Why read Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe?

Book cover of Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe

Book description

This monumental study of medieval law and sexual conduct explores the origin and develpment of the Christian church's sex law and the systems of belief upon which that law rested. Focusing on the Church's own legal system of canon law, James A. Brundage offers a comprehensive history of legal doctrines-covering…

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European history

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Why read it?

1 author picked Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Albrecht Classen

Author

If you ever want to know what the medieval Church had to say about sex, love, marriage, and other related topics, you only need to draw from the relevant preachers’ manuals and Church lawbooks, which illuminate the entire spectrum of human failings which the Church condemned and punished in specific terms. It might be hilarious at times, but Brundage clearly unearths the concrete rules for the ordinary people when they were allowed to have sex during the year and under what conditions. Moreover, this is an eye-opening book about the official view of queerness in the Middle Ages.

From Albrecht's list on the labyrinth of life through a medieval lens.