'Throughout all days and nights, forever’: Could an 11th century contract prove the existence of same-sex marriage in medieval Spain?
'Throughout all days and nights, forever’: Could an 11th century contract prove the existence of same-sex marriage in medieval Spain?
A property agreement between two men, signed in 1061, includes heartfelt declarations of lifelong trust and faithfulness.
In 1061, two men in Spain, Pedro Díaz and Munio Vandilaz, signed a legal agreement which many researchers say is a factual, non-literary example of a recognised same-sex union during the the Medieval period.
Although the task of interpreting the original document is not easy, what is certain is that the Middle Ages are far from the dark, backwards and savage era that some continue to imagine. It is important to remember that in the the Middle Ages there was even homoerotic literature, a fact that reveals a certain permissive attitude and recognition of loving and sexual relations between people of the same sex.
Just like archeologists having to call dildos they find "religious objects," it all depends on how much you want to risk your reputation and research funding.