The language of sex : five voices from northern France around 1200
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The language of sex : five voices from northern France around 1200
（The Chicago series on sexuality, history, and society）
University of Chicago Press, 1994
- : cloth
- : pbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 267-323) and index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
: cloth ISBN 9780226036137
Description
This study brings together widely divergent discourses to fashion a comprehensive picture of sexual language and attitudes at a particular time and place in the medieval world. John Baldwin introduces five representative voices from the turn of the 12th century in northern France: Pierre the Chanter speaks for the theological doctrine of Augustine; the "Prose Salernitan Questions", for the medical theories of Galen; Andre the Chaplain, for the Ovidian literature of the schools; Jean Renart, for the contemporary romances; and Jean Bodel, for the emerging voices of the fabliaux. Baldwin juxtaposes their views on a range of essential subjects, including social position, the sexual body, desire and act, and procreation. The result is a dialogue of how they agreed or disagreed with, ignored, imitated, or responded to each other at a critical moment in the development of European ideas about sexual desire, fulfillment, morality and gender. These spokesmen allow us into the discussion of sexuality inside the church and schools of the clergy, in high and popular culture of the leity.
This heterogeneous discussion also offers a startling glimpse into the construction of gender specific to this moment, when men and women enjoyed equal status in sexual matters, if nowhere else. Taken together, these voices extend their reach, encompass their subject, and point to a centre where social reality lies. By articulating reality at its varied depths, this study takes its place alongside works by James Brundage, John Boswell and Leah Otis in extending our understanding of sexuality and sexual behaviour in the Middle Ages.
Table of Contents
Prefatory Words... Introduction 1: The Five Discourses Pierre the Chanter and the Augustinian Tradition The Prose Salernitan Questions and the Galenic Tradition Andre the Chaplain and the Ovidian Tradition Jean Renart and the Tradition of Romance Jean Bodel and the Fabliaux Tradition 2: Participants: The Sociology of Sexuality The Physiological Parameters The Social Parameters The Marital Parameters On the Margin: Prostitutes and Holy Matrons 3: The Sexual Body The Learned Body The Body Concealed The Body Exposed 4: Sexual Desire Concupiscentia: The Theology of Desire Delectatio: The Physiology of Desire Passio: The Ovidian Tradition Joie et dolor: Their Interplay in the Romance Tradition Talent: The Fabliaux The Supremacy of Desire: Noncoital Sexuality and the Desire for God 5: Coitus Myths of Origins: Poets and Theologians The Physiology of Coitus Chastity Sexuality Modesty Sexual Techniques Nonconsensual Coitus: From Seduction to Rape 6: Children The Physiology of Reproduction: From Conception to Birth The Natalist Policy of Churchmen Restraints on Fecundity The Politics of Lineage: The Romances Conclusions: Sexuality, Gender, and History Sexuality Gender History: A Postlude Appendix 1: Robert of Courson, Summa XLII, 31, 32 Appendix 2: Pierre the Chanter, Verbum abbreviatum (Long Version) Appendix 3: Pierre the Chanter, Questions Table 1: Fabliaux Containing Sexually Active Characters Classified by Social Group Table 2: Fabliaux Containing Sexual Encounters Classified by Ecclesiastical Categories Short Titles Notes Index
- Volume
-
: pbk ISBN 9780226036144
Description
This study brings together widely divergent discourses to fashion a comprehensive picture of sexual language and attitudes at a particular time and place in the medieval world. John Baldwin introduces five representative voices from the turn of the 12th century in northern France: Pierre the Chanter speaks for the theological doctrine of Augustine; the Prose Salernitan Questions, for the medical theories of Galen; Andre the Chaplain, for the Ovidian literature of the schools; Jean Renart, for the contemporary romances; and Jean Bodel, for the emerging voices of the fabliaux. Baldwin juxtaposes their views on a range of essential subjects, including social position, the sexual body, desire and act, and procreation. The result is a dialogue of how they agreed or disagreed with, ignored, imitated, or responded to each other at a critical moment in the development of European ideas about sexual desire, fulfillment, morality and gender. These spokesmen allow us into the discussion of sexuality inside the church and schools of the clergy, in high and popular culture of the leity.
This heterogeneous discussion also offers a glimpse into the construction of gender specific to this moment, when men and women enjoyed equal status in sexual matters, if nowhere else. Taken together, these voices extend their reach, encompass their subject, and point to a centre where social reality lies. By articulating reality at its varied depths, this study takes its place alongside groundbreaking works by James Brundage, John Boswell, and Leah Otis in extending the understanding of sexuality and sexual behaviour in the Middle Ages.
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