How was sex viewed in medieval times?

In the Middle Ages they tied sex very much to gender. Sex was all about the role. If you were the active partner, you were playing the masculine role, if you were the passive partner, you were playing the feminine role. They envisioned sex very much as something one person does to another, that a man does to a woman.

What was considered beautiful in medieval times?

Claudio Da Soller examines the traditional European archetype of beauty: “a small head; blond hair; eyebrows set apart, long and arched; a narrow chin; large, prominent, colorful, and shining eyes, with long lashes; small, delicate ears; a long throat; a finely chiseled nose; small, even, sharp and white teeth, close …

What was it like to be a woman in medieval times?

Throughout the Middle Ages, lower-class women were bakers, brewers, milkmaids, barmaids, artisans, weavers and, primarily, tenant farmers who worked alongside their husbands and children in the fields. The woman’s job was to take care of the home, help her husband at his work, and produce children.

What did ancient people think about sex?

He claims that while the ancients saw sex as completely natural and had no inhibitions or taboos, they were guided by social rather than moral dictates. This made life particularly difficult for homosexuals in a patriarchal society where male passivity was despised.

Was adultery common in medieval times?

While adultery was not quite as common as simple fornication, it too seems to have been relatively widespread. It was so common in fact that by the later Middle Ages it was not even considered grounds for the dissolution of marriage (Brundage, 455).

How did they wash their hair in the Middle Ages?

Hair was cleaned with water, sometimes mixed with ash and herbs to make it shiny and sweet-smelling. Daily combing was also important, and was sometimes combined with the sprinkling of special powders (made from fragrant ingredients such as rose petals).

Did medieval peasants get married?

Peasants and the working class married more often for love and what was to come in the dowry. Occasionally elders arranged the marriages as early as three but that trend disappeared later in the Middle Ages. Although already arranged, legally a marriage did not exist until the couple consented to the union.