We're sunsetting PodQuest on 2025-07-28. Thank you for your support!
Export Podcast Subscriptions
cover of episode Sex Work in the Renaissance
People
K
Kate Lister
V
Vanessa McCarthy
Topics
Kate Lister: 在16世纪的博洛尼亚，性工作社区非常繁荣且显眼，而且是合法的。少数美丽的交际花通过饮酒、用餐和性行为一路攀升到社会顶层，但这绝对是例外。文艺复兴时期比你想象的更具有性流动性。 Vanessa McCarthy: 文艺复兴提出了人们开始尊重他人，而不是将他们视为上帝的反映。文化创造力的诞生，对于一个非常世俗的历史头脑来说很重要，不仅仅是为了进入天堂，也是为了让世俗的人们更好地生活。在早期现代时期，世俗国家和教会总是携手合作。无论《圣经》或教会的教义如何，都有各种方法来证明性工作的合理性。天主教认为人类生来就有罪，人们需要犯罪的机会，以便为这些罪行忏悔。圣托马斯·阿奎那说，城市里的妓女就像宫殿里的下水道，她们疏导了可能更严重的罪恶。这些女性被视为可以被利用的“没人要的女人”。

Deep Dive

Chapters
This episode explores the lives of sex workers in 16th-century Bologna, a city with a legally regulated sex work industry. It examines the broad spectrum of experiences, from courtesans at the top of society to those struggling to survive.
  • Bologna had a legally regulated sex work industry.
  • Most sex workers were not wealthy courtesans, but rather women from a wide range of social classes.
  • The episode will explore the realities of their lives in detail.

Shownotes Transcript

Early Modern Italy birthed artistic giants like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, saw architectural marvels like Florence's dome and St. Peter's Basilica, and pushed scientific frontiers in astronomy. This same vibrant era was also home to Bologna's uniquely regulated sex work industry.

So what was life like for the sex workers of Renaissance Italy? Kate is joined in this episode by Dr Vanessa McCarthy, historian of gender, sex, and sexuality in the early modern world at the University of Toronto.

This episode was edited by Tim Arstall. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe).  

You can take part in our listener survey here.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.