Sex was very common in Medieval Europe. It was considered to be a normal, natural part of life, much like how it is today. However, the Medieval times were not governed by equality and fairness as our society today is. There was heavy prostitution, rape, adultery, etc. Because the Medieval times were ruled by an extremely dominant patriarchy, much like the Colonial and Victorian eras, there was a severe lack in women's rights and women could barely do anything to protect themselves. Because of this, rape was extremely prevalent, even common place. This was a very bad time to be a woman. People committing rape did not have an attached sense of intent and personal responsibility as they do in modern times, so women did not have anyone to protect and defend them and could not seek action against any perpetrator. Charges for men were usually mild (unless they were repeat offenders) but if a women complained about being raped, they would often be arrested on charges of false appeal [1]. There are many different accounts for the punishment of rape during this time period. It ranged from penance (a favorite punishment for the Church it seems), to paying fines, to brutal physical torture. Punishments for adultery were extremely severe and cruel. A common punishment by the Church for adultery was something called "The Pope's Pear." During this punishment, a crude metal device resembling a pear where put into the vagina for a woman and the anus for a man. The torturer then clicked the handle of the device, causing the pear to extend and inflict further damage to the victim [2]. Men and women suffered these unusually cruel punishments for committing this act because of the strict laws established by the Church. Keep in mind that this era was before The Enlightenment so people greatly feared and blindly followed whatever the Church said. This led to extreme manipulation and corruption. People were also punished for different sexual acts, like oral and anal sex. The punishments for this were usually three years of penance. Very contradictory to the views of most men in Medieval Europe, the Church established all these strict laws governing what was deemed acceptable and unacceptable in society for a reason. They sought to control the population and prevent anyone from rising up and questioning their authority. However, according to John M. Carter, "Clerics, or those claiming to be clerics, formed the largest percentage of rapists," [3]. This is extremely hypocritical of the Church because their own people were accused of rape. This shows us that no matter what laws are in place, human lust will usually corrupt a society and cause moral people to commit otherwise immoral acts. Although the grasp of the Church slowly fades away in the future, history still repeats itself and we are shown this in Colonial and Victorian America with the further abuse of women.
Bibliography
[1] - Michael, Streich. Suite, "Rape In The Middle Ages." Accessed February 26, 2014. https://suite101.com/a/rape-in-the-middle-ages-a399883.
[2] - HubPages, "TOP 5: cruel medieval punishment." Accessed February 26, 2014. http://aisas.hubpages.com/hub/medievalpunishments.
[3] - John Marshall Carter, Rape in Medieval England: An Historical and Sociological Study (University Press of America, 1989).
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