This is an extremely interesting book. Factual and fascinating at the same time. The amount of information is staggering and it is well written and extensively researched. The book is divided into sections which makes, quite a difficult subject, easier to read. It does have a considerable amount of names and dates, too many at times.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in medieval history.

Sex and Sexuality in Medieval England by Kathryn Warner. This, quite predictably is about shagging in Medieval England. I didn’t know how this book was going to present itself but it’s all set out in very quick, bite sized chapters. It covers the period between 1250 and 1450 and the slightly mad things that people were doing at the time. It really does cover a lot of ground, pre-marital sex, prostitution and incest, all the fun stuff. I really liked the very concise writing and I flew through it. The short chapters mean it’s very easy to put down and pick up again which I think for a non fiction book like this is really important. My only negative note is that some of the chapters are maybe a little too long and I feel like I’m just reading bullet points of people and dates but that’s really only a few chapters. I did enjoy it and would recommend. My take away from it is don’t let titled men kidnap you. *This was given to me in exchange for an honest review*

The fascinating part of history for me is not the litany of dates/kings/battles (although yes, those are necessary for the background) but the sense of life in the past. What was that actually like, I wonder, to inhabit those times? And what was actually true of the past, and what are the assumptions we tend to make based on our experience with popular literature or films and TV? It’s easy to say that “it’s just how it was back then”, but how was it really?

My favorite examples of the history book that show the actual life in history are “The Time Traveller’s Guide…” series by Ian Mortimer, but the focus of those is rather broad and there’s not that much insight into the more “domestic” part of history — marriages, pregnancy, childbirth, etc. Women weren’t prominently featured in the histories medieval times, after all, for reasons that are obvious. So I was excited that this book could shed some light on the subjects that are usually a bit out of historical spotlight, specifically in England of the 13th-15th centuries.

How common was remarriage? (Very common, given life expectancy and mortality rates; seemed to be quite expected). How about child marriage? (Common if you were nobility, but typically both parties young and no consummation before a relatively reasonable age). Who determined whom to marry? (Women were pawns in the nobility marriage contracts, but surprisingly so were some male noble heirs the rights to whose marriage could be sold by the king, and a promise of betrothal was pretty binding unless it was an unconsummated child marriage). What constituted incest? (Interestingly, a much broader definition than we’d think of, including a monk or a nun forsaking their vows and someone marrying a distant relative of their dead first spouse, or families “related” by being godparents). How common were abductions and rapes? (Quite common, a way to appropriate a heiress and her property, considered pretty legit by the Pope and the king).

It was pretty awful to be a woman in medieval times (“women were always identified by reference to their nearest living male relative”), and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Being married for business or inheritance, expected to bear often more than a dozen children, expected to tolerate marital abuse (although the law drew the line at “excessive abuse”), and entitled to a third of your spouse’s property upon his death - unless you’ve left his abusive cheating (as expected) self, at which point you were getting nothing. Not to mention that if it turns out your spouse had slept with your third cousin thrice removed prior to your marriage, your marriage was at the risk of annulment and your children from that marriage could be declared illegitimate. And if you were a widow of means, you could be abducted, raped and forcibly married to a neighbor who had been coveting your property. And if you tried to accuse a man of rape, he probably would be cleared anyway for services to the crown.
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What I didn’t like as much, however, was the structure of the chapters. I like historical examples to support points made, but Warner consistently commits examples overload. Something is stated or described - for instance, the wrong idea we have that all medieval people married young - but then the supporting examples become the endless litany of lists of this variety: “Elizabeth Smythe of Sometown, New Glockenshire married John Poole of Somevillage, Old Glockenshire at age 21” with the variations of this repeated over and over and over again until the flood of names and places makes the reader’s eyes glaze over. It brings monotony to the pages, which is unfortunate.

Other than that, it’s a bit dry, and a bit of variation in chapter and paragraph structure would help — but I can make my peace with it. The information is good, and I’ll take it in whichever form it comes.

3.5 stars.
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Thanks to NetGalley and Pen & Sword History for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Intel and informative as well as being a fun and easy read about a seldom talked about piece of history! A deck must buy!!!

I did appreciate the content in this book. It does read more to me, in a classroom/textbook style. I think I was looking for a flowing tale rather than so many names of people and known accounts of things. Very splotchy feeling. For me, it was very boring but I did enjoy some of the facts that I didn't know before. This would be very good for someone in college taking classes set within this time frame, but I would not recommend as a "pleasure" read...pun intended 😉
Nonetheless, thank you Netgalley for providing me this book for my review.

Sex and Sexuality in Medieval England by Kathryn Warner. #SexandSexualityinMedievalEngland #NetGalley

I am a big history fan and love any sort of history books. So when I saw this book I thought it would certainly be an interesting take on history from that period. It was a very good read and certainly interesting seeing history from that side of things. Recommend

The title of this book is only half true: it is about Medieval England. The rest of the title—to me—is there to entice the reader. This book could easily have been half the 173 pages of text (the remaining 35 pages are for endnotes, primary and secondary sources, and index).

To pad the book, there are cumbersome paragraphs densely packed with the names of people whose life fit into the subject matter. When this concerns the nobility, there is just too much to absorb. I admit to reading just the first sentence of some paragraphs to see if it was worth reading or skipping.

Much of the information in the book are tangential to sex and sexuality. This can be excused because, as the author explains, there are not many primary sources—letters, documents—where people wrote on matters of sex and sexuality. I did learn some interesting facts: weddings often took place at the church doors while baptisms and funerals were taking place inside; much of what we think about that period (such as chastity belts and lack of cleanliness) are myths.

I’m sure that many people will enjoy this book. However, for me, I think this could have been included as part of another book.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Pen and Sword for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A well-written book looking into medieval sexuality- both legal and illegal. From the sumptuary laws, regarding

permitted clothing according to rank and title, to marriage, 'marital debt', adultery, and unchaste clerics.

This in-depth research uses many examples of people's behaviour from everyday life to throw light on a

riveting subject. The book debunks many myths with humour and reliable facts,

An excellent read.

Really enjoyed this, factual without getting bogged down. It did get a little repetitive but that's the nature of a book about one topic

In history classes in school we (should have) learned how tribes and states and nations interacted. Who had the power? Dates of important battles.
What did not come up very often? The actual lifes of people. But in my opinion that is the most interesting part of history. And that is what this book is about.

This book discusses many topics that are somehow related to sex: Marriage, childbirth, rape, abduction, and many more. There is not much in the book about the actual sex part because there are no records about that. So that was somewhat disappointing.

What I really disliked about this book was the writing style. For most topics there is a short explanation and then a long list of examples. It reads more or less like this:
"Age at Marriage: At marriage women were mostly in her late teens or early twenties. Anne was 18 when she married. Beatrix was 17 when she married. Caroline was 21 when she married. Delilah was 19 when she married..."
I soon began to skip many pages of examples because I was just bored. I would have preferred a few fictional example characters that we could have followed through the whole book.

Still I learned a lot of interesting stuff.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

I read this as an ARC from Netgalley.com.

Sex and Sexuality in Medieval England by Kathryn Warner strives to debunk persistent myths regarding peoples' lives in the medieval ages. Over the course of seventeen chapters Warner covers cleanliness (people certainly bathed more than once a year), marriage and everything accompanying it (mostly only royals married young), pregnancy, rape, and same-sex relationships.

This book is everything I've ever wanted when arguing with people about how medieval people lived and behaved. It is comprehensive and discusses what the author could find about both the upper and lower classes, as they had very different societal expectations and experiences.

A good portion of this book is a list of 'case files' after discussing the issue of the chapter. I'd recommend having a basic knowledge of the time as well, to understand the relevance of many of the people mentioned. All in all, I read through this title very quickly and I'd recommend it to anyone looking to flesh out their understanding of the medieval ages.

5 out of 5 stars

This was not only very informative and well-researched, but also enjoyable to read because of Warner's ability to write in a manner that is uncomplicated, despite the subject/content.

Even though I don't research topics regarding Medieval England, this did not stop me from being interested in the book and from wanting to understand more about what the body represented in Medieval England. Warner does a great job of making academic research understandable to someone like myself (someone without a background in it).

(3.5*)
This book does a great job of quashing the myths that many think of when we think of sex, marriage and even cleanliness of the medieval ages. Kathryn Warner goes into intricate detail ( Not very much was documented back in Medieval period-So this is a job well done!!!!) describing everything to do with the medieval relationship. For example marriages, betrothal, ranks and status and how that could of affected those,pregnancy Homosexual sex is the one topic I found most interesting as this is the one thing I think is probably the least spoken about and discussed for this time period.

As much as this was an interesting read, full of details on the ins and outs of a medieval relationship, it's also very very full of alot of names that contribute to the heading of the chapter, and perhaps a small story, ''So and so was married here....' for example. Which is useful at times, but it adds a lot of excess information which can almost take away from the key points.

When there is SO much detail I find it really important to be able to take it in, in smaller chunks of text. Unfortunately, this book does what a lot of non-fictions tend to do, and it's massive paragraphs which goes back to my point of trying to take in the information. - I'm already trying harder to focus because of the many small anecdotes etc added, then I have to compete with enormous chunks of text. My brain sometimes just switches off, and I take nothing in at all.

Overall, the information in the book is great, it's filled with detail and precise information that isn't really spoken about much. I really admire what goes into books like this because the authors have to painstakingly research to get the information into one place, making it easily available to everyone.

If you enjoy learning about lesser known history topics, or perhaps have even read ' the curious history of sex' by Kate Lister, and the sex lives of other eras sounds interesting to you, like it did me, this would be a great read!!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

It was ok, a slow read though.

This was an interesting read, though at times I found it a bit dry. The author covers a wide range of topics in 17 chapters, covering everything from bathing (frequency), marriage (child marriages and older), incest (not what you would think!), giving birth (could be dangerous if it became difficult), same sex (mostly male) and more. The author includes a very long list of references she used to write the book and the information for the most part is well written and easy to understand. There were occasions where she would cite information in a format that became very dry to read, for example, in proving that not all marriages took place in June (because people bathed in May and were mostly still clean smelling), she lists people who were married in months that would be considered cold, like January, February, etc, though these were just people - Sally and Spencer married in January 1350, Mary and Mike married in February 1410 and so on, interesting but after a few examples, I got the idea. One interesting chapter on Incest was eye opening, incest was not always between brother/sister or father/daughter, if a woman took a vow of Chasity (basically said she wasn't going to have sex ever again) then engaged in intimate relations, that was considered incest because she was a bride to Jesus (or Christ). Child marriages were common among Royalty mostly to ensure peace between kingdoms, the children did not have intimate relations until they were of age, 12 for girls, 14 for boys. Many times the marriage dissolved before they became of age. Overall the author did a fantastic job on a subject that is difficult to research and it was an informative read. Thanks to #Netgalley and to #Pen and Sword History for the ARC.

Sex and Sexuality in Medieval England is a book by Kathryn Warner that covers a great deal.
It covers everything from marriage to pregnancy, poor to rich, heterosexual to homosexual, and much more. For a time period that was so long ago, there is a surprising amount of information. Warner seems to be mainly concerned with with debunking myths, such as people only washing once a year and child-middle aged adult pairings being common.
This book is quite a lot to digest at times, there are long paragraphs listing people who did a certain thing, such as a list of people who were betrothed. This would be easier and more interesting to read if there was more variance, or shorter segments, but the information is cool.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the romance part of medieval lives, and it is good for beginners because it explains a lot of words.

I love reading historical romance novels and studied history myself, but never delved beneath the bedsheets so this was all a real eyeopener! At times it felt a bit too educational, (I’m not really a non-fiction reader) which I liked and disliked in equal measure. I think getting a taste of everything that went on, this book leaves you wanting more - perhaps a follow up fictional account? Overall, felt it answered lots of interesting questions and definitely delivered its offering. How on earth did people live under those conditions, flourish and procreate was a mystery! No longer. I enjoyed dipping in and out of the chapters which really covered every aspect of sex and relationships in context with rulers and rules of their time. Thanks for the interesting read 👍

This goes far beyond what the title suggests, offering detailed analysis of marriage, contraception, abortion and much more. Offering case studies of individual experiences brings such depth to this book, too. It’s very well written and will appeal to many readers, including those who may balk at non-fiction.

In “sex and sexuality in medieval England“ there was so much to learn. I am so attracted to medieval times in England and around Europe so when I saw this book I knew I wanted to read it and I am so glad I did! The stories in this book or not long but are also interesting and they run the gambit from legitimate marriages to illegitimate, legitimate children to illegitimate to women needing to be intimate so she Will not die of an overdose of poison… You’re going to have to read that one for yourself. There was so much in this book pregnancies, masturbation and even stories about four-year-old children getting married. I know I am forgetting something but trust me when I say this even comes close to sounding interesting to you it is way more than what I’m saying. Oh I love this book it was so good and so worth reading. Anyone who loves history will love this book they do not talk about detailed sex so don’t think it’s a Roddick it isn’t at all and I totally loved it! I don’t think there’s anything in the book to be offended over. I know a lot nonfiction books are dry and academic but this one isn’t at all it is so interesting and so worth reading it’ll make you laugh and make it think it’s like a totally different world in the medieval times and this book covers at all. I received this book from NetGalleyShelf and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are definitely my own.

As Kathryn Warner states in the introduction and then proceeds to debunk throughout this short history book, there are certain myths about the Middle Ages that, even though they might not be as widespread as they used to be, still are entrenched in the popular consciousness. Myths about child marriage, expressions and forms of sexual attraction, bodily (lack of) cleanliness, and that women had no rights at all.

Warner focuses her critique of popular misrepresentations of Medieval culture and mores on cinema and, tangentially, historical fiction. But whilst those are still significant today, I would argue that currently the main and greatest offender is the Fantasy genre, where Medieval and Medievalish settings are as much a staple as magical swords and everyday wear cloaks, and where most take the warped depictions of a feudal society as truthful historical reality (looking at you, "Game of Thrones" fans and your "back in those times..." arguments). Of course, Warner's book doesn't deal with the ins and outs of feudalism and governance that Fantasy distorts for plot purposes, but with sexuality and related topics, which is just as wrongly depicted in Fantasy as in historical romance. Case in point, the endless arguments over child marriage and sexual violence sparked by one particularly infamous episode in GOT, when defenders of the show (and books) would use the "realistic for the times" defence and even some named Margaret Beaufort as an example of child marriage and consummation/maternity being "normal for the Middle Ages."

In 'Sex and Sexuality in Medieval England', Warner demonstrates, succinctly, with sources and people named with their full names and residence, that no, this wasn't normal and Margaret Beaufort was an outlier. Next time some Fantasy fan comes to me with arguments of this kind, I'm going to tell them to read this book. Next time some Romance reader asks me why I detest the "romantic" abduction trope, I'll refer them to this book.

It's an invaluable book, especially for a non-academic and for simple readers who love history but don't have the background (or the patience) for ponderous scholarly tomes. In seventeen chapters, Warner covers the whole range of sexuality-related aspects from appearance to cleanliness to love languages, illegitimacy, prostitution, rape and abduction, same-sex relationships and gender roles. She touches on popular topics such as marriages with a huge age gap to more obscure ones such as what they thought of people of the same gender sleeping together in the same bed. You will learn so many things about sex and sexuality in the late medieval period, from the early 1300s to the mid-to-late 1400s, with specific examples and dates, because you can't generalise and apply what was true for 1340 to the year 1440, and Warner makes this crystal clear.

The author doesn't hide the difficulties in surmising the thoughts and attitudes of the period due to lack of sources and the fact that existing sources have an aristocratic slant, so she's careful to not say that because nobles did and thought something, commoners did too. I appreciated this intellectual honesty very much, Warner taught me a fair bit about the struggles a medieval scholar faces with interpreting sources, and that made me also appreciate her style of presenting her information by citing specific circumstances happening to specific people in specific years, which others might find dry and perhaps even boring. So-and-so did such-and-such on the town of Prettyton in Whatsitsnameshire won't be everyone's cup of tea as regards reading history, but it worked for me, maybe because I already have a decent familiarity with the period and the country, so if you are at least passingly familiar with Medieval England, even if only from the bodice rippers you filched from your ma, you will too.

And more importantly, you'll learn the true facts. Most of them were known to me thanks to exposition and familiarity, but even I learnt new things I had never heard about. I didn't know, for example, that foteball (football, or soccer if you're American) was played as part of celebrating weddings, and that "ravishment" or abduction of well-off women wasn't exclusive to women because underage males were also abducted for exactly the same reasons, and how much the custody and guardianship of noble and wealthy children cost. So many fascinating little details in this book!