The Importance of Chastity in

“Women, through whom death, suffering and toil came into the world, were creatures’ dominated by their sex. So taught the Bible and patristic tradition. To control and punish women, particularly their bodies and their dangerous, disruptive sexuality was therefore man’s work”(Klapische-Zuber 13). Sexual morality exemplified in the theological literature of the twelfth through fifteenth centuries and the canon laws that predominated order in medieval life radically affected marital behaviour and the sexual relationship’s …showed first 75 words of 3029 total…

…showed last 75 words of 3029 total…could legally and morally engage in sexual relations. A medieval married couple’s union was strictly regarded as a chaste bond that was primarily used for the procreation of legitimate children, but also was used as an outlet for physical attraction and sexual desire. The virtue of conjugal chastity sustained by both spouses weighed heavier on the woman for she was judged within medieval society by her gender, her virtue and her husband’s honour.