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dc.contributor.advisorAndrews, Frances
dc.contributor.advisorBildhauer, Bettina
dc.contributor.authorPage, Jamie
dc.coverage.spatial275en_US
dc.date.accessioned2013-09-06T14:59:00Z
dc.date.available2013-09-06T14:59:00Z
dc.date.issued2013-11-30
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10023/4037
dc.description.abstractThis thesis is a study of the problem of subjectivity and prostitution in the Middle Ages. Three legal case studies of unpublished archival material and one chapter focussing on fictional texts from late mediaeval Germany and Switzerland are used to investigate the conditions of prostitutes’ subjectification in law and literature. The thesis takes impetus from Ruth Karras’s recent articulation of the problem of prostitution and sexuality, seeking to engage critically with her notion of “prostitute” as a medieval sexual identity that might be applied to any woman who had extra-marital sex. In dealing with trial records, it also aims to make a methodological contribution to the study of crime and the problem of locating the individual. Chapters I-III examine the records of criminal cases featuring the testimony of prostitutes, or women who risked such categorisation, to consider the available subject positions both within and outwith the context of municipal regulation. Whilst acknowledging the force of normative ideas about prostitutes as lustful women, these chapters argue that prostitutes’ subject positions in legal cases were adopted according to local conditions, and depended upon the immediate circumstances of the women involved. They also consider trial records as a form of masculine discourse, arguing that an anxious masculine subject can be seen to emerge in response to the phenomenon of prostitution. Chapter IV expands this discussion by drawing on literary texts showing how prostitutes prompted concern on the part of male poets and audiences, for whom their sexual agency was a threat which belied their theoretical status as sexual objects. Note: Transcriptions of the legal cases making up chapters I-III are provided in Appendices A, B, and C.en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of St Andrews
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
dc.subjectProstitutionen_US
dc.subjectMedievalen_US
dc.subjectGermanyen_US
dc.subjectSwitzerlanden_US
dc.subjectSexualityen_US
dc.subjectGenderen_US
dc.subjectSexen_US
dc.subjectBrothelsen_US
dc.subjectMiddle Agesen_US
dc.subjectCourt recordsen_US
dc.subjectTestimonyen_US
dc.subjectSubjectivityen_US
dc.subject.lccHQ198.P2
dc.subject.lcshProstitution--Germany--Historyen_US
dc.subject.lcshProstitution--Switzerland--Historyen_US
dc.subject.lcshTrials (Prostitution)--Germanyen_US
dc.subject.lcshTrials (Prostitution)--Switzerlanden_US
dc.subject.lcshWomen--Germany--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500en_US
dc.subject.lcshWomen--Switzerland--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500en_US
dc.subject.lcshSocial history--Medieval, 500-1500en_US
dc.titleProstitution and subjectivity in late mediaeval Germany and Switzerlanden_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.contributor.sponsorArts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)en_US
dc.contributor.sponsorInstitute of Historical Researchen_US
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoralen_US
dc.type.qualificationnamePhD Doctor of Philosophyen_US
dc.publisher.institutionThe University of St Andrewsen_US
dc.publisher.departmentSt Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studiesen_US
dc.rights.embargoreasonEmbargo period has ended, thesis made available in accordance with University regulationsen_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.17630/10023-4037


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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
Except where otherwise noted within the work, this item's licence for re-use is described as Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported