As you may know I have already produced three episodes about Women in the Roman World which are available for you on the Ad-Free Bonus Feed at Patreon.
I now present three more episodes about Women in the Byzantine World. And these episodes are very much a continuation of that series. In part one we talk about how the arrival of Christianity affected Roman women. We also hear a couple of Saints’ Lives. These tales give us a rare glimpse of how women appeared in popular culture.
This first episode is free but parts 2 and 3 are only available on the Ad-Free Bonus Feed at Patreon.
Pic: Saint Mary of Egypt, French, 15th century (British Library)
Thanks to the kind listeners who have pointed out that the ‘Immaculate Conception’ is a Catholic concept and not necessarily accepted by the Orthodox. This was entirely my fault, I was looking for a synonym for virgin birth and have blundered.
Download: Byzantine Stories. Episode 9 – Women in the Byzantine World. Part 1 – Immense and Immeasurable
RSS Feed: The History of Byzantium
The Incidental Music used is “Introspection” from Purple-Planet.com
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The History of Byzantium 
Thanks to the kind listeners who have pointed out that the ‘Immaculate Conception’ is a Catholic concept and not necessarily accepted by the Orthodox. This was entirely my fault, I was looking for a synonym for virgin birth and have blundered.
Although the particular doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is not accepted by the Orthodox as it is by the Catholics, the circumstances of the conception and nativity of the Theotokos are nonetheless miraculous: born to a couple, Sts. Joachim and Anna, in their steep old age, and dedicated to God in the Temple at three years of age. The betrothal of the Virgin Mary to her elderly relative Joseph was indeed not a marriage for love or procreation, but for him to safeguard her in this lifelong role, since a woman grown could no longer remain in the Temple. Her perpetual virginity is not merely a Byzantine belief, but a universally Christian one, existing in the Roman and Monophysite Churches, and even accepted by Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and Wesley.