Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini, commonly known as Poggio, was a medieval church official, a classical scholar, and a learned Latin writer. Poggio was born in Tuscany in 1380. He received a scholarly education and went into the service of the Roman Curia. Poggio had 14 children with a mistress. Then, at age 56, he married a seventeen-year old girl with whom he had a happy and fruitful marriage. Poggio sought out and collected ancient Latin manuscripts and helped to transmit classical Latin texts to future generations. Poggio exemplified the broad-mindedness of medieval Latin writers, their interest in the classical Latin tradition, and their willingness to transgress the gynocentric norms of church and society to express men’s distinctive interests. Poggio died in 1459.
Poor young women marrying rich old men helps to reduce wealth inequality, but requires extra attention to supporting and nurturing husbands’ sexuality. … Read the post marriages between rich old men and poor young women
The HeForShe campaign ignores she for him, yet medieval doctors understood that sexually potent, not-overworked husbands are vital for wives’ health. … Read the post she for him: healthy, potent husbands vital to wives’ health
Medieval Latin literature taught men not to listen and believe, but to question even women to find the truth and to avoid being cuckolded. … Read the post cuckolds don’t question; they just listen, believe and are duped
In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, transsexual Tiresias affirmed Jove against Juno in finding that women receive more sexual pleasure in heterosexual intercourse. … Read the post Tiresias’s prophetic knowledge started with Juno and Jove’s dispute
A medieval sailor much simpler than Odysseus didn’t understand that not all women are like Penelope. He desperately needed God’s help. … Read the post not Penelope: sailor’s wife claims God provided him with a son
The medieval poem Le Tumbeor Nostre Dame turned into Anatole France’s story Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame: honoring men’s sexuality became demeaning it. … Read the post sardonic literature necessary complement to romantic medievalism
Overwhelming below women in society, men need medieval Latin learning and guile to deal with women’s desire to be on top. A peasant rose up; so can you. … Read the post women’s desire to be on top benefits guileful man selling goose
Acting as a woman’s kitchen servant isn’t a way to win her heart or stir her loins. Chivalry is folly. Men must seek useful love knowledge. … Read the post folly of chivalry: women don’t want a man for kitchen help
In medieval Latin literature, large penises didn’t mean that Venetian men weren’t being cuckolded, and a woman having a wide vagina was no reason for pride. … Read the post whore ridiculed Venetian cuckolds for their large penises
As medieval men understood, husbands’ care for their wives’ sexual well-being encompassed care for their own bodies and for their own sexual self-esteem. … Read the post husbands care for their wives’ sexual well-being: two case studies