By While searching for inspiration for this year’s Christmas themed post (previously we have covered mince pies for example) I stumbled across the Christmas Rose, otherwise known as Hellebor Niger. Israel Hiebner’s Mysterium Sigllorum, herbarum & lapidum informed readers that Black Hellebore was ‘commonly use[d] to blossom about Christmas‘ and was
By Understanding Anger
Changing Perceptions of Anger in the Eighteenth Century A guest post by Dr Lina Minou To draw an image of the physiology of anger in the eighteenth century was to draw an image on the verge of pathology. Representations of the human body in anger centre on notions of excess:
Flesh and Spirit
This week’s post is a quick look at the anthology Flesh and Spirit: An Anthology of Seventeenth-century Women’s Writing August saw the first anniversary of the publication of Flesh and Spirit: An Anthology of Seventeenth-century Women’s Writing (Manchester University Press, 2014) co-edited by Sara, with Rachel Adcock (Keele) and Anna Ziomek. Since we didn’t
Pumpkin powers
As Halloween approaches and the shops fill up with pumpkins ready for carving into laterns, I thought it would be interesting to see what our early modern forebears thought they were useful for. The second edition of A Treatise of all Sorts of Foods, both ANIMAL and VEGETABLE attributed to
Review: Jane Wenham the Witch of Walkern
On Saturday 3 October I went to the Watford Palace Theater to see Jane Wenham the Witch of Walkern, written by Rebecca Lenkeiwicz. I had several reasons for watching the play. As part of my teaching this year we will be discussing the issues raised in the play. Also one