El adulterio y otras transgresiones sexuales en la Edad Media. Desde los primeros fueros castellanos y leoneses a las Partidas de Alfonso X el Sabio

Zusammenfassung

In this thesis, we analyse the norms regulating the crime of adultery and other sexual transgressions in the local fueros of Castile and León and Alphonsine law, and the wide range of sources that influenced this regulatory framework, including Justinian law, previous peninsular legislation and the ecclesiastical discourse of the time. A number of issues related to this matter are also explained in greater detail, such as offences against family honour deriving from the crimes studied, the importance of a woman’s virginity, the degree of tolerance for the development of sexual activity outside marriage, and so on. Likewise, we reflect on the relationship between sin and crime in this cultural context and endeavour to explain why the penal system punished certain sinful sexual practices severely, whereas others were not even considered criminal offences.