Dear Readers,

Welcome to our third annual issue. As you may have noticed from our website, Hortulus has undergone a great deal of renovation over the past year. Before I turn to the scholarly innovations that our current issue offers you, I would like to acknowledge and thank some of our former gardeners whose work behind the scenes has made Hortulus what it is today.

Two of our former editors, Hayley Weiner and Jay Paul Gates, will be greatly missed. Hayley was the founder of Hortulus and her original idea set the premise for the work we hope to continue for many years to come. Jay has been an interim Editor in Chief, a submissions editor, and the backbone of our motley team of graduate students from around the globe since the beginning. We wish him the best with his new tenure-track job at the City University of New York this fall.

The theme of renewal and transition that has shaped the internal life of Hortulus is also reflected in our current issue. Our articles move us away from the fallacy of projecting contemporary notions of sexuality and desire onto the Middle Ages. William Christopher Brown’s article considers sodomy in the context of twelfth–century constructs of masculinity. Jenny Lee’s article focuses on corporal desire in the context of medieval ideals of spiritual discernment. Even our book review challenges us to reconsider the influence of ancient Greek medicinal treatises on medieval Islamic medicine.

Enjoy our new issue and our new website!

Karina Marie Ash

Editor in Chief