The medieval Mills & Boon

It is surprising what you can learn from reading medieval romances. One much-loved tale gives this handy tip: if you are a beautiful woman and you are wondering how to keep unwanted suitors at bay, why not put some rotting chicken meat under your armpits? Once admirers get a whiff, all amorous attention is guaranteed to stop. This is probably the first recorded use of a chastity chicken.

The chicken is one of the main plot points of Paris and Vienne, a romance that took medieval Europe by storm from the early 15 th century (the best-known version was composed around 1432). It was all the rage at the courts of Burgundy. The famous printer William Caxton translated it into English. Sweden’s last Catholic bishop had a copy, and so did the archbishop of Armagh. The romance was written down in Arabic script by converted Muslims in Spain – not long before all use of Arabic was banned – and it was also translated into Italian, Dutch, Yiddish, Greek and Armenian.

was a pan-European sensation. Yet it was hardly a one-off: romance was the most popular secular genre of literature of the Middle Ages. These are highly entertaining stories about adventure, love, duels and battles, encounters with the supernatural, knights on daring