Renaissance women engaging in alchemical practices, showcasing their involvement in scientific endeavors.

Alchemy in the Renaissance: The Mysterious Isabella Cortese

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How do you become an alchemist? This is what a 16th-century book suggests: This advice is said to come from a woman; it’s from The Secrets of the Lady Isabella Cortese, published in Venice in 1561. But what does this book, and the mysterious writer to whom it is attributed, tell us about women, science, alchemy, authorship, authority and expertise …

Renaissance Fitness: Exercise Rediscovery

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In his book, On the Art of Exercise, the Italian physician Girolamo Mercuriale writes in a way that makes you think that, just like Botticelli and Michelangelo had ‘rediscovered’ the art of ancient Greece in Renaissance Italy, he too had rediscovered a lost art, the art of exercise. But, was that true? Did people stop exercising with the fall of …

A historical eaglestone pendant.

Eaglestones: Historical Amulets for Childbirth

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Content warning: Miscarriage/Abortion Part 1 – What are Eaglestones? Childbirth can be scary, especially if you’ve never given birth before and don’t know what to expect. Just like we might do today, throughout history, women have talked to each other about it, developed their rituals surrounding it, they have asked midwives and doctors questions, and they have prayed for protection. …

A close-up detail from "Children’s Games" by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, illustrating children playing on a fence.

Playtime in Tudor England: Toys, Games, and Childhood

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Content warning: Animal Cruelty and Violence In describing childhood, following infancy, this is what Shakespeare wrote: I think most of us can relate to this, dragging yourself to school, zero enthusiasm, having abandonned whichever game or toy we were playing with until then. Do you remember what your favourite toys were growing up? Or the games you loved playing with …

Portrait of Caterina Sforza, attributed to Lorenzo di Credi.

Caterina Sforza: The Alchemy and Power of a Renaissance Icon

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Imagine you are the ruler of an Italian city in the Renaissance; your husband has been murdered and your children were taken hostage by your political enemies, who hope to take control of your fortress. Yet the people inside are still loyal to you and are not surrendering. So, leaving your children with your enemies, you go inside the castle, …

5 More Brazilian Women Who Changed History

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Have you ever heard of Anita Garibaldi, the Brazilian revolutionary fighter called the ‘heroine of two worlds’; or Clarice Lispector, the modernist author who was born in Ukraine and raised in Brazil, and who wrote some of the most haunting novels you will ever read…? Well, after the fantastic response to my first text about remarkable Brazilian women, I couldn’t …

Portrait of a Girl (Anonymous, 1600-1620). Wikimedia Commons.

Green Sickness: A Historical Look at the ‘Disease of Virgins’

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Imagine that it’s 1554, and you’re the father of a young girl who is unwell. You write to a friend of yours, who is a physician, describing her symptoms, which include her being ‘pale, as if bloodless’. And this is the reply you get: The doctor continues, writing that the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates suggests that So… the solution for …

5 Brazilian Women Who Changed History

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Have you ever heard of Dandara, the Afro-Brazilian warrior who was a leader in the fight against slavery? Or of Maria Quitéria, the ‘Brazilian Joan of Arc’? If you haven’t, you’re not alone. Like her, so many incredible women in Brazilian history have been erased from the historical narrative for centuries, whether they were soldiers, artists, or writers. Luckily, that …

Detail of Botticelli's Venus

Golden Locks: Hair Care in the Renaissance Era

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Imagine you’re living in Renaissance Florence and you notice you’re losing your hair; maybe you’re a man who’s growing bald, or maybe you’re a woman who’s just given birth. What could you do to treat hair loss? Well, you could use a recipe like this: Yes, people really did use animal excrements in cosmetic and medical recipes – much more …