Try free for 30 days

Preview

A 30-day trial plus your first audiobook free.
1 credit/month after trial—to buy any title you like, yours to keep.
Listen all you want to a selection of thousands of Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.

Sex, Love, and Marriage from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment

By: Jennifer McNabb, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Jennifer McNabb
Free with 30-day trial

$16.45/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $16.99

Buy Now for $16.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

There is a common misconception that sex, love, and marriage in medieval and early modern Europe followed very specific, inflexible rules and expectations that remained unchanged for centuries. But the boundaries of matrimony, sexuality, and romantic relationships have always been complicated, and the rules surrounding them are forever changing.

Throughout the 10 lectures of Sex, Love, and Marriage from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, you will find that looking closer at marriage and sexuality in this period reveals a vibrant history of flexibility, of questioning and adaptation, and of evolutionary - and sometimes even revolutionary - change. With Professor Jennifer McNabb, you will explore these crucial aspects of the human experience as they were formed and transformed in the centuries that stretched between the Roman adoption of Christianity and the emergence of the Enlightenment. Along with the more traditional aspects of sex and marriage, you will also examine:

  • The Christian church’s complex relationship with sex and celibacy
  • The experience of the unmarried or formerly married in a marriage-driven society
  • Prostitution and commercialized sex
  • The realities vs. the fiction of forbidden love and unrecognized unions
  • The rise of companionate marriage
  • How the Protestant Reformation altered the sexual and matrimonial landscape
  • And more

As you look closely at these and other dimensions of love and sex across a millennium of change and resistance, you will get a more nuanced and honest view of the complexity of our past and how medieval and early modern perspectives on sex, love, and marriage continue to influence the way we think about and experience them today.

©2020 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC.

What listeners say about Sex, Love, and Marriage from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Started off historical, ended with feminism

First half of this was quite good in presenting an understanding view of historical sex, love and marriage.

The second half descended into a tirade of how male sexuality is the source of world problems and the female as the innocent victim. A tired old narrative for 2024.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.