"This post acknowledges and discusses important—but often overlooked—aspects of premodern life, relationships, and identities that existed beyond the gender binary (female and male) or heteronormative couplings (a man and a woman). As curators of and specialists in medieval and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts (books made and painted by hand), our focus will be objects from the Getty collection that were produced in premodern Europe from about 1200 to 1600."
This article discusses the 1394 trial of John/Eleanor Rykener, a person who was assigned male at birth but presented as female. They were put on trial for presenting as a woman and for having sex with a man.
This blog post explores the relationship between Christianity and sexuality throughout the middle ages, especially the church's attempts to regulate sexuality by means of norms and rules.
"This article traces the history of medieval canon (and Roman) law on ‘hermaphrodites’ as a third sex, bodily different from both men and women. Contrary to what has been claimed, there is no evidence for hermaphrodites being persecuted in the Middle Ages, and the learned laws did certainly not provide any basis for such persecution. The legal status of hermaphrodites was discussed regularly, and canon lawyers were clearly aware of contemporary theology and natural philosophy."
