BDSM in the Middle Ages
Pat Shimwer
Is there any evidence for Medieval masters who liked to punish their slaves
for fun?
Michael W Cook
<catoni...@torturethemhard.com> wrote:
> I wonder if they enjoyed punishment, bondage, sado-masochism like I do.
Do a search on the 'Flagellant' movement.
An excellent example of them being depicted is in the film The Seventh Seal.
martin reboul
"Pat Shimwer" <catoni...@torturethemhard.com> wrote in message
news:dg2ual$kql$1...@domitilla.aioe.org...
> I wonder if they enjoyed punishment, bondage, sado-masochism like I do.
>
> Is there any evidence for Medieval masters who liked to punish their slaves
> for fun?
Look up "medieval torture" on Google, and you will be well satisfied...
Peter Jason
I'm sure we could envisage a scenario where some Lady of the House - perhaps
a Margaret Beaufort - reclined on a Great Bed wearing spurs and a spiked
collar and nothing else, urging on her poor indefatigable young page with a
riding crop, so gathering something interesting to tell her confessor - her
other lover!
Gee - life was tough for the poor!
Yes gentle reader BDSM was alive and well in the medieval age.
And in those torture chambers where the inquisitors wielded the lash, how
oft was heard the cry "confess and tell - or we'll stop beating you!"?
The shame! The horror! The brutality!
For a TRUE demo on Medieval torture try:
http://univers.bdnet.com/9782912003409/alb.htm
I'm sure a small subscription hereto will reveal all - and more!
"martin reboul" <martin...@tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message
news:43261...@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com...
Paul J Gans
There were doubtless sadomasochists in the Middle Ages as well.
But there were not lots of slaves around. And serfs had a
nasty tendency to sue you in court if you got too rough.
So one likely had to find consenting partners of one sort
or another.
----- Paul J. Gans
Mike Stone
"Paul J Gans" <ga...@panix.com> wrote in message
news:dg5g93$dh0$3...@reader1.panix.com...
Of course, you could always go to the market place and probbaly watch any
number of people getting whipped for one minor offence or another.
--
Mike Stone - Peterborough, England
European Ideal:
Italian cook, English policeman, German engineer, French lover
Everything organised by the Swiss.
European reality:
English cook, German policeman, French engineer, Swiss lover
Everything organised by the Italians.
afro...@yahoo.com
was referring to BDSM in the context of sexual gratification. Though
I'm sure examples of this could be found in the Middle Ages not all
cases of bondage or even the pleasure at the pain of others (or in
one's own pain) is sexual.
Inflicting pain on others shows can show power and superiority. Though
this gives a sexual thrill to some, it doesn't always. I'd venture to
say that most of the infliction of pain in the Middle Ages was
motivated for these reasons rather than for sexual kicks (though again,
there may have been some who found sexual pleasure as a perk.) I might
also mention that some looked on pain as a comic things, like those who
enjoy The Three Stooges. Perhaps it's the relief that this is
happening to someone else and not to them?
As for as those who seek pain, Saints take great joy in their
sufferings but do so for spiritual reasons. Those who worshipped them
in the Middle Ages (and depicted them) most likely looked at such
images in this context.
Of possible interest concerning the history of pain and suffering in
artistic depictions is "Enduring Creation-Art Pain and Fortitude" by
Nigel Spivey.
JMHO,
Eve
Paul J Gans
>"Paul J Gans" <ga...@panix.com> wrote in message
>news:dg5g93$dh0$3...@reader1.panix.com...
>> Pat Shimwer <catoni...@torturethemhard.com> wrote:
>> >I wonder if they enjoyed punishment, bondage, sado-masochism like I do.
>>
>> >Is there any evidence for Medieval masters who liked to punish their
>slaves
>> >for fun?
>>
>> There were doubtless sadomasochists in the Middle Ages as well.
>> But there were not lots of slaves around. And serfs had a
>> nasty tendency to sue you in court if you got too rough.
>>
>> So one likely had to find consenting partners of one sort
>> or another.
>>
>Of course, you could always go to the market place and probbaly watch any
>number of people getting whipped for one minor offence or another.
Nah. That's a more modern "humanist" approach to things.
In England even serfs had rights.
----- Paul J. Gans