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Sexual Practices and the Medieval Church
Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso
Paperback
First published September 1, 1982
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About the author
Vern L. Bullough
81 books6 followersVern Leroy Bullough (July 24, 1928 – June 21, 2006) was an American historian and sexologist.
He was a distinguished professor emeritus at the State University of New York (SUNY), Faculty President at California State University, Northridge, a past president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, past Dean of natural and social sciences at the Buffalo State College in Buffalo, New York, one of the founders of the American Association for the History of Nursing, and a member of the editorial board of Paidika: The Journal of Paedophilia.
Until her death in 1996 he was married to Bonnie Bullough
He was a distinguished professor emeritus at the State University of New York (SUNY), Faculty President at California State University, Northridge, a past president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, past Dean of natural and social sciences at the Buffalo State College in Buffalo, New York, one of the founders of the American Association for the History of Nursing, and a member of the editorial board of Paidika: The Journal of Paedophilia.
Until her death in 1996 he was married to Bonnie Bullough
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 2, 2023
A tad out dated
December 12, 2014
This volume, edited by Vern Bullough and James Brundage, should be essential reading for students of Medieval society, ecclesiastical history, or the history of sexuality. Comprising a collection of essays, primarily by the editors with a handful of contributions by other scholars, it provides a comprehensive treatment of Medieval Church law as it related to questions of human sexuality.
The legal corpus itself, and the commentaries of those who attempted to rationalize and apply it, both reflected and shaped social norms and popular ideas about sex in the Christian West. In many cases, the legislation can be seen to depend upon the differing moral possibilities commonly ascribed to men and women. The authors make an important distinction in this regard concerning the different objectives of theologians as compared to canon lawyers. Whereas both groups drew upon a more or less shared set of assumptions, the latter were constrained to reconcile Biblical injunctions and piety, as well as Roman Imperial law and Germanic customary law, with the 'facts on the ground' of human behavior. The essays herein demonstrate the evolution of Christian law and doctrine, from the first centuries of the organized Church up to the 16th century, through this dialectical process.
The legacy of conclusions drawn by Medieval churchmen are also evident within present-day assumptions and institutions. Beliefs about the purpose of sex, and by extension marriage; the tolerability of prostitution; which acts were classified as 'deviant' or criminal, what kinds of people were assumed to practice them, and how they should be punished: the answers to these questions are still being debated today, and in many cases the positions whose protagonists argue from a basis of 'tradition' or 'nature' find their earliest codification in Medieval law books.
The legal corpus itself, and the commentaries of those who attempted to rationalize and apply it, both reflected and shaped social norms and popular ideas about sex in the Christian West. In many cases, the legislation can be seen to depend upon the differing moral possibilities commonly ascribed to men and women. The authors make an important distinction in this regard concerning the different objectives of theologians as compared to canon lawyers. Whereas both groups drew upon a more or less shared set of assumptions, the latter were constrained to reconcile Biblical injunctions and piety, as well as Roman Imperial law and Germanic customary law, with the 'facts on the ground' of human behavior. The essays herein demonstrate the evolution of Christian law and doctrine, from the first centuries of the organized Church up to the 16th century, through this dialectical process.
The legacy of conclusions drawn by Medieval churchmen are also evident within present-day assumptions and institutions. Beliefs about the purpose of sex, and by extension marriage; the tolerability of prostitution; which acts were classified as 'deviant' or criminal, what kinds of people were assumed to practice them, and how they should be punished: the answers to these questions are still being debated today, and in many cases the positions whose protagonists argue from a basis of 'tradition' or 'nature' find their earliest codification in Medieval law books.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews