short, a woman, simply by being in a man’s company, was to blame for his lust. The Church even regarded sex within marriage as a sin and considered the best possible marriage an unconsummated one. (This belief led to the popular medieval idea that Jesus was birthed out of Mary’s ear, so as not to defile himself with passage through the birth canal like a common man.[47]) Initially Luther’s thoughts about sexual intercourse within marriage for reproduction purposes only aligned with those of the Church.