leidenmedievalistsblog — page 3

Archaeology

Tracing syphilis and mercury in skeletal remains from a late medieval Dutch infirmary

Syphilis, one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), continues to affect millions worldwide. Thanks to antibiotics, the prognosis for infected individuals has vastly improved, but in the past it was a life-threatening and stigmatized disease with widely feared treatment methods.

Literature · Legal History · Social History

More than Female Empowerment: Exercise with a 16th-century Chinese legal document

A fifteen-year-old girl is charged with licentiousness, submits a petition from jail in which she claims she is innocent, and is exonerated. While this may seem like a tale of female empowerment, a critical look at the (re)production of her petition shows that things are not that simple.

Leidse mediëvistiek in podcast Middeleeuwen

In september 2023 kwam er een nieuwe podcast online, een podcast over oude geschiedenis: 'Oudheid'. Gaan we het daar nu over hebben op het Leiden Medievalists Blog? Nee, want sinds april 2025 is er namelijk ook de wekelijkse podcast 'Middeleeuwen'. Maar welk verhaal schuilt er achter die podcast?

Cultural History · Social History

Getting Pregnant and Treating Infertility in Renaissance Italy

Deciding that you are ready to have children can be a joyous milestone. However, if a pregnancy does not occur, the experience can become a significant source of stress. How did people in Renaissance Italy deal with infertility?

A forgotten Dutch medievalist? Tracing the influence of Cornelis Stoffel (1845–1908) in Old and Middle English studies

Not all academic work leaves its mark in bibliographies. Looking for traces of other kinds of scholarly engagement can broaden our understanding of our field and the people who have contributed to it.

The Medieval Middle East in Video Games and Board Games

As historians of the Medieval Middle East, it is hard to ignore the large gap between the things we study and the way they are presented to and consumed by most of society. This blog post focuses on how the Medieval Middle East is represented in popular culture, specifically in games.