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Prostitution in the Medieval City

Medievalists.net — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 10:20:16 +0000

Prostitution was a vice that was was considered a necessary evil because of "men’s lust". Ecclesiastics felt that if brothels weren’t available to men in cities, they would find other inappropriate outlets for their entertainment. In an effort to curb potential problems, civic officials permitted prostitution to function within the city walls so long as it was regulated and turned a profit.

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Papers on Medieval Prosopography: Session #47 at KZOO 2015

Medievalists.net — Sat, 30 May 2015 00:49:56 +0000

Three fantastic papers on Prosopography from #KZOO2015.

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A peasant is a peasant, is a peasant? : Medieval Maritime Peasant Lives

Medievalists.net — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 11:08:25 +0000

A peasant is a peasant, is a peasant...or is s/he? Was the life of a peasant who lived in the coastal regions of England the same as that of the peasant who made his livelihood toiling on the land for his local lord?

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Unexpected Evidence concerning Gold Mining in Early Byzantium

Medievalists.net — Sun, 09 Nov 2014 16:40:28 +0000

One of the consequences of the decline of Roman imperial might was the shortage of slaves at state-run mines. Consequently, criminals were often sentenced to damnatio ad metallum. The need for gold especially soared when the gold solidus was introduced at the beginning of the fourth century.

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Working women in thirteenth-century Paris

Medievalists.net — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 13:33:55 +0000

This thesis examines the role of women in the Parisian economy in the late thirteenth century.

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A First Escape from Poverty in Late Medieval Japan: Evidence from Real Wages in Kyoto (1360-1860)

Medievalists.net — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 01:04:00 +0000

This paper offers a first investigation of long-term trends in Japanese living standards from the mid-14th to the mid-19th century using urban daily wages and price data for a number of basic commodities.

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BOOK REVIEW: Plague Land by SD Sykes

Medievalists.net — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 13:47:12 +0000

My review of SD Sykes brilliant medieval thriller, Plague Land.

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Mortality in the Fifteenth Century

Medievalists.net — Sun, 11 May 2014 23:32:25 +0000

For decades medieval historians have placed population at the centre of they concerns, but it is only in recent years that their studies have begun to constitute a respectable branch of historical demography.

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Learning by doing or expert knowledge? Technological innovations in dike-building in coastal Flanders (13th-18th centuries AD)

Medievalists.net — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 00:04:27 +0000

Dike construction apparently uses simple technology, with slow and gradual change; not the kind of technology that reshaped the material conditions of living, comparable to the spread of electricity or sanitation in the 19th century ‘networked’ city (and linked to the disciplining of society and the rise of domesticity and the modern self-reflexive individual) (often inspired by Latour and Foucault).

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The Virgin Mary in High Medieval England, A Divinely Malleable Woman: Virgin, Intercessor, Protector, Mother, Role Model

Medievalists.net — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 16:13:00 +0000

This thesis examines the significance of the Virgin Mary in England between the late fifteenth century and early sixteenth century. The primary sources selected indicate the variety of ideas circulating about her during this period. Strictly religious texts such as the Bible and early Christian writings ground Late Medieval beliefs about Mary in their historical context.

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