The Complexity of Beauty and Virtue in Medieval Times

Beauty fads come and go - remember super low-rise jeans in the 90s? IYKYK.

What was considered cool and beautiful in the medieval period? What skincare routines were medieval people doing? And how did the Black Death affect how people dressed and presented themselves?

In this new mini-series, we'll be exploring the beauty standards - and ideas of ugliness - throughout time periods in history.

In this second episode Kate is joined by historian and author Dr. Eleanor Janega, co-host of our sister podcast Gone Medieval, to find out why wearing make-up was a crime.

This episode was edited by Tim Arstall. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  

You can take part in our listener survey here.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.