(no subject)
Maria petitioned for divorce from her husband Nikolaos because he was trying to force upon her the form of lust that men practice when they have sex with each other [andromania], which she refused, and he was making an effort to coerce her into this filthy act that is loathed by God. The case came before the bishop of Ohrid, Demetrios Chomatenos (ca. 1220), who admitted that there was no legal justification for divorce here, but as the woman swore that she would commit suicide, he granted the divorce lest her soul be imperiled by that even greater sin (Chomatenos, Opus 17).
Anastasios of Sinai used soil as an analogy to explain why some rich people desire to have children but cannot, whereas many poor people can easily have many children: soil that has received too much water is not fertile, whereas soil that has been watered mod- erately is. Poor bodies, which have received so little nourishment, immediately absorb the moisture of the seed. That is why Arabs, who hardly have any bread, have so many children, but also (conversely) why prostitutes cannot conceive.
Court officials touring the provinces in search of suitable brides for the imperial prince were apparently given a painting of what a perfect or ideal match should look like, and they tried to match it to the can- didates they met. It was called a lauraton. They also carried an impe- rial shoe of the right length for the ideal bride (a tzangion), and tested it on their feet.
Daughters born to “women of the stage” [actresses] may petition the [Byzantine] emperor to be legally freed from the blemish of their mothers’ reputation.
One of the most popular saints’ lives in Byzantium and the medieval West was that of Maria of Egypt, a prostitute who repented and became an extreme ascetic in the desert. The story of her early days comes as close to pornography as hagiography could manage.
The tenth-century saint Basileios the Younger had the miraculous ability to eat garlic without generating an odor. This was especially praised by his biographer Gregorios, who could not stand to be near anyone eating garlic.
Anastasios of Sinai used soil as an analogy to explain why some rich people desire to have children but cannot, whereas many poor people can easily have many children: soil that has received too much water is not fertile, whereas soil that has been watered mod- erately is. Poor bodies, which have received so little nourishment, immediately absorb the moisture of the seed. That is why Arabs, who hardly have any bread, have so many children, but also (conversely) why prostitutes cannot conceive.
Court officials touring the provinces in search of suitable brides for the imperial prince were apparently given a painting of what a perfect or ideal match should look like, and they tried to match it to the can- didates they met. It was called a lauraton. They also carried an impe- rial shoe of the right length for the ideal bride (a tzangion), and tested it on their feet.
Daughters born to “women of the stage” [actresses] may petition the [Byzantine] emperor to be legally freed from the blemish of their mothers’ reputation.
One of the most popular saints’ lives in Byzantium and the medieval West was that of Maria of Egypt, a prostitute who repented and became an extreme ascetic in the desert. The story of her early days comes as close to pornography as hagiography could manage.
The tenth-century saint Basileios the Younger had the miraculous ability to eat garlic without generating an odor. This was especially praised by his biographer Gregorios, who could not stand to be near anyone eating garlic.