Rosanna Cantavella - Sexual education in the Middle Ages
Update: 2015-05-20
Description
Yes: hard to believe as it may be, sexual education was taught in the Middle Ages throughout Western Europe. From the twelfth century on, a number of erotodidactic texts were written for the youth, following the steps of Ovid’s Ars Amandi.
These works – whether by Ovid, or its quite different medieval sequels – were part of the syllabus for the elementary study of Latin grammar, apparently as a strong incentive for its advancement. They were given to very young schoolboys to prepare them for sex in puberty. No similar books are
registered for girls. The purpose of these medieval books was to teach how to seduce maidens in a gentlemanly manner. Erotodidactic texts are related to courtesy texts.
The medieval idea of sexual education was, of course, quite different from the contemporary one. No advice on contraception was given. Instead, a great deal of attention was paid to how a boy should verbally and physically prepare a girl for sex.
We’ll see a panorama of these medieval texts, written in Latin as well as in the vernacular, and will consider particularly the detailed advice given in a Catalan fourteenth-century amplification of one of these handbooks: the Facetus.
This talk took place on 19 May 2015
These works – whether by Ovid, or its quite different medieval sequels – were part of the syllabus for the elementary study of Latin grammar, apparently as a strong incentive for its advancement. They were given to very young schoolboys to prepare them for sex in puberty. No similar books are
registered for girls. The purpose of these medieval books was to teach how to seduce maidens in a gentlemanly manner. Erotodidactic texts are related to courtesy texts.
The medieval idea of sexual education was, of course, quite different from the contemporary one. No advice on contraception was given. Instead, a great deal of attention was paid to how a boy should verbally and physically prepare a girl for sex.
We’ll see a panorama of these medieval texts, written in Latin as well as in the vernacular, and will consider particularly the detailed advice given in a Catalan fourteenth-century amplification of one of these handbooks: the Facetus.
This talk took place on 19 May 2015
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