Sex in the Middle Ages

Sex in the Middle Ages

Please note that this episode contains conversation about sex that you might not want to listen to in the presence of children.


What did medieval people really think about sex, and were those thoughts all that different from ours today?

The medieval humoral system of medicine suggested that it was possible to die from having too much-or too little-sex, while the Roman Catholic Church taught that virginity was the ideal state. Holy men and women committed themselves to lifelong abstinence in the name of religion. Everyone was forced to conform to restrictive rules about sex and could be harshly punished for getting it wrong. More familiarly, medieval people faced challenges in finding a suitable partner and also struggled with many of the same social issues that we face today.


Dan is joined by Katherine Harvey, Honorary Research Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London and author of ‘The Fires of Lust: Sex in the Middle Ages’. Katherine holds a PhD in Medieval History from King’s College London and has published widely on medieval topics, including sexuality, gender, emotions and the body. Join Dan and Katherine as they discuss sex through the ages, as relating to general attitudes, frequency, religion and marriage.


Please vote for us! Dan Snow's History Hit has been nominated for a Podbible award in the 'informative' category: https://bit.ly/3pykkds


If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Avsnitt(1492)

Britain in the 1980s

Britain in the 1980s

Dominic Sandbrook is one of Britain’s most prolific historians, working his way through a series on Britain since the Second World War. His most recent book examines the pivotal early years of Margare...

8 Mars 202034min

Coronavirus is NOT the plague

Coronavirus is NOT the plague

It came from Asia via the Middle East and Italy. But, says 17th Century historian, Rebecca Rideal, the parallels with the Black Death, The Plague, are not helpful.It was great to catch up with Rebecca...

5 Mars 202020min

Champagne Riots

Champagne Riots

Rebecca Gibb is a Master of Wine. A ninja who can sniff out a Merlot from a Margaux at 50 paces. I know ABSOLUTELY nothing about wine other than I like drinking it. So we had a lot to talk about.She h...

4 Mars 202021min

The Discovery of the Universe

The Discovery of the Universe

The universe has always been there, kind of, but it took intelligent life on earth billions of years to start to grapple with its nature. Carolyn Collins Peterson is a science writer who charts the pr...

3 Mars 202021min

The First President

The First President

George. Where did it all go wrong?George Washington could have had a comfortable career as a loyal member of HIs Majesty's Virginia militia and colonial grandee. But no, he had to go and roll the dice...

2 Mars 202022min

The Bombing War

The Bombing War

75 years ago this Spring, the aerial assault on Germany was reaching a crescendo as city after city was devastated by British and American bomber fleets. History Hit TV have just launched a major docu...

1 Mars 202056min

The Irish War of Independence

The Irish War of Independence

Dan made a stupid comment on twitter. Irish history twitter melted down. So we did a pod on why. 100 years ago the Irish War of Independence was being fought in Ireland as the UK government sought to ...

27 Feb 202032min

Guernsey: Voices of the Occupation

Guernsey: Voices of the Occupation

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Channel Islands. Dan went to meet four people who remember the war years on the islands and hear their experiences of occupation. Hosted...

26 Feb 202039min

Populärt inom Historia

motiv
kod-katastrof
massmordarpodden
historiska-brott
p3-historia
olosta-mord
historiepodden-se
rss-brottsligt
rss-massmordarpodden
historianu-med-urban-lindstedt
rss-seriemordarpodden
konspirationsteorier
palmemordet
militarhistoriepodden
rss-arkiv-stieg
krigshistoriepodden
nu-blir-det-historia
rss-historien-om
harrisons-dramatiska-historia
bedragare