In thirteenth-century France, Matheus (Mahieu) of Boulogne studied law and logic. He lived many years in Paris and became a well-connected cleric practicing canon law. He attended the Council of Lyon in 1274. Then he married the widow Petra. He was expelled from his church post for being a bigamist (marrying a widow). His wife Petra further made his life miserable. In 1290 or 1291, Matheolus (as he is commonly known) completed a 5,614 verse work in Latin, Lamentationes Matheoluli (Lamentations of little, little Matheus). It’s a witty masterpiece of men’s sexed protest. Between 1380 and 1387, Jehan Le Fèvre loosely translated Matheolus’s work into French and added the contrasting work, Le livre de Leesce.
Sophisticated Priapea (Priapus poems) engaged in urbane critique of the brutalizing social construction of men’s person and gender stereotypes. … Read the post Priapea critique brutalizing & commodifying stereotypes
De coniuge non ducenda, a Latin work of men’s sex protest written between 1225 and 1250, tells how three angels saved Gawain from marriage. … Read the post De coniuge non ducenda: angels save Gawain from marriage
Combining sex, crime, and outrage, retellings of the widow of Ephesus story have long been at the sweet spot of communicative attention. … Read the post widow of Ephesus story in three retellings
Matheolus’s sexed protest against his injuries from the church and his wife generated quarrels about women, apologies to women, and defenses of women. … Read the post men's protest, then quarrels, apologies & defenses for women
Medieval physicians such as the famous woman physician Calabre of Paris helped women to be more pleasing to men. … Read the post Calabre of Paris, woman physician of the 14th century
The marriage of Matheolus and Petra overthrew the grammar of sex, just as did Alexander the Great’s mistress riding Aristotle as a mare. … Read the post grammar of sex in marriage for Matheolus and Petra
Lamentationes Matheoluli, Matheolus’s response to abuse from the church and his wife, is a masterpiece of medieval Latin literature of men’s sexed protest. … Read the post Matheolus: medieval Latin literature protesting church & wife
By the Middle Ages, masculinity was so devalued that Matheolus believed that he couldn’t confidently distinguish between a female ass and a man. … Read the post ass for lover: failing to distinguish men's physical masculinity
Ovid, the great teacher of love in medieval Europe, came to be castrated and called a misogynist because the great goddess Cybele got angry with him. … Read the post Ovid castrated & called misogynist for defying goddess Cybele
Medieval literature indicates men’s inferiority in guile. Men are susceptible to false paternity beliefs irrespective of available technology. … Read the post men inferior in guile and manipulation of paternity