Medieval people feared that the Black Death was a punishment for sin, and hoped that abstaining from sex could save them.
Medieval
Gay penguins, medieval heretics, and the place of animals in the history of sexuality
Medieval theologians, like modern activists, used animals to make arguments about human sexuality.
Virgin Whore
Emma Maggie Solberg uncovers a surprisingly prevalent theme in late English medieval literature and culture: the celebration of the Virgin Mary’s sexuality.
Like a Virgin? The Medieval Origins of a Modern Debate
A recent Vatican ruling on consecrated virgins has caused controversy, but there are medieval precedents for the new approach.
Do I have to have sex with my spouse? Two medieval answers
What role did sex play in medieval marriages, and did spouses owe each other a ‘marital debt’?
Inventing Incest in Early Medieval Europe
The sixth century saw the emergence of a new understanding of the concept of incest, which was swiftly legislated in both secular and canon law.
Child Sexual Abuse? A View from England in the Later Middle Ages
Bringing sex offenders to justice was as challenging in the Middle Ages as it is today.
Recent Posts
Out and about with GLF in London, September 1971
‘Behaviour Which Merits a Horrible and Wretched Death’: Sex, Sin and the Black Death in Medieval England
Moral Instruction, Venereal Disease, and Eugenic Manliness during World War I
Following in Vesta’s footsteps! How to name queerness in museums
Reporting Abortions in Post-Conquest New Spain