Let me count the ways: canonists and theologians contemplate coital positions

The fascinated horror that characterized treatments of sexual problems by medieval Churchmen is particularly evident in their attempts to provide guidance for Christians concerning the intimate details of marital relations. Christian moralists, canonists, and theologians from the patristic period onward commonly maintained that only one posture was appropriate and natural for human sexual intercourse. This article examines the efforts of successive generations of Christian teachers to account for this belief and to discourage variations from the prescribed coital position. The article concludes with a brief discussion of some survivals of medieval sex law in modern U.S. statutes and decisions.