Medieval And Early Modern Prostitution

Medieval and Early Modern Prostitution

Historians have generally neglected the topic of prostitution in medieval and early modern societies. It is far easier to discuss warfare and state creation than a varigated and verbally suggestive topic. Three historians have ventured to analyze the topic: Ruth Karras (England), Leah Otis (France), and Lotte van de Pol (Netherlands). All three examine the social construction of sexuality over time. They demonstrate how prostitution became both institutionalized and increasingly shaped by misogynist attitudes until it became embedded in emerging urban economies. As these economies became more competitive, their municipal, state, and religious authorities vied for greater power to define public morality and social order. Prostitutes were no longer merely paupers, but criminal figures.

Karras, Ruth Mazo - Common Women~Prostitution and Sexuality in Medieval England

Otis, Leah Lydia - Prostitution in Medieval Society~The History of an Urban Institution in Languedoc

Pol, Lotte van de - The Burgher and the Whore~Prostitution in Early Modern Amsterdam


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