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oa Over de lust van de vrouw
Beverlands De Stolatae Virginitatis Iure (1679)
- Amsterdam University Press
- Source: De Achttiende Eeuw, Volume 53, Issue 1, Jan 2021, p. 51 - 69
Abstract
In 1679, Hadriaan Beverland (1650-1716) published a study on the sexual lust of women, titled De Stolatae Virginitatis Iure. Scholars who have looked at this rebellious humanist and his sexual studies have unanimously concluded that the publication of De Peccato Originali, his infamous work on sexual lust and original sin, led to Beverland’s arrest and eventually his banishment from Holland and Zeeland. Looking at the connection of De Stolatae Virginitatis Iure to his other studies and comparing his perspective on women and their behaviour to the outlook of his contemporaries, this article argues that Beverland’s study of female desire was just as radical, if not more seditious, than his work on original sin. Taking Beverland’s exceptional solutions to pre- and extramarital sexual relations into account, De Stolatae Virginitatis Iure proves to be truly provocative, offering a unique perspective on the sexual activities of young men and women in early modern Europe.