PAST CRIMESSexual crimes were common, especially by the later fourteenth century, in
the wake of the upheavals caused by the Black Death. For many people across
Europe, this terrible plague was evidence that God did not exist, or at least that
the church had lost its authority–for if not, why had so many monks and
nuns, priests, abbots and bishops, died from the disease? If they were saintly,
why were they not saved? Some people embraced a new hedonism, which
became apparent in fashion as well as behaviour. Low cut and tightly fitting
dresses were in vogue; it was said that ladies laced their bodices so tightly that
you could stand a candle on their breasts. Men wore very short jackets and
tight pants, with a soft pouch that did little to hide their private parts.
Parliament insisted that everyone under the rank of lord should be made to
wear longer clothing that concealed their buttocks and manhood, but even
priests wore short robes and displayed their male attributes.
AngloSaxon attitudes towards prostitutes had been very accepting ─
indeed, their presence was thought to help society avoid greater evils. English
prostitutes were apparently numerous, in France and Italy, as well as at home.
A popular place to find a prostitute was at public bathhouses, an amenity
brought back by Crusaders, and known as‘stews’. Later kings found it
necessary to issue regulations for these establishments, especially those in
Southwark, which were mostly owned by the bishop of Winchester. The local
prostitutes were called‘Winchester geese’. Other church lords also invested in
brothels. Abductions and rapes were carried out by members of the nobility
either out of lust, or to force an advantageous marriage if the lady was an
heiress or had an important and powerful father who would be forced to
support his new soninlaw.
Sexual crimes, particularly sodomy, were rife among the clergy at times.
The introduction of priestly celibacy was deeply resented in many quarters
and papal injunctions were flouted openly by people such as the bishop of
Sens, one Archembald, who evicted the monks from an abbey so that he could
install his lady friends there. There are records of monks murdering abbots
who tried to reform them, priests passing their livings on to their sons, priests
marrying, and priests who had been forbidden to marry turning instead to
prostitutes. The bishop of Liege was said to have sixtyfive illegitimate
children. In Spain, parishioners demanded that their priests kept a mistress, in
order to protect their own wives and daughters! Even popes were guilty of
sexual misbehaviour, practising nepotism on behalf of their bastard sons, and
using convents as brothels. Pregnant nuns were not so unusual. The church
authorities issued proscriptions against such practises, threatening expulsion
from the church and imprisonment. But when a priest was tried and found