SpuriusMaximus
Penultimate Amazing
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2009
- Messages
- 25,666
Well, to be entirely fair, there was one regime in the 30's and first half of the 40's, of a dude with a Charlie Chaplin kinda moustache which condemned it, but I think we can agree that that's hardly the regime to take as an example of good morals and ethics
Before and after... let's put it like this: an empire where the emperor thanks a city IN WRITING for providing some 1500 prostitutes to a CHURCH congress... does that sound to you like a country which has a problem with prostitution?
And make no mistake, we're not exactly talking a secular city per se, as it was the seat of a bishop, and in the middle of a bishopric, and home to a lot of clergy, which played a part in why it was chosen for that council. Although the city itself was a Free Imperial City and answered only to the Emperor directly.
Also to put it in perspective, we're not talking about a huge city. Even in the 21'st century it barely has 80,000 inhabitants. In the 1400's even for a major city, providing some 1500 prostitutes would mean AT LEAST a tenth of the city's population
But generally, morals were actually a lot more relaxed in the high and late middle ages and afterwards than most people seem to assume. Only in the Victorian era and early 20'th century, people started getting their bloomers in a knot over who has sex with whom. What you'd consider hitting rock bottom for sexual morals nowadays, back then would have actually been tame. Brothels and prostitution were ubiquitous all over Europe, kings and clergy had mistresses sometimes even in court, and sired whole armies of bastards on top of that, etc.
Occasionally we even have such... funny twists of fashion like a mistress of a king of France in IIRC the 1600's who started coming into court in a dress which left one or both of her breasts uncovered. Yeah, imagine pulling that stunt in Congress nowadays
Of course the French noble women showed what they think of that depravity by... also starting to come to the palace with their tits out in the open, or getting painted in such attire. Fast forward a century, and that fashion had by now spread to the lower classes too. First to prostitutes showing their assets, but in the end it kinda turned into a free for all tit show.(And before getting excited at that thought, well, remember that there was no quality control. A grandma who, let's just say, by now had her navel between her nipples, was just as free to show her breasts as anyone else.)
ones....no?
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