Medieval Europe Prostitution
Depiction of Women in the French Fabliaux
Within the French fabliaux, women are portrayed in many different ways. However, the two most dominating depictions are as the heroic figure, or the unsavory figure. There are numerous articles and essays written on this topic, supporting one side or the other, explaining the reason behind why women are portrayed in a certain way within the fabliaux. However, are we really able to support strictly one side of the argument? The history of prostitution explains to us that there could be a reason why there exists such conflicting portrayal of women within the countless numbers of fabliaux. The reasons, laws and social attitudes behind prostitution in medieval Europe will help explicate the reasoning behind such imagery of women in French literature. The twelfth and thirteenth century Europe is known for its blooming number of prostitutes and usually, they are described negatively.
“The repeated orders for prostitutes to be expelled from cities and frequent invectives equating prostitutes with moral malaise all tend to confirm the thesis proposed by historians such as R. I. Moore, Bronislaw Greek, and Jacques Le Goff that thirteenth- century prostitutes were increasingly excluded from a society becoming less welcoming
Based on some of the archival documentation we have, it seems as though prostitutes were almost always considered bad or even as enemies. Along with other social groups such as Jews, heretics and lepers, prostitutes were considered a minority. Although these groups were all a minority, some argue that the prostitutes had a “privileged position”. As jongleurs would say, when God created the world, he made three different types of people: the nobles, clergy and peasants. However, before he was about to leave, the prostitutes, jongleurs and some others came and asked for help. God put the prostitutes under the clergy’s care, and the jongleurs under the knights’, and only the clergy acted upon their obligation. This anecdote infers to the fact that society has a level of tolerance for the prostitutes that it doesn’t have for other minorities. Although some evidences might suggest that prostitutes were always despised, more evidences prove that they were able to coexist with their contemporaries; there weren’t enough information on prostitution before the 14th century, and the little information that we have were documented by a group of people who loathed them, such as elite men or secular authorities.
There are numerous reasons why there was an increase in the number of prostitutes during the thirteenth century in Europe— unemployment, the societal and economical norm of marriage, and family support. To take Paris as an example, during this time period, there were a lot of poor immigrants in the country. These migrant women did not have much choice in occupation, because at the time, stricter regulations were imposed upon women in the workforce by the Parisian provost, Etienne Boileau. Furthermore, it was natural for these “foreign” impoverished women to turn to prostitution because they were already considered marginal. Another huge reason why there was a boom in prostitution was because of the societal norm of conjugality in the medieval ages; they did not have much choice in occupation outside the conjugal unit.
“Not every woman who was unable to marry became a prostitute. Brewing, spinning, and other casual occupations could provide sources of income for single women, if not lucrative ones. But “single woman” did become a euphemism for prostitute by the early sixteenth century, in connection with the Southwark stews in particular, even if it did not denote this in every instance.”
As mentioned above, although prostitution did not provide them with sufficient wages, most single women ended up in the business of prostitution because they did not have much of an option. Lastly, some women felt that they could add to the minimal wages by engaging in prostitution. This meant that they were more than willing to engage with their bosses and other members of the societies who sought prostitution services and who would part with a good amount in the end. The institutionalization of prostitution however was the main contributor to a rise in prostitution since it allowed for professionalism in the practice where women went to the extent of renting places while others chose to live in town brothels. On other occasions, women were targets of sexual violence and gang rapes such that they lost their marriages and were later forced to turn to the act of selling themselves as a way of sustaining themselves thereby proving aspects of fabliaux in Medieval Europe. Prostitution then became a way of life in Medieval France some brothels were identified as official owned by the public such that the act became inevitable in the urban centers with laws keen on making the prostitutes distinguishable from the rest of the women in the society. This implies that prostitutes were to wear differently from other women who were not part of the business and were respectable in the society. Most of the women used prostitution as a way of financial support since women at that time were unable to sustain themselves outside the conjugal unit.Those who did no marry because of their personal choice or other circumstances had limited economic opportunities with the only opportunity left being to indulge in forms of prostitution. Prostitution was to a larger extent the only way women could sustain themselves in the absence of a husband who could have provided for them economically. The fact that most women who engaged in some form of economic activity felt that their wages were minimal contributed to prostitution since they had to find alternative ways to make up for the difference. This meant that women in the medieval France were keen on improving their earnings through engaging in additional activities that provided a source of income for them.
Laws and rules on Prostitution in Medieval France
A common woman in the medieval France was one who had many sex partners with many of such being those who were not under the dominion of a man and unlikely to marry. In the early emergence, prostitution faced public humiliations since it was seen as sexual immorality and that there was need to repress the trade. However, the increasing number of unmarried men made the authorities recognize their needs and realize the fact that they could make money from places such as brothels that were managed by town officials. With a weekly sum given to the authorities, women were free to practice position without interference from federal regulations. The authorities in this case were more concerned with the need to reap economically from the control of the public brothels with specific places created for men with needs to fulfill them. Other factors that led to softened rules on prostitution was that there was need to protect innocent women from brutality of rape and sexual violence as well as limiting forms of disruption that were caused by prostitutes trying to advertise their services along the streets.
While some rulers attempted to ban prostitution in medieval Europe, such decisions were met with protests that proved hard for the business to be banned such that the only option available was to allow prostitution but with the brothels located away from the respectable streets and religious establishments. The best way that existed therefore was to ensure that the practices was only done in the allowed territories and breach of the protocols would then lead to prosecutions for those who practiced outside the confined areas. The laws at the time required that the brothels be run by a woman commonly a former prostitute.
Social attitudes towards prostitution
There was passive acceptance of prostitutes in the society such that their practices were faced with greater hostility initially. However, as time went by, the public authorities intervened and played the role of protection and defining the context under which prostitutes operated. The need to protect prostitutes led to setting up of districts and houses where the prostitution could be carried out without much criticism from the public. However, the fact is that prostitutes still had to live with social stigma as they were separated from those who were believed to be respectable women and hence barred from respectable neighborhoods. Such measures proved the extent to which the society was unwilling to accommodate the prostitutes into their territories as they saw them as bad influence and that their operations were to be done in restricted places. A prostitute found operated outside the allowed region was therefore punished by the public authorities. Women were in most cases marginalized such that they were forced into prostitutions by their economic needs. However, while some of the women were believed to be prostitutes, they still earned the trust of the society such that they were still valued and respected. Such was the case when the women were pushed to the walls by their poor economic status and hence had no option but to try prostitution as a way of sustaining themselves.However, to a larger extent still, prostitution reduced the trust men had towards women since the latter were seen as using deceitful means to make men part with their money. Prostitution in this case presented something that men distrusted in all women of sexuality in the figure of prostitutes. The attitudes of men towards women was therefore one that represented a problematic element in the society. Prostitutes in some case were seen as people who had breached the moral codes according to Christianity such that they had defied the teachings of the church. The only thing that sustained their practices was the fact that the urban population was filled with men who were eager to fulfill their needs in the brothels. However, in spite of the prostitutes being tolerated in the society, they were still not worthy any respect since such practices contributed to them tarnishing their names and reputation. The tolerance of the prostitution was also contributed by the fact that the urban centers had revolved from the rural areas thereby eroding the moral cultures that used to exist in the rural places. Initial attempts had worked where the honest citizens were separated from the immoral ones with prostitutes being kept outside the county walls. However, as the activities progressed, the attitude of the public changed such that prostitutes were accommodated with public brothels put in place and the former required to pay a certain amount at regular intervals. With the increasing urban centers, prostitution in medieval France became a common practice and was widely accepted in spite of the earlier interventions that had been done to limit the practice and separate the common from respectable individuals. The authorities at the time were also keen on making cheap brothels where younger men could satisfy their needs since such desires were seen as a life cycle of their life. This implies that the town brothels became a part of social service with street walkers seen as necessary and part of the natural way of life. The fact that the authorities felt that prostitution prevented the society from additional crimes such as sodomy was among the factors that led to tolerance of prostitution. In the end, attempts to outlaw prostitution were only futile with the authorities resulting to regulatory practice since they saw an opportunity to boost their revenues from the brothels. The influx of men in the region and the fact that there was an increasing number of immigrants with no jobs influenced attitudes towards prostitutions since it was among the best alternatives that immigrant women could opt for to sustain themselves economically.
Conclusion
The history of prostitution explains to us that there could be a reason why there exists such conflicting portrayal of women within the countless numbers of fabliaux. The reasons, laws and social attitudes behind prostitution in medieval Europe help in explaining the reasoning behind such imagery of women in France. The twelfth and thirteenth century Europe is known for its blooming number of prostitutes and usually, they are described negatively. The reason for the surge in prostitution in Medieval Europe include social, economic and political factors that made women realize the need to support themselves. Paris is a good case of the effect of increasing number of immigrants by then who lacked jobs due to the strict labor laws and hence opted for prostitution as a way of sustaining their needs. Although prostitution did not provide them with sufficient wages, most single women ended up in the business of prostitution because they did not have much of an option. Some women felt that they could add to the minimal wages by engaging in prostitution such that they were willing to sexually engage with their bosses and other male members of the society who sought prostitution services and who would part with a good amount in the end. The institutionalization of prostitution also contributed to a rise in prostitution as it allowed professionalism in the practice where women went to the extent of renting places while others chose to live in town brothels. The authorities were keen on making cheap brothels where younger men could satisfy their needs since such desires were seen as a life cycle of their life. The town brothels became a part of social service with street walkers seen as necessary and part of the natural way of life. The fact that the authorities felt that prostitution prevented the society from additional crimes such as sodomy was among the factors that led to tolerance of prostitution. Prostitution therefore depicts women as marginalized in the society and individuals who could be forced to be sued as object for men to help them cope with the economic situations surrounding them.
Bibliography
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