Pädophilie im Mittelalter. Beiträge zur Rechtsgeschichte Österreichs|Beiträge zur Rechtsgeschichte Österreichs Band 1 / 2018|

Although many and diverse kinds of medieval sources tell about pedophilia and pedosexuality, this topic has until now only been studied with regard to a few local cases. Therefore, a first overview is presented here, taking into account non‐juridical texts, ecclesiastical and public law, and court practice. In contrast to the very high esteem and protection with which childhood is generally associated in modern Western society, neither the legislation nor the juridical practice of the Middle Ages did pay much attention to the age of female victims of sexual violence: virgins, wives and widows were considered – independently of the phase of life – the relevant groups. In some laws the punishment for rape or violation was not different in terms of this classification, in other laws it was, but it never depended on the victim’s age. Given that canonical law allowed men to marry a girl of twelve or even seven years, sexuality with female children could be practised without breaking any laws. Sexual relations of men with boys, however, counted as sodomy and used to be penalised as cruelly as sex acts between male adults