On Sexual Commandments in Middle Ages in Europe

For most of western history, public punishment for "illegal" sexual behavior was the norm. Although there are subtle differences, every society in Europe advocates the ideal of sexual discipline and punishes those who cheat voluntarily. This is a core feature of Christian civilization, and its importance has become increasingly prominent since the early Middle Ages. The Origin of Sex attempts to restore the history of sex to an important public event, indicating that people's understanding and handling of sex in the past was shaped by the deepest ideological culture and social thoughts at that time. How different cultures treat sex, and how these cultures specifically express it, goes far beyond the physical and physiological behavior itself-this reflects the deepest insight of culture into human nature, society and the meaning of life. First, the sexual situation in the Middle Ages Although every civilization has stipulated strict laws to punish at least some immoral sexual behaviors since the beginning of history, compared with the religious reform, the supervision of sex in the Middle Ages was quite loose. According to the traditional Catholic concept, physical desire is reprehensible, but it is inevitable: it is impossible and counterproductive to completely restrain it. Even prostitution was approved at that time. Protestantism scoffs at Catholicism and sustains itself by allowing and managing * * and relying on the proceeds of deception and adultery. "Oh, Rome! Protestantism often condemns this, saying that "* * * is making a living and paying rent to Shengku in order to obtain her business license. "The bishops at that time may be irrational, but they are also willing to let nature take its course. 1. Since ancient times, illegal sexual behavior is an open crime, and this principle has been more and more strongly adhered to since the early Middle Ages. The oldest existing code (2 100-BC 1700) was promulgated by the king of Babylon, which stipulated that adultery should be put to death, and most other near eastern and classical cultures regarded it as a serious crime: Assyrians, ancient Egyptians, Jews, Greeks and, to some extent, Romans thought so. The Code of Ethelbert, the Anglo-Saxon King of Kent (602) stipulates various fines: "If a man marries a widow who does not belong to him"; Having sexual relations with maids or female slaves of different classes; Adultery with the wives of other freemen-in this serious case, in addition to high fines, criminals must also use their own money to marry a wife and then take her to someone else's home. These severe punishments are in line with the attitude of the Christian church. " Thou shalt not commit adultery "is the seventh of God's Ten Commandments. For every adulterer and prostitute, he ordered that "he must be put to death". The same fate will be imposed on anyone who commits * * * or * * * crimes, as well as men who have homosexual sex: all these people have defiled themselves and their communities. Although the Old Testament praised marriage as an indispensable system in both society and religion, its primary revelation was that sexual relations were unclean. Even between husband and wife, sex is still strictly limited to a specific time, place and purpose (only for reproduction, not for happiness), and then there is a purification ceremony to wash away the filth caused by this behavior. Early scholars were not very civilized about sex, and Stoic philosophy was full of doubts about sex, thinking that sex was a kind of low-level depraved happiness. In the following centuries, the main authority of the church further developed the negative view of sex. The ideal of asceticism is increasingly strengthened, mainly for clergy, but also for secular men and women. 2. Slightly tolerant sexual rules require you to do what you want. In fact, the management of sex at that time was not very unreasonable. Even some famous bishops sometimes say one thing and do another, at least not so convincing. Saint Augustine is a staunch ascetic. He thinks that * * is the most dangerous of all human desires. However, when he was young, he was a different person. When he was a gifted scholar, he lived with an unmarried lover for many years and had an illegitimate child. At that time, he was more keen on Manichaeism than non-mainstream Christianity. No matter in medieval literature or in daily life, illegal love and * * * are often discussed in a normal tone, which shows that such behavior is not always condemned. According to the marriage law of the church, in theory, legal sexual relations only need the consent of both parties, without any priests, witnesses and ceremonies. From the poems written by john dryden in 168 1, we can get a glimpse of the previous sexual state. The poem Absalom and Achtoff wrote: In the pious times, priests began to play tricks/polygamy was not a crime at that time/men planted seeds everywhere/evil seeds fell one after another/nature encouraged them, and the law did not prevent them/them from indulging in wives and concubines. So that public prostitution was tolerated and gradually recognized in the late Middle Ages. In view of the fact that unmarried civilians and clergy can't contain * * *, there is an argument that brothels should be allowed to exist instead of causing * * *, * *, adultery or even worse. Second, the culture of sexual discipline began with the Protestant movement in 1500, which purified the church from the inside and quickly developed into a torrent of truth struggle. Protestants believe that the teachings and practices of the Catholic Church have become corrupt and secular. They want to rediscover God's real expectations of Christians and build their own society on this basis: not only in religious beliefs, but also in all aspects of daily life. In the activities of religious reform to reshape the world, sex is the center. Since the end of15th century, syphilis, a fatal disease, has spread day by day, causing increasingly serious anxiety among people. Social problems caused by promiscuity-crime, disease, illegitimate children, poverty-are increasingly touching people's hearts. Dealing with adultery and infidelity with stricter standards is actually one of the governance measures in the late Tudor dynasty. In order to meet the challenge of Protestantism, the Catholic anti-Protestantism movement also takes stricter sexual supervision as an important measure. It is the duty of Christianity and the public to punish unfaithful people, for themselves and for the good of the community, and it is also the unshirkable responsibility of every member of society. 1. Protestants who are almost abnormal in sexual cleanliness believe that the overall attitude of the church towards sexual morality in the past seems slack, hypocritical and weak. His priest is a lecherous parasite: the ideal of celibacy is just a joke. Catholic celibacy is unrealistic. For everyone, including priests, marriage is the only way to solve * * * in the future. Religious reformers closed brothels, expelled brothels and severely punished adultery. The inquisition punished those who were considered disloyal by destroying the bodies. They are either marked with some kind of mark and paraded in the streets, or directly deprived of "tools for committing crimes" and so on. Its purpose is to distinguish people with stigma from groups, not only to expel "heretics", but also to restrain the freedom of the vast majority of groups. Throughout the western world, Christian propaganda and measures during this period strengthened the suppression of adultery, prostitution and * * * *. Protestants' obsession with cleanliness is staggering, and even sexual behavior between husband and wife during pregnancy and menstruation is generally regarded as a violation of God's laws-John Cotton identified the latter as a capital crime in the Model Code of Massachusetts and New Haven in 1636. /kloc-in the winter of 0/644, James Britten, an immigrant from Massachusetts, publicly pleaded guilty. He mentioned that once, after drinking too much, he tried to have sex with a young bride of good birth, Mary latham (but failed). Although she now lives in a distant Plymouth colony, she was found and finally brought to Boston for trial. At that time, although she denied that the two sides did have sexual relations, she was still convicted of adultery. Two weeks after the trial, she was hanged when she was only 18 years old. 2. Just to change customs? The ultimate ideal of Protestants is to build a society in which all people avoid immoral behavior, except those who are evil and blasphemous. They are forced to hide in dark corners and are afraid of exposure all the time. Impurity first violates the patriarchal principle: every woman is the property of her father or husband, so any stranger who has sex with her must be regarded as theft and a serious insult to her relatives. In people's minds at that time, women were inferior to men, and women were often regarded as things. It is easy to understand the situation in ancient China. Buying and selling women, exchanging women and giving away women were common things in ancient China. Illegal sexual relations also violate property rights in a more practical way. For example, children born out of wedlock will endanger the inheritance rights of others. Children born out of wedlock will not only take away the property that originally belonged to brothers and sisters, but also endanger neighbors. Some places try their best to prevent the poor from getting married, because the poor raise more children than they can afford, which will increase the burden on the parish. In addition, prostitution will not only spread sexually transmitted diseases, but also lead to alcoholism, theft, fraud, infanticide and other evils. From the perspective of religious psychology, people are also worried about being punished, and infidelity will be punished. If any community dares to tolerate such insults to God, God's anger will punish all of them. 3. Living in at least one culture, although the punishment for infidelity is not thorough, at least people live in a culture of sexual discipline. In this culture, self-discipline in all aspects of life is regarded as the primary symbol of civilization. People laugh at infidelity not only for fun, but also because it is a clear sign of weakness. The basic principle of traditional ethics is that no matter how strong the temptation is, both men and women should take personal responsibility for their actions. Only wild animals and savages are "obedient" to "natural desires" without restriction, while civilized Christians should keep their bodies under the control of their souls. The rule of spirit and mind over body is the foundation of the whole discipline culture. There is no other reasonable and appropriate ideology about sexual freedom in the actual behavior of sexual discipline, and it is impossible to imagine a society without sexual supervision. Even/kloc-pepys's Personal Diary, which narrated the adventure with the greatest courage before the 8th century, is full of much stronger sense of guilt and shame than similar works in later generations. Sexual supervision is not just a top-down external coercion, but people's practice and wide recognition make it have internal vitality. Everyone plays a role in it. Even guards, policemen and church deacons are just ordinary householders, just doing their jobs in the community. There is no independent and professional supervision force. This is a mass self-monitoring system. The whole community monitors itself and supports the norms of collective behavior. The culture of sexual discipline is not only supported by the strong belief that immoral behavior is dangerous. It also depends on a series of important political, philosophical and psychological assumptions, the purpose of * * *, the ethics of human nature and belief, and the defects of innate knowledge. This commandment has been implemented for so long, it is so closely intertwined with the structure of social life, and its ideological foundation is so deep that no one can imagine that it was abolished in 1600.