Was the "Worst Nun in History" in Love with a Woman?
Sor Juana's love poems to the Vicereine of New Spain are intense, intimate, and still debated by scholars centuries later.
The Dark Family Secret Hidden Inside The Red Shoes
How Andersen's childhood, class shame, and strict Lutheran faith shaped his darkest fairy tale.
She Became a Nun Just to Avoid Marriage (and Read Books)
Meet Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, the 'worst nun in history'—who chose the convent over marriage to build a library and defend women's right to learn.
St Agatha: The Sicilian Martyr Honoured with Breast-Shaped Pastries
Tortured under Roman persecution for refusing marriage, Saint Agatha became one of Sicily’s most venerated saints — and inspired one of its most unusual desserts.
Green Sickness: A Historical Look at the 'Disease of Virgins'
Explore the mysterious disease of virgins that shaped medical control over young women from the 1550s to 1920s through marriage and motherhood.
Hot Cross Buns: Discovering the Easter Treat's Rich History
From 14th-century St Albans Abbey to modern bakeries—discover the mystical origins, superstitions, and traditions behind hot cross buns.
Benedetta Carlini: Scandal, Mysticism, and Sex in a Renaissance Convent
Benedetta Carlini claimed visions, performed miracles, and married Christ in a ceremony. Then investigators uncovered her sexual relationship with another nun.
Frankincense and Myrrh: From Ancient Medicine to the Nativity Story
Frankincense treated wounds and plague. Myrrh eased childbirth pain. Long before the Magi, these resins were among the ancient world's most valued medicines.
Eostre: The Spring Goddess Who Gave Easter Its Name
Did a Germanic spring goddess really give Easter its name? What the historical sources actually say about Eostre, and how her story was reinvented over centuries.
Holy Anorexia: Religious Women and Fasting
Discover 'holy anorexia'—how medieval women like St Catherine of Siena used extreme fasting as spiritual devotion, often to the point of death.
'Before she was in labour, she gave birth'
Explore how medieval theology imagined Mary's miraculous, painless childbirth—skipping labor entirely to preserve her virginal purity.
Was the "Worst Nun in History" in Love with a Woman?
Sor Juana's love poems to the Vicereine of New Spain are intense, intimate, and still debated by scholars centuries later.
The Dark Family Secret Hidden Inside The Red Shoes
How Andersen's childhood, class shame, and strict Lutheran faith shaped his darkest fairy tale.
She Became a Nun Just to Avoid Marriage (and Read Books)
Meet Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, the 'worst nun in history'—who chose the convent over marriage to build a library and defend women's right to learn.
St Agatha: The Sicilian Martyr Honoured with Breast-Shaped Pastries
Tortured under Roman persecution for refusing marriage, Saint Agatha became one of Sicily’s most venerated saints — and inspired one of its most unusual desserts.
Green Sickness: A Historical Look at the 'Disease of Virgins'
Explore the mysterious disease of virgins that shaped medical control over young women from the 1550s to 1920s through marriage and motherhood.
Hot Cross Buns: Discovering the Easter Treat's Rich History
From 14th-century St Albans Abbey to modern bakeries—discover the mystical origins, superstitions, and traditions behind hot cross buns.
Benedetta Carlini: Scandal, Mysticism, and Sex in a Renaissance Convent
Benedetta Carlini claimed visions, performed miracles, and married Christ in a ceremony. Then investigators uncovered her sexual relationship with another nun.
Frankincense and Myrrh: From Ancient Medicine to the Nativity Story
Frankincense treated wounds and plague. Myrrh eased childbirth pain. Long before the Magi, these resins were among the ancient world's most valued medicines.
Eostre: The Spring Goddess Who Gave Easter Its Name
Did a Germanic spring goddess really give Easter its name? What the historical sources actually say about Eostre, and how her story was reinvented over centuries.
Holy Anorexia: Religious Women and Fasting
Discover 'holy anorexia'—how medieval women like St Catherine of Siena used extreme fasting as spiritual devotion, often to the point of death.
'Before she was in labour, she gave birth'
Explore how medieval theology imagined Mary's miraculous, painless childbirth—skipping labor entirely to preserve her virginal purity.