In the early Middle Ages, the church’s influence slowly began to increase. Christianity had become the state religion of Rome, and though the church did not have much formal power, its teachings had an influence on law. For example, homosexual relations (even homosexual marriage) had been legal for the first 200 years that Christianity was the state religion of Rome, and the church was very tolerant of homosexuality. Eventually, however, church teachings changed and became much stricter.
Between about 1050 and 1150 (the High Middle Ages) sexuality once again became liberalized. For example, a gay subculture was established in Europe that produced a body of gay literature that had not been seen since the Roman Empire and would not emerge again until the 19th century (Boswell, 1980).
However, the homosexual subculture disappeared in the 13th century when the church cracked down on a variety of groups—including Jews, Muslims, and homosexuals (Boswell, 1980). In the year 1215, the Church instituted confession, and soon guides appeared to teach priests about the various sins penitents (PENN-it-tunce) might have committed. The guides seem preoccupied with sexual transgressions and used sexual sins more than any other kind to illustrate their points (Payer, 1991). All sex outside of marriage was considered sinful, and even certain marital acts were forbidden. But penance also had to be done for such things as nocturnal emissions and violations of modesty (looks, desires, touches, kisses).
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entremetteuse Historically, a woman who procures sexual partners for men or one who taught men about lovemaking. |
European women in the early Middle Ages were only slightly better off than they had been under the ancient Greeks or Romans. By the late Middle Ages, however, new ideas about women were brought back by the Crusaders from Islamic lands (see the section on Islam that follows). Women were elevated to a place of purity and were considered almost perfect. Eve, who caused Adam’s downfall, was replaced as the symbol of ideal womanhood by Mary, the mother of God (Tannahill, 1980). Woman was no longer a temptress but a model of virtue. The idea of romantic love was first created at this time, and it spread through popular culture as balladeers and troubadours traveled from place to place, singing songs of pure, spiritual love, untroubled by sex. At the same time that women were seen to be virtuous, however, they were also said to be the holder of the secrets of sexuality (Thomasset, 1992). Before marriage, men would employ the services of an entremetteuse (on-TRAY-meh-toose) to teach them the ways of love. These old women procured young women (prostitutes) for the men and were said to know the secrets of restoring potency, restoring virginity, and concocting potions. It was a small step from the scary accounts of these old women’s powers to the belief in witches. By the late 15th century, the church began a campaign against witchcraft, which they said was inspired by women’s insatiable “carnal lust” (Covey, 1989). Perhaps no person from the Middle Ages had a stronger impact on subsequent attitudes toward sexuality than the theologian (and later saint) Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). Aquinas established the views of morality and correct sexual behavior that form the basis of the Catholic Church’s attitudes toward sexuality, even today. Aquinas drew from the idea of “natural law” to suggest that there were “natural” and “unnatural” sex acts. Aquinas argued that the sex organs were “naturally” intended for procreation, and other use of them was unnatural and immoral; in fact, he argued that semen and ejaculation were intended only to impregnate, and any other use of them was immoral. But Aquinas recognized a problem: if the reason that, for example, homosexual intercourse was wrong was because it was an unnatural use of the sex organs, then was it not wrong to use other parts of the body for other uses? Is it immoral, for example, to walk on one’s hands, which were not naturally designed for that (Boswell, 1980)? Aquinas solved that problem by arguing that the sin was that misuse of sexuality got in the way of procreation. But he himself had argued that individuals are not obligated to reproduce, for the Christian church thought celibacy and voluntary virginity were the highest virtue. Aquinas’s own logic led him to admit that certain sex acts are immoral simply because of popular sentiment. Yet Aquinas’s strong condemnation of sexuality— and especially homosexuality, which he called the worst of all sexual sins—set the tone for Christian attitudes toward sexuality for many centuries. |
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Koran The holy book of Islam. Also spelled Quran or Qur’an. |
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