Mackenzie Manuel
230141034
Dana Wessell Lightfoot
HIST 312
Final Project
June.16.2022

Many scholars believe that life for women during the Medieval time period was severely controlled and women were not able to function in society as men were. While women did have a certain set of expectations, research shows that women were more prevalent in society than we realize. One aspect of these preconceived notions regarding women’s lives and rights are in regards to sex. Through court cases, we are able how laws aim to control the lives of women and maintain social order, versus how society actually functioned; these differences can be seen through laws regarding marriage, prostitution, and gender identity, and how court cases reveal that women have more sexual agency than the social ideals would like us to believe.
One of the major influences when creating Laws surrounding sex and marriage in the medieval time period is the influence of religion. Due to Christianity being the majority religion, these laws were influenced to reflect Christian values, The influence of Christianity created many laws regulating marriage and sex, and such laws occasionally differed between males and females. The first way which Laws govern sex is through marriage. It was expected of women to remain sexually pure until marriage. Such laws regarding sex in marriage hindered female bodily autonomy and their rights when regarding sex. Despite these constricting laws that aim to subordinate women and their ability to obtain a greater sense of bodily autonomy, these laws were not set in stone, but were rather meant to be guidelines that should be implemented in order to preserve social ideals in their community. Because these laws were not seen as black and white, many laws were not enforced regularly, and prosecution for such devices did not have consistent outcomes. While most scholars feed into the belief that Medieval laws were enforced in order to suppress women, “findings of other scholars suggest that these courts operated against men” (McDougall 207) equal to, if not more so than women when regarding sexual relations. While it was still considered worse for a female to commit adultery than a man, men that were “prosecuted were mostly wives’ lovers rather than married men prosecuted for extramarital sex with unmarried women. If, in fact, these men were punished primarily as wives’ lovers”. The presence of men being prosecuted for adultery more than women due to the way that men were viewed in society if their wife did commit adultery. In Theodore’s penitential (CA. 690), it is stated that “an adulterous woman shall do penance for seven years” (Amt 68), however, women were rarely prosecuted for adultery because “female adultery disgraced a husband; as a result, according to Naessens, ‘it was in a man’s best interest not to expose his wife’s infidelity’” ( McDougall 209). While the laws view women as being at fault for adultery, despite the rare occurrence where men are considered to have committed adultery if they had sex with another man’s wife, court records show that this law does not dictate how adultery is actually prosecuted. “Social control is not obviously the best explanation for laws and court decisions that were enforced weakly or not at all, given a town’s meager police power” (Lansing 34), and laws that were implemented amongst society were not always enforced to the standard that the laws illustrate. This shows us many laws regarding sex and marriage were not set in stone, but rather a guide that suggests how individuals should act in order to preserve social order. These court records show how society did not always stick to these laws, especially the punishments assigned to such laws because women were not prosecuted as the laws suggested they should be. While the laws themselves do not necessarily highlight women’s autonomy in marriage, it does allow us to see that women did express agency regarding their sexual desires, despite whether or not it was practiced in a socially moral way. It was more expected of men to commit adultery than it was for women because women were told to suppress their sexual desires whereas it was natural for men to desire sex Therefore it was more embarrassing for a man whose wife committed adultery than vice versa.

Through court records, we are also able to see how women have a greater sense of autonomy and agency than the laws placed upon them cause individuals to believe they did.While it appears as though women did not have many rights regarding sex in a marriage, they did however, have many rights which protected them from being forced into a marriage they did not want to be in. This also included the right to enforce that their husband actively carried out their expected responsibilities as a husband. Evidence of this is seen in the Alice Parker c. Richard Tenwitner case. In this case, Richard Tenwinter and his friend, Robert Adcock visited Alice one evening in January, 1488 at her home on the western edge of the city of London. While at Alice’s home, Richard asked to stay the night and to be intimate with Alice. Alice declined as she was not married to Richard. Richard states that he will marry her in order to sleep with her. However, after they have sexual intercourse, Richard denies that he ever agreed to marry her (McSheffery 1). This case allows us to see Alice’s agency as she brings Richard to court. She has the power to take Richard to court and ensure that he takes responsibility for his actions. Alice has the agency to, Richard’s personal friend. In doing so, she is able to take control over her sexuality and ensure that her social status is not hindered simply because Richard wanted to have sexual relations with her. When a woman was taken advantage of, she had the option to marry the accused in order to protect her social image. Women who fall victim to these situations have the autonomy to choose what the outcome will be, rather than the outcome being forced upon her and affecting her for the rest of her life.

While these laws aim to ensure social order, there is an immense double standard inflicted upon women. One one hand, women are meant to remain sexually pure, and if they do not conform to this standard, they are not fit for marriage. Even though there was the social expectation for women to abstain from sex until marriage, and many laws aimed to control women’s sexuality in an attempt to preserve social order, prostitution was not illegal despite being socially frowned upon. Prostitutes were even protected by law, ensuring that they would be compensated accordingly if someone were to do wrong to a prostitute in regards to her practice. In the Norman Laws dated early 13th c., there are laws regarding prostitution that state that “If anyone takes a prostitute by force and does not give her her price, he shall be in the duke’s mercy for all his chattels, and the prostitute shall have her price, and her damages shall be paid, if her clothes were torn; and if the abductor has no money, he shall do penance in the duke’s custody for eight day” (Amt 44). This allows women to have agency over their bodies, and allowed them to earn money through prostitution if they so desired. Such double standards placed upon women regarding sex is seen through the implementation of brothels. Society viewed men’s participation of paying for sex a “Masculine logic” which “accepted prostitution as a necessary evil” (Rollo-Koster 110) One one hand, women were to expected to remain sexually pure, but on the other hand, it was accepted for men pay for pleasure despite it requiring women to break these social expectations.
The creation of brothels was seen as a means to regulate prostitution and therefore did not disturb social order. In Avignonese, France, authorities often supported prostitution as long as it followed the requirements that they remain segregated from the rest of society. These prostitutes were “confined in two official ‘red light’ districts, the Bourg Gigonghan and the Bourg Neuf” (Rollo-Koster 111-112). While having to remain segregated from society for “drinks, dinner, and sex” ( Rollo-Koster 112), they were free to roam around throughout the city in order to pick up and be picked up by clients. These brothels were not frowned upon by the authorities due to their controlled nature. “Uncontrolled prostitutes, however, were thought to endanger social order (Rollo-Koster 110). This is due to the government’s desire to control women and their sexuality. Brothels are seen as easily controllable and prostitutes in brothels still have to follow a set of rules in order operate whereas independent and uncontrolled prostitutes used their agency in order to gain both sexual and bodily autonomy, which was frowned upon because it could not be regulated as easily in order to ensure that they are not negatively impacting the values of society. The phrase “out of site, out of mind” easily sums up the views that society had regarding prostitution. As long as they are segregated, prostitution is supported despite encouraging sexual relations outside of marriage. While prostitutes were not viewed highly by society, women were able to use their sexuality to provide for themselves as well as their families if they needed to or desired. Women have the agency to choose how they make their money, as well as how they want to use their bodies.

While prostitution in the Medieval time period was legal, there were still many laws regarding homosexuality that hindered those who identified as female but were born with the biological sex of a male. Despite their biological make up, these transgender women use their sense of agency for change in order to push the boundaries of laws that hinder the ability for individuals to express sexuality and gender identity. This is due to the laws governing sexuality and their inability to see gender beyond their biological sex. This is again, due to the religious influence on these laws, and therefore it was seen as a disgraceful act to have sex with another man, despite identifying as female, or even potentially as gender fluid. Evidence of transgender women being prosecuted as male in court is seen in the John Rykener case. John Rykener, a man who identified as a woman, dressed in women’s clothing, and referred to himself as “Eleanor”, was brought before the Mayor for prostitution in London, in the month of December in 1394. Eleanor had been offered the exchange of sex for money by John Britby, and Eleanor agreed to this transaction (Boyd and Karras 483). While prostitution was legal as previously discussed, Eleanor was apprehended for such encounter because the two individuals were having sexual relations in the public streets on this particular December evening.“Unfortunately, the result of the casts does not survive, if indeed any formal action was taken” (Boyd and Karras 480), and therefore it is hard to know how such devices were prosecuted. Despite not having the results of the trial, there is still ample information that allows individuals to understand the life of transgender prostitutes’ during the Medieval time period. Eleanor was referred to by the courts by his biological pronouns of he/him, rather than referring to Eleanor as a woman. Due to this, despite being accused of prostitution in a public area and therefore disturbing the peace, he was also tried for having homosexual relations with another man. While cross-dressing was not illegal, and transgender woman were free to express their gender identity through physical appearance, they were still viewed as males when regarding sexual interactions. While these laws still restrict transgender women, these individuals help push the boundaries of gender norms, which create agency for change in future years.

Overall, despite the belief that women were not present in everyday society during the Medieval time period, and that they had little to no rights that allowed them to have a sense of bodily autonomy and sexual agency, court records allow us to see otherwise. These Court records illustrate how women have the agency stand up for themselves and their rights when trying to be taken advantage of by men. We are also able to see how women had autonomy over their bodies when working as prostitutes, which also allows women to have agency in regards their work in order to support themselves and their families. However, even though prostitution is legal, and Transgender women are active in society, they are still considered to be homosexual males in court even if they identify as women. Despite this challenge transgender women continued to push gender ideals, and their agency paves the way for transgender freedom in later time periods.

Amt, Ellie. “Norman Laws” Women’s Lives in Medieval Europe: A Sourcebook. Routledge, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon; New York, 2010, pp.40-44

Amt, Ellie. “Marriage, sex, childbirth, and health” Women’s Lives in Medieval Europe: A Sourcebook. Routledge, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon; New York, 2010, pp.67-106

McDougall, Sara. “The Opposite of the Double Standard: Gender, Marriage, and Adultery Prosecution in Late Medieval France.” Journal of the History of Sexuality, vol. 23, no. 2, 2014, pp. 206–25. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24616490. Accessed 15 Jun. 2022.

McSheffery, Shelley. (2022, April 8). Alice Parker c. Richard Tenwinter. Consistory Testimony in a Late Medieval London Church Court. Retrieved May 5, 2022, from https://consistory.org/2022/02/13/parker-c-tenwinter/
Boyd, David Lorenzo and Ruth Mazo Karras. “THE INTERROGATION OF A MALE TRANSVESTITE PROSTITUTE IN FOURTEENTH-CENTURY LONDON” from HIST/WMST 312 Course Readings: Women and the Law UNBC, June 7, 2022.

Rollo-Koster, Joelle. “From Prostitutes to Brides of Christ: The Avignonese Repenties in the Late Middle Ages.” The Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Vol.32, no.1, 2002,
Pp.1-9-144.

Writing Details