Mary, The Formative Female Figure with Miri Rubin - Women Leaders | Lyssna här

Women Leaders concludes its summer season of women authors

There is probably no more famous and pervasive female figure than Mary, mother of Christ. There are remarkably few known facts about this woman, but that has never stopped myths, ideas, imagery and music to evolve around her as a core element of the story of Christianity, and ultimately Western then global culture.

In this last episode of our summer season of women authors, we discuss the evolution and significance of Mary, Mother of God: The History of the Virgin Mary with its author, Professor Miri Rubin. One of the most noted historians of the medieval and early modern periods, she helps us discover the many roads the idea of Mary has travelled, as well as a broader discussion on the Middle Ages and ideas of religion. A great conversation ranging from the first century AD to the late Dolly Parton!

This episode was recorded on 27 August 2026

Chapters

Miri Rubin's background and journey into medieval history
Mary's centrality in Christian theology and practice
Mary's role as a vessel in religious stories
Mary in contemporary culture and popular media
The relevance of medieval history and Mary today

Mentions

Book - Mother of God: A History of the Virgin Mary: Amazon UK
Book - The Middle Ages: A Very Short Introduction: Amazon UK
Book - Charity and Community in Medieval Cambridge: Amazon UK
The Annales Scholes
Podcast - Our life in the classics with Mary Beard: Spotify
Readings - Oxford University Press - Very Short Introductions
Project - The European Qur’an

Follow

Miri Rubin LinkedIn Queen Mary University of London
Ilana Bet-El
Instagram @women_leaders_podcast
Listen to this episode on our YouTube channel
Our partner European Leadership Network Twitter LinkedIn Facebook website

Credits

Production: Florence Ferrando
Music: Let Good Times Roll, RA from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/ra/let-good-times-rollLicense code: ZXIIIJUU2ISPZIJT