diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 453d138..1f37437 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ toml = "0.4"
 unicode-segmentation = "1.0"
 unicode-width = "0.1"
 xi-unicode = "0.1.0"
+pulldown-cmark = { version = "0.1.0", optional = true, default-features = false }
 enumset = "0.3.3"
 
 [dependencies.bear-lib-terminal]
@@ -75,6 +76,7 @@ termion-backend = [
     "chan",
     "chan-signal",
 ]
+markdown = ["pulldown-cmark"]
 
 [lib]
 name = "cursive"
diff --git a/src/utils/markup/markdown.rs b/src/utils/markup/markdown.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d34edcf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/markup/markdown.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,172 @@
+//! Parse markdown text.
+//!
+//! Needs the `markdown` feature to be enabled.
+
+extern crate pulldown_cmark;
+
+use self::pulldown_cmark::{Event, Tag};
+use std::borrow::Cow;
+use theme::{Effect, Style};
+use utils::lines::spans::Span;
+
+/// Parse markdown string into spans of styled text.
+pub struct Parser<'a> {
+    first: bool,
+    stack: Vec<Style>,
+    parser: pulldown_cmark::Parser<'a>,
+}
+
+impl<'a> Parser<'a> {
+    /// Creates a new parser with the given input text.
+    pub fn new(input: &'a str) -> Self {
+        Parser {
+            first: true,
+            parser: pulldown_cmark::Parser::new(input),
+            stack: Vec::new(),
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn literal_string<'b>(&self, text: String) -> Span<'b> {
+        Span {
+            text: Cow::Owned(text),
+            style: Style::merge(&self.stack),
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn literal<'b>(&self, text: &'b str) -> Span<'b> {
+        Span {
+            text: Cow::Borrowed(text),
+            style: Style::merge(&self.stack),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+fn header(level: usize) -> &'static str {
+    &"##########"[..level]
+}
+
+impl<'a> Iterator for Parser<'a> {
+    type Item = Span<'a>;
+
+    fn next(&mut self) -> Option<Self::Item> {
+        loop {
+            let next = match self.parser.next() {
+                None => return None,
+                Some(event) => event,
+            };
+
+            match next {
+                Event::Start(tag) => match tag {
+                    // Add to the stack!
+                    Tag::Emphasis => {
+                        self.stack.push(Style::from(Effect::Italic))
+                    }
+                    Tag::Header(level) => {
+                        return Some(self.literal_string(format!(
+                            "{} ",
+                            header(level as usize)
+                        )))
+                    }
+                    Tag::Rule => return Some(self.literal("---")),
+                    Tag::BlockQuote => return Some(self.literal("> ")),
+                    Tag::Link(_, _) => return Some(self.literal("[")),
+                    Tag::Code => return Some(self.literal("```")),
+                    Tag::Strong => self.stack.push(Style::from(Effect::Bold)),
+                    Tag::Paragraph if !self.first => {
+                        return Some(self.literal("\n\n"))
+                    }
+                    _ => (),
+                },
+                Event::End(tag) => match tag {
+                    // Remove from stack!
+                    Tag::Paragraph if self.first => self.first = false,
+                    Tag::Header(_) => return Some(self.literal("\n\n")),
+                    Tag::Link(link, _) => {
+                        return Some(self.literal_string(format!(
+                            "]({})",
+                            link
+                        )))
+                    }
+                    Tag::Code => return Some(self.literal("```")),
+                    Tag::Emphasis | Tag::Strong => {
+                        self.stack.pop().unwrap();
+                    }
+                    _ => (),
+                },
+                Event::SoftBreak => return Some(self.literal("\n")),
+                Event::HardBreak => return Some(self.literal("\n")),
+                // Treat all text the same
+                Event::FootnoteReference(text)
+                | Event::InlineHtml(text)
+                | Event::Html(text)
+                | Event::Text(text) => {
+                    // Return something!
+                    return Some(Span {
+                        text,
+                        style: Style::merge(&self.stack),
+                    });
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// Parse the given markdown text into a list of spans.
+///
+/// This is a shortcut for `Parser::new(input).collect()`.
+pub fn parse<'a>(input: &'a str) -> Vec<Span<'a>> {
+    Parser::new(input).collect()
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_parse() {
+        let input = r"
+Attention
+====
+I *really* love __Cursive__!";
+        let spans = parse(input);
+
+        // println!("{:?}", spans);
+        assert_eq!(
+            &spans[..],
+            &[
+                Span {
+                    text: Cow::Borrowed("# "),
+                    style: Style::none(),
+                },
+                Span {
+                    text: Cow::Borrowed("Attention"),
+                    style: Style::none(),
+                },
+                Span {
+                    text: Cow::Borrowed("\n\n"),
+                    style: Style::none(),
+                },
+                Span {
+                    text: Cow::Borrowed("I "),
+                    style: Style::none(),
+                },
+                Span {
+                    text: Cow::Borrowed("really"),
+                    style: Style::from(Effect::Italic),
+                },
+                Span {
+                    text: Cow::Borrowed(" love "),
+                    style: Style::none(),
+                },
+                Span {
+                    text: Cow::Borrowed("Cursive"),
+                    style: Style::from(Effect::Bold),
+                },
+                Span {
+                    text: Cow::Borrowed("!"),
+                    style: Style::none(),
+                }
+            ]
+        );
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/utils/markup/mod.rs b/src/utils/markup/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..51dc7a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/markup/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+//! Parse various text markup formats.
+//!
+//! Each module is optional and relies on a feature.
+
+#[cfg(feature = "markdown")]
+pub mod markdown;
diff --git a/src/utils/mod.rs b/src/utils/mod.rs
index 9a83125..94963f6 100644
--- a/src/utils/mod.rs
+++ b/src/utils/mod.rs
@@ -2,5 +2,6 @@
 
 mod reader;
 pub mod lines;
+pub mod markup;
 
 pub use self::reader::ProgressReader;