Citation

Brundage JA. Signs 1976; 1(4): 825-845.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1976, University of Chicago Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Virtually every known system of positive law has had something to say about the prostitute, the pimp, the procurer, and the conduct of their business. My purpose here is to examine the treatment of the harlot and her trade by the lawyers and lawgivers of the medieval church. One difficult question must be faced at the outset: the definition of the term itself. What is prostitution, so far as the medieval cannonists were conerned?

Throughout the paper I have used symonyms for "prostitute" such as "harlot," "whore," "tart," "trollop," and the like. "Prostitute" is a relatively neutral. almost clinical term, while the other terms carry a certain abount of judgmental freight. Since the sourves I have used employ terms that are more judgmental than neutral, it seemed appropriate to try to convey some sense of that fact by using English terms of a similar sort.

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3173236

Language: en