Individual Presentation or Panel Title
The Bedtrick: Rape in the Middle Ages
Abstract
This study in progress examines the intersection of medieval rape laws and the rising popularity of the bedtrick between 1200 and 1500. The bedtrick is a literary trope in which two partners get into bed together; one is deceived into thinking the other is their lover/spouse when they are not, either through active deception or pure happenstance. While this phenomenon almost never happened historically, it was quite popular in folklore, the romance tradition, and bawdy tales. This study asks what caused medieval writers concern about the bedtrick--in other words, what historical anxieties caused the writers and readers of these tales to believe that it was an important topic of discussion. Modern readers see this as tantamount to rape; contemporary readers alternatively found it comic and tragic, depending on the tale. Looking at canon law and ecclesiastical court records from 1200-1500, particularly in France, Italy, and England, it will examine how the medieval conception of rape and the shifting legal sphere surrounding sexual assault interacts with the literary trope. It will also address why the topos is sometimes considered comic to medieval readers.
Location
Goodwin Private Dining Room
Start Date
20-4-2013 1:30 PM
End Date
20-4-2013 2:20 PM
The Bedtrick: Rape in the Middle Ages
Goodwin Private Dining Room
This study in progress examines the intersection of medieval rape laws and the rising popularity of the bedtrick between 1200 and 1500. The bedtrick is a literary trope in which two partners get into bed together; one is deceived into thinking the other is their lover/spouse when they are not, either through active deception or pure happenstance. While this phenomenon almost never happened historically, it was quite popular in folklore, the romance tradition, and bawdy tales. This study asks what caused medieval writers concern about the bedtrick--in other words, what historical anxieties caused the writers and readers of these tales to believe that it was an important topic of discussion. Modern readers see this as tantamount to rape; contemporary readers alternatively found it comic and tragic, depending on the tale. Looking at canon law and ecclesiastical court records from 1200-1500, particularly in France, Italy, and England, it will examine how the medieval conception of rape and the shifting legal sphere surrounding sexual assault interacts with the literary trope. It will also address why the topos is sometimes considered comic to medieval readers.