Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 9126
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Banner , Lois.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: The Fashionable Sex, 1100-1600 [The bodies of young men were often eroticized in late medieval and early modern Europe. Men’s clothing emphasized parts of the body associated with male sexuality and power, with shoes emphasizing the feet, fitted tights and trousers highlighting the legs, and codpieces drawing attention to the genitals. Clothing also indicated social class; for instance, poulaines (long, slender shoes) were associated with aristocrats and broad, short shoes with peasants. Changes in warfare and in social attitudes influenced evolving male fashions. Title note supplied by Feminae.].
  • Source: History Today 42, (April 1992): Pages 37 - 44.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Journal Article
  • Subject (See Also): Body in Literature Clothing in Art Clothing in Literature Eroticism Fashion Gender Homoeroticism Masculinity Male Sexuality Social Class
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: General
  • Century: 12- 13- 14- 15
  • Primary Evidence:
  • Illustrations: Eleven figures. Figure One Albrecht Durer, engraving of a young soldier, fifteenth century; he stands erect and wears battle armor. Figure Two The Squire from Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” fourteenth-century woodcut; he is dressed fashionably and rides a horse. Figure Three Minnesang illustration, a man and woman stand facing each other, both dressed in loose, flowing, androgynous robes, fourteenth century. Figure Four Manuscript of Froissart’s “Chronicles of 1435”; illustration depicts young Englishmen wearing poulaines (pointed, slender shoes) while kneeling to the French King. Figure Five Italian painting of young men who wear short jackets and have tightly-clad legs, fifteenth century. Figure Six Manuscript illustration of courtiers wearing broad and blunted shoes, fifteenth century; illustration includes minstrels wearing two-toned leggings. Figure Seven Manuscript illustration of a jousting tournament. Figure Eight A Landsknecht (Swiss mercenary) whose uniform features a wide torso with slashed sleeves, sixteenth century. Figure Nine Lucas Cranach, “Duke Henry the Pious,” 1514; painting depicts the Duke wearing an outfit that also features a broad torso and a slashed look. Figure Ten Vittore Carpaccio, “English Ambassadors,” 1500; painting depicts Venetian young men whose clothing emphasizes the legs and the genitals. Figure Eleven Portrait of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, 1548; he wears slashed trousers and a codpiece.
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  • Author's Affiliation: University of Southern California
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1992.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 00182753