Long before John Knox first blasted his trumpet about the ‘monstrous regiment of women’ rulers, the fear of a female head of state was considered just and natural in Medieval Europe. Several kingdoms had codified Salic Law from 500 AD onward to prevent a woman from inheriting a throne. In the 12th century, England had… Read more The Medieval Fear of Women Rulers
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. ( Ecclesiastes 1:9) While the terms ‘transgender’ and ‘gender dysphoria’ are new, the phenomenon of believing yourself to be trapped in the body of the ‘wrong’ gender is not. There is archeological evidence of… Read more Medieval Understandings of Being Transgender
Anne Boleyn miscarried a male fetus on 29 January 1536. This also happened to be the day of Katherina of Aragon’s insultingly small funeral. One wonders what the superstitious Tudors made of that? Henry’s queen was most likely into the second trimester when the fetus spontaneously aborted. In spite of continued speculation to the contrary,… Read more Miscarried of Her Savior
Sometime in January of 1502, Arthur Tudor and his bride, Katherina of Aragon, arrived at Ludlow Castle. There the young prince was to begin learning kingship by governing Wales, and to officially have some time to honeymoon with his spouse. But did Arthur consummate his marriage while they were together? According to Katherina, he did… Read more Did Arthur Tudor Consummate his Marriage?
The birth of a baby is incredibly influenced by culture. I know that seems odd, since it is a biological reality that appears to transcend cultural differences, but it is true nonetheless. In modern Western and Westernised culture birth has been centered around the technological achievements of biomedical practitioners, although that is changing as the… Read more The Woman in the Straw
Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales died as a result of complications following the birth of her stillborn son on 6 November 1817. She was only 21, and the darling of Britain. The public mourning over her death would only be matched by the loss of Princess Diana nearly 180 years later. The reasons the public… Read more The Unpreventable Death of Princess Charlotte of Wales
Although women and female family members did most of the hands on and practical work of heath care in the Medieval and Tudor period, I have to think that physicians doubtlessly earned their salary. Not only were they excellent astronomers and very competent herbalists, they were also the guys who had to examine, smell, and… Read more P is for Physician
I have noticed that nearly everyone, regardless of how staunchly they disavow astrology, is curious about the traits of their sign if someone is talking about it at a party. I am no different. When I was researching Tudor medical practices, I confess that I was enthralled while reading about latromathematics, or “medical astrology — an… Read more Latromathematics
I think we all know the old saw about how for the want of a nail a kingdom was lost. Well, it became a proverb because it is true. It is the little things on which history often pivots. Lewis of Caerleon is one of those small things on which the arc of history depended. Lewis… Read more Lewis of Caerleon
The Battle of Shrewsbury occurred on 21 July 1403 between the forces of King Henry IV of England (AKA Henry of Bolingbroke) and those of the rebelling Henry “Harry Hotspur” Percy, the 1st Earl of Northumberland. Henry IV had made Henry Percy a whole bunch of promises about how Hotspur would be rewarded if he backed… Read more The Battle of Shrewsbury