history of sex – Page 2 – Going Medieval

On Sex with Demons

In an extremely normal turn of events, this week I was forced to learn that Donald Trump, having never left his bullshit, was of course on it. The leader of the free world has been retweeting videos made by the good Dr Stella Immanuel, a Houston-based pediatrician who says the things he wants to hear. (Masks = bad. The drug that he has a financial interest in = good.) Turns out Dr Immanuel also has some, uh, spicier opinions as well.

On the Agas map of London, medieval and early modern cities, and life

Because I am an historian and can do stuff like this and call it work, I spent several hours yesterday playing with this incredible zoomable version of the Agas map of Early Modern London. If you just went over there and played with that and didn’t read the rest of this post I would make peace with it eventually. But why not do both?

Now that you are aware that this map exist, if you are still here first – thanks! Second, there are hundreds of reasons why this map is so amazing, but today we are going to talk about how it offers us a rare glimpse into everyday life in Early Modern London.

Doing it Right – A Short Introduction to Medieval Sex for Nerd Nite

I had the pleasure of talking medieval sex for Nerd Nite this week. If you want to check out the video I can do that for you!

Podcast alert: Talking sex in the medieval times on Holly Randall Unfiltered

I had the absolute pleasure of talking medieval sex, dogging, and how conferences are wild with Holly Randall the other week. Have a listen!

If you do apple, try here.

For everyone else, there’s this link here.

On “alpha” men, sexual contagion, and poorly disguised misogyny

So, this week on Twitter, aka the place that Mufasa would have warned you that you must never go, we met a new dude. I became aware of him because he had some advice to world’s strongest man, and holder of the new world deadlift record Hafþór Björnsson, aka the Mountain, on how to stand next to his wife.

On the plague, sex, and rebellion

Our good friends over at A Bit Lit had me on to discuss the fourteenth century, sex, plague, and what happens when people get mad. Do have a watch!

No bestiality was never OK, you absolute rabid weirdo

Dear reader, there I was, minding my own business when it popped up on my Twitter timeline – the worst tweet. The most incredibly cursed take.

I tell you this now so you can look away if necessary. Please gird your loins or whatever.

On Prague, Preaching, and Brothels

I was back in Prague/on my bullshit and went to go visit the site of Jerusalem – my boy Jan Milíč z Kroměříže’s fourteenth-century community of “repentant prostitutes” and preachers. In this video we talk a little about what that is all about, how sex work changed cities and cities changed sex work, and how Charles IV made Prague into one of Europe’s most important cities and a total tourist trap.
Enjoy!

On courtly love and pick up artists

Loves, as an elder millennial, I am cursed to watch my references recede into the past; my memes wither and die; my ability to think of other jokes to put into this sentence dries up imperceptibly, day by day. So it is with my major reference point for explaining the major tropes in courtly love which are still weaponised as romance now – Hotline Bling. The kids are coming up from behind with references that are more relevant than all of the references I know. They don’t care what a child groomer had to say about love and how that connects with twelfth century romance. And you know what? That is fair.

That’s not what sodomy is, but OK

[CW mention of a count of historical sexual violence – nothing graphic, but it is there. Be safe!]

My friends, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but sodomy is not just butt stuff. It is also – and this is crucial – not just gay stuff either. (OK. I love to tell you this.)