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Used when discussions cover a number of European topics, or discuss Europe in general. See also specific countries/regions.

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LHMP entry

LHMP #278d Boswell 1980 Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality

Part IV: The Rise of Intolerance

Chapter 10: Social Change

The fanaticism and intolerance popularly associated with the “medieval” period date primarily to the later middle ages. Prior to the 13th century, social and religious tolerance were more typical. In the 13-14th century this changed, though historians are unclear on the exact reasons. Among the forces that are considered relevant: the rise in absolute government, both secular and clerical, and movements to reform, regularize and enforce power systems.

LHMP #278c Boswell 1980 Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality

Part III: Shifting Fortunes

Chapter 7: The Early Middle Ages

LHMP #278b Boswell 1980 Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality

Part II The Christian Tradition

Chapter 4: The Scriptures

There were massive changes to attitudes to same-sex relations that can be attributed to Christian influence on Eureopean culture, but that influence was complex and derived from several separate factors including scripture, social dynamics, and theology.

LHMP #278a Boswell 1980 Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality

Part I Points of Departure

LHMP #273 Lochrie et al. 1997 Constructing Medieval Sexuality

Introduction

The purpose of this collection is to “think differently” about medieval sexuality without losing the benefits of modern theoretical approaches. The authors address sexuality not in the narrow sense of orientation but as the study of experiences, attitudes, customs, and institutions that are a subjetive human experience and an objective field of “knowledge”. Sexuality was embedded in other medieval systems such as race, gender, ethnicity, and religion.

LHMP #271g Cadden 1993 Meanings of Sex Difference in the Middle Ages: Medicine, Science, and Culture Ch 6

Medieval opinions about abstinence--as expressed in medical, philosophical, theological, and social literature--are more complicated and ambivalent than those about procreation. Given that much of the discourse around procreative sex frames it as driven by medical and moral imperatives (e.g., theories about how sexual desire has the goal of achieving balance and promoting health), how can abstinence fit into the same framework without being considered unhealthy?

LHMP #271f Cadden 1993 Meanings of Sex Difference in the Middle Ages: Medicine, Science, and Culture Ch 5

The concepts and theories around in/fertility have shifted over the centuries much as those around sex/gender. Medieval authors were highly preoccupied with childbearing and anything that helped or impeded it. The expression of this concern was closely connected to theories of reproduction. Medieval treatments for infertility followed from the varied theoretical understandings of the process of conception and gestation.

LHMP #271e Cadden 1993 Meanings of Sex Difference in the Middle Ages: Medicine, Science, and Culture Ch 4

Introduction

LHMP #271d Cadden 1993 Meanings of Sex Difference in the Middle Ages: Medicine, Science, and Culture Ch 3

This chapter looks at academic questions regarding the nature of male and female. With no agreed-on set of source texts or fixed principles of interpretation, the diversity and imaginativeness of late medieval interpretations was a natural consequence. But the contributions of Greek and Arabic writers and the development of structures for argumentation and presentation also affected the resulting conclusions. The formality of the field and its presentation can make it difficult to separate intellectualizing versus popular understanding.

LHMP #271c Cadden 1993 Meanings of Sex Difference in the Middle Ages: Medicine, Science, and Culture Ch 2

The rise of universities, growing importance of towns, and shifts in the focus of ecclesiastical and secular courts created a new context for discussing sex differences. The rise of universities also inspired translation of vast quantities of Greek and Arabic material on natural philosophy and mediecine, providing access to classical sources that had been altered in the course of Latin transmission. This wealth of detail highlighted problems with the consistency and structure of the body of knowledge. This chapter highlights several texts grappling with this diversity.

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