Women in Late Antique Bactrian Documents

How did late antique Iranian societies receive “women”? What kind of “rights” did women have in those societies?

Said Reza Huseini • February 19, 2021

Medieval Mushrooms

Was Jesus a mushroom? Just posing this question suggests the author visited one of Leiden’s smartshops before writing this post. Rest assured, the content is based on sober reading and explores theories on the role of mushrooms in medieval Christianity.

Anna Dlabacová • February 05, 2021

Female f(r)iendly: Early medieval English remedies for managing menstruation

What was it like for women to get their period in early medieval England? What does Anglo-Saxon medicine tell us about their understanding of the menstrual cycle? This post traces early medieval attitudes on female genitalia and analyses Old English remedies dealing with menstruation.

Maxime Konings • January 22, 2021

Imagining Zoroaster’s Domestic Life

How did medieval Zoroastrians imagine the family of Zoroaster, the founding figure of their religion?

Kiyan Foroutan • January 08, 2021

Snatched by the wind: The wooden chapel of Saint Servatius in Maastricht

A wooden chapel dedicated to St. Servatius in sixth-century Maastricht has gotten a bad press. Historical and archaeological comparisons may redeem this humble shrine and illuminate the darkest years of post-Roman towns.

Jip Barreveld • December 24, 2020

In the eye of the beholder. Female perspectives on the importance of beauty

The famous male author Baldassare Castiglione wrote that "much is lacking to a woman who lacks beauty". But what did women themselves think about this topic?

Marlisa den Hartog • December 11, 2020

Dune protection and “environmental law” in late medieval Zeeland

This blog post provides examples of coastal conservation and protection acts from late medieval Zeeland which challenge the idea that regulating environmental damage is a modern concept.

Peter Alexander Kerkhof • November 27, 2020

De hand van de Oldenzaalse glazenier

Tegen de kloostermuren van het Agnesklooster in Oldenzaal werd in 1996 een kuil aangetroffen die was gevuld met een kuub gebrandschilderd en onbeschilderd vlakglas uit de 14de - 17de eeuw. Het blijkt een kuil met productieafval van een glazenier.

Jacobine Melis • November 13, 2020

Rostam and Sohrab: ‘A Story Filling the Eyes with Tears’

How do nationalist eyes see a medieval Persian tragedy?

Asghar Seyed Gohrab • October 30, 2020