Authority and Sexuality in Early Modern Burgundy (1550-1730)

by James R. Farr

Overview

A sociocultural analysis of the relationships among law, religion, and sexual morality in Burgundy during the Catholic Reformation, this book is divided into two, interrelated parts: the world of prescription and the world of practice. The first part examines the construction of authority, focusing primarily upon Burgundy's dominant elite legal community. The second part of the book examines the deployment of authority, and its appropriation by French men and women. The new moral order focused on sexuality and the imposition of this order involved a legal contest over the disposition of bodies, both male and female, be they priests, courting couples, victims of seduction or rape, or prostitutes. James Farr's book offers an unusually fertile approach to study the link between sexuality and criminality.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195358384
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/05/1995
Series:	Studies in the History of Sexuality
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	965 KB

Table of Contents

	Introduction	3
I	The Order of Morality, The Morality of Order
1	The Social World and the World of Ideas	13
2	From the Cloister to the Street	33
II	The Disposition of Bodies
3	The Power of the Holy: Reformers, Priests, and Parishioners	61
4	Marriage and the Uses of the Law: Legislation, Adjudication, and Litigation	90
5	Bartered Bodies: Infanticide, Lasciviousness, and Prostitution	124
	Conclusion	157
	Notes	163
	Bibliography	203
	Index	247

Editorial Reviews

"A rich, detailed, and synthetic treatment....A valuable work with its theoretical framework, exhaustive detail, careful documentation, and extensive 42-page bibliography. Recommended for those interested in early modern and family history."—CHOICE

"Farr's handling of old regime judicial records is masterful, and his detailed knowledge of Burgundian life allows him to make sense out of even the most fragmentary court case. In general, there is much here for seventeenth-century historians to learn and ponder."—American Historical Review

"[A] comprehensive and incisive study...[I]t is Farr's precision and eye for detail that gives these stories their power...This is a solid and thought-provoking book."—Journal of the History of Sexuality

"An excellent book and a good read."—Religious Studies Review

"[S]teeped in the judicial archives of Burgundy and richly illustrated with the voices of contemporaries found in religious treatises, legal codes, and litigation."—Law and History Review

"[This work] shows a great depth of learning and unwillingness to settle for simplistic assessments. It should serve as an interpretive model and research guide to scholars interested in social history, the Counter Reformation, sexuality, and gender."—Renaissance Quarterly

From the Publisher