Jump to content

John Rykener

From LGBT History Project
Revision as of 13:07, 10 July 2026 by LGBT-HP (talk | contribs) (Fix bare <references> tag: MW 1.45.1 Cite requires self-closing <references/>)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
John Rykener

John Rykener, known also as Johannes Richer and Eleanor, was a 14th-century transvestite prostitute working mainly in London (near Cheapside), but also active in Oxford. He was arrested in 1395 for cross-dressing and interrogated. The records have survived, the only surviving legal records from that age which mentions same-sex intercourse.

During his interrogation, Rykener claimed to have had many clients including priests, monks and nuns; he said that he preferred priests because they paid better than others. He revealed that one Franciscan friar had given him a gold ring, and that a Carmelite friar and six foreigners, "of whom one gave Rykener twelve pence, one twenty pence, and one two shillings."[1]

References