The two laws and the three sexes : ambiguous bodies in canon law and Roman law (12th to 16th centuries)

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2014
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Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte : Kanonistische Abteilung ; 100 (2014), 1. - pp. 178-222. - ISSN 0323-4142. - eISSN 2304-4896
Abstract
This article traces the history of medieval canon (and Roman) law on 'hermaphrodites' as a third sex, bodily different from both men and women. Contrary to what has been claimed, there is no evidence for hermaphrodites being persecuted in the Middle Ages, and the learned laws did certainly not provide any basis for such persecution. The legal status of hermaphrodites was discussed regularly, and canon lawyers were clearly aware of contemporary theology and natural philosophy. In the sixteenth century, while legal dogma remained essentially unchanged, court records show a marked change in legal practice compared to the later Middle Ages. Perhaps due to developments in contemporary medicine, hermaphrodite anatomy, gender change and sexual deviance were increasingly conflated. A more gender-symmetrical definiton of crimes against nature seems to have led to (female) hermaphrodites and tribades being confused in this time. This also shows the complex relations between different pre-modern discourses on hermaphrodites which cannot made fit any linear narrative.
Summary in another language
Der Aufsatz verfolgt die Geschichte des kanonischen (und des römischen) Rechts hinsichtlich der ‘Hermaphroditen’ als einem dritten Geschlecht, das körperlich von Männern wie Frauen unterschieden wurde. Anders als oft behauptet, gibt es keinerlei Hinweise auf eine gerichtliche Verfolgung von Hermaphroditen, und die gelehrten Rechte boten dafür auch keinerlei Grundlage. Kanonisten erörterten regelmäßig die rechtliche Stellung von Hermaphroditen, oft mit Bezug auf zeitgenössische theologische und naturphilosophische Diskussionen. Im sechzehnten Jahrhundert verändert sich zwar nicht die Lehre, wohl aber die gerichtliche Praxis, wie eine Reihe Fälle zeigen. Möglicherweise im Zusammenhang mit zeitgenössischen Entwicklungen der Medizin wurden hermaphroditische Anatomie, Geschlechtswechsel und sexuelle Devianz zunehmend miteinander assoziiert. Gleichzeitig trug auch eine stärker geschlechtssymmetrische Definition der Vergehen wider die Natur dazu bei, dass (weibliche) Hermaphroditen und Tribaden miteinander in Verbindung gebracht wurden. Dies zeigt auch, wie komplex die Beziehungen zwischen den sehr unterschiedlichen vormodernen Diskursen rund um Hermaphroditismus waren, die sich nicht in eine lineare Großerzählung fügen lassen.
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900 History
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canon law; intersex; roman law; legal history; gender
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Cite This
ISO 690ROLKER, Christof, 2014. The two laws and the three sexes : ambiguous bodies in canon law and Roman law (12th to 16th centuries). In: Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte : Kanonistische Abteilung. 100(1), pp. 178-222. ISSN 0323-4142. eISSN 2304-4896. Available under: doi: 10.7767/zrgka-2014-0108
BibTex
@article{Rolker2014three-29839,
  year={2014},
  doi={10.7767/zrgka-2014-0108},
  title={The two laws and the three sexes : ambiguous bodies in canon law and Roman law (12th to 16th centuries)},
  number={1},
  volume={100},
  issn={0323-4142},
  journal={Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte : Kanonistische Abteilung},
  pages={178--222},
  author={Rolker, Christof}
}
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