Prostitution and Subjectivity in Late Medieval Germany

Prostitution played an important part in structuring gender relations in medieval Germany. Prostitutes were often viewed as an example of the extreme female sinfulness which all women risked falling into, yet their social role was also seen as vital to the unmarried men for whom they provided a sexual outlet. Prostitution and Subjectivity in Late Medieval Germany is the first full-length study of medieval prostitution to focus primarily on how genderdiscourse shaped the lives of prostitutes themselves. Based on three legal case studies from the late medieval Empire, Prostitutes and Subjectivity in Late Medieval Germany examines constructions of subjectivity between 1400 and 1500. This period saw the rapid rise of tolerated prostitution across much of western Europe and the emergence of the public brothel as a central institution in the regulation of social order, followed by its equally rapid suppression from the early 1500s. By analysing how individuals interacted with culturaldiscourses surrounding the body, sexuality, and sin, the book explores how the concepts which defined prostitution in the Middle Ages shaped individual lives, and how individuals were able - or not - to exert agency, both within the circumstances of their own lives, and in response to official attempts toregulate sexual behaviour.

A masterful and enjoyable book., This elegantly structured and lucidly written study exploring surviving legal records from late medieval cities in the German-speaking lands invites the reader to examine and reflect on the interpretive categories, medieval and modern, through which we seek to understand the lives of female sex workers in the past., ...the study offers a profound and very nuanced insight into the world of late medieval prostitution and convincingly shows the freedoms enjoyed by prostitutes, along with the constraints placed upon them, in the misogynistic world of the late Middle Ages., Occasionally, a book merits the description must read. to my mind, Prostitution and Subjectivity in late Medieval Germany qualifies. Students of womens and gender history, the history of sexuality, medieval history, and urban history will surely benefit from delving into this studys engrossing argument, deft contextualization, and informed discussion of the extant historiography as well as the individual cases; this volume is a veritable milestone in the history of prostitution.

Jamie Page received his PhD in Medieval History and German at the University of St Andrews and has held research posts at Durham University and the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen. His research addresses themes of gender and sexuality in the late medieval urban world, focusing specifically on the southern German-speaking Empire.