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Feb 26
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Amy Freeborn's avatar

Thanks Stephen

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Celia Lewis's avatar

Oh you've made my day, Amy!! Makes great sense, and I absolutely love the badges etc. Vulvas with a crown, indeed!! I never thought of the pilgrimages as being for "fun" as well as religious purposes... :)

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Amy Freeborn's avatar

Aw, that's great to hear! The badges are so fun, aren't they!

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Ben Loomis's avatar

Great piece! I’ve seen these badges in lots of places — there’s a particularly big collection in Ypres’ Yper museum — but your ideas here definitely deepen my understanding of them. Thanks!

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Amy Freeborn's avatar

Thanks Ben, but all credit must go to Dr Janega. The badges first caught my eye because they were bawdy/‘feminist’; she helped me understand the historical context.

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Stephen Weller's avatar

having done graduate wk in theology and, at the time, dug into contemporary research in medieval studies, i have a knee jerk reaction against these sorts of takes where we read our sexual norms onto a society that was by and large remarkably prudish, as in medieval studies this is so often tastelessly and thoughtlessly done. but in this case i struggle to find another explanation.

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