Sexuality in the Medieval West

Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-1-64189-224-7
Verlag: ARC Humanities Press

Buch, Englisch, 584 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm

This invaluable reference work addresses sex, gender, and sexuality in medieval Europe and North Africa, providing an important update to collections of the 1990s. With lucid definitions, theoretical engagement, and wide geographic coverage, it is the new indispensable guide to the subject. The editors and authors establish institutional foundations and explore expressions of sex and sexuality across medieval cultures, analyzing examples from legal, religious, artistic, literary, medical, and other sources. The collection begins with a section devoted to definitions and vocabulary before progressing to cultural topics and concluding with geographically-specific traditions and practices related to sexuality. Essays authored by specialists in relevant fields include both primary and secondary sources, contain examinations of the three major religions, and address broader cultural and historical ramifications of these topics.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sauer, Michelle M

Bledsoe, Jenny C

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gender Studies, Geschlechtersoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturgeschichte und Literaturkritik
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein Feminismus, Feministische Theorie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Illustrations

Abbreviations

Acknowledgements

"Preface" by Diane Watt

"An Introduction to Sexuality Studies in Medieval Europe and North Africa" by Michelle M. Sauer and Jenny C. Bledsoe

Part One. Concepts

Chapter 1. "Defining Medieval Heterosexuality: Institutional, Literary, and Artistic Sources" by Jenny C. Bledsoe

Chapter 2. "The Multiple Medieval Discourses of Female Homosexuality" by Lisa M. C. Weston

Chapter 3. "Lesbian Visibility in the European Middle Ages" by Michelle M. Sauer

Chapter 4. "(Re)Visioning Male Homosexuality in the Middle Ages" by Mark L. Patterson and Robert L. A. Clark†

Chapter 5. "Medieval Male Homosexuality: Restrictions and Prohibitions" by Will Rogers

Chapter 6. "Negotiating the Medieval World as Women" by Heather Blatt

Chapter 7. "Femininity as Revealed through Verbal Strategies in Medieval Texts by Women" by Fumiko Yoshikawa

Chapter 8. "Three Masculinities of Medieval Western Europe" by Paul Gaffney

Chapter 9. "The Genesis of Masculinity" by Ellen R. Ketels

Chapter 10. "Female Virginal Bodies: Medieval Religious and Secular Approaches" by Sarah Noonan

Chapter 11. "Male Virginity in the Middle Ages" by Katherine Harvey with Robin Gilbank

Chapter 12. "Trans Sexualities in the Middle Ages" by M. W. Bychowski

Chapter 13. "Medieval Intersex: Discourses and Discontents" by Micah Goodrich

Chapter 14. "Medieval Eunuchs: The Third Gender" by Rhonda L. McDaniel

Chapter 15. "The Medieval Western Culture of Castration" by Larissa Tracy

Chapter 16. "Incest and Religion in the Creation of Medieval Kinship" by Erin I. Mann

Part Two. Social-Cultural Intersections

Chapter 17. "Medieval Jewish Sexuality: Texts and Contexts" by Marla Segol

Chapter 18. "Institutional Foundations for the Study of Sex in Medieval Western Christianity" by Jenny C. Bledsoe and Michelle M. Sauer

Chapter 19. "Medieval Islam: Sexuality in and Beyond the Sacred Sources" by Michael Muhammad Knight

Chapter 20. "Race, Intersectionality, and Sexuality in the Medieval 'West'" by Michelle M. Sauer with Dorothy Kim

Chapter 21. "Sexuality and Socioeconomic Status in the Middle Ages" by Lynn Arner

Chapter 22. "Age and Sexuality in Medieval Western Europe" by Jennifer N. Brown

Chapter 23. "Sex and Disability in the Middle Ages" by Natalie Grinnell

Chapter 24. "Sexuality and Disease in the Middle Ages" by Heide Estes

Chapter 25. "Sex Work in the Western Middle Ages" by Brian Gastle

Chapter 26. "Music and Sexuality in Medieval Western Europe" by Rachel May Golden

Chapter 27. "An Art History of Sexualities in Medieval Europe and North Africa" by Bryan C. Keene

Part Three. Geographical Intersections

Chapter 28. "Sex and Sexuality in Medieval England" by Carla María Thomas

Chapter 29. "Sex and Sexuality in Medieval Scandinavia" by Larry Swain

Chapter 30. "Sex and Sexuality in the Insular Celtic World" by Gregory R. Darwin

Chapter 31. "Sex and Sexuality in France and the Low Countries" by Leona Archer

Chapter 32. "Sex and Sexuality in Medieval Germany" by Joshua S. Easterling

Chapter 33. "Sexual Practices in Medieval Iberia" by Martha M. Daas

Chapter 34. "Sex and Sexuality in Al-Andalus and North Africa" by Adriano Duque

Chapter 35. "Sexualities in Medieval Italy" by Nicole Lopez-Jantzen and Janine Larmon Peterson

Chapter 36. "Sexualities in Medieval Eastern Europe and the Holy Roman Empire" by Anna Klosowska

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Sauer, Michelle M
Michelle M. Sauer is Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of English and Gender Studies at the University of North Dakota. A specialist in medieval religion and gender, she also authored Gender in Medieval Culture.

Bledsoe, Jenny C
Jenny C. Bledsoe is an Associate Professor of English and Director of the Center for Women's Studies at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma. Her research focuses on medieval and early modern literature, religion, manuscripts, and gender.