Medieval Nun Fakes Her Own Death

‘Extraordinary – like a Monty Python sketch’ … Gary Brannan and Sarah Rees Jones examine one of the archishops’ registers. Photograph: University of York. From The Guardian.

Not everyone wants to stay in a nunnery. Recent archival work discovered the clever attempt by Joan of Leeds to escape her confinement. As Alison Flood tells us, “A team of medieval historians working in the archives at the University of York has found evidence that a nun in the 14th century faked her own death and crafted a dummy ‘in the likeness of her body’ in order to escape her convent and pursue – in the words of the archbishop of the time – ‘the way of carnal lust’.” Read more about this fascinating piece of history from The Guardian.