Late 16th century Venice, where a woman can be a nun, a wife or a courtesan. For Veronica Franco, the free spirited girl scorned by because of her lack of wealth, the choice is an obvious one…
Prostitution in the Medieval City
July 21, 2015 By
Prostitution was a vice that was was considered a necessary evil because of “men’s lust”. Ecclesiastics felt that if brothels weren’t available to men in cities, they would find other inappropriate outlets for their entertainment. In an effort to curb potential problems, civic officials permitted prostitution to function within the city walls so long as it was regulated and turned a profit.
Pigs and Prostitutes: Streetwalking in Comparative Perspective
June 28, 2015 By
‘No one shall keep pigs which go in the streets by day or night, nor shall any prostitute stay in the city.’
Topography of Prostitution in Renaissance Ferrara
March 8, 2015 By
On any given morning in 1471, the prostitute Giovanna of Venice, then resident of a Ferrarese brothel on Via Malborghetto, might have contemplated with resignation the options open to her for a day on the town.
From the street to the brothel: following the go-between
July 13, 2014 By
Associated to the practice of gossip, bartering, display and selling of her trinkets around neighborhoods and streets, the old woman was allowed into the female domestic spaces of late medieval Europe.
Were Medieval Prostitutes Marginals? Evidence from Sluis, 1387-1440
July 4, 2014 By
How convincing is the idea that all prostitutes had common, inalienable characteristics? How convincing is the view that prostitutes formed a distinct and clearly identifiable group?
The Cross-dressing Women of Medieval London
May 3, 2014 By
Women going around dressed as men, wearing men’s hats, and even having their hair cut short, was not an acceptable practice in medieval society. However, in late medieval London there were at least 13 cases of women accused of doing just that.
Theodora, Aetius of Amida, and Procopius: Some Possible Connections
December 29, 2013 By
Behind the purported facts of Theodora’s career as a common prostitute and later as empress are the hidden details of what we might call feminine pharmacology: what were the drugs used by prostitutes and call-girls in sixth-century Byzan- tium? Were there ordinary pharmaceuticals employed by such professionals to stay in business?
Mary Magdalene, Partner or Prostitute: An in-depth study of the transformation of Mary Magdalene in church history
November 15, 2013 By
I will examine current popular fictional and non-fictional works that assert the resurrection of Mary Magdalene, her position in the Christian story and her authority.
The Bankside Stews: Prostitution in London 1161-1546
August 4, 2013 By
Although historians frequently associate prostitution with a number of social, political and cultural concerns, including society’s attitudes toward both women and sexuality, and the spread of venereal disease, remarkably few have made it the central focus of their inquiries.
Student Violence at the University of Oxford
May 9, 2013 By
My first foray of KZOO 2013 couldn’t have been off to a better start with, “I just don’t want to die without a few scars”: Medieval Fight Clubs, Masculine Identity, and Public (Dis)order. There were only two papers in this session and both were riveting. I felt like I couldn’t type fast enough to get it all in! The first paper was given by Professor Andrew Larsen of Marquette University. Professor Larsen published a book on high and late medieval student violence and the Saint Scholastica’s Day Riot at Oxford university.
An 11th-Century Scandal
November 18, 2012 By
Complaints from Damian about the church’s unwillingness to confront the sexual behavior of the clergy, however, met with inaction. In 1049 Damian wrote to Pope Leo IX (1048-54) about the cancer of sexual abuse that was spreading through the church: boys and adolescents were being forced and seduced into performing acts of sodomy by priests and bishops; there were problems with sexual harassment among higher clergy; and many members of the clergy were keeping concubines.
Social Deviancy: A Medieval Approach
October 10, 2012 By
Why bother with the weakest members of society by allocating substantial resources for keeping them alive and well in designated spaces?
Fashion and Self-Fashioning: Clothing Regulation in Renaissance Italy
October 4, 2012 By
In 1378 a ten-year-old girl named Nicolosa was fined fourteen lire for wearing a fine silk gown with tassels on the streets of Florence. In 1398 a prostitute of the same city was prosecuted for failing to wear high-heeled slippers and a bell on her head.
Maculate Conceptions
September 30, 2012 By
For the greater part of human history…disease has been understood in terms of its manifestations on the outside of the body. more than any other sign, t has been spots that have signified the onset of disease…
Holy Harlots: Prostitute Saints in Medieval Legend
August 7, 2012 By
The prime example of the prostitute saint was Mary Magadelen, probably the most popular saint (after the Virgin Mary) in all of medieval Europe.
Brothels, Baths and Babes: Prostitution in the Byzantine Holy Land
July 29, 2012 By
Graeco-Roman domestic sexuality rested on a triad: the wife, the concubine and the courtesan.
The Meaning of Prostitution: In Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern Period in Europe
July 15, 2012 By
Ancient Rome was also a society where monetary economy was highly developed. How was prostitution in such a society?
Medieval Prostitution in Secular Law: The Sex Trade in Late Medieval London, Paris, and Toulouse
February 24, 2012 By
In order to understand the regulations that were put into place to deal with prostitutes and their trade in medieval England and France, it is important to have an understanding of what the legislators were trying to regulate. Who were these prostitutes? What acts constituted prostitution? What actions made a person a procurer, pimp, or bawd?
The Other Mary: The Absence of Mary Magdalene in the Santa Maria in Trastevere
December 7, 2011 By
My research examines the social context throughout Rome during the medieval era, the status of prostitution, spatial analysis of Trastevere, and the inevitable entrance of promiscuity through the Santa Maria Basilica in Trastevere.
Defining a community: Controlling nuisance in late-medieval London
November 20, 2011 By
Looking only at late-medieval London, this study examines nuisance and social regulation through an analysis of secular court records, as well as other relevant municipal sources.
Christine de Pizan’s Advice to Prostitutes
August 31, 2011 By
In late medieval Paris, prostitutes were everywhere, it seems. Looking at the map published in Bronislaw Geremek’s study of the margins of medieval society we get the impression that prostitutes were in fact not marginal at all, at least as far as their locations are concerned.
Bawds, Pimps and Procurers: Images of the prostitute in medieval England
April 15, 2009 By
Bawds, Pimps and Procurers: Images of the prostitute in medieval England By Tom Clegg Medieval History Magazine, Issue 5 (2004) Introduction: The history of prostitution is the history of women on the very edge of society. It is the history of a marginal world that was for most dominated by poverty, violence, deprivation and crime. […]
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