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Full-Text Articles in History
Playing With Fire: The Medieval Judicial Ordeals And Their Downfall, Aaron Larson
Playing With Fire: The Medieval Judicial Ordeals And Their Downfall, Aaron Larson
Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal
Trials by ordeal in the Middle Ages prove to be some of the most complex secular trials in all of history. Both trial by fire, and trial by water looked to call God's judgment into play, hoping that He would make the decisions of guilt or innocence. God is all-knowing. He is all-powerful. Therefore He has all of the relevant information to determine the fates of those who go through the ordeals. Despite this, the theologians in the medieval Church looked to lessen clerical involvement in the ordeals. In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council met, and the ordeals ceased to …
Medieval Infertility: Treatments, Cures, And Consequences, Zia Simpson
Medieval Infertility: Treatments, Cures, And Consequences, Zia Simpson
The Forum: Journal of History
Since the first civilizations emerged, reproductive ability has been one of the most prominent elements in assessing a woman’s value to society. Other characteristics such as beauty, intelligence, and wealth may have been granted comparable consequence, but those are arbitrary and improvable. Fertility is genetic, and for centuries it was beyond human control. Among the medieval European nobility, fertility held even greater power. The absence of an heir could, either directly or indirectly, bring about war, economic depression, and social disorder. Catholicism provided a refuge by allowing barren women to retain their hopes, while simultaneously enriching Rome’s coffers. Other women …