More than Female Empowerment: Exercise with a 16th-century Chinese legal document

A fifteen-year-old girl is charged with licentiousness, submits a petition from jail in which she claims she is innocent, and is exonerated. While this may seem like a tale of female empowerment, a critical look at the (re)production of her petition shows that things are not that simple.

Ying Zhang • February 06, 2026

Leidse mediëvistiek in podcast Middeleeuwen

In september 2023 kwam er een nieuwe podcast online, een podcast over oude geschiedenis: 'Oudheid'. Gaan we het daar nu over hebben op het Leiden Medievalists Blog? Nee, want sinds april 2025 is er namelijk ook de wekelijkse podcast 'Middeleeuwen'. Maar welk verhaal schuilt er achter die podcast?

Timo Epping • January 23, 2026

Getting Pregnant and Treating Infertility in Renaissance Italy

Deciding that you are ready to have children can be a joyous milestone. However, if a pregnancy does not occur, the experience can become a significant source of stress. How did people in Renaissance Italy deal with infertility?

Marlisa den Hartog • January 09, 2026

A forgotten Dutch medievalist? Tracing the influence of Cornelis Stoffel (1845–1908) in Old and Middle English studies

Not all academic work leaves its mark in bibliographies. Looking for traces of other kinds of scholarly engagement can broaden our understanding of our field and the people who have contributed to it.

Rachel Fletcher • December 05, 2025

The Medieval Middle East in Video Games and Board Games

As historians of the Medieval Middle East, it is hard to ignore the large gap between the things we study and the way they are presented to and consumed by most of society. This blog post focuses on how the Medieval Middle East is represented in popular culture, specifically in games.

Edmund Hayes • November 21, 2025

Avars on the Edge of History: New Discoveries from Poddunajské Biskupice

The nomadic invaders known as the Avars dominated much of Eastern and Central Europe between the 6th and 9th centuries. A recently excavated Avar cemetery at Poddunajské Biskupice, Slovakia, sheds new light on the final chapter of Avar rule in the Pannonian Basin.

Filip Kyselica • November 07, 2025

Burn after Reading: Epistolary Heresy in Tenth-Century Baghdad

A police raid, a cache of letters, an inquisition, an execution. Sometimes you have to be careful what you write.

Edmund Hayes • October 24, 2025

Gouden lokken en verstrengelde lichamen: Haar als motief van ontmannelijking in Lancelot en Aucassin et Nicolette

In 2023 schreef Jeroen van der Heide onder begeleiding van Alisa van de Haar zijn MA-scriptie over de descriptio puellae in de Middeleeuws-Franse literatuur. In deze blog onderzoekt hij hoe blond haar wordt ingezet om de mannelijkheid van Lancelot, sterridder aan Arthurs hof, te ondermijnen.

Jeroen van der Heide • October 10, 2025

The Rise of Poetry Therapy in Eleventh Century China

How did literati manage their mental health in middle period China? Melancholy, depression, and down moods were as common among them as among us today. In the absence of antidepressants and therapists, how did they get out of low spirits and regain mental balance?

Jiyan Ilbrink • September 19, 2025

leidenmedievalistsblog

Tracing syphilis and mercury in skeletal remains from a late medieval Dutch infirmary