This study explores the extraordinary afterlife of the Spanish legend of King Roderick and La Cava in plays, poems, novels and operas from the Eighth century to the present day.

This study explores the extraordinary afterlife of the Spanish legend of King Roderick and La Cava in plays, poems, novels and operas from the Eighth century to the present day.

After the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660, Protestants worried that King Charles II might favour religious freedom for Roman Catholics, and many suspected that the king was unduly influenced by his Catholic mistresses. Nell Gwyn, actress and royal mistress, stood apart by virtue of her Protestant loyalty. In 1681, Gwyn, her carriage surrounded by an angry anti-Catholic mob, famously declared 'I am the protestant whore.' Her self-branding invites an investigation into the alignment between sex and politics during this period, and in this study, Alison Conway relates courtesan narrative to cultural and religious anxieties. In new readings of canonical works by Aphra Behn, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, and Samuel Richardson, Conway argues that authors engaged the same questions about identity, nation, authority, literature, and politics as those pursued by Restoration polemicists. Her study reveals the recurring connection between sexual impropriety and religious heterodoxy in Restoration thought, and Nell Gwyn, writ large as the nation's Protestant Whore, is shown to be a significant figure of sexual, political, and religious controversy.

Plucked as a prize of war from the palace of the poet-king of Sevilla, princess Zaida lost her name, her religion and her family in a single day. Isolated in San Facund, the monastic heart of the Castilian kings vast realm, Isabels Psalter and folio of Islamic poems kept her spirit alive in a town that considered her "a Moorish whore." Betrayal and a clever escape led her to a new life, and a chance to write her colorful tale. "The Moorish Whore" is based on the true story of an 11th century princess.

This fresh and persuasively argued book examines the origins of pornography in Britain and presents a comprehensive overview of women's role in the evolution of obscene fiction. Carefully monitoring the complex interconnections between three related debates--that over the masquerade, that over the novel, and that over prostitution--Mudge contextualizes the growing literary need to separate good fiction from bad and argues that that process was of crucial importance to the emergence of a new, middle-class state. Looking closely at sermons, medical manuals, periodical essays, and political tracts as well as poetry, novels, and literary criticism, The Whore's Story tracks the shifting politics of pleasure in eighteenth-century Britain and charts the rise of modern, pornographic sensibilities.

Of all the things modern people of faith overlook or choose to ignore in the Bible, stories of sexual exploitation are near the top of the list. This isn’t so different from our world today, when victims of trafficking, rape, and harassment are dismissed and disbelieved, their stories twisted and erased. Trauma-informed educator and minister Camille Hernandez dives deep into the Bible’s stories of exploitation and abuse to name the difficult truths buried in Scripture, address the forms such violence takes in modern society, and illuminate a path of healing and hope. With a blend of storytelling, cultural analysis, and trauma-informed care, The Hero and the Whore invites readers to reconsider their assumptions about victims of sexual exploitation and respond with compassionate understanding that will bring us all to the wholeness God desires.

A sensitive innocent, Hendrickje Stoffels escapes the harsh realities of her garrison home-town to take up a servant's role in Rembrandt's household. She soon becomes his lover and closest confidante, and plays witness to the highs and lows of the great artist's life. But Hendrickje is fated to discover the hypocrisy and greed of society in Amsterdam's Golden Age. In sensuous prose, Matton paints a powerful fictional portrait of this impassioned relationship through the eyes of a remarkable woman.

When Georgiana first enters court as a lady in waiting she is amazed at the astounding elegance and glamour of the English court. She is desperate to become as desirable and beautiful as the sophisticated ladies at court. In a lavish ball she is surrounded by many handsome men, but only one has caught her eye, Oliver Shaw. When the two lovers plan to run away, Oliver leaves her for his wife to be. Hurt and forgotten, Georgiana starts to flirt and catches the eye of another handsome man, the King of England. With the King's favour, Georgiana's power and wealth increases. As she continues to rise higher at court she struggles between her growing feelings for King Richard, her duty to obey her family and her guilt for betraying the woman she serves and adores, the Queen of England. She soon realizes though that the English court is not as pure as it seems. In a court ruled by ambition and scheming, the higher she rises, the more enemies she gains. Little does she know Georgiana is unwittingly playing her part in a sinister plot. With dark secrets of her past which could threaten her future and a King ready to easily get rid of his past wife, how much danger is Georgiana getting in to?A fictional story based in 16th century England and inspired by Henry VIII and his wife's.

The final book of the Bible, Revelation prophesies the ultimate judgement of mankind in a series of allegorical visions, grisly images and numerological predictions. According to these, empires will fall, the "Beast" will be destroyed and Christ will rule a new Jerusalem. With an introduction by Will Self.

Written with an insider's keen understanding of court life and filled with delicious details born of impeccable research, Cupid and the King explores a little-known chapter of the history of women's roles in the royal bedrooms of Europe.