Sexual Crime in the Courtly Context

Thesis Statement

Sexually, the medieval perfect was that espoused by Christianity, especially as understood by Saint Augustine. Augustine's concepts in turn were leveraged not only by biblical notions, which were often ambiguous in themselves, but furthermore by the philosophical notions and ascetic practices of the pagan world in which he dwelled, especially those sophisticated by the redemptive cults that were competitors of Christianity.

Introduction

Not amazingly, our image of Renaissance sexuality is confusing. Literature of the time span abounds with pointers apparently at cross-purpose. The transcendent dream of love epitomized by Dante Vita Nuova and Divine Comedy, the prescribed courtesy and light-hearted adultery of Boccaccio's Decameron, the courtly manners of Castiglione Perfect Courtier, the mischievous Machiavellianism of Machiavelli Mandragola, the exploitative sensuality of Aretino Dialogues -- each depicts a distinct sexy world overlaid with scholarly customs and individual standards that departs one who hunts for the truth of Renaissance sexuality unsure and dissatisfied (Noonan 52).

Discussion

The moralists of the time span, if employed in a customary scholastic mode or in the newer humanist one, appear to contemplate more on enduring Christian standards than on up to designated day practice. When they rarely do fall from eternal verities to functional every day anxieties, one is hit by their dream of a world polarized between Christians dwelling chastely in the City of God and pagans dwelling in Sodom and Gomorrah, both someway inhabiting our Renaissance towns and overriding them. Yet the chronicles and past notes of the time display little signal of such deep sexy partitions, and we are tempted to compose off these anecdotes as the ordered extremes of a moralizing vision.

Language presents an important key to sex misdeed and sexuality. In the lawful reportage of misdeed, what often stayed unsaid in publications, sermons, or journals was often articulated with clarity ...