Women in England, c.1275–1525

Unpleasures of the Flesh: Medieval Marriage, Masochism, and the History of Heterosexuality

“…The court heard that John's niece Joan, who shared a room with Alice, had reported that ''she saw John and Alice lying together in the same bed and heard a noise from them like they were making love together, and how two or three times Alice silently complained at the force on account of John's labour as if she had been hurt then as a result of this labour.'' 65 As Jeremy Goldberg cautions, this evidence should be read with an eye to its function. John Marrays's suit was for restitution of conjugal rights: his witness thus needed to prove that conjugal rights had in fact been established.…”

“…Two weeks later, as Anabilla Wascelyne, Marrays's sister, recalled, Alice said to John ''Sir, I do not wish further to lie with you in bed before marriage is solemnised between us, for I am mature enough to be a true wife and not a mistress-in English 'leman.' '' 67 Again, caution is necessary: Anabilla was proffering evidence of Alice's consent to the marriage. Nevertheless, the response had to be plausible and to fit an ecclesiastical court's conception of propriety; that John won his case indicates that it was and did.…”

Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo: male voices, female interpretation and the medieval English purification of women after childbirth ceremony

“…20 The 14�2-3 accounts of the parish church of Hornsea (East Riding of Yorkshire) reveal the popularity of the ritual that, at Hornsea, cost 1½d: cost 4d. 22 While a purification ceremony may have been readily paid for by a husband grateful for his wife's survival, evidence suggests that women also enjoyed this ritual. The ceremony of purification was neither a clandestine event nor an occasion for shame.…”

Batteries and the brain

“…Purkyne, Hitzig and others over 150 years ago, we know that weak electrical currents can exert potent effects on neural tissue in animals and humans. They can polarise neuronal membranes and modulate the firing of neurones as in Galvanic stimulation of the vestibular system (Goldberg et al 1984). Development of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a research tool and as a potential therapy in neurology that is both simple and safe has focused attention on evidence of how it modulates brain activity.…”