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Unlawful Sex: Sexualities on Trial in Medieval Spain

Module description

Was there a sexual norm in the medieval past? From fictional princesses to real-life kings, medieval people saw their most intimate acts scrutinized before the law and public opinion in search for a taste of prohibited passions. We encounter unrestrained desire on trial in exemplary tales of Arabic origin, staggering miracle accounts, titillating short novels, and historical records from chronicles to the courtroom. Through an analysis of the course texts, you will explore the formation of a sexual norm in the medieval Iberian past, questioning its very existence as a result of the tantalizing ambiguity around sexuality and the gender paradigms associated with this sexuality. The ability to read modern Spanish is required. No previous knowledge of medieval Spanish or medieval literature needed.

Module aims - intentions of the module

• You will analyse the complex and ambiguous representations of sexuality and gender in medieval texts, both historical and literary.
• You will assess the extent to which a defined sexual norm existed in the medieval period through close reading and critical analysis.
• You will evaluate modern assumptions about gender and sexuality through our discussion of issues of desire, identity, and power in the medieval Iberian context.
• You will become familiar with key cultural discourses and literary texts from the Iberian Middle Ages.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Develop an understanding of the place of sexuality in medieval Iberian thought and discourses.
• 2. Critically dissect medieval texts through interpretation.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Become familiar with modern queer theories while conducting a theoretically informed analysis of medieval Iberian texts.
• 4. Work independently to construct a persuasive and nuanced argument supported by relevant details and examples from textual sources or additional materials.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Gain a transhistorical and intersectional insight into different cultural norms and values around sexuality.
• 6. Trace some present-day constructions, notions, and prejudices around gender and sex, including same-sex desire, to the medieval past.
• 7. Examine your own assumptions and values in relation to the course material.
• 8. Develop an appreciation for the complexity of human sexualities and identities in our past.

Syllabus plan

This module will typically progress as follows: we will set off with an exploration of the legal landscape, delving into brief selections from Alfonso X's Siete Partidas to establish a foundational understanding of the cultural and socio-political context. Building upon this, we will transition to the analysis of three miracles extracted from Gonzalo de Berceo's Milagros de Nuestra Señora, exploring heavenly tribunals ruling on clerical misconduct. We will analyse the intricacies of a collection of Arab exempla wielded as evidence in a trial involving a supposedly malevolent stepmother, as presented in Sendebar. Following this, we will immerse ourselves in the poignant tale of star-crossed lovers in Juan de Flores's short fiction Grisel y Mirabella. Our focus will then shift to the historical domain. We will undertake an analysis of characterizations of Juan II and his trusted confidant, Álvaro de Luna, as homosexuals, showcasing the power of sexuality to rob monarchical legitimacy. Our exploration will conclude with a Golden Age postscript: the trial of a transgendered black slave.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Anonymous, and María Jesús Lacarra, Ed., Sendebar (Madrid: Cátedra, 2021).
• Burshatin, Israel. ‘Actas del proceso de Eleno de Céspedes en el Tribunal de la Inquisición de Toledo, 1587–1589/ Proceedings of the Trial of Eleno de Céspedes 110 at the Tribunal of the Inquisition of Toledo, 1587-1589’. Published on occasion of the exhibition Cabello/Carceller (Ciudad de México: R.M. Verlag), pp. 66-155.
• Berceo, Gonzalo de, and E. Michael Gerli, ed., Milagros de Nuestra Señora (Madrid: Cátedra, 1985).
• Flores, Juan de, La historia de Grisel y Mirabella. In Emily C. Francomano (ed.), Three Spanish Querelle Texts : Grisel and Mirabella, The Slander against Women, and The Defense of Ladies against Slanderers : A Bilingual Edition and Study (Toronto: Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2013), pp. 86-178.
• Pérez de Guzmán, Fernán, and José Antonio Barrio Sánchez (ed.), Generaciones y semblanzas. Madrid: Cátedra, 1998.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• Alfonso X, Siete Partidas. https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/las-siete-partidas-del-rey-don-alfonso-el-sabio-cotejadas-con-varios-codices-antiguos-por-la-real-academia-de-la-historia-tomo-3-partida-quarta-quinta-sexta-y-septima--0/html.
• Flores, Juan de, La historia de Grisel y Mirabella. Biblioteca Digital Hispánica: http://bdh-rd.bne.es/viewer.vm?id=0000174202&page=1.
• Introduction and bilingual edition of Sendebar in David Wack’s Open Iberia/América: Teaching Anthologyhttps://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:32519/

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

• Burshatin, Israel, ‘Written on the Body: Slave or Hermaphrodite in Sixteenth-Century Spain’. In Josiah Blackmore and Gregory Hutcheson, Queer Iberia: Sexualities, Cultures and Crossings from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance (Durham & London: Duke University Press), pp. 420–456.
• Grieve, Patricia. ‘Innovation Within Tradition: The Interplay of Love and Justice in Juan de Flores’s Grisel y Mirabella’. In Patricia Grieve, Desire and Death in the Spanish Sentimental Romance, 1440-1550 (Newark, Del: Juan de la Cuesta, 1987), pp. 55-73.
• Hutcheson, Gregory, ‘Desperately Seeking Sodom: Queernes in the Chronicles of Álvaro de Luna’, in Queer Iberia: Sexualities, Cultures, and Crossings from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, ed. by Josiah Blackmoreand Gregory S. Hutcheson (Durham: Duke University Press, 1999), pp. 222-249.
• Weiss, Julian, The Mester de Clerecía: Intellectuals and Ideologies in Thirteenth-Century Castile (London: Tamesis, 2006). Chapter 1: ‘Pollution and Perception in Gonzalo de Berceo’s Milagros de Nuestra Señora’, pp. 26-66.
• Weissberger, Barbara, Isabel Rules: Constructing Queenship, Wielding Power (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2004).

Key words search

Medieval, Spain, Gender, Sexuality