histories and preserving their saints’ cults through their own writing.
Enclosed Gardens Revealed: The Concept of Virginity in Medieval Jewish Culture
This talk addresses the politics of what shaped the Jewish concept of virginity in the High Middle Ages against the backdrop of Western European culture.
“The quality of women’s intelligence”: female humanists in Renaissance Italy
This thesis examines how the advent of humanism in Renaissance Italy impacted women, namely those who were raised within intellectual families and granted educational opportunities not before afforded to members of their sex.
Masks of the Dark Goddess in Arthurian Literature: Origin and Evolution of Morgan le Fay
The world of Arthurian legend is one steeped in mythology and magic. Such tales often feature perplexing and seemingly contradictory characters: a primary example of such a character is Morgan le Fay.
‘Living as a single person’: Marital Status, Performance and the Law in Late Medieval England
One approach to the vexed question of how we define the single woman is to think further about definitions of marriage, that is, about what it is that makes someone ‘married’ as opposed to ‘not married’.
“How Do You Know if it is Love or Lust?” On Gender, Status, and Violence in Old Norse Literature
This article examines attitudes towards behaviour relating to women within Old Norse literature, focusing both on chivalric romances and the legendary sagas.
Clemence of Barking and Valdes of Lyon: Two Contemporaneous Examples of Innovation in the Twelfth Century
Clemence of Barking and Valdes of Lyons were strong supporters of Catholic ideals and were seeking to endorse Christian virtues. Nevertheless, their actions provide examples of innovation and a deviation from the mainstream.
Love and Lust in Later Medieval England: Exploring Powerful Emotions and Power Dynamics in Disputed Marriage Cases
Depositions from matrimonial litigation are a compellingly, if deceptively, vivid source for the words, sentiments and circumstances surrounding courtship and marriage making.
Mann and Gender in Old English Prose: A Pilot Study
This article aims to present a preliminary study of the various uses of mann as attested in Old English prose, particularly in its surprisingly consistent use by an individual author, namely that of the ninth-century Old English Martyrology.
What You Look At, You Make: Menstruation and Fertility in Italian Renaissance Art
This project seeks to better comprehend Renaissance Italian attitudes towards menstruation and its roles in art through fertility imagery.
Book Review: A Medieval Woman’s Companion by Susan Signe Morrison
Susan Signe Morrison’s book, “A Medieval Woman’s Companion” brings the contributions of medieval women, famous and obscure, to the forefront in this fantastic introductory text.
The Medieval Magazine: Celebrating International Women’s Day (Volume 3, Issue 4)
We’ve just released our latest issue of the Medieval Magazine in celebration of International Women’s Day!
Queenship in England: 1308-1485 Gender and Power in the Late Middle Ages: Book Tour and Giveaway!
Medieval Readers! Today, we’re hosting day 3 of Conor Byrne’s Book Tour and running an international contest to give away a copy of his latest novel: Queenship in England: 1308-1485 Gender and Power in the Late Middle Ages Want a chance to win it?
Five Ways to Win Her Heart
First date advice for the medieval man!
‘Ill-Liver of Her Body:’ A Legal Examination of Prostitution in Late Medieval Greater London
I will be examining how women—specifically prostitutes—were placed under male authority and marginalized in London and Southwark, despite the divergent legal practices seen in these two adjacent areas of Greater London.
A Man Must Not Embelish Himself like a Woman: The Body and Gender in Renaissance Cosmetics
In pre-modern Italy, cosmetics’ ideal backdrop was a pale complexion, apparently untouched by the sun’s rays to give the impression that one had the luxury of avoiding going about outside on any daily labors.
The Church as a Woman: The Gendered Rhetoric of the Feminine Divine
This study investigates just a small aspect of the subject, namely Hildegard’s use of gendered rhetoric in her portrayal of the personified church.
Making the Medieval Relevant: Crossing Boundaries: Interdisciplinary Studies on Disease and Disability
A summary of a paper given by Professor Christina Lee at the University of Nottingham’s “Making the Medieval Relevant” Conference.
Masculinity and Crusade: the influence of martial activity in the Latin East on Norman and Frankish warrior identity, the material culture, c. 1095-1300
This dissertation argues that masculine identity in the era of the Crusades developed with Christological and martial focus.
Grief, Gender and Mourning in Medieval North Atlantic Literature
This dissertation explores the relationship between grief, cultural constructs of gender, and mourning behaviour in the literatures of medieval Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, and Iceland