"Hermaphroditi" : Bodily Different from Both Men and Women (ca. 1100 to ca. 1600)




Faculty/Professorship: Auxiliary Sciences of History  
Author(s): Rolker, Christof  
Publisher Information: Bamberg : Otto-Friedrich-Universität
Year of publication: 2022
Pages: 4
Source/Other editions: Dis/Ability History der Vormoderne : Ein Handbuch / Nolte, Cordula; Frohne, Bianca; Halle, Uta; Kerth, Sonja (Hg). - Affalterbach : Didymos-Verlag, 2017, S. 444–447
Year of first publication: 2017
Language(s): English
Licence: Creative Commons - CC BY - Attribution 4.0 International 
URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:473-irb-533659
Abstract: 
.In medieval and Early Modern Western Europe, people with the bodily characteristics of both men and women were called ›hermaphrodites‹ in learned discourse. Medieval laws generally assumed that hermaphrodites, even if constituting a separate sex, in practice could be assigned either male or female gender according to the sex that ‘prevailed’ in their bodies; in practice, many aspects (including individual choice) played a role in assigning binary gender. ‘Hermaphroditism’ was also used to describe and explain changes of sex or gender. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, ‘hermaphroditism’ was increasingly associated with deviant sexuality, partly because changing perception of male and female sexuality more generally.
GND Keywords: Hermaphrodit; Geschichte 1100-1600
Keywords: gender studies, disability studies, middle ages
DDC Classification: 940 History of Europe  
RVK Classification: NM 1400   
Peer Reviewed: Ja
International Distribution: Ja
Type: Contribution to an Articlecollection
URI: https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/53365
Release Date: 19. April 2022

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