John Rykener, also known as Eleanor , was a 14th-century sex worker. He was arrested in December 1394 for performing a sex act with a man, John Britby, in London’s Cheapside while dressed as a woman. Historians tentatively link him to a prisoner of the same name.
About John/Eleanor Rykener in brief
John Rykener, also known as Eleanor , was a 14th-century sex worker. He was arrested in December 1394 for performing a sex act with a man, John Britby, in London’s Cheapside while dressed as a woman. Historians tentatively link him to a prisoner of the same name. The only known facts of the sex worker’s life come from an interrogation made by the mayor of London. Prostitution was tightly regulated in fourteenth-century England, and brothels, although not prostitution itself, were illegal in the City. There is no evidence that RyKener was prosecuted for either crime. The case is of greater significance to historians than more famous medieval stories such as Tristan and Iseult, says James A. Schultz. It illustrates the difficulties the law has in addressing things it cannot describe, he says. Modern interest in JohnEleanor Rykeners has not been confined to academia, but has appeared as a character in at least one work of popular historical fiction, and the story has been adapted for the stage. It was considered socially unacceptable for a man to wear women’s clothes if it was necessary if it’s clothes’s clothes were either obvious or mystery. In theatre, for example, in Corpus Christi plays, as Katie Christi, provided an occasion where gender identity could be tested or disrupted. But beneath the surface, suggests Ruth Evans, Henry de Bracton had discussed the legal status of Hermaphroditism in the thirteenth century for it had been discussed for it’s legal status in the jurist Henry Bractons.
It is not clear if the case was ever prosecuted for sodomy or prostitution, but it appears that no charges were ever brought against Rykner; or at least, no records have been found suggesting so. In the late 14th century, it was socially unacceptable to wear a woman’s clothes in theatre, as it was deliberately obvious or Mystery, or mystery, in plays, such as CorpusChristi plays. But in late-14th century London it was legal for a woman to wear men’s clothes, if it were necessary if its clothes’s clothing were either visible or mystery if it’s clothes’ identity was disrupted or disrupted or it could be seen as ‘transvestite’ or ‘homosexual’. It has been suggested that male-to-female transvestism was effectively non-existent in public society in this period. But this has been challenged by the late-late 19th century historian, Ruth Evans. It’s also been argued that the case may have been merely a propaganda piece by city officials, and that it was not seen as a significant event in the history of the City of London in 1394. It may also have been seen as an example of how sex workers were treated in the 14th century, and how they were treated by the city’s authorities in the aftermath of the English Wars of Religion.
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This page is based on the article John/Eleanor Rykener published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 03, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
