Gender and Sexuality in Medieval Europe
- Course Code
- HIST 0133 / GSFS 0133
- Course Type
- Tutorials
- Subject Credit
- Course Availability
This course explores questions of gender and sexuality in western Europe during the middle ages, from around the fall of the western Roman Empire in the fifth century, until the fifteenth century. Christianity was a perennial element shaping attitudes and practices, but was a complex package, constantly re-interpreted in changing historical circumstances. Gender and sexuality need to be located in economic, cultural and social context. This course draws on primary sources (in English translation), ranging from Augustine of Hippo to Christine de Pizan, informed by the work of modern scholars such as Peter Brown, Julia H.M. Smith, and John Boswell.
Sample topics:
Augustine of Hippo
Better to marry than to burn?
Monasticism and clerical celibacy
Same sex desire
Masculinities
Women’s writing
Sex, gender, and medieval orientalism
The Virgin Mary