leidenmedievalistsblog — page 21

Art History · Social History

A medieval conspiracy theory: The murder of Little Hugh of Lincoln

This blog post shows that medieval tomb monuments, pilgrimages and funerary rites are not always as innocuous as they may seem, as they are sometimes connected to conspiracy theories about child murder.

Women in Late Antique Bactrian Documents

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

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.

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.

Religious history

Imagining Zoroaster’s Domestic Life

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

Cultural History · Archaeology

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.