The Once and Future Sex

Reading this book is like listening to your incredibly knowledgeable historian friend talk about medieval society over drinks. Janega’s turns of phrase and sharp observations make me laugh, and at the same time, I feel my mind soak up knowledge like a sponge.

This book is about what medieval people thought and why, going back to the philosophies and influences of ancient Greece and Rome. It tackles medieval beauty standards, sexual practices, family life, and work life. It addresses fart jokes and eyeliner, as well as ideas about biology and class disparities. We see women farming, ruling, weaving, brewing, and… show more.

Eleanor Janega is that rare beast – an academic who brings history to vivid, irreverent, and hilarious life for the average reader.

I first encountered her waxing lyrical on medieval sex on The Medieval Podcast, and she’s since launched her own podcast: We’re Not So Different. Medieval ideas of gender affected everything about a woman’s life in the Middle Ages, and books like The Once and Future Sex are wonderfully helpful to novelists like me who like to get their historical details right. Besides, Janega is a legend and I’ll read or listen to anything she creates.