eng

  • Lilith: the story of a woman turned into a demon because she refused to obey men

    There is a figure that keeps resurfacing in books, discussions, astrology, and modern reinterpretations of history. Her name is Lilith, and she seems to change face every time someone tells her story. Now… a clarification is necessary right away, because over these thousands of years an incredible number of legends have been built around Lilith.…

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  • Did people take drugs in the Middle Ages?

    And if I told you that they did, how would you react?Yes, it was a harsh era… austere… so much so that perhaps someone needed to get high… or perhaps not.Maybe drugs, as we understand them today, were not meant to get people “high” at all… but let’s take this one step at a time.…

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  • How did people insult each other in the Middle Ages?

    You probably think that swearing is a modern invention. That profanity belongs to us, the enlightened, irreverent present, and that in the Middle Ages, for instance, not only was it impossible, but it was actually quite likely that God would strike you down from the sky and set you on fire. Well, no. In the…

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  • Heloise: A woman’s view of the Middle Ages. Love, body, and power beyond Abelard.

    When the name Heloise is spoken, collective memory almost automatically turns to another figure: Pierre Abélard. Their love story, overwhelming, scandalous, tragic, has, over time, become one of the founding myths of Western romantic imagination. Yet to stop there is to betray precisely what makes Heloise an exceptional figure. For Heloise is not merely the…

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  • A Night as King: Christmas in the Middle Ages

    When we think of Christmas, we most often think of the tree, Santa Claus, lights, and huge family tables filled with laughter and arguments (yes, that happens too, let’s admit it peacefully!). But in the Middle Ages, how was Christmas experienced? First of all, Christmas festivities did not begin on December 8 as they do…

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  • Sans Removyr: the hidden promise of Elizabeth of York

    Objects, as we know, travel through time. They retain something of us, something we chose to imprint so that our children, our grandchildren, and all those who come after us might understand who we truly were. Sometimes a single book, a line, a signature, a motto… is enough to cry out to the world, centuries…

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  • The Naughty Side of History: Medieval Swear Words

    All my life I’ve heard people say: “What is this, the Middle Ages?” or “It feels like we’ve gone back to the Middle Ages,” whenever they want to comment on something absurd that makes us regress so much we turn into barbarians, puritans, God-fearing souls destined to die of the plague. And every time I…

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  • Cesare Borgia: the Prince beyond the Black Legend

    In collective memory, the name of Cesare Borgia evokes intrigue, crimes, and cruelty. The “black legend” of the Borgias painted him as a Renaissance monster—fascinating and dangerous, capable of killing brothers and betraying allies without remorse. Yet behind this mask of blood and fear lies a cultured, refined man, a talented strategist and visionary politician,…

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  • Sexuality in the Fifteenth Century: Between Sin and Medicine

    A few months ago, I wrote about sex toys in the Middle Ages, you can find the article here. Today I’ve chosen to step into the bedrooms of both common people and royals, to show that no matter which century you live in, or where you live, sexuality has always remained the same throughout the…

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  • 22 August 1485, the day loyalty died

    “Treason! Treason!” These were the last words of Richard III on the battlefield of Bosworth, just before a blow struck him from behind, ending his life at only 32 years of age. In recent weeks I have deliberately chosen not to post anything, as my mind has remained fixed on an event deeply rooted in…

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