Authority and Sexuality in Early Modern Burgundy (1550-1730)

by Farr, James R.

• ISBN13: 9780195089073
• ISBN10: 0195089073
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1995-01-05
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

A sociocultural analysis of the relationships among law, religion, and sexual morality in Burgundy during the Catholic Reformation, this book is divided into two, interrelated parts: the world of prescription and the world of practice. The first part examines the construction of authority, focusing primarily upon Burgundy's dominant elite legal community. The second part of the book examines the deployment of authority, and its appropriation by French men and women. The new moral order focused on sexuality and the imposition of this order involved a legal contest over the disposition of bodies, both male and female, be they priests, courting couples, victims of seduction or rape, or prostitutes. James Farr's book offers an unusually fertile approach to study the link between sexuality and criminality.

Author Biography

James R. Farr is Associate Professor of History at Purdue University.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 3
The Order of Morality, The Morality of Order
The Social World and the World of Ideas	p. 13
From the Cloister to the Street	p. 33
The Disposition of Bodies
The Power of the Holy: Reformers, Priests, and Parishioners	p. 61
Marriage and the Uses of the Law: Legislation, Adjudication, and Litigation	p. 90
Bartered Bodies: Infanticide, Lasciviousness, and Prostitution	p. 124
Conclusion	p. 157
Notes	p. 163
Bibliography	p. 203
Index	p. 247
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