‘Behaviour Which Merits a Horrible and Wretched Death’: Sex, Sin and the Black Death in Medieval England

By Katherine Harvey Medieval

Medieval people feared that the Black Death was a punishment for sin, and hoped that abstaining from sex could save them.

Gay penguins, medieval heretics, and the place of animals in the history of sexuality

By Tim Wingard Medieval

Medieval theologians, like modern activists, used animals to make arguments about human sexuality.

Virgin Whore

By Emma Maggie Solberg Author Interviews, Medieval, Religion and Sexuality

A surprisingly prevalent theme in late English medieval literature and culture: the celebration of the Virgin Mary’s sexuality.

Obscene Pedagogies: Transgressive Talk and Sexual Education in Late Medieval Britain

By Carissa Harris Author Interviews, Medieval, Pedagogy, Sexual Violence

Obscenity is useful as a tool for teaching about sex and consent in the Middle Ages, and today.

Anticipating Sin in Medieval Society

By Erin Abraham Author Interviews, Childhood and Youth, Medieval, Religion and Sexuality, Sexual Violence

Anticipating Sin in Medieval Society explores early medieval understandings of sin, looking in particular at childhood, sexuality and violence.

Like a Virgin? The Medieval Origins of a Modern Debate

By Katherine Harvey Medieval

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

By Maroula Perisanidi Medieval

What role did sex play in medieval marriages, and did spouses owe each other a ‘marital debt’?