During the medieval period, European society lived in the shadow of the Roman Catholic Church until at least the reformation, and so the Catholic Church had a profound effect on the moral landscape of the time, particularly around areas of sexuality and sin. In order to regulate and control sexuality, the church employed various methods, foremost amongst them the encouragement of chastity and it’s aloft alternative celibacy for the clergy, the institution of marriage, as well as establishing legal systems to prosecute members of both the clergy and the laity who transgressed their moral boundaries. Prostitution was also used as a method of regulating sexuality for various reasons, such as containing male debauchery. While all of these factors
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In Christian ideology, before the original sin intercourse between Adam and Eve would have occurred without any sense of passion or lust, instead it was simply complying with God’s command to increase and multiply found in Genesis. It was only after original sin that sex took on the lustful and sinful element. Early theologians searched for a remedy for this dilemma- while God’s command entailed we multiply, to do so would require engagement in what was now fundamentally sinful and indulgent behaviour. The institution of marriage was formed as an imperfect compromise. The theologian Gratian introduced the “twofold institution of marriage”, the first being ad officium, an honourable bond for divinely commanded procreation, and ad remedium, to contain and diminish wonton lust through marriage. This did not mean that any sex within marriage was acceptable, there were moral restrictions on how, when and why sex was tolerable. For example, sex must occur in the missionary position, and sex which intentionally avoided conception such as anal or oral were expressly prohibited. The power structures within marriage diminished women’s social position, women largely couldn’t own land, and were always subordinate to their husband- he was the head of the household, and she must submit to his authority. This is a factor in the ongoing development in the wider social belief …show more content…
For men the loss of virginity was no major event- this is because he was not penetrated during sex. This is not to say sex was not sinful- it was, but it did not carry the same weight as with a women. A women’s non married sexual history had much greater social and spiritual consequences. Chastity shouldn’t be confused with celibacy, which was for those whom the unmarried states was permanent, especially members of the clergy. After the church reform movement late in the 11th century, the call for clerical celibacy served a political purpose, to separate the laity and the clergy, lifting the clergy onto a moral high ground over their congregation. The clergy exploited this position through things like freedom from taxation, which shows how the church used their influence to exert both their moral code, and also to establish an uneven power relation. Celibate individuals claimed that they were morally superior, which secured control on leadership positions. This model of admirable behaviour in their leadership cemented the notion of moral superiority, with sex both nonmarital and generally as a substandard mode of living. However, James A. Brundage would argue that, in reality, the sanctity of marriage was rarely upheld, as marriage originally only required the consent of the couple. A couple merely needed to say the words in the height of passion and they were married, and could proceed to fulfil their
In Christian ideology, before the original sin intercourse between Adam and Eve would have occurred without any sense of passion or lust, instead it was simply complying with God’s command to increase and multiply found in Genesis. It was only after original sin that sex took on the lustful and sinful element. Early theologians searched for a remedy for this dilemma- while God’s command entailed we multiply, to do so would require engagement in what was now fundamentally sinful and indulgent behaviour. The institution of marriage was formed as an imperfect compromise. The theologian Gratian introduced the “twofold institution of marriage”, the first being ad officium, an honourable bond for divinely commanded procreation, and ad remedium, to contain and diminish wonton lust through marriage. This did not mean that any sex within marriage was acceptable, there were moral restrictions on how, when and why sex was tolerable. For example, sex must occur in the missionary position, and sex which intentionally avoided conception such as anal or oral were expressly prohibited. The power structures within marriage diminished women’s social position, women largely couldn’t own land, and were always subordinate to their husband- he was the head of the household, and she must submit to his authority. This is a factor in the ongoing development in the wider social belief …show more content…
For men the loss of virginity was no major event- this is because he was not penetrated during sex. This is not to say sex was not sinful- it was, but it did not carry the same weight as with a women. A women’s non married sexual history had much greater social and spiritual consequences. Chastity shouldn’t be confused with celibacy, which was for those whom the unmarried states was permanent, especially members of the clergy. After the church reform movement late in the 11th century, the call for clerical celibacy served a political purpose, to separate the laity and the clergy, lifting the clergy onto a moral high ground over their congregation. The clergy exploited this position through things like freedom from taxation, which shows how the church used their influence to exert both their moral code, and also to establish an uneven power relation. Celibate individuals claimed that they were morally superior, which secured control on leadership positions. This model of admirable behaviour in their leadership cemented the notion of moral superiority, with sex both nonmarital and generally as a substandard mode of living. However, James A. Brundage would argue that, in reality, the sanctity of marriage was rarely upheld, as marriage originally only required the consent of the couple. A couple merely needed to say the words in the height of passion and they were married, and could proceed to fulfil their