page_title: History of prostitution
section_title: Middle Ages
hierarchical_section_title: History of prostitution / Middle Ages
caption_attribution_description: The Surname-i Vehbi is an illustrated account of the circumcision ceremony of Sultan Ahmed III's three sons. The festival took place in 1720 and lasted for fifteen days and nights. Its opulence and splendor were documented in the Surname, a book commissioned for the occasion. It is named after its author, the court poet Seyyd Hüseyin Vehbi. The book is illustrated with 137 miniatures by Abdülcelil Levni Çelebi, the court painter, and his apprentices.
context_page_description: Prostitution has been practiced throughout ancient and modern culture. Prostitution has been described as "the world's oldest profession," and despite consistent attempts at regulation, it continues nearly unchanged.
context_section_description: During the Middle Ages prostitution was commonly found in urban contexts. Although all forms of sexual activity outside of marriage were regarded as sinful by the Roman Catholic Church, prostitution was tolerated because it helped prevent the greater evils of rape, sodomy and masturbation. Augustine of Hippo is quoted saying, "if you expel prostitution from society, you will unsettle everything on account of lusts." The general tolerance of prostitution was for the most part reluctant, and many people from the church urged prostitutes to reform.
  After the decline of organized prostitution of the Roman empire, many prostitutes were slaves. However, religious campaigns against slavery and the growing marketisation of the economy turned prostitution back into a business. By the High Middle Ages it was common to find town governments ruling that prostitutes were not to ply their trade within the town walls, but they were tolerated outside, only because these areas were beyond the jurisdiction of the authorities. In many areas of France and Germany town governments came to set aside certain streets as areas where prostitution could be tolerated. In London the brothels of Southwark were owned by the Bishop of Winchester. After this, it became common in the major towns and cities of Southern Europe to establish civic brothels. This allowed the government to outlaw any prostitution taking place outside these brothels. In much of Northern Europe a more tolerant attitude could be found towards prostitution. Prostitutes also found a fruitful market in the Crusades.
caption: Köçek troupe at a fair. Recruited from the ranks of colonized ethnic groups, köçeks were entertainers and sex workers in the Ottoman empire.
exif: {}