Common Women: Prostitution and Sexuality in Medieval England (Studies in the History of Sexuality)

by RuthMazoKarras (Author)

• New

  Hardcover
  1996

  $238.94

  A common woman in medieval England was a prostitute, distinguished as such less for taking money for sex than for belonging to all men in common. Karras's book tells the story of these women, their experiences, relations, and treatment under the law, and concludes that prostitution was central to the medieval understanding of feminity.

• New

  Paperback
  1998

  $42.07

  Through a sensitive use of a wide variety of imaginative and didactic texts, Ruth Karras shows that while prostitutes as individuals were marginalized within medieval culture, prostitution as an institution was central to the medieval understanding of what it meant to be a woman. This important work will be of interest to scholars and students of history, women's studies, and the history of sexuality.