Count

• Women were not allowed to engage widely in holy intellectual pursuits such as writing and interpreting religious texts, so they could only channel their religious fervour and closeness to God through their bodies.
• In the medieval period, prescriptive literature warned women of the dangers of anger – one of seven deadly sins.
• But while they were discouraged from expressing their feelings in daily life, letters written by elite women of the medieval period are a rich source of information about their emotions.

Surviving letters

• Not many of these letters have survived.
• One that has was sent by Aline le Despenser, Countess of Norfolk, to the chancellor of England in around 1273.

• In Renaissance Italy, the feeling of being powerless was palpable in many of the letters that women wrote.
• A Corresponding Renaissance: Letters Written by Italian Women, 1375–1650 (2016), by historian Lisa Kaborycha, includes 55 letters written by women of different social status.
• In one of her letters, she says: “Don’t be born a woman if you want your own way.” The letters by another Florentine women from the same period, Alessandra Strozzi are considered some of the most important insights into political and social life at the time.
• In one of her letters she says: “Not seeing any of your children makes me wonder who are they doing all this work for.

Embroidered messages

• These women used their needles as pens, subverting the traditional notion of female docility by incorporating symbols and messages into their designs.
• During this period, embroidery was not just undertaken for practical purposes but
  was expected from virtuous upper-class women, part of expressing their “true” nature as dutiful and obedient wives and daughters.

• Her designs were a symbol of her pride and resistance, especially as her letters were under constant surveillance.
• While these letters and embroidered messages are a fascinating insight into the emotions of medieval women, most of them are from women of high social standing who had wealth and privilege.
• And clever enough to find their own tools for claiming power, in a culture determined to silence them.

Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.
Pragya Agarwal received funding from Society of Authors for this research and writing of Hysterical.

• MORGANTOWN, W.Va., Jan. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Omnia Medical, a medical device company committed to providing the industry with innovative solutions utilizing proven techniques, announced that a trial date has been set for October 2024 in its ongoing lawsuit with PainTEQ.
• One of Omnia's current cases with PainTEQ stems from an initial lawsuit filed by PainTEQ against Omnia in June 2020, alleging certain business-related claims.
• In January 2022, Omnia Medical then filed its own case against PainTEQ and its agents, Sean LaNeve and Charles Girsch.
• "As CEO of Omnia Medical, I want to address any confusion in the market regarding the status of our lawsuit with PainTEQ.

• Two medical consultants, Dr Stephen Brearey and Dr Ravi Jayaram, both raised concerns about unexplained infant deaths as early as July 2015.
• Common sense would dictate that if a senior doctor raised concerns with managers, even informally, it would be taken seriously.
• This highlights an urgent need to change the structure of the NHS to ensure managers and executives are held to account for the decisions they make.

Refusal to act

• In hospitals such as the Countess of Chester, most routine decisions are made by middle management.
• Brearey and Jayaram suggested that executives were attempting to minimise any reputational damage to the unit and, by extension, the hospital.
• The decisions of hospital executives will be investigated as part of a public inquiry.

Freedom to Speak Up

• This is what led to the Freedom to Speak Up review, which investigated how organisations dealt with concerns raised by NHS staff.
• The results of the report led to the Freedom to Speak Up policy, which provides guidance for NHS staff on how they can raise patient safety concerns.
• A Freedom to Speak Up Guardian is also now present in every NHS Trust to ensure issues raised are responded to.
• Even with the Freedom to Speak Up Policy, the British Medical Association reports that staff are still being victimised for raising concerns.
• Clearly, the policy needs to be improved and legislation passed that would protect staff from dismissal if they do speak up.

• A nurse has been convicted of murdering seven of her newborn patients and attempting to murder six others.
• Although new parents are very unlikely to encounter someone who deliberately tries to harm their child, parents trusting their baby to the care of a neonatal unit must know what positive things they are entitled to expect.
• When a child is born requiring specialist neonatal care, it’s always a frightening and vulnerable time for parents and families.
• Amid this anguish, parents are entitled to be respected and supported and to be treated with care themselves.