Cultural History

Cultural History

Pious women and warrior queens. Female role models in the late medieval period

Medieval women were considered unfit for public tasks such as governance and warfare. Nonetheless, many princesses wielded power, as a result of their dynastic position and personal ambition. Female role models of the late medieval period seem to reflect the ambiguity of their position.

Margreet Brandsma • 18-09-2020

Cultural History · Socio-Economic History

Play piggy games, win piggy prizes: Swine entertainment in medieval Europe

At medieval carnivals and country fairs, various games involving pigs took place. This blog post discusses four instances of this remarkable swine entertainment in medieval Europe.

Thijs Porck • 04-09-2020

Cultural History · Literature

Where is Gogo? Friendship and poetry at the Austrasian court

In a poem, Venantius Fortunatus wonders where his friend Gogo could be. The answers reveal the activities and friends of an Austrasian magnate in sixth-century northern Gaul.

Jip Barreveld • 24-07-2020

Cultural History

Makeup and female beauty standards in Renaissance Italy

In Renaissance Italy, the female beauty ideal included features such as blonde hair and a pale skin. Women tried their best to live up to these expectations, but elaborate makeup and beauty routines were not without risk.

Marlisa den Hartog • 10-07-2020

Cultural History · Literature

Limbs of One Body: How the Coronavirus Requires Sympathy Despite Social Distancing

The Coronavirus has dislocated lives across the world, like an assassin killing thousands of people, yet it has also inspired people to be creative in art and poetry and to show sympathy for all those afflicted by this vicious virus.

Asghar Seyed Gohrab • 29-05-2020

Cultural History · Art History · Literature

Proverbial Pigs in the Middle Ages: Ten Medieval Proverbs Featuring Swine

Swine make a frequent appearance in the proverbs of the Middle Ages; this blog post provides a fair sample of medieval piggish wisdom!

Thijs Porck • 06-03-2020

Cultural History · Archaeology

Beards and Barbarians: Hair and identity in the Early Medieval West

Bushy beards, drooping moustaches and flowing hair. What does the (facial) hair of Early Medieval monarchs tell us about their identity?

Jip Barreveld • 21-02-2020

Cultural History

Love Magic and Rape Drugs in Late Medieval Italy

Magical practices such as brewing love potions and performing necromantic rituals can be found in medieval literature as well as in books of medicine and theology. But how did they work? And were they really that innocuous?

Marlisa den Hartog • 07-02-2020

Cultural History · Art History · Manuscript Studies · Religious history · Music

Persian roots of Puccini’s opera Turandot

What is the place on earth that saw the sun only once? What is it that all beings have, human beings, angels, fairies, demons, anything that grazes and flies, heaven and earth, anything that God has created? How did a Persian story grow to a world opera?

Asghar Seyed Gohrab • 29-11-2019

Blogs

Pious women and warrior queens. Female role models in the late medieval period

Play piggy games, win piggy prizes: Swine entertainment in medieval Europe

Where is Gogo? Friendship and poetry at the Austrasian court

Makeup and female beauty standards in Renaissance Italy

Limbs of One Body: How the Coronavirus Requires Sympathy Despite Social Distancing

Proverbial Pigs in the Middle Ages: Ten Medieval Proverbs Featuring Swine

Beards and Barbarians: Hair and identity in the Early Medieval West

Love Magic and Rape Drugs in Late Medieval Italy

Persian roots of Puccini’s opera Turandot