An academic summary of thoughts in the history of menstruation: PERIODS? EW! That is not a flippant comment. For literally thousands of years menstruation has been considered disgusting, unclean and… Read more A History of Menstruation →
Famously, Queen Victoria didn’t believe that lesbians existed. She’s not the only one to think that, despite evidence of queer female love and sex cropping up all through history. Same-sex… Read more Queer Female History: attitudes towards sex →
I first heard about this book a couple of years ago when I listened to an interview between Anna-Marie Crowhurst and Jan Campbell (listen/watch here) and then totally forgot about… Read more Mini book review: The Illumination of Ursula Flight by Anna-Marie Crowhurst →
Since the dawn of time women have both been having sex, and trying not to get pregnant. The history of contraception is long, and detailed, and usually kind of gross,… Read more A History of Contraception: 8 astounding Methods of Birth Control 1400-1800 →
Why did Anne Boleyn die when her marriage to Henry collapsed, instead of being divorced and exiled?
Eleanor Cobham ended her life divorced, disgraced and imprisoned, but she began it as a lady and lover of the brother of a king. How did she get to that?… Read more Eleanor Cobham: Mistress. Duchess. Witch? →
On 9th July 1540, after just six months, Anne of Cleves’ marriage was over. She’d arrived in England from Germany at the start of January, and married the ageing Henry… Read more Anne of Cleves: What Happened to the Other Queen Who Survived? →
The story of Henry VIII and his six wives already reads like a melodrama: a mix of sex, love, death and betrayal. Throw the presence of Jane Boleyn in there… Read more Jane Boleyn: The Curse of Henry VIII’s Queens? →