The Fires of Lust: Sex in the Middle Ages

Product Information

Harvey’s specialism in the history of medicine provides particular depth, and is integrated with legal and cultural material to create a sparkling and convincing whole. The modern survey, which asks a hundred people questions about their sex lives and then converts their answers into globalising statements about ‘the majority of people’ is just as unreliable as the medieval evidence. A late 15th-century Londoner, Margery Sheppard, clearly articulated the restriction: “I will do as my father will have me; I will never have none against my father’s will. Still, same-sex attractions and persons born as one gender who dressed and acted as another were not uncommon. Harvey provides evidence that priestly chastity was honored as much in the breach as the observance.

It was widely believed that she remained a virgin after the conception and birth of Christ, and indeed for her entire life; some even suggested that she had been impregnated by a ray of pure light, possibly through the ear. A distinction was also made between a woman who had sex for pleasure and ones who did so for financial need and desperation. The Fires of Lust is the most comprehensive picture of medieval sex to date, one that not only illuminates striking differences between sex then and sex now, but also dispels long-held misconceptions about life in the period.Content Warnings: References throughout to violence, executions, torture, public punishments, public humiliation, intimate partner violence, murder, murder of a spouse, homophobia, misogyny, racism, antisemitism, islamophobia, war crimes, war, sexual violence, sexual assault, rape, gang rape, wartime rape, pedophilia, child sexual abuse, child prostitution, child marriage, forced prostitution, incest, bestiality. Katherine Harvey’s The Fires of Lust seeks to counterbalance misconceptions about the supposed depravity of the Middle Ages by means of an impressively wide-ranging survey of medieval sexual practices and attitudes . As an overview the section zips over this vast field, tending to focus on the more well-known ribald and obscene examples. The truth about sex in the middle ages is complex, contradictory, and greatly varied by region and individuals, so the author argues, backed up by many court records and other documents.

In her conclusion, Harvey admits that written records about sex in the Middle Ages focused on the sensational rather than the commonplace. Mary Flannery, Times Literary Supplement ‘An expansive, accessible and highly engaging account of what we do – and don't – know about western European sexual culture in the Middle Ages. Really hope the author does more work for us general readers covering this period and its less well known subjects like Heresy etc. What those people thought, felt, feared and hoped for all play a part, alongside the pronouncements of theologians, lawmakers and intellectuals. The most obvious embodiment of this ideal was the Virgin Mary, to whom many medieval Christians of both sexes were passionately devoted.We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. She holds a PhD in Medieval History from King’s College London and has published widely on medieval topics, including sexuality, gender, emotions and the body. I can’t think of more brilliant Christmas book to give to one’s significant other if they have even a passing interest in medieval Europe or the rich and extraordinary sex life of its inhabitants.

The French poet Eustache Deschamps (1346-1406) favored tight dresses with wide necklines that pushed the bosom and throat forward. Arts Remembrance: Jazz Notables We Lost in 2023 For many years now, the Francis Davis Jazz Poll has col. This allows the reader to make some judgements of their own, whilst still offering some suggestions and context where it is needed.A lively and readable account rooted in a deep knowledge of the scholarly literature on sexuality in medieval western Europe. I would warn anyone looking at this book to check content warnings below before proceeding as it does contain some heavy, dark subjects. An Englishman named John Rykener in the late 14th century sometimes went by the name Eleanor, lived as a woman for long periods, and had sex with men and women, including priests and nuns.