Prostitution in Urban Brothels in Late Medieval Austria
Municipal authorities officially established urban brothels in late medieval Austria as a necessary evil in order to control the lust of unmarried men and thus protect women from sexual abuse
‘Ill-Liver of Her Body:’ A Legal Examination of Prostitution in Late Medieval Greater London
I will be examining how women—specifically prostitutes—were placed under male authority and marginalized in London and Southwark, despite the divergent legal practices seen in these two adjacent areas of Greater London.
Movie Review: Dangerous Beauty
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
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
‘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
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
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
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
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
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?
The Bankside Stews: Prostitution in London 1161-1546
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Mary Magdalen and the mendicants: The preaching of penance in the late Middle Ages
Mary Magdalen and the mendicants: The preaching of penance in the late Middle Ages Jansen, Katherine L.(Princeton University) Journal of Medieval History 21…