Christine Ekholst

I am a Swedish (and Canadian) historian studying the Middle Ages. My research focuses on gender, sexuality and legal history.

At Uppsala University I primarily teach courses in ancient and medieval history and courses for exchange students.

I am also the Erasmus coordinator for the Faculty of Arts. As such, you reach me on:

erasmus@hist.uu.se

Born in Stockholm, Sweden.

M.A. in history, 2002 - Stockholm University

Ph.D. in history, 2009 - Stockholm University

Postdoc fellow at Caltech, Pasadena, USA (2010)

Postdoc fellow at McGill University, Montreal, Canada (2011)

Instructor in Women's and Gender Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada (2010-11)

Assistant Professor (contractually limited), Department of History, University of Guelph, (2011-2017)

Associate Professor of Medieval History, Department of History, Uppsala University, (2018-)

My doctoral research concerned how women and men were punished for crimes according to the laws of medieval Sweden. I was in particular interested in why the legislators chose different death penalties, that is different methods of execution, for men and women. A revised version of my doctoral dissertation is published by Brill under the title A Punishment for Each Criminal. Gender and Crime in Swedish Medieval Law.

https://brill.com/view/title/25373

Since 2007 I have studied the use of sexual transgressions in propaganda directed at kings and queens in late medieval Europe. Together with Dr. Henric Bagerius, Örebro University, I have examined how political critique used adultery and same-sex desire to point out the flaws of medieval rulerships. We have published our findings in several articles and chapters.

"The Unruly Queen: Blanche of Namur and Dysfunctional Rulership in Medieval Sweden," is published in Queenship, Gender, and Reputation in the Medieval and Early Modern West, 1060-1600

"Kings and Favourites: Politics and Sexuality in Late Medieval Europe," can be found here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03044181.2017.1322999

"For Better or For Worse: Royal Marital Sexuality as Political Critique in Late Medieval Europe": The Routledge History of Monarchy

My current research concerns disability in medieval Sweden. I am the PI of a project sponsored by The Scientific Council of Sweden during 2023-26. I have published an article on the topic which can be found here:

The Value of a Thumb

I am also part of the Democracy and Higher Education-program. My project, called "Only the Facts, Please," analyses the perceptions of history on internet forums and among students.

Democracy and Higher Education