Today, the word "fornication" is usually used only in a religious context. Most people consider it synonymous with the word "debauchery". But in fact, the concept of "fornication" is somewhat broader. And it appeared in the Russian language in very ancient times.
Fornication in the church sense
Fornication is defined by religion as "illegal, celibate cohabitation, a form of fornication." It is emphasized that fornication can also be mental - that is, when a person sins not by action, but in his thoughts.
Broadly understood, "fornication" is "any
deviation from God, from the will of God, heresy, idolatry, unbelief. In other words, it is customary to call fornication not only actions and thoughts associated with debauchery and adultery, but also any manifestations of apostasy: for example, doubts about the truth of the Christian faith, the search for another faith.
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Whom were they called "harlots" in Russia?
Now let's move on to the interpretation of fornication in Russia. The fact is that initially, in the ancient Slavic era, there was no such thing as fornication at all. Polygamy was practiced (remember that even Prince Vladimir, the Baptist of Russia, had several wives and many concubines at the same time). However, wives were not subservient to their husbands and could even cheat if they did not pay enough attention to them. It happened that a woman changed her husband if a new lover promised to make her the "main" wife.
The Slavs did not attach too much importance to virginity. During the holidays, sometimes "games" were organized, during which young people actively entered into intimate relationships with each other. For example, such bacchanals were usually accompanied by a holiday in honor of the deity Lada, which later was transformed into the holiday of Ivan Kupala.
Already in the 17th century, Orthodox monks characterized the holiday of Ivan Kupala in the following way: “Right there is a great fall for men and adolescents for women and girls. It is the same for married wives, the lawless desecration right there."
Only in the 7th century did the concept of "harlot" appear in Russian. However, it did not bore any "intimate" shade: this was the name of girls and widows who were in search of husbands - "wandering".
After the adoption of Christianity, in the XII century, girls and women who entered into intimate relationships without being married began to be called "harlots". But only in the 18th century, the word began to mean shame for a woman. Interestingly, only a relationship with an unmarried woman - a girl or a widow was called fornication. Relations with a married woman were called adultery, and professional prostitutes were called not harlots, but "shameful girls."
Fight against fornication
Both the secular authorities and the church tried to combat "prodigal" behavior. Even Princess Olga in 953 issued a decree that a girl who lost her virginity outside of marriage must pay monetary or material compensation. In 967, Prince Svyatoslav forbade the pagan sorcerers to engage in defloration of virgins before the wedding (such a tradition existed in Ancient Russia at that time) and entrusted this responsibility to the husbands. Also, the prince tried to ban dances “at indecent times,” that is, on days when no holidays were celebrated. The fact is that elements of eroticism were often present in the dances: for example, during jumps and jumps, the intimate parts of the dancers were exposed. But the decree did not pass - the people began to riot.
With the advent of Christianity, the church also introduced a number of prohibitions, the purpose of which was to combat “fornication”. So, in intimate relationships, according to churchmen, people should have entered only for the sake of conception. It was only allowed to make love in one position: lying face to face. It was forbidden to kiss the body of the spouse, and the "good wife" should have been disgusted with sex life. Intimacy was forbidden on fasting days, and it was also prescribed to perform no more than one sexual intercourse per day. After the "sin of intercourse," the spouses had to wash themselves separately, and not in a common bath. It was considered a sin for a woman to “raise eyebrows and put on makeup, so as not to deceive people into the destruction of bodily sweetness”. During confession, the parishioner had to report in detail about all the "prodigal sins."
Even the "enlightened" Catherine the Great made her contribution to the struggle against "fornication" by banning the use of common baths in 1784 and ordering to build separate soap houses for men and women.
Nevertheless, many treated the prohibitions formally. The people actively copulated (for example, they arranged the sin of drinking at weddings), and then went to the temple. And he invariably received remission of "prodigal" sins in exchange for repentance.