A Very Sexy Medieval Valentine

[medievalrosalie]

Manuscripts are well know for their allusions to sexy things and not-very-cryptic imagery, and the medieval world is just full of pictures which are nothing short of astonishing. Parted curtains with erect candles. Tent flaps drawn back to reveal poles and beds. The lack of subtlety is fantastic. I've included some great ones in my upcoming The Very Secret Sex Lives of Medieval Women, but as an avid facebooker and meme-maker, it gives me further opportunities to share many of these on social media, including this one which didn't make it to the book.

I think this wonderful unphotoshopped image of a naked man and a unicorn with an exceptionally large and impressive horn from the Rothschild Canticles, Flanders c. 1300 (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, MS 404, fol. 51r) is my favourite of all my Valentine memes, so for all you sexy lovers out there, I now share it with you.

Happy Day of Love.

The Very Secret Sex Lives of Medieval Women is available for pre-order right now from Amazon Au, Amazon Prime, Booktopia and Book Depository. Order yourself some self-love. You know you want to.

Comments

[malterre.livejournal.com]

Haha Love this!

[medievalrosalie.livejournal.com]

It's been one of my favourites for a long time, and it's hard to think of a better one, really!

[sister-michael.livejournal.com]

Oh My Dear! What can I say but WOW!
I don't think I have ever seen such an impressive and tantalising unit ;)

[medievalrosalie.livejournal.com]

It's true! Technically, that's a woman dancing, but for the purposes of the meme, it's a guy. One doesn't want to assume gender these days, and it IS a pretty impressive horn.

[sister-michael.livejournal.com]

[sister-raphael.livejournal.com]

Interpretive dance is pretty good. A man could literally win me over like that.

[medievalrosalie.livejournal.com]

George of the Jungle style!

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Medieval Rosalie, I enjoyed your blog. I'm looking for the 14th century French "Romance of the Saint" you mentioned in your message about women on horseback, but have been unable to find any reference to it. Can you provide the "official" title or maybe the author's name? Thanks--my name is Mel Hughes, write me at mlktrout (at) bellsouth (dot) net. Thanks!

[medievalrosalie.livejournal.com]

Hi Mel! You'd need to comment on the exact post for me to know which one it is specifically. The are numerous illuminated versions of the same book with the same title by the same author. The were re-copied all the time. If you can find the image, that would be helpful :)