The Very Secret Sex Lives of Medieval Women cover art

The Very Secret Sex Lives of Medieval Women

An Inside Look at Women & Sex in Medieval Times

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The Very Secret Sex Lives of Medieval Women

By: Rosalie Gilbert
Narrated by: Cat Gould
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About this listen

An inside look at sexual practices in medieval England.

Were medieval women slaves to their husband's desires, jealously secured in a chastity belt in his absence? Was sex a duty, or could it be a pleasure? Did a woman have a say about her own female sexuality, body, and who did or didn't get up close and personal with it? No. And yes. It's complicated.

Romance, courtship, and behind closed doors.

The intimate lives of medieval women were as complex as for modern woman. They loved and lost, hoped and schemed, were lifted up and cast down. They were hopeful and lovelorn. Some had it forced upon them, others made aphrodisiacs and dressed for success. Some were chaste and some were lusty. Having sex was complicated. Not having sex was even more so.

Inside The Very Secret Sex Lives of Medieval Women, a fascinating book about life during medieval times, you will discover tantalizing true stories about medieval women and a myriad of historical facts.

©2020 Rosalie Gilbert (P)2020 Tantor Gender Studies Human Sexuality Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Social Sciences Witty Funny

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All stars
Most relevant  
it felt like it's being read by an AI and not a very good one too
very interesting subject, unlistenable delivery

interesting but badly narrated

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I found some of this fascinating, some of it interesting, some of it weird! I enjoyed the writers little dramatisation scenes. I found the narration a little wooden, I think I may have enjoyed the writers style more with a more animated narrator, but it was still enjoyable. Overall worth a free listen as part of the plus catalogue. I don't know if it would have been worth a credit for me personally.

Very interesting look into women of the past

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Informative and entertaining, albeit with some cringy humor (those dialogues were simply unnecessary). I'll readily agree with other listeners saying that the narration was pretty awful - monotonous and flat. All in all, quite nice for a free item.

Not too bad

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I was really interested in the content but gave it up really quickly because I couldn't listen to the monotinous, tedious reading for more than 10 minutes. Good it you want to go to sleep.

I couldn't listen to the droning narration

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It's definitely a must-read. Incredibly interesting and witty. I strongly recommend it even to those who are not usually into history.

A "page turner"

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Enjoyable book with good narration. I learnt some new things and around as entertained. Would recommend

Good book

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The content was interesting and at times very humorous. It deserved a better narrator than this who sounded like an AI reboot.

Robotic

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Loved this. Good combination of history and contemporary context.

I love social history. And books about sex. That sounds wrong. But I do love the 'behind the scenes' and lesser known stories from times past about those subjects we don't always talk about.

So this audiobook, covering women in medieval times - contraception, getting pregnant, birthing, wanting babies or not wanting them, how to avoid sex, prostitution, divorce, same sex relationships - what an eye-opener into hidden history.

And lots of it taken from court records! This was the best part for me, insight into real women, cases, outcomes - and often dubious (and unfair) legal practices.

The asides, the conversations with examples put in modern texts and chats, these were funny and brought home the reality of the situations. It also kept this from being too academic and kept the tone very readable and light.

I saw sample pages of this on Amazon and do feel I missed out on a well-produced and rather beautiful book. I was looking for a bibliography as I really wanted to read a list of the author's sources which sadly weren't available on an audio version. Definitely something missing, as I wanted to check the validity of some of the women's histories and read the cases for myself.

Still, fantastic read. Plenty to open the eyes - and remind us that 21st century women are standing on many shoulders of those who've gone before us. And sex has always held such an important place within our species - we didn't invent it. Worth remembering.

Good combination of history / contemporary context

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This was a hugely entertaining and equally informative book. I really loved it and finished it in two sittings!

loved this!

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Raised quite a few belly laughs and even more smiles, entertaining and interesting. Perfect way to pass time on a journey, also a great way to shock a man to silence!

Entertaining and interesting.

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