THE oldest surviving fragments of an erotic French poem, written in the Middle Ages, have been discovered in archives in Worcester.
‘Le Roman de la Rose’ was published in 1280 and was a blockbuster of its age.
The story tells of a courtier’s attempts to woo his love, the Rose.
It includes details of a sexual encounter between the two, which led it to become a hugely popular story.
The poem is widely regarded as major piece of European literature.
The erotic scenes are considered the most well known in Medieval literature, earning it the modern day description of ‘The 50 shades of Grey’ of its time.
