Articles
77 articles exploring the history of medicine, gender, and the body.
What Hamnet Gets Right (And Historians Got Wrong)
Everyone's talking about Hamnet – and whether you've read the book, watched the play or the film – or all three like me, you'll know that it's a beautiful story about loss and grief, and it feels very relatable to a modern audience. But did you know that there was a big debate among historians about this very subject –
She Became a Nun Just to Avoid Marriage (and Read Books)
Who would choose a convent over marriage? Well, meet Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, who called herself the "worst nun in history", built a private library in a convent in colonial Mexico, and argued with bishops, claiming that women had every right to study and learn, just as she did. Let's talk about this controversial nun, who unapologetically chose
Below Stairs at Christmas: A Victorian Servant Speaks
I was reading Christmas: A History, by Judith Flanders, and I came across a passage I just had to share with you. Victorian Christmas could be an incredibly elaborate affair for the upper classes, but what was it like for those who were not so lucky? How about the house servants? Well, let me read you a short passage from
The Business of Virginity in 18th-Century London
This passage comes from the 1779 book "Nocturnal Revels, or the History of King's-Place and Other Modern Nunneries" – and, in case it wasn't clear, nunnery here doesn't mean a convent full of nuns, but a brothel. Let me tell you how sex workers and madams manufactured and performed virginity over and over again, to
The Midwife’s Ghost: A Murder Ballad from 1680
Let me tell you a ghost story. I was reading the book “The Ghost: A Cultural History”, and I was reminded of one of my favourite early modern ballads featuring a ghost. For context, ballads would usually be about current events, and tended to be very sensationalised versions of the news set to familiar melodies. There were lots of ballads
Medieval True Crime: When a Corpse Solved Its Own Murder
In 1503, in the quiet Swiss village of Ettiswil, a woman’s corpse was laid out in the churchyard. Her name was Margaretha, and she had died suddenly; too suddenly, some whispered. Her husband, Hans Spiess, had fled the town, but he was eventually tracked down and brought back to face justice. Justice, however, didn’t mean what we might expect. Spiess
The Censored Witches' Flying Potion (That Promised a "Lover")
"Rub this on your skin, get a lover." That’s not clickbait. It’s a sixteenth-century recipe, written in all seriousness by the Italian natural philosopher Giambattista Della Porta. He recorded the formula for an ointment, said to be used by witches. The claim was that it could induce an extraordinary phenomenon: it would make the witch believe she was flying and
Fake Virginity: The Painful Renaissance ‘Cures’ They Sold Women
So, of course, someone offered a solution. A 17th-century English translation of an Italian book called Magia Naturalis puts it like this: In case that wasn’t clear: the
Before TikTok: History's ORIGINAL Influencers
Scrolling through TikTok, Instagram, YouTube… it feels like influencers are everywhere, a thoroughly modern invention, right? But what if I told you the original influencers weren't crafting viral videos, but commanding royal courts, dazzling high society, and shaping empires centuries ago? And the recent Met Gala? It gave us a perfect glimpse into one fascinating branch of this long history
How Water Cures Revolutionised Medicine in the 16th Century
This was written by one of my favourite historical characters, the ever-charming surgeon often accused of being a charlatan, Leonardo Fioravanti. But hold on, because here's another juicy 16th-century quote: Hmmm… Intriguing, right? This was actually a popular proverb that writer Michel de Montaigne heard from locals while travelling through Italy. So, what exactly was going on in these baths?
How Latin America Shaped Germ Theory (But History Overlooked It)
Imagine this: It's 1910, and you're strolling through an international medical conference in Europe. The legacies of Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch are being celebrated for discovering that tiny microbes—not "bad air"—cause diseases. Revolutionary! Groundbreaking! The audience applauds these European geniuses who saved humanity! And then, from the back of the room, a Brazilian doctor stands up: "Excuse me, but
Hypocras: The Medieval Wine Doctors Prescribed as Medicine
What if I told you one of the most popular medicines in medieval Europe was also the trendiest party drink? Hypocras (or 'hypocras' if you stick to the French pronunciation) was a spiced and sweetened wine so prestigious that kings gifted it to each other; it was believed to be so medically effective that doctors prescribed it, and so delicious
The Yellow Wallpaper: Behind the 'Madness' in the Pattern
Alone in her sick room in the late 19th century, a woman writes: What is going on? Still, she thinks: The narrator of this story is being treated by her husband, John, who is a doctor. Victorian medicine had some rather peculiar ideas about women's mental health. Take, for instance, the notion that intellectual stimulation could damage a woman's reproductive
How Urine Revealed Fertility in Renaissance Medicine
If a couple can't have children and you want to know whose 'fault' it is, what do you do? Well, if we're talking about Renaissance Italy, you might give this experiment a try. This recipe is from a 1529 book called Dificio di ricette, or 'House of Recipes' and I came across it recently when I was preparing a talk.
What You Need to Know About Brazil's History Before Watching I'm Still Here
'It's a weird feeling, isn't it? Feeling relief at a death certificate.' This must be one of the most powerful phrases in the Brazilian film 'I'm Still Here', which everyone seems to be talking about lately – and rightly so. The film tells the story of Eunice Paiva, whose husband, the left-wing politician Rubens Paiva, was arbitrarily arrested during the
How Brazil Redefined Modern Art (And Why It Matters)
What if I told you the most expensive artwork ever created by a Brazilian artist is about… cannibalism? Yep, you heard that right—cannibalism. But don’t worry, it’s all metaphorical. Nobody’s getting eaten here—except maybe outdated ideas about art. This is Abaporu, sometimes called the “Brazilian Mona Lisa.” But let’s be honest—it looks nothing like the Mona Lisa. There’s no mysterious
Ephelia: Unmasking a Seventeenth-Century Feminist Voice
Do you love women writers who write with humour and irony? Who criticise their society in a satirical, tongue-in-cheek way? Do you like a good literary mystery? Let me introduce you to the elusive Ephelia – yes, that's Ephelia with an 'E', not Hamlet's Ophelia with an 'O'. Ephelia was a 17th-century poet & playwright whose identity has puzzled historians and
Tudor Mince Pies: A Taste of Christmas Past
Mince pies weren’t always the sweet, fruity treats we know today. In Tudor times, they often contained meat—usually veal or mutton—along with suet, dried fruits, rosewater, and spices. Back then, sweet and savoury mingled happily in the same dish, and spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves were as much about showing off your wealth as they were about taste. These
Birth Trays in Renaissance Italy and Motherhood
What if a seemingly ordinary wooden tray could tell the story of a society's rebirth after one of the deadliest epidemics in history? "In the year of our Lord 1348, there happened at Florence, the finest city in all Italy, a most terrible plague…" So starts Boccaccio's Decameron, one of the most celebrated texts in medieval literature. The Decameron tells us much about the
Meet Saint Agatha: Sicily’s Virgin Martyr and Dessert Icon
Take a look at these paintings: What is this woman holding? We can tell she's a saint by the halo around her head, but who is she? You may know this if you're a Catholic – or an art historian – but this is St Agatha. The reason why I know this, is that
Dracula: Blood Transfusions and Control Over Women
'She wants blood, and blood she must have or die' – this is one of my favourite passages from Bram Stoker's 1897 masterpiece, Dracula. (And there are several!) So, let's set the scene. After a series of sleepwalking episodes, Lucy, one of the main characters in the novel, is left mysteriously exsanguinated: she's
17th Century "Intuitive Eating": Paracelsus and Digestion
What should you eat to be healthy? Well, the answer varies according to time and place, as we know from social media influencers who seem to constantly change their minds about what we 'should' or shouldn't eat'. But who should decide what is healthy in the first place? According to some, only you can know what works for you and
What were the "Non-Naturals"?
When I was growing up, my grandmother told me to avoid cold showers if I was having my period. I was also not supposed to leave the house with my hair wet unless it was summer. When we travelled to the mountains, my other grandmother would ‘fill her lungs with forest air’. She claimed to feel instantly healthier. I'm sure
Alchemy in the Renaissance: The Mysterious Isabella Cortese
How do you become an alchemist? This is what a 16th-century book suggests: This advice is said to come from a woman; it's from The Secrets of the Lady Isabella Cortese, published in Venice in 1561. But what does this book, and the mysterious writer to whom it is attributed, tell us about women, science, alchemy, authorship, authority and expertise
Renaissance Fitness: Exercise Rediscovery
In his book, On the Art of Exercise, the Italian physician Girolamo Mercuriale writes in a way that makes you think that, just like Botticelli and Michelangelo had 'rediscovered' the art of ancient Greece in Renaissance Italy, he too had rediscovered a lost art, the art of exercise. But, was that true? Did people stop exercising with the fall of
Eaglestones: Historical Amulets for Childbirth
Just like we might do today, throughout history, women have talked to each other about it, developed their rituals surrounding it, they have asked midwives and doctors questions, and they have prayed for protection.
Playtime in Tudor England: Toys, Games, and Childhood
Do you remember what your favourite toys were growing up? Or the games you loved playing with
Caterina Sforza: The Alchemy and Power of a Renaissance Icon
Imagine you are the ruler of an Italian city in the Renaissance; your husband has been murdered and your children were taken hostage by your political enemies, who hope to take control of your fortress. Yet the people inside are still loyal to you and are not surrendering. So, leaving your children with your enemies, you go inside the castle,
5 More Brazilian Women Who Changed History
Have you ever heard of Anita Garibaldi, the Brazilian revolutionary fighter called the 'heroine of two worlds'; or Clarice Lispector, the modernist author who was born in Ukraine and raised in Brazil, and who wrote some of the most haunting novels you will ever read…? Well, after the fantastic response to my first text about remarkable Brazilian women, I couldn’t
Green Sickness: A Historical Look at the 'Disease of Virgins'
Imagine that it's 1554, and you're the father of a young girl who is unwell. You write to a friend of yours, who is a physician, describing her symptoms, which include her being 'pale, as if bloodless'. And this is the reply you get: The doctor continues, writing that the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates suggests that So… the solution for
5 Brazilian Women Who Changed History
Have you ever heard of Dandara, the Afro-Brazilian warrior who was a leader in the fight against slavery? Or of Maria Quitéria, the 'Brazilian Joan of Arc'? If you haven't, you're not alone. Like her, so many incredible women in Brazilian history have been erased from the historical narrative for centuries, whether they were soldiers, artists, or writers. Luckily, that
Golden Locks: Hair Care in the Renaissance Era
Imagine you're living in Renaissance Florence and you notice you're losing your hair; maybe you're a man who's growing bald, or maybe you're a woman who's just given birth. What could you do to treat hair loss? Well, you could use a recipe like this: Yes, people really did use animal excrements in cosmetic and medical recipes – much more
Hot Cross Buns: Discovering the Easter Treat's Rich History
The hot cross bun, a cherished Easter symbol in the UK and worldwide, carries a tale woven through centuries, shrouded in mystique and tradition. While its origins remain clouded in history's fog, it is said that the journey of the hot cross bun begins in the 14th century at St Albans Abbey. According to legend, Brother Thomas Rocliffe, a 14th-century
Paracelsus: The Rebellious Doctor Who Defied Tradition
I recently found myself going down the rabbit hole of Japanese manga and anime fandom online. Now, this is something I know nothing about. I've never really been into anime or manga, but I was fascinated to learn about Van Hohenheim or 'Hohenheim of Light', a character who is a powerful alchemist in the anime series Fullmetal Alchemist, clearly inspired
Veiled Truths: Scandal and Mystery in a Renaissance Convent
Can being possessed by the devil ever be a good thing…? Well, for a 17th-century Italian nun who claimed to have seen Jesus Christ, plus literally marrying him, it kind of was. Plus it helped with all the accusations of her having sex… with another nun. Let me tell you a story. The story of Sister Benedetta Carlini, sometimes described
Fioravanti: Pioneering Surgeon-Alchemist of the Renaissance
Leonardo Fioravanti was called a Charlatan, a Poisoner, a Reformer, a Knight, a Prophet, a Miracle-Worker, a Saviour, an Alchemist, and a Fraud.
The Medicine behind food – from starters to desserts
Think of a traditional European meal. First, you'd have starters, maybe a soup, then your main dish, usually something with meat, then you might have dessert, or cheese – or even both! And, depending on what you're eating, you might be advised to pair it with different wines, or ale. Of course, how people eat varies widely across time and
The Medicine Behind the Nativity Gifts: Frankincense and Myrrh Revisited
One December, when I was around 5 years old, a nun at the Catholic school I went to in Brazil told us about the birth of Jesus. I wasn't particularly interested in the star who showed the wise men the way, but I was very intrigued by their choice of gifts for a baby. Why would they give him gold,
What Were Early Modern Beds Like?
Fairy tales don't have to make sense to be meaningful. They follow their own logic and readers – or, traditionally, listeners – get so enraptured in the story that no one really questions their elements, be they fairy godmothers, magic roses, or talking frogs. Yet there is one story that always left me puzzled when I was growing up: The
What Made a 17th-Century Midwife Good at Her Job?
Percivall Willughby (1596–1685) despised the midwives of his time. In his 1670s book, Observations in Midwifery, he intended to 'inform the ignorant common midwives', whose brutal methods were responsible for so many deaths – according to him.
Little Red Riding Hood and the Invisibility of Older Women
How old was Little Red Riding Hood? In the earliest, 16th-century versions of the tale, she was around the age of puberty. Other details you might not know include the wolf making the girl eat her grandmother's flesh (including her sexual organs and breasts) and drinking the old woman's blood from a bowl before the wolf attempts to ravish the girl.
How to Clean Your Body in the Renaissance
One of the silliest historical myths out there is that people in the past were somehow ‘dirty’ and had poor hygiene, especially compared to today’s standards. Of course, I’m generalising; each culture had different practices depending on time and place. But think of people living in the Italian Renaissance: how did they cleanse their bodies? Bodily hygiene was intimately connected
The 'Queen of Hysterics' and 19th-Century Theatrical Hysteria
Everybody was talking about hysteria in late 19th-century Paris. Hysterics appeared in novels and plays; they were painted, photographed, sculpted and drawn. People crowded the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris to attend demonstrations and lectures on hysterics given by the world-renowned neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893), and to gaze at his star patients. Who could resist admiring the ‘queen of hysterics’, the beautiful Blanche Wittmann (1859-1913), her face relaxed and insensible as she was pierced with needles by doctors, to demonstrate how she couldn’t feel any pain?
Maternal Mortality and "The Mother’s Legacy to Her Unborn Child"
Giving birth in early modern Europe was a dangerous rite of passage, one which most women would go through, and some would not survive. Women were largely defined by their domestic roles as wives and mothers: going through childbirth often changed a woman’s social status, as matrons were usually more respected, in no doubt thanks to their lived experiences giving birth and caring for their families.
What is the 'Doctrine of Signatures'?
In the early modern period, an impotent man might be prescribed boiled orchid roots. But why? Well, they resembled testicles and were consequentially believed to be useful in improving male potency. If you think this sounds weird, stay with me. Efficacy aside, prescribing this remedy makes sense… if you accept the premise of the doctrine of signatures, one of the
A Grip on the History of Forceps in Medicine
On a cold winter evening in 1600, Peter Chamberlen the Younger found himself attending to a labouring woman on the outskirts of London. The mother-to-be had been in labour for over 48 hours, and the situation was dire. Despite his wealth of experience, Peter feared that both the mother and child might be lost.
Eostre and Easter: ‘Rebranding’ a Spring Goddess to Fit Christianity?
Have you ever wondered where the word ‘Easter’ comes from? Let me introduce you to the Germanic goddess of dawn and spring, Eostre, after whom Easter was possibly named. (Historians and folklorists are still debating this, largely due to the paucity of sources about her.) Like many other Anglo-Saxon deities, Eostre was a victim of the expansion of Christianity, as
The Surprising Connection Between Freud and Greek Mythology
If there’s one person who thought and wrote about penises a lot, it was Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the ‘father of psychoanalysis’. Like many nineteenth-century intellectuals, Freud was interested in sex and sexuality, and how lived experiences shape our minds. For men like him (for it was mostly men who were writing about this subject), Greco-Roman antiquity was key to understanding
Moderata Fonte and ‘The Woman Question’
Is there anything more enlightening than listening in while women discuss their role in society? As the recent adaptation of Miriam Toews novel Women Talking shows, this is a pretty fascinating premise. In Toews’ story, which was inspired by real events, eight women from a Mennonite community gather to decide what to do in the aftermath of horrific sexual attacks
The Fascinating World of Aphrodisiacs
When most of us think of aphrodisiacs nowadays, we imagine a menu of oysters and chocolate, perfect for Valentine’s Day – even if the odd garlic or fenugreek makes an apparition here and there. In the modern world, aphrodisiacs are meant to stimulate the body and increase sexual pleasure: the word comes from the Greek goddess of love and sex,
Why is it that we imagine an older woman when we think of a witch?
Close your eyes and imagine a witch. What do you see? In my case, perhaps unsurprisingly, I picture the Wicked Witch of the West as played by the wonderful Margaret Hamilton: stooped posture, hooked nose, hairy moles on a green face, slim body dressed in black robes, wispy hair covered by a hat, broom clutched menacingly in Dorothy’s direction. She’s
What is the ‘Wandering Womb’?
Imagine ‘an animal inside an animal’, a thirsty creature, dragging itself in search of water, pushing aside everything that was on its way… Do you think that sounds sinister? So do I.
‘Holy Anorexia’: The Fascinating Connection between Religious Women and Fasting
Social media might make it seem like fasting (and especially intermittent fasting) is something new. But fasting – voluntarily or not – has arguably existed for as long as humans have. People have abstained from food throughout history for many different reasons, not least of which scarcity of nourishment (think of hunter-gatherers during a harsh winter).
‘Extended’ Breastfeeding in the Elizabethan Period
In the UK today, only 1% of babies are exclusively breastfed by the time they are six months old, as recommended by the World Health Organization. Even fewer infants are breastfed by their first birthday; extended breastfeeding, nursing beyond that age, is rarer still. Yet it was not always so.
‘Follow what I say’: Isabella Cortese and Early Modern Female Alchemists
ow would you go about learning alchemy? Well, I would start by making a list of alchemists whose work I should read. Then, I would do a lot of reading. That might seem unimaginative – and it is – but, for centuries, that’s how people learned alchemy. Of course, they would eventually go to their laboratories or kitchens and try things out in practice. But reading was essential.
On the Medusa, Vampires, and the Fear of the Female Body
I recently read Natalie Haynes’ incredible new novel, Stone Blind: Medusa’s Story (which I highly recommend), and that got me thinking about female monsters – and menstruating women. The Medusa is an ambiguous figure: both fascinating and repulsive, aggressive and victimised. While we all know her power to turn men who looked at her into stone, few people know her story.
Motherhood and Wet Nurses: Breastfeeding in Early Modern Times
If you were living in early modern England (say in the 17th century), there were so many things to consider after you had a baby. But one of the main decisions had to do with breastfeeding: should the mother feed the child herself, or should a wet nurse be hired? (A wet nurse was someone whose job was to care for and breastfeed the baby.)
Elizabeth I and Ageing
A few days before Queen Elizabeth II’s death, she met the UK’s new prime minister, Liz Truss, at Balmoral Castle, in Scotland. Royal watchers were quick to point out what appeared to be a bluish bruise on her hand, as concerns over her health grew. At the time of her death, the Queen (1926-2022) was 96 years old, having reigned for 70 years. As the media coverage of the mourning and funeral rites took over the UK and much of the world, I couldn’t stop thinking about the Queen’s hands and ageing. I inevitably thought of Elizabeth I’s hands, famously beautiful with their long fingers, even into her old age.
Why Did People Try to Induce Menstruation in the Past?
Imagine that you’re a 16th-century person flicking through the pages of Alessio Piemontese’s best-selling book, which contained everything from how to make invisible ink to how to make strawberries preserve. And then you come across this most interesting ‘secret’:
‘Unnatural Mothers’: The Surprising History of Abandoned Children
When I was around four years old, I was terrified of the tale of Hansel and Gretel. How could a mother just abandon her children in the woods, even if the family had nothing to eat? Somehow that seemed even worse than the fact that a grandmotherly figure would trap those same children and try to eat them.
What are the ‘Non-Naturals’?
When I was growing up, I was told to avoid cold showers if I was having my period. I was also not supposed to leave the house with my hair wet unless it was summer. When we travelled to the mountains, my maternal grandmother would ‘fill her lungs with forest air’. She claimed to feel instantly healthier.
Giving Birth in 17th-century England: A Tentative List
What to do, what to buy, what to organise, what to cook, what to read… I made so many lists when I was pregnant that it would take a new list to organise them all! Expectant parents are bombarded today with information about how to prepare for the arrival of a baby. Yet childbirth itself has never been more medicalised and arguably out of families’ control. But what about the past, before social media, Amazon wish lists, and insipid hospital food? Here’s a list of how to prepare for a new baby in 17th-century England.
Caterina Sforza: Using All the Weapons in Her Arsenal
After her husband was assassinated and she and her children were taken prisoners by their political enemies, Caterina Sforza (1463-1509) found herself in a precarious position. The conspirators wanted to take control of the castle in Forlì, yet the people inside, loyal to Caterina, did not want to surrender.
Green Sickness and Virginity
From the mid-16th century to the early 20th century, young girls described as suffering from bodily weakness, dietary disorders, heart palpitations, fainting spells, paleness, and an absence of menstruation (amenorrhoea), were often given the diagnosis of ‘green sickness’, the ‘disease of virgins’.
Is the Catholic Church Harsher on Abortion Now than in Medieval Times?
When discussing divisive subjects such as abortion, it is common for people to reference ‘historical reasons’ to justify their appalling politics. There are two problems with this kind of argument. Firstly, this ‘history’ is often an oversimplified version of the past, in which facts are not only bent to serve a political agenda but completely rewritten.
Opening up the Mother: Caesarean Sections and the Romans
Some persistent myths haunt historians. One of my personal pet peeves is the idea that Julius Caesar was born through a caesarean section. The name Caesar supposedly came from the cut maternal uterus: caeso matris utero, in Latin. Which doesn’t make any sense.
What is the Humoral Theory?
Humours are everywhere. People can react cholerically to an insult, music can make us melancholic, time with friends can lift our spirits, and we can be in good or bad humour. This is not surprising. The humoral theory has a long history, beginning with the Greek Hippocratic writers in the fifth century BC, being reinterpreted by the Roman physician Galen in the second century AD.
Female Genital Mutilation and ‘The West’: Past and Present
According to the United Nations (UNFPA-UNICEF), there are 4.2 million girls around the world at risk of being subjected to female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in 2022. FGM consists of cutting or removing the external female genitals, and it is often performed without anaesthesia by untrained people, resulting in life-long physical and emotional problems for the person who undergoes it. FGM is a human rights violation and ending it is a deeply feminist fight.
‘Let Nature Take its Course’: In Defence of ‘Gentle’ Midwifery
In the 16th and 17th centuries, a delivery room could be a noisy place. Childbirth was a social event, and birthing chambers were often full of women (friends, relatives, servants, midwives…), celebrating and helping the one giving birth. However, whenever I picture this scene, I remember how important it was to me that my birthing environment be calm and quiet.
What is Gender History?
In the 1920s, Virginia Woolf famously described how the history of women was unknown: ‘It has been common knowledge for ages that women exist, bear children, have no beards, and seldom go bald, but save in these respects […] we know little of them and have little evidence upon which to base our conclusions.’ Woolf was writing shortly after women were granted the vote in the UK (1918), after an arduous campaign by the suffragettes. This first feminist wave, associated with the political women’s suffrage movement, did not prompt historians to investigate women’s history with a few exceptions.
‘Neither, and yet both’: ‘Hermaphroditism’ and Binaries
It is estimated that between 1 and 2% of people have some kind of intersex variation and fall under the umbrella term of ‘sex variant’. (That’s around the same number of people who have red hair!) Yet, it is only in recent decades that intersex people have gained space in mainstream debates about equality and human rights. However, they have figured prominently in medical, religious, and legal arguments for centuries, serving as examples of competing ways of understanding gender and sex.
Not ‘fit for child-bearing’: Fatness and (In)fertility
According to the UK's National Health System, ‘Being overweight or obese’ is considered a risk factor for infertility. Pregnant people who are fat are often told about higher risks of complications during pregnancy and may have their birth choices limited due to their size. The fat acceptance movement have shown how fraught the relationship between health systems and fat, pregnant bodies health can be, and how pervasive and harmful fat shaming is. Unfortunately, it is also an issue that overweight people have dealt with for millennia.
What is Cultural History?
Cultural history is not the history of culture – whether we think of culture in a strict sense (high culture…
(Un)sexing, Violence, and Women
As she finds out the witches’ prophecy about Macbeth being crowned king and the current king’s imminent visit to their home, Lady Macbeth invokes evil spirits to help her be rid of her feminine qualities so that, together with Macbeth, she can murder the king:
‘Before she was in labour, she gave birth’
As Christmas approaches, we are bombarded with images of the birth of Jesus Christ – or rather, with depictions of mother and child after the delivery. Indeed, while there are modern reimaginings of what this scene might have looked like, there are few earlier representations of Mary’s labour. How might that scene have looked? How did people conceptualise Jesus’ birth
'…but the Art of Midwifry chiefly concern us'!
In her 1671 midwifery manual, the English midwife Jane Sharp defined the art of midwifery as ‘doubtless one of the most useful and necessary of all Arts, for the being and well-being of Mankind’. A midwife should combine theoretical and practical knowledge, even if the former was harder to obtain in a world where women could not attend universities and
What are Secrets of Women?
Throughout history, the womb was often thought to be a mysterious organ, which could make women ill yet create new life. Knowledge about women's bodies and especially reproduction was thought to be hidden in the womb, 'secret' from prying eyes.
What Hamnet Gets Right (And Historians Got Wrong)
She Became a Nun Just to Avoid Marriage (and Read Books)
Below Stairs at Christmas: A Victorian Servant Speaks
The Business of Virginity in 18th-Century London
The Midwife’s Ghost: A Murder Ballad from 1680
Medieval True Crime: When a Corpse Solved Its Own Murder
The Censored Witches' Flying Potion (That Promised a "Lover")
Fake Virginity: The Painful Renaissance ‘Cures’ They Sold Women
Before TikTok: History's ORIGINAL Influencers
How Water Cures Revolutionised Medicine in the 16th Century
How Latin America Shaped Germ Theory (But History Overlooked It)
Hypocras: The Medieval Wine Doctors Prescribed as Medicine
The Yellow Wallpaper: Behind the 'Madness' in the Pattern
How Urine Revealed Fertility in Renaissance Medicine
What You Need to Know About Brazil's History Before Watching I'm Still Here
How Brazil Redefined Modern Art (And Why It Matters)
Ephelia: Unmasking a Seventeenth-Century Feminist Voice
Tudor Mince Pies: A Taste of Christmas Past
Birth Trays in Renaissance Italy and Motherhood
Meet Saint Agatha: Sicily’s Virgin Martyr and Dessert Icon
Dracula: Blood Transfusions and Control Over Women
17th Century "Intuitive Eating": Paracelsus and Digestion
What were the "Non-Naturals"?
Alchemy in the Renaissance: The Mysterious Isabella Cortese
Renaissance Fitness: Exercise Rediscovery
Eaglestones: Historical Amulets for Childbirth
Playtime in Tudor England: Toys, Games, and Childhood
Caterina Sforza: The Alchemy and Power of a Renaissance Icon
5 More Brazilian Women Who Changed History
Green Sickness: A Historical Look at the 'Disease of Virgins'
5 Brazilian Women Who Changed History
Golden Locks: Hair Care in the Renaissance Era
Hot Cross Buns: Discovering the Easter Treat's Rich History
Paracelsus: The Rebellious Doctor Who Defied Tradition
Veiled Truths: Scandal and Mystery in a Renaissance Convent
Fioravanti: Pioneering Surgeon-Alchemist of the Renaissance
The Medicine behind food – from starters to desserts
The Medicine Behind the Nativity Gifts: Frankincense and Myrrh Revisited
What Were Early Modern Beds Like?
What Made a 17th-Century Midwife Good at Her Job?
Little Red Riding Hood and the Invisibility of Older Women
How to Clean Your Body in the Renaissance
The 'Queen of Hysterics' and 19th-Century Theatrical Hysteria
Maternal Mortality and "The Mother’s Legacy to Her Unborn Child"
What is the 'Doctrine of Signatures'?
A Grip on the History of Forceps in Medicine
Eostre and Easter: ‘Rebranding’ a Spring Goddess to Fit Christianity?
The Surprising Connection Between Freud and Greek Mythology
Moderata Fonte and ‘The Woman Question’
The Fascinating World of Aphrodisiacs
Why is it that we imagine an older woman when we think of a witch?
What is the ‘Wandering Womb’?
‘Holy Anorexia’: The Fascinating Connection between Religious Women and Fasting
‘Extended’ Breastfeeding in the Elizabethan Period
‘Follow what I say’: Isabella Cortese and Early Modern Female Alchemists
On the Medusa, Vampires, and the Fear of the Female Body
Motherhood and Wet Nurses: Breastfeeding in Early Modern Times
Elizabeth I and Ageing
Why Did People Try to Induce Menstruation in the Past?
‘Unnatural Mothers’: The Surprising History of Abandoned Children
What are the ‘Non-Naturals’?
Giving Birth in 17th-century England: A Tentative List
Caterina Sforza: Using All the Weapons in Her Arsenal
Green Sickness and Virginity
Is the Catholic Church Harsher on Abortion Now than in Medieval Times?
Opening up the Mother: Caesarean Sections and the Romans
What is the Humoral Theory?
Female Genital Mutilation and ‘The West’: Past and Present
‘Let Nature Take its Course’: In Defence of ‘Gentle’ Midwifery
What is Gender History?
‘Neither, and yet both’: ‘Hermaphroditism’ and Binaries
Not ‘fit for child-bearing’: Fatness and (In)fertility
What is Cultural History?
(Un)sexing, Violence, and Women
‘Before she was in labour, she gave birth’
'…but the Art of Midwifry chiefly concern us'!