Musas, vol. 5, núm. 2 (2020): 93-109. ISSN 2385-7005. DOI: 10.1344/musas2020.vol5.num2.6 PERCEPTION OF FEMALE VIRGINITY IN THE MEDIEVAL WEST AND ITS CONCEPTUALISATION IN THE MEDIEVAL WELSH LAW CODES Percepción de la virginidad femenina en el Occidente medieval y su conceptualización en los códigos legislativos medievales galeses José Antonio López Sabatel Correo electrónico:
[email protected] 1. Departamento de Historia Medieval y CC y TT Historiográficas de la UNED. Grupo de Investigación «La sociedad en la corona de Castilla en la Baja Edad Media». (Madrid, España) Recibido: 13/03/2020 Aceptado: 08/05/2020 93 Musas, vol. 5, núm. 2 (2020): 93-109. ISSN 2385-7005. DOI: 10.1344/musas2020.vol5.num2.6 ABSTRACT This article aims to shed some light on the perception of female virginity in the medieval West. A moral, social and legal insight, heir to the religious misogynist conceptualisation that would shape the actions of communities, families, and legislators in order to safeguard, at least until marriage, that precious good as a lost Edenic symbol of the creation still unspoiled by the original sin. In this way, both premarital sex and rape of virgins are punished severely and the preservation of the maidenhead of future brides is monetarily rewarded. All this responding to the interest of a patrilineal society that endowed women and their virginity with a unique and indissoluble value as an economic asset in the different strategies aimed at establishing strong marriage alliances between the different lineages. Consequently, the worth of women as a daughter and bride would always remain, to some extent, linked to the conservation of their virginity.