Kim Racon

Author: Kim Racon

Finding the lesbian premodern: Does it take one to know one?

By Kim Racon May 27, 2014 LGBTQ, Medieval 1 comment

Kim Racon How many medieval lesbians do you know? Or, are you wondering if there even were any lesbians in the Middle Ages? To paraphrase a line from Diane Watt’s recent Bright Club appearance, some women in the Middle Ages knew they were lesbians—they just didn’t know they were medieval! […]

‘In the manner of a woman’: John/Eleanor Rykener and the Inessentiality of Gender

By Kim Racon April 1, 2014 LGBTQ, Medieval 4 comments

Kim Racon On what was likely a cold Sunday night in Cheapside, London, in December 1394, John Britby passed through the high road, catching the eye of a woman called Eleanor. She was bundled up but still held his attention. He approached her and asked her to have sex with […]