Rosalie Esther Gabay Bernheim

I began my PhD at the University of St Andrews in October 2021 under the supervision of Professor Bettina Bildhauer and Dr Victoria Turner. My project, funded  by the St Leonard’s World-Leading St Andrews Doctoral Scholarship, explores the significance of the menstrual cycle within the context of medieval Judaism and Christianity. Focusing on texts from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries, composed in Old French, Latin, Hebrew, my study encompasses sources from French-, German-, and Spanish-speaking regions, and written in Old French, Latin, and Hebrew. 

The core of my research challenges traditional readings of medieval European Jews, Judaeo-Christian relations, and the menstrual cycle, which have often been framed in terms of negativity, separation, and exclusion. To move beyond these, I have selected a diverse corpus of texts from Jewish and Christian traditions that address the menstrual cycle of key biblical female characters, including Eve, Sarah, Rachel, Judith, as well as the female personifications of Judaism and Christianity. By concentrating on these shared biblical characters, my comparative examination seeks to understand how these menstrual cycles were treated, perceived, and discussed in both religions, highlighting parallels and differences in their approaches.

My research emphasises that interactions between Judaism and Christianity concerning menstrual discourse were instrumental in the identities of both religions. These interactions demonstrate that Judaism and Christianity were not isolated communities with entirely separate views; rather, they were deeply intertwined, often engaging with each other’s perspectives. My comparative analysis shows that both religions were mindful of each other when discussing female characters and their menstrual cycles, using this discourse as a space for interreligious dialogue and interaction.

|My thesis explores a broad range of sources, including biblical commentaries, Bible translations, and religious narratives. By exploring these overlooked texts, I hope to show how widespread the belief that the menstrual cycle was essential to the formation of the medieval Judeo-Christian community and religion. this belief that menstruation was essential to producing community and religion. By considering the medieval biblical menstrual cycle as intrinsic to religious identity, my thesis seeks to challenge and reinterpret the dominant discourse that views menstruation as impure, dirty, and a marker of inferiority. This perspective also allows for a more nuanced understanding of how both religions contributed to and influenced each other's beliefs and practices, particularly in the context of menstrual discourse.