The Medieval Catholic Church’s Weird Obsession With Incest...

For most, incest is seen as sexual intimacy between anyone who is related by blood, like a parent and child, siblings, or cousins. We could even extend this to anyone who has a position of responsibility within a family such as step-parents, step-siblings, or aunts and uncles who have married in. However, it was during the Middle Ages that the Roman Catholic Church became obsessed with the subject, to the extent that it even caused arguments between kings and popes. Welcome to Medieval Madness
00:00 Introduction
00:45 Incest
02:43 Obsession
04:10 Degrees
05:46 A Declaration of Love
06:35 Papacy vs Monarchy
07:39 A Family Affair
08:57 It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know
Narrated by James Wade
Written by Lisa E Rawcliffe
Edited by Jamit Productions
Thank you for watching.
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Copyright © 2023 Top5s All rights reserved.

[@KF-hf4nt]

I absolutely love how bored everyone looks in those paintings of people getting it on

[@desdicadoric]

Looks like my wife when I mention conjugal relations 😂

[@rustomkanishka]

Considering all that was allowed, and backbreaking labour I don't think anyone would have been very excited after the novelty wears off.

[@OcarinaSapphr-]

@@rustomkanishka There were only a bit under 100 days a year, when it was allowed for a married couple to lawfully have s*x; it wasn't meant to happen on holy days (there was more than 200, I believe, according to the Catholic list of saint's days [pre-1500]), fast days (Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays), when a woman was pregnant, when a woman was on her period- & a couple of other prohibitions- elsewise, it was considered anything from the simple misdemeanor of fornication (which one still had to do penance for), to an actual crime - I sort of found myself looking into it, while trying to work out a realistic timeline for a novel I was working on...

[@rustomkanishka]

@@OcarinaSapphr- eh, no foreplay, stuck in one position and let's not forget how women's pleasure "didn't exist" or was heavily critiqued. In my country, arranged marriages are still common and I kinda understand where that face and attitude comes from "Let's get this over with" and both of them will have the same attitude.

[@isaackellogg3493]

@@rustomkanishkafun fact: In Elizabethan England (after the Middle Ages but still), England was off and on at war with Spain pretty much all of the time, and Spain had a much bigger population than England. So it was made a law that as many children had to be sired and borne as possible, and since it was believed that women couldn’t conceive unless they orgasmed, Englishmen were at some pains to elicit orgasms whenever and however much possible. Albeit it made it more difficult to prosecute rapists, as a pregnant woman must have orgasmed, but for everyone else, it was quite a time to be alive.

[@censusgary]

All this was complicated by the fact that in the Middle Ages, most people, especially upper-class people, married not for love, but to consolidate family power and wealth. After a while, all the ruling families were related to each other to one degree or another. Members of royal families weren’t supposed to marry anyone below their station, which pretty much left them stuck with marrying other royals, who were, again, related to them.

[@monicacall7532]

The same thing happened when Queen Victoria married off her 9 children to all sorts of European royals. This led to hemophilia being passed on to male family members which affected royal dynasties such as the Romanovs in Russia. WWI was actually a cousins’ war as most of the leaders of the countries fighting each other were Victoria’s grand and great-grandchildren.

[@JohnnyAngel8]

So shocking, it would cause a Hapsburg jaw to hit the floor!😅

[@nicolagreen5725]

When I was a child and got taken around portrait galleries or museums/royal estates I always wondered why all the people looked the same....INCEST 😂

[@merlapittman5034]

What do you get when you have a group of men sworn to celibacy? An obsession with sex. What happens when that group is very powerful? Manipulation of other people in order to give themselves as much power and control as possible. What happens when that group is very greedy? Manipulation of the rules in order to acquire as much money and treasure as possible One thing I wanted to add - I think it's important to remember that a lot of men in Medieval times didn't really have much choice about whether they entered the church. They were sometimes forced in by their families or by a serious lack of other options. If a person chooses celibacy, that's one thing and no problem. If they're forced into it by outside forces, that tends to cause the problems

[@winglessfairy564]

Very nicely put

[@angelaziegler6713]

Did you even watch the video??

[@bennettcawley4630]

Okay, incel. 😂

[@lawrencecarter1954]

​@@bennettcawley4630Calling people incel without clear justification is ironically a pretty incel behavior, well done 👍

[@bennettcawley4630]

@@lawrencecarter1954 Touché. 😁

[@BTScriviner]

The Hapsburgs must have their own dispensation department, considering how often uncles married their nieces.

[@isaackellogg3493]

There is a list of “this counts as incest and is therefore forbidden” possible pairings in the Bible. Included is aunt-nephew marriages. Conspicuously absent? Uncle-niece pairs.

[@johnpeterlion1715]

That’s basically in a nutshell how the population of England was created.

[@Tsumami__]

Lmfaoooo

[@jimbocrispy6908]

Also, Longshanks wants to know your location.

[@SubjectiveFunny]

Don't worry, we are importing millions to widen our future prospects 🎉🎉🎉

[@emiliepryor51]

That zoom in at 4:03 😂😂😂

[@aaliyahfurtadoxoxo]

😂😂😂😂

[@angelaziegler6713]

Weird obsession with incest, yeah cause they were trying to stop it smh

[@rheverend]

Right?

[@wowlookatthathugestringof8s]

Once you get past first cousins though (into degrees like second, third, fourth etc cousins) you're literally as different from one another as you and a random person off the street. There are probably tons of people walking around unknowingly married to someone who is actually their extremely, extremely remote relative, especially if they've been living in the same area for many generations.

[@noah5291]

Until they started giving passes to rich nobles

[@atlantic_love]

@@wowlookatthathugestringof8s I am adopted. My adoptive mother and father are related going back about a hundred years. The man my mother married had the same last name as her maiden name. Back in the early 1990's I met a girl when out and about late in the evening. Pretty girl. We were sitting on her front porch. She went in to talk to her mother and then came out saying that her mother wanted to talk to me. So I went inside the house with the girl and her mother was crying. You see, her mother was my aunt and she was sad because it was in the late 1970's that my mother was killed by a train, hence my being put up for adoption. This in a town of about 9,000 people so what were the odds of meeting a girl who was related to me?

[@BigNeptizzle09]

The medieval version of Let’s Get It On at 11:42 😂

[@cheapciggies]

😂😂😂

[@dawnkindnesscountsmost5991]

I need a full-length version of that in my life!

[@aaliyahfurtadoxoxo]

😂😂😂😂

[@jannetteberends8730]

That was real madness, all those incestuous marriages

[@thomasdoubting]

-"...I, the King, I'm My Own Grandpa..."- "...WE, the King, we be My Own Grandpa..."

[@stargazer7184]

Oh my god the old timey "Lets Get It On" absolutely killed me XD

[@nesultimate3854]

Nah I'm screaming 😂😂😂😂

[@censusgary]

What constitutes incest is seen differently in different cultures. In some societies it’s commendable to marry your brother’s widow or your deceased wife’s sister. I can’t see myself doing that. Even though those people are not related to me by blood, they still seem like sisters to me.

[@jonathanhosh4459]

Well even in those cultures that only happens if the widow is childless

[@censusgary]

@@jonathanhosh4459 Not always. It depends on the culture.

[@snapdragon6601]

Maybe it was more of a way for them to take care of their brother's widow.. Financially, that is..Not taking care of her in any other way. 😆

[@censusgary]

@@snapdragon6601 In the Bible, the purpose stated for marrying your brother’s widow was to have sons by her, which would be considered the dead brother’s sons. Since only sons (not wives or daughters) inherited wealth in that society, I guess that was a way to avoid the widow being left destitute. If she doesn’t manage to have any sons, well, bad luck for her. Look up “levitate marriage” if you want to read more about this custom.

[@tomcollins5112]

Incest is when you have sex with your close family member. Cousins wouldn't be incest, as there's enough genetic variance there . Unless cousins are marrying generation after generation, then it becomes a problem.

[@valentinkambushev4968]

Uneducated people: 🎶 Sweet home Alabama!🎶 Intellectuals:🎶Sweet home Europe, Asia, and Africa!🎶

[@MacLeodddd]

Incest was prevalent in every culture at some point in time. But in Alabama... well, it's just more common 😂

[@joeblow9657]

Ah yes, those poor nobles not being able to marry their second cousins. If only they developed a system of inheritance that wasn't reliant on children and marrying other nobles

[@ExploringSagas]

You guys must be an entire team right? These videos are always so spectacular, really something to strive for. Have you made a video on what your videomaking progress is like? I'm just interested since the videos are so interesting throughout, spectacular work!

[@WinnieTheJew]

Hell yeah! I love your channel dude, always great content! 🎉

[@I.like.poetry.47]

Babe wake up medievalmadness just posted

[@keiththorpe9571]

I have always believed strongly that all strict sexual proscriptions and prohibitions within the church, church doctrine, and amongst the clergy in general (particularly in churches requiring celibacy of their priests) is rooted in unhealthy and obsessive psychological issues among the church elders and clergy.

[@LadyCoyKoi]

Also to keep wealth and power within the church itself. If priests be having kids there is a risk of losing property and such power towards such kids.

[@aarons6935]

Religion and churches are dangerous things.

[@el_equidistante]

what a simplistic way of viewing it vailed as an "educated" opinion

[@hicknopunk]

I thought it was to limit the dynastic power of the clergy. 🤔

[@mr.discreet7268]

Nope, Our Lord lived a celibate life.

[@frankvalentich5410]

Brilliant work.

[@pauljarvis4132]

I love your work please keep it up

[@GreatGreebo]

I am *subscriber # 128* ; I’m still loving ALL of your content and once again, congratulations on your continued channel growth! 🤘

[@factsdontcareaboutyourfeel7204]

Still happens in islamic countries, and in the uk by the same ones. There was a recent study done in Bradford i think with Pakistanis

[@_Minos]

No, it doesnt happen in all islamic countries. And when it happens the couple usually isnt so close related, as by the english people.

[@bruner]

Thank you! Keep up the good work! More drones in 2024 👍

[@carsonevans1878]

My old AP Euro teacher would call medieval family trees, “family wreaths”

[@angellebelle8863]

That's more accurate for sure. I haven't heard it before. But you would think it would catch on.

[@johnnylee9116]

You should go over some medieval paintings idk I think it could be cool interesting 😊

[@carnifaxx]

I don't think they ever considered divorce to be an option in roman catholic canonical law. What they used was annulment of the marriage, meaning it was void from the beginning, otherwise they couldn't marry someone else when their original spouse was still alive. Even Henry VIII was not going for a divorce, he wanted the pope to find the impediment of being in-laws as valid and the marriage not being "legal" (and the children becoming illegitimate, they would have been legitimate in case of a divorce) - actually him not accepting divorce as a concept even if he himself was a head of a church was very probably reason for all the executions of his wives. From this point of view, using the word "divorce" for medieval Europe is quite misleading and ahistorical.

[@michellebyrom6551]

Perhaps it's more to do with the development of meaning. In mediaeval times, divorce and annulment could have.been interchangeable words. Divorce becoming the secular legal side after the Church split. I'm thinking of a Spanish TV series set in the 1950s. The Dpanish word used was annulment but the English translation was divorce. It got me thinking.

[@SusannahDyro-gd1nx]

Keeping track makes your head spin

[@ont.cobbles]

They're all after that ol' Habsburg smile.

[@janiscrammond7046]

Another great video. Love the work you do. Churches have always, and some still are obsessed with sex

[@thatlittlevoice6354]

You're absolutely correct. It's like some people shape their entire existence around their sexual proclivities. Heck, some people have parades just to express their fetishes.

[@monicacall7532]

Very enjoyable. The Habsburgs take the prize for the most inbred family in the Common Era. BTW Valois is pronounced val WAH. In French “ois” is always pronounced WAH.

[@justincorber7528]

Who is the "you" you're referring to in the degrees segment?

[@SusannahDyro-gd1nx]

Boy so much to keep track 😮

[@shamicagray4014]

So ... This is why the hills have eyes 👀🤔

[@desdicadoric]

I suppose it was probably much more prevalent to get married to cousins and what have you as people didn’t travel, so really didn’t have much opportunity to meet anyone else. My wife is from a different country, England, which was probably the preserve of royalty back then

[@Rydonattelo]

Love this channel. Bit of medieval madness on a Friday night with some tramadol 💊👍🏻

[@infinightsky]

I’m with you 🛌

[@Ketannabis]

Lmao same, except Morphine instead of tramadol.

[@rheverend]

The Catholic Church caused so much confusion and grief when it comes to sex, but are we really going to crap on them for preaching against incest?

[@Rusl2006]

Recovering after injury/surgery or just a wild Friday night?

[@hicknopunk]

Incest is...the best...cest? 😂

[@edkolovrat6514]

I agree, this video feels a little bit like criticizing the church for the oppression of poor incest enjoyers. 😆 This video is more opinion driven then neutral, at best. This is maybe the reason for this weird final effect.

[@carnifaxx]

the problem was that they saw as "an incest" almost every couple in the area and they got money from the acts of dispensation needed for marriages. Considering that 3rd degree of consanguinity (meaning 1st cousins) is legal in most of today European countries, 7th degree is certainly an overkill, esp. at the time when paperwork was not mandatory and life expectancy lower.

[@onijaanjonu3367]

​@carnifaxx although they did reduce the levels of separation in the 1200's

[@yp77738yp77739]

I was anticipating/expecting to learn whether these religious taboos were based upon historical observations that close heredity resulted in progeny lacking hybrid vigor/heterosis. Either from observations from society or from animal husbandry. Many of these taboos do have valid public health implications, it seems improbable to me that it is solely coincidence.

[@user-gi8pk9uc7q]

They didn't know about recessive genes and the like at the time, so they had no idea what they were getting themselves into!

[@Stable_Genius]

God, how horrible it would have been to live in the middle ages. Lol

[@burner555]

That is if you made it after birth

[@AtarGG]

Music is a bit repetitive at the 2min mark all I can hear are the four notes. Otherwise pretty good.

[@besticudcumupwith202]

..."yer my sister! yer my sister!" Joe Dirt

[@Stable_Genius]

😂

[@aaliyahfurtadoxoxo]

😂😂😂🎉

[@starrtraveler3496]

How interesting that priests were looked at as the authority of what was appropriate sex and what was considered deviant sexual contact … unbelievable level of hypocrisy.

[@charliemanson4808]

7:59 behold the creator of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch of Monty Python fame

[@ovhek1]

Finally some good content 😂

[@peterstation]

Amen brother 😳

[@sarah82ish]

Eleanor of aquitaine what a woman! Especially for that time. Her story would make a great movie/video 😊

[@54blewis]

Like “Lion in Winter” !

[@sarah82ish]

@@54blewisI haven’t heard of that. But I’ll definitely check it out! Thanks for bringing it to my attention 😊

[@54blewis]

@@sarah82ish Katherine Hepburn plays Eleanor of Aquitaine and Peter O’Toole plays Henry II….a brilliant movie,wonderful script,exceptional acting….realistic setting and (above all)largely historically accurate…

[@katsuyaki7605]

Alabama Man doin' his thing back in the Medieval period.

[@antoniomoreira5921]

If anyone's into Medieval Christian history I recommend Schwerpunkt's playlist on the topic

[@peterstation]

Thanks

[@joshuavincent3515]

Anyone else feel weird when you liked the video.

[@dianahaugh7521]

I’d like to point out for all their rules against marriage with close relatives, the Church handed out dispensations like candy, so it was meaningless. Just look at the very Catholic. Hapsburg

[@bas4903]

The European weren't too bright were they? If only these 'intellectuals' looked to why Egyptian royalty died out

[@charleswilliams1966]

Fallow the money from source to dispensation.

[@ericawalker7695]

These family trees are confusing.

[@gundarvarr1024]

It not church, its the HABSBURG

[@Tsumami__]

Yeah bc it stopped there. Nah even Harry and Meghan are related ffs

[@sammhyde7589]

You referring to the original term of Sodomy (now referred to as bestiality)? Also its due to the black nobility Borgeas et al who were largely incestuous apparently

[@LaurieValdez-zk3dy]

Humans are mammals.

[@CherokeeBird]

To me, Catholicism was more about control than actually worship. According to the Bible, you are to only pray to God, and have no graven images, yet it seems they go against it by praying to saints and wearing a cross.

[@TheGeneralGrievous19]

Keep telling yourself that American "Christian" fundamentalist BS, darling.

[@AncestorEmpire1]

Archer Joke: Germany is the Alabama of Europe

[@NakedOwl501]

CK3 vibes

[@grapeshot]

Keeping it all in a religious family😂😂😂

[@user-xl1zi5pn3o]

MedievalMadness would NEVER so such video on Jewish religion but bashing Catholics it's fair game

[@SubjectiveFunny]

Religion ruins all the fun 😢

[@lexirae7889]

7th cousins were verbotin?? I have to be honest.. I wouldn't even know any of my 3rd cousins if I met them on the street. Also, per the 6° of separation theory, literally anyone off the street could share a connection with you. Blood is one of those connections.

[@PaulC-ss5uo]

Hmm, no reverse cowgirl, why bother???

[@user-bt1np9qi2y]

darling our child i mean my future wife looks beautiful ......

[@arthurfleck1554]

clergy, 'Butsex bad, HhmmKay!' gay clergy, 'Do as we say, do not do as we do, HmmKay!'

[@thestreetdisciple3955]

SWEET HOME ALABAMA!!! 🎶🎶🗣️🗣️🗣️🎶🎶🔥🔥🔥🗣️🗣️🔥🎶🗣️🎶🎶🎶🔥🔥🔥🗣️

[@HandyMan657]

Didn't the whole thing start with Adam and Eve? I mean, that kinda tells you how twisted the church is.

[@HarleyQwynn2013]

Why does art from this period always look like a kid painted it? Then you look at other cultures from the same time that are significantly much more detailed?🤔🎭

[@bunnygirl2448]

For example?

[@nuudelz3711]

Probably has to do with the churches restriction on art. Wasn’t until the Italian renaissance that they revived the Roman classical eras style of art and decoration

[@jeanniearnold6726]

And why does the baby Jesus always look like a little man?

[@fangslaughter1198]

They didn’t have Art in school.

[@bunnygirl2448]

⁠it was a religious stylistic choice because the church (at this time) believed Jesus was born fully formed. Google “why do babies in medieval paintings look like little old men”

[@sethwillishair]

I shouldn’t watch this with my sister

[@KawaiiEvoMii]

Nice way to tell on yourself perv

[@gregkis]

Why

[@FaceRollinOvO]

As a rep for the catholic church i think you should

[@h2m1ify]

Shit, then I have to split up with my sister!

[@jgil848]

I am a deist who doesn't believe in religions but at least there is something that I admire about Christianity, and that is that you can criticize it without having to fear for your life. Unlike the Muslim world, Christianity created modern societies where freedom of thought is prevalent. If you criticize Islam in the Muslim world, you will end up in jail for blasphemy (even in very moderate countries like Morrocco, Algeria, Egypt, etc). In others they simply kill you (Pakistan Afganistan, Bangladesh, etc.), TODAY. I am in France and Chalie Hebdo ridiculed the Church much more and for a longer period than it did for Islam. As soon as they started making fun of Islam, Muslims came in a committed a massacre.............You do not dare to criticize Islam as much as you criticize Christianity because you are affraid, it is pure cowardice

[@rheverend]

Well this wouldn’t apply to the medieval Catholic Church but many of us don’t consider it to be actual Christianity

[@dollinterrupted]

You realize women die everyday in childbirth especially children because Christianity prohibits them from seeking medical intervention

[@dollinterrupted]

Plus a huge proportion of homeless youth are part of the LGTBQ+ community and they are kicked out as children because of their parents Christian beliefs against homosexuality. A lot of those kids end up dead.

[@SelectorJohnson]

They’re the worst people in history.

[@jgil848]

In the middle ages people were less evolved, even the secular law was more barbaric. A child could be hang for stealing an apple or you could have your head chopped. I don't believe in religions but at least I can say that I read the Gospels and they are a message of love, peace. If people didn't follow them it is not the fault of christianity. However, I read the Quran and more hadiths than most Muslims to know that they are filled with violence, hatred against non Muslims and of the worst misogyny. Try to criticize religion in a Muslim country and you will see who is really the most intolerant @@rheverend

[@cleocatra9324]

Incest, no bueno

[@yourmumsy1081]

Me and my sister are in a relationship but we both don’t want kids 👶🏼 so we’re good

[@AvioftheSand]

Hot 🔥

[@Stable_Genius]

Is your sister hawt?

[@Andalusic]

👎

[@danieldanieldadada]

Why did medieval drawings were so bad?

[@wberckmann]

I have no relationship with the Catholic Church but it sounds to me that they had certain values and I'm sure that many of those values had nothing to do with sex. For example, honesty, integrity, discipline, loving your neighbor, loving God, caring for the poor. I think that the author of this piece is the one who has an obsession with incest specifically and sex in general..

[@spineshivers]

You're wrong!

[@adyseven1]

Care to explain, clown ?​@@spineshivers

[@EVIL-C]

Ohhhhh, wow, blatantly running cover for the perverted acts that the church has factually done, while also hating gay people. You are truly disgusting. Police should investigate you. I'd love to know what's in your browser history...

[@EVIL-C]

Running cover for the crimes of the catholic church, while hating gay people. Truly a disgusting person. The police should investigate your browser history.

[@EVIL-C]

You're complacent in the crimes of the catholic church. Truly disgusting. You know what? Being gay also has many facets that also have nothing to do with sex, yet you'd never recognize that fact.

[@kylelee9474]

[@hobedaar6513]

I am sorry for disputing the last comment about the family of Habsburg, however, they are still kicking and well I guess still liking each other too much. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_von_Habsburg

[@merikatools568]

This guy narrates like he is continually having a balloon full of blow pulled from his prison wallet

[@Catusqueen1978]

Oh, is that what that is 😂