sex

  • Heloise: A woman’s view of the Middle Ages. Love, body, and power beyond Abelard.

    When the name Heloise is spoken, collective memory almost automatically turns to another figure: Pierre Abélard. Their love story, overwhelming, scandalous, tragic, has, over time, become one of the founding myths of Western romantic imagination. Yet to stop there is to betray precisely what makes Heloise an exceptional figure. For Heloise is not merely the

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  • Give me your pee and I’ll tell you who you are

    If today a doctor told you, “To understand what’s wrong with you, let me examine your urine… under the light of the Moon,” you would probably run for your life. In the Middle Ages, however, not only would you not have been scandalised… you would have considered the request perfectly normal.For centuries, in fact, the

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  • Sexuality in the Fifteenth Century: Between Sin and Medicine

    A few months ago, I wrote about sex toys in the Middle Ages, you can find the article here. Today I’ve chosen to step into the bedrooms of both common people and royals, to show that no matter which century you live in, or where you live, sexuality has always remained the same throughout the

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  • The Forbidden Side of the Middle Ages: Sensual Games They Never Told You About

    Often, when we think of the Middle Ages, we tend to imagine that historical period as one of darkness, punishments, plagues, and chastity pushed to the limits of asexuality. As if having sex, or even just thinking about sex, were so forbidden that no one dared, under penalty of death. In reality, nothing could be

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  • History is not chaste, and neither are we.

    If I said the word “godemiché” what would come to mind? Wait, let’s take a step back. In ancient Greece and ancient Rome, sexual satisfaction was considered a fundamental aspect of life. Even then, objects designed exclusively for female pleasure existed, often with purposes that were not even too subtly voyeuristic. In short, pleasure was

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