engleski

The Illicit Love in Medieval Slavonian Cities

The aim of this paper is to describe the attitude of the broader community towards sexual relations outside marriage in the medieval urban settlements, which is discussed on the examples of two main types of such relationships: adultery and concubinage. The attitude was, in the first place, based on needs of a community to establish and maintain order. Illicit sexual relationships were seen as serious threat to this order and, consequently, stigmatised by society and prosecuted by communal legislation and courts of law. However, certain discrepancy between written law and everyday reality may be observed, and in spite of severe punishments imposed by laws, it is evident from historical records that the attitude of society and communal authorities was in practice much more tolerant.

medieval Slavonia, adultery, concubinate, family history, free royal cities, urban settlements

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