As you probably know, a concubine is either a slave or a mistress who is in constant material or moral dependence on her lover. But in addition to the famous word concubine, there are several more definitions that subdivide concubines into types.
A little on this topic from a religious point of view
In Judaism
The men of the sons of Israel have always publicly recognized their concubines, and their concubines enjoyed the same rights in the home as legal wives.
In Orthodoxy
This is one of the unmarried slave women, whose children are not entitled to inheritance. Previously, concubines were tolerated (God tolerated and commanded us), now concubine is seen as a grave sin, equated to fornication and adultery.
In Islam, in addition to legal wives, the institution of concubines is provided, which implied taking the wife of a murdered enemy to his concubine. They were actually equated with the status of a wife, but without a wedding, the consent of relatives or guardians. At the birth of a son, she was considered the mother of the child, and the legal wife was the mother of the son.
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In pre-Christian Russia
In the history of the Old Russian state, there are also examples of a huge number of concubines. For example, Prince Vladimir, as noted by the Russian historian A. V. Koptev, had about 800 concubines.
Changsan - Chinese geisha
Changsan - Chinese courtesans, Chinese geisha, who existed from ancient times to the beginning of the 19th century and greatly influenced the development of the popular culture of Shanghai.
These were women entertainers who knew how to entertain rich men with dances and songs. talk, its beauty. they were not imputed to be prostitutes, but they were not forbidden either. Everything is like a Japanese geisha.
By the way, the Chinese had concubines-actresses and concubines-maids. who lived in their house. The former were called solely for the amusement and gratification of their master and his guests, the latter did housework and were sometimes used as sex slaves. In order to get himself a concubine, a married man needed the consent of his wife, but still they were much lower in status. They could be donated, sold, given away without any supervision from the authorities. But Changsan were free single girls who had their own patron who paid their bills, but they lived separately, in the house that the patron rented for them.
The popularity of Changsan can be judged by the following fact: newspapers organized contests, inviting readers to send them the name of their beloved Changsan, and more than 70,000 people took part in one of the first contests.
Odalisque
Odalisque (room girl) is a servant in a harem who served the noble ladies living in the palace and at the same time the master's sex slave.
The modern stereotype of a gorgeous odalisque concubine who languidly lies on the trestle bed waiting for her master is not true. Odalisques were invisible, quiet, dressed like men, did not have the right to vote, had to serve everyone who the mistress or master pointed out. If the odalisque was especially beautiful or talented in singing or dancing, she could be transferred to the status of a concubine, and with a special disposition of the master, to the status of a wife, but in most cases it was an unquestioning obedient slave.
Concubina - in ancient Rome, an unmarried lower-class woman who was in cohabitation with a man
In Roman law, these relations were not considered shameful, but, unlike legal marriage, they did not have any rights - the children were illegitimate and had no right to inheritance.
The concubine could not be a courtesan, because she (the concubine) was not a prostitute and was not always a kept woman.
If a man started a concubine during his official marriage, then it could be adultery, or if the wife did not mind (and most often she did not mind), the concubine was the official favorite.
By the way, in pre-Christian Russia, konkumbinat was something common.
“Concubine is considered permissible: for he who has an honest woman as a concubine and who does so openly, apparently, has her as a wife; and otherwise sins towards her with fornication (Matthew Vlastar. Syntagma. P. ch.17)"
With the spread of Christianity, konkubinat was equated with fornication and was strictly prohibited.
Plaza
When the European military and merchants who settled colonies in America and traded with the semi-dependent countries of Asia had constant contacts in these regions (if there were wives in their homeland, in the metropolis), then such a concubine began to be called a plaza.
in connection with the long ban on the presence of women on ships, which was considered a bad sign, they were sent to the newly discovered lands, for the most part. young men who increasingly came into contact with representatives of Indian, African and mixed descent (mulattoes, mestizos, creoles, sambo).
Over time, however, the French, Spanish and Portuguese monarchs, alarmed by the excessive mixing in the colonies, began to send women from the metropolis there. At this time, the plazazh system was formed: officially white men had a white wife, as well as several colored mistresses, not prostitutes, but honest women who were rather concubines, but were loyal to the master until his death. Their children were not officially recognized, but they had some rights.
There were special schools for the cultivation of such a caste of colored kept women, and for acquaintance with them, white men organized special closed balls, sometimes turning into orgies.
Gradually, the plaza gradually began to be reduced to the level of street prostitution, because the newly arrived settlers wanted nothing to do with girls of color other than casual sex.
Favoritism
Favoritism is a phenomenon that existed at the monarch's (royal, imperial, royal) courts. The favorite was delegated not only the heart and flesh of the royal person, but also many powers. Many favorites were fully engaged in state affairs, had the right to execute and pardon, even start wars and negotiate. By the way, favoritism did not include obligatory intimate relationships, often the relationship was built on personal hostility or the king's inability to do anything about state affairs.
So, for example, the Duke of Buckingham may have been in a homosexual relationship with James I, but he remained the second person in the country under his son Charles I, with whom he obviously had nothing of the kind.
In the 17th-18th centuries, favoritism became a completely common phenomenon in the life of society, and there was even the concept of an official favorite, which was announced to the entire court and the status of some favorites was higher than the status of legal spouses.
Pilesh
Pilesh - half-wife, under-wife - is a Hebrew term for a concubine with social and legal status similar to that of a wife, whom men often took in order to produce offspring.
The Torah distinguishes between concubines and "substandard" wives with the prefix "le", which in Hebrew means a consistent approach, but not a strict achievement of an object or state.
A kept woman, a concubine, but rather a second wife in case the legitimate one could not have. In this case, the wife herself provided her husband with one of her maids to give birth to his child. The concubine enjoyed the same respect and immunity as the wife, and any physical violence was also prohibited against her, even if she was a slave.
Both forms of marriage carry the death penalty for adultery in accordance with Jewish law.
Children born of a union between a Pilegesh and a man had equal rights with the children of that man and his wife. Pilesh is an alternative to formal marriages that do not have the same requirements for a divorce letter upon dissolution
Now you know more!
Author: Millefeuille