Unfortunately, the history of rape has a long legacy, in Medieval Europe as well as other places. (tw) This illuminated manuscript illustrates the pillaging of a city and the mass violence against women that frequently overlapped such occasions. Then and now, to rape women meant to take control and show power.
In the Late Middle Ages, a series of rapes both well documented and horrific occurred in the southern French town of Dijon: between 1436 and 1486, 125 rapes were documented, with most of these being gang rapes. Apparently, the usual practice was to target more vulnerable women, dragging them out of their homes for the deed. Most of the men were unmarried, between 18 and 24, and many were stuck in dead-end jobs. In fact, the lack of agency and constant reminder of the subordinate position in society that these men felt were likely a major contributor of their displaced aggression.
Source(s): Image, The Hague, MMS, 10A 11 fol. 10v Book 1. Page 39, _Sea, Dissidence and Damnation: No ority Groups in the Middle Ages_, by Jeffrey Richards, 1991, Routledge, NYC.
