This book analyzes the relation between the Churches’ official teachings regarding ‘desired’ and forbidden forms of sexual behaviour on the one hand, and mundane practice on the other hand, focusing on perspectives ‘from below’. Since the very beginning, Christianity has sought to regulate the love lives of its believers. The clergy’s growing influence on state institutions and the introduction of Christian sexual ethics left its mark on law, education and social norms. However, the everyday lives of most believers had little in common with the sexual norms propagated by clerics. The territory of Poland is especially interesting due to the fact that over the centuries different Christian confessions as well as distinct ethnic groups with various cultural norms co-existed there. Additionally, this edited collection looks at different groups of actors, such as peasants, the clergy or townspeople from the early Middle Ages until the late twentieth century, and also includes different types of sources as well as methodological approaches. This long-term perspective shows the impact and influence of Church teachings in a longue durée, and highlights social factors that both shaped discourses on sexuality and also indicated the changing power of the Church.

This edited volume is the result of a conference which took place at GHI Warsaw in November 2022 and analyzes the relation between the Churches’ official teachings regarding ‘desired’ and forbidden forms of sexual behaviour on the one hand, and mundane practice on the other hand, focusing on perspectives ‘from below’. Since the the beginning, Christianity has sought to regulate the love lives of its believers. The clergy’s growing influence on state institutions and the introduction of Christian sexual ethics left its mark on law, education and social norms. However, the everyday lives of most believers had little in common with the sexual norms propagated by clerics.

Michael Zok is Researcher at the German Historical Institute in Warsaw, Poland. His research interests include the history of sexuality and media as well as comparative history.

Jaśmina Korczak-Siedlecka was a research fellow at the GHI Warsaw until February 2024. She is currently conducting research in the Department of History at Uppsala University, Sweden. She focuses on gender history, history of violence and religion in Early Modern Poland.