People with a History: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans* History Sourcebook
Section II Medieval Worlds
Editor: Paul Halsall
Contents:
Section II: Medieval Worlds
Go to the following pages for other parts of People with a History
Chapter 5: Early Christianity
There is no area of discussion about homosexuality which is more
contentious than the interrelationship of Christianity and homosexuality.
The whole issue is irretrievably bound up with modern concerns
because of Christianity's continued importance. On one hand there
are conservative Christians who insist that modern Christian hostility
to gays has a continuous tradition and that this is a good thing.
On another hand the notion that Christianity caused homophobia
was very important to early gay scholars working to explain gay
oppression. But it has also turned out to be the case, in the
United States at least, that the phenomenon of gay churches has
been so successful that in almost every area they are among the largest and most persistent
GLB organizations. LGB Christians have been unwilling to surrender
the comforts of their faith and LGB Christian scholars, seeking
to find a space for themselves in their past have challenged the
orthodoxies of both conservative Christians and radical gays.
There is no doubt that Christian writers in every century have
voiced criticism, sometimes virulent and obscene criticism, of
homosexual activity and of "homosexuals" or other gender
transgressive groups. The counter to this has not been to deny
such voices, but to seek for more positive aspects of Christian
history. And there is little doubt that this positive history
also exists: even in the virulently anti-homosexual polemic of
John Chrysostom, for instance, one finds evidence of entire Christian
communities [in Antioch] which were unworried about homosexuality.
Even the Bible itself, it turns out, contains "pro-gay"
texts.
How much one reads such discussions as "history" and
how much as modern theological discussion is an interesting question.
The discussion is now, however, moving beyond these fairly fixed
positions. There is now increasing exploration of gender, both
homosexual and heterosexual, as an important metaphor in Christian
discourse. The person of Christ, a forgiving deity, who bleeds
in order to nourish, and whose body is quite literally penetrated
on the cross often ends up being described in a variety of "queer"
ways: as a mother hen, as a eunuch, as a lover. When Christian
writers tried to discuss female sanctity, they repeatedly end
up by transgendering, or "queering" as a modern literary
"theorist" might say, the holy woman in question: there
is no higher praise for a Christian saint than that she has a
"male soul in a female body", as Gregory of Nyssa says
about his sister Makrina. Startling indeed to those who recognize
this as a term for modern lesbianism, or for modern trans* people. And when Christian authors
tried to make sense of males in love with a male God, they end
up asserting that the male soul is feminine (as indeed it is grammatically
in both Greek and Latin), and that it is penetrated by God to
bring forth the child of salvation.
These sorts of discussions are not comfortable for either religious
conservatives, gay radicals, or even gay Christians looking for
gay ancestors. What the discussions are doing is opening up new
pathways to an appreciation of the "queerness" of the
world's most popular religion.
Discussions:
- John Boswell: Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay people in Western Europe from the beginning of the Christian era to the fourteenth century (1980) [At Internet Archive borrow facility]
- Robin Scroggs: The New Testament and homosexuality : contextual background for contemporary debate (1983) [At Internet Archive borrow facility]
- L. William Countryman: Dirt, Greed, and Sex: sexual ethics in the New Testament and their implications for today (1988) [At Internet Archive borrow facility]
- Bernadette Brooten: Paul's Views on the Nature of Women and Female Homoereoticism, from Immaculate and Powerful, ed. Clarissa W. Atkinson et al (1987), pp. 61-87 [At Brandeis] [Internet Archive version here]
- Bernadette Brooten: Early Church Responses to Lesbian Sex,
The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review, Volume III, No. 4,
Fall, 1996. [Was at HLGC, now Internet Archive]
- Bernadette Brooten: Love Between Women: Early Church Responses to Female Homoereoticism (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996) [At Internet Archive borrow facilty]
- T. Corey Brennan: Brooten, Bernadette: Love Between Women [Review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review] Brooten, Bernadette J., Love between Women: Early Christian Responses to Female Homoeroticism, (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1996) [At BMCR] [Internet Archive version here]
- David Halperin: Halperin on Brennan on Brooten [Review of review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review]
- Tom Hanks: Brooten, Bernadette: Love Between Women [Review in Presbyterians for LG Concerns Newsletter] [At QRD] [Internet Archive version here]
- Homosexuality in the New Testament [At Upenn] [Internet Archive version here]
An extended and very informative collection of early scholarly Internet
discussions (1994).
- Thomas B. Dozeman: Creation and Procreation the Biblical Teaching on Homosexuality, Union Seminary Quarterly Review 49:3-4 [Was at Columubia, now Internet Archive]
-
Christopher T. Lee: Paul's Malakos: Its Evolution from Classical Greece Through the Roman World [Was At UPenn, now Internet Archive]
- Nonna Verna Harrison: The Feminine Man in Late Antique Ascetic Piety, Union Seminary Quarterly Review 48:3-4 [Was at Columubia, now Internet Archive]
- Daniel Helminiak: The Christian Testament Text on Homosexuality [Was LGB Catholic, now Internet Archive]
Texts: Biblical
-
Biblical Texts,
listing of all texts. [Was At LGB Catholic Handbook, now Internet Archive]
-
Full text of all Bible texts. KJV. [Was At LGB Catholic Handbook, now Internet Archive]
-
Pro-Gay Bible Texts - Introduction [Was At LGB Catholic Handbook, now Internet Archive]
-
All the Pro-Gay Texts [Was At LGB Catholic Handbook, now Internet Archive]
-
All the Eunuchs of the Bible [Was At LGB Catholic Handbook, now Internet Archive]
There is some evidence that the major sexual minority of
Biblical times was eunuchs - yet on the whole the Bible is pro-
eunuch, It certainly has a lot of them.
Texts: Patristic
- The Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles) 2nd Cent CE [At Early Christian Writings] [Internet Archive version here]
One of the earliest Christian texts to condemn pederasty
- The Secret Gospel of Mark [At this Site]
References, and some of the text, of this "special edition"
of The Gospel of Mark were included in a letter of Clement of
Alexandria. Some have argued that the text is witness to intense
homoeroticism among early Christians, including - controversially
- Jesus.
-
Letter of Barnabas,
[At Early Christian Writings] [Internet Archive version here]
Chapter 10 attempts a "spiritual" explanation of the
food codes of the Mosaic Law. It connects the forbidding of hares
with a prohibition against "unnatural lusts", apparently,
according to John Boswell, because the hare was supposed to grow
a new anus each year.
- Apocalypse of Peter [1st half
2nd C.] [At this Site]
Discusses male and female homosexuals being tortured in Hell.
- Acts of Thomas excerpts, [Early
3rd C.]. [At this Site] The full text is available at the
Non-Canonical Homepage [Internet Archive version here]
Discusses male and female homosexuals being tortured in Hell.
- Apocalypse of Paul [Also known
as the Vision of Paul] [3rd C.] [At this Site]
Discusses male and female homosexuals being tortured in Hell.
- Conciliar Legislation
- Perpetua: The Passion of SS. Perpetua and Felicity, 203 [At this Site]. See also Catholic Encyclopedia: Sts. Felicitas and Perpetua; and Peter Dronke's Discussion of Perpetua [At Internet Archive, from Millersville]
- The Passion of Sergius and Bacchus, full text of early passion. [At CMU] [Internet Archive Version here]
The story of the martyrdom of two soldier saints. In this version,
the earliest, they are clearly indicated as emotionally tied.
In the later "Metaphrastic" version they are referred
to as erotic "lovers". Translated by John Boswell from the Greek "Passio antiquior SS. Sergii et Bacchi Graece nunc primum edita," AnalBoll 14 (Brussels, 1895), 373-395. This text is apparently the Greek original of the Latin passion beginning "Imperante Maximiano tyranne, multus error hominum genus possederat," printed in the Acta sanctorum, October 7, 865-79.
- Church Fathers on Gender Variance [Was At Aztriad, now Internet Archive]
This is an interesting compilation of comments, especially from
Tatian, on gender variance. Unfortunately no citations are given.
Moreover, the page is devoted to showing Christian hostility to
gender variance, but the historical reality was considerably more
complex. There is an interesting reference to Lesbian marriage
as well!
- Clement of Alexandria (d.c.215 CE): Paidogogus 2:10 - On Hares, Hyenas and Homosexuality [At this Site]
Unfortunately the most interesting parts here are in Latin.
- Clement of Alexandria (d.c.215 CE): Paidogogus 3:3 - On Effeminate Men and Masculine Women [At this Site]
A very interesting text which includes some suggestion of Lesbian
marriage in Egypt.
- Clement of Alexandria (d.c.215 CE): Paidogogus 3:4 - On Women and Effeminate Men [At this Site]
Clement seems to describe "fag-hags" in the Third century.
- Clement of Alexandria (d.c.215 CE): Paidogogus 3:5 - On Behavior in Bathhouses [At this Site]
- Clement of Alexandria (d.c.215 CE): Stromateis 4:8 - On Equality and Inequality of the Sexes [At this Site]
The "effeminates" are lower than men and women.
- St. Paulinus of Nola (353-431 CE): To Ausonius [At this Site]
A beautiful love poem by Paulinus.
- St. Augustine (354-430 CE): from the Confessions [At this Site]
On his relationship with another man.
-
St. Augustine (354-430 CE): Confessions full text, with commentary by James O'Donnell [Was At Diotima, now Internet Archive]
- St. Augustine (354-430 CE): Confessions trans. Albert Oulter (full text - more modern translation) [At CCEL] [There is a version of this file at this site]
-
St. Jerome (c.347-420 CE), Letter LV [At CCEL]
A woman may not divorce her husband on account of his vices, even
if he is a sodomite!
Websites:
Back to Contents
Chapter 6: Byzantium
One of the oddities Byzantine studies is that it has long attracted
homosexual scholars, but virtually none of them have written about
Byzantine homosexuality. There may be reason for this - in comparison
with the mass of information about Ancient Greek and Roman homosexuality,
the thousand years of Byzantine culture is poorly served. Entire
classical genres disappeared - plays, satires, secular philosophy.
There has been, instead, a legal tradition to explore; rather
a lot of monastic regulation; and the occasional comments in elite
historiography on homosexual activity by some emperors. John Boswell's Same Sex Unions rather surprisingly (to Byzantinists at
least) for a time has made Byzantine liturgical manuscripts a
focus of much interest.
But there is considerable room for further exploration. A number
of saints lives reveal diverse opinions, and relatively little
shock, about homosexuality (usually "andromania" in
these sources), but they have not been fully exploited. Some saints
lives also discuss homoerotic pairings with little comment. Although
certainly not sexually active, it is also common to find Byzantine
saints paired with each other in relationships which can be analyzed
from the perspective of desire - "friendship" hardly
begins to describe what they are about.
Other texts which may yield more are the small number of Byzantine
romances now coming under increased scrutiny. It may be thought
that hey are about "heterosexuality", but much current
scholarship in western literature suggests that this will not
be a satisfactory way in which to evaluate them.
Byzantium also supported an important sexual category not common
in modern life - the eunuchs who rose to prominence in Church
and state. There was even a monastery specifically for eunuchs.
Comments on this group, as with any liminal group, help explain
a society's gender expectations.
Finally, it cannot be overlooked that ancient texts tend to survive
in Byzantine made copies. Which texts were copied, how often,
and where are all answerable questions which may yield insight
into Byzantine mores. While they did not write much homoerotic
literature, they did copy it and, presumably, read it. Why?
Discussions:
- Claudine Dauphin: Brothels, Baths and Babes Prostitution in the Byzantine Holy Land, Classics Ireland 3, 1996 [Was at UCD, now Internet Archive]
- Mikhail Min: On Homosexuality [Was At CoptNet, now Internet Archive]
A remarkably misinformed discussion of homosexuality in Coptic
thought, but useful enough for its patristic references. Its discussion
of "sodomy" should entertain anyone who has read Mark
Jordan's book on the subject.
- Paul Halsall: Wedded to Christ: Nuptiality and Gender Reversal in the Lives of Byzantine Male Saints, Byzantine Studies Conference, Wisconsin, 26-28 September 1997, updated version [PDF] [At this Site]
- Paul Halsall: Male-Bonding: Homosexuality and Friendship in Byzantine Saint's Lives. Queer Middle Ages Conference, New York, November 6, 1998 [PDF] [At this Site]
With extensive excerpts from primary sources.
-
Derek Krueger: Between Monks: Tales of Monastic Companionship in Early Byzantium, Journal of the History of Sexuality 20:1 (2011), pp. 28-61 [At Academia.edu] [Internet Archive version here]
- Notches: Interview with Mark Masterson about Between Byzantine Men (2022) [At Notches] [Internet Archive version here]
- Phaedon Koukoules (1881–1956): From The Private Lives of the Byzantines: Homosexuality (1955) PDF in Greek and PDF of DeepL AI Translation
Texts:
- Coptic Spell: For a Man to Obtain a Male Lover,
Egypt, [poss. 6th C.] [At this Site]
-
John Chrysostom (d. 407 CE): Sermon on Romans 1:26-27,
= Homily 4 [At CCEL]
- John Chrysostom (d. 407 CE): Against the Opponents of Monastic Life 3 [At this Site]
No friend of homosexuals, Chrysostom nevertheless reveals apparent
acceptance of homosexual activity among Antiochene Christians.
- Justinian I: Novel 77, [538 CE] and Novel 141, [544 CE] [At this Site]
Includes texts of earlier Roman legislation.
- Procopius (c.500- d. after 562 CE): The Secret History (complete text) [At this Site]
Includes a sympathetic account of Justinian's attacks on homosexuals
- John Malalas: World History 18:18,
(excerpt) [At this Site]
On two bishops tortured for homosexual activity
- John Nesteutes ("the Faster") (d.595 CE): Penitential,
Migne PG 88, 1893C [At this Site]
Distinguishes between three kinds of homosexual acts - giving,
getting, doing both. Unlike ancient Greek views, it was more acceptable
to be "passive".
- The Ecloga on Sexual Crimes (8th Cent.),
[Eclogues 17.33] [At this Site]
- Theophanes: Chronographia, 443.15 [See Harry Turtledown: The Chronicle of Theophanes: an English translation of anni mundi 6095-6305 (A.D. 602-813) pp. 130-131 [At Internet Archive borrow facility]
On Nicephorus I and his "illegal acts of unnatural lust.
- Theodore of Studium (late 8th/early 9th C. CE): Reform Rules [At this Site]
- Arethas: Scholia on Lucian [Cf. Wilson, Scholars of Byzantium, 123; and Giuseppe Russo, Contestazione e conservazione: Luciano nell’esegesi di Areta, BAlt 297 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2011), 4045)]
Apparently Arethas was the first to use "Lesbian"
in its modern sense (although Lucian did connect female homosexuality
with the island).
- Two Versions of Rite of Adelphopoiia [At this Site]
- The Life of Theodore of Sykeon full text [At this Site]
This Life of seventh-century saint is a major source for Byzantine rural and social history. Theodore enters an "adelphopoia" relationship with another man.
- The Life of St. Theodore of Sykeon (7th Cent.),
Chapters 134-135. [At this Site]
An adelphopoiia relationship is established between St. Theodore
and Patriarch Thomas of Constantinople.
- Chin Bratotvoreniyu [At QRD] [Internet Archive version here]
Old Church Slavonic text of the Rite of Brotherhood, abbreviated,
with standard liturgical prayers (most of Litany, Antiphons, etc.)
omitted. Cf. Jacobus Goar, Euchologion (1st ed., Paris 1647; 2nd
ed., Venice 1730), pp. 706-709, s.v. "Akolouthia eis Adelphopoiian
Pneumatiken." From: Velikii Potrebnik, printed by Edinovertsii
in Moscow (Now called Belokrinitsky Hierarchy of Old Rite), in
the year 1904. Transcribed by Nikita Syrnikov. Translated by Fr.
Basil Isaacks April 1, 1995.
- Church of Greece on Adelphopoiia [At QRD] [Internet Archive version here]
- Life of Andrew Salos
- Life of Basil the Younger
- Life of Mary the Younger d.c. 903, trans Paul Halsall [First five chapters, and concluding prayer] [At this Site]
- Michael Psellus (11th C.): On Basil II [At this Site]
A longer discussion on the nature of masculinity. See esp.#3 on his relationship withe the parakoimenus.
- Michael Psellus (11th C.): On Constantine VIII
- Michael Psellus (11th C.): On Constantine IX Monomachus
#139-#149 on a court favourite.
Weblinks:
- WEB Byzantium: Byzantine Studies on the Internet [At this site]
- WEB Roz Moz [Now at Internet Archive]
Now defunct, but the archived version still has extensive bibliographical
guides.
- WEB Kaliarda: The Gay Greek Dialect [Was At QRD, but now the Greek only shows in this Internet Archive version]
Not clear how far back this patois goes back. It contains between
3000-5000 words. Based on Elias Petropoulos: Kaliarda, an Etymological Dictionary
of Greek Homosexuals' Slang, (Athens: Nefeli, Athens, 1980)
Back to Contents
Chapter 7: Latin Christian Middle
Ages
Discussions:
- also see Guide to John Boswell's Works
- Paul Halsall: The Experience of Homosexuality in the Middle Ages,
1988 [At this Site]
-
Paul Halsall: Calendar of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Saints,
[Was At LGBCatholic Handbook] [Internet Archive version here]
- Paul Halsall: Modern Gayness and Medieval Friends: Homoeroticism and Homophilia,
1997 [At this Site]
- John Addington Symonds (1840-1893): The Dantesque and Platonic Ideals of Love (1893) [At this Site]
- Edward Carpenter (1884-1929): Iolaus: An Anthology of Friendship [chapter on middle ages] [At this Site]
- WEB Anglo-Saxon Penitentials: A Cultural Database [Allen Frantzen] [Internet Archive version here]
The site shows the original texts, translations, and cultural contexts for five Anglo-Saxon Penitentials (confessors' handbooks.)
- WEB Anglo-Saxon Penitentials: A Cultural Database [Allen Frantzen]: Rules on Same-Sex Acts
- Allen J. Frantzen: Before the closet: Same-Sex Love from "Beowulf" to "Angels in America" (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1998) [At Internet Archive borrow facilty]
- James Brundage: Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1987) [At Internet Archive borrow facilty]
- Mark Jordan: The Invention of Sodomy (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1997) [At Internet Archive borrow facilty]
A critique of John Boswell's work as "social history", Jordan traces the
development of the idea of "sodomy" in theological, canonical, and philosophical
texts.
- Ruth Mazo Karras: The Regulation of “Sodomy” in the Latin East and West, Speculum 2020 [At U Chicago Press] [Internet Archive back up here]
- Gunnora Hallakarva: The Vikings and Homosexuality [Permitted, local copy of the version at the Viking Answer Lady Page] [At this Site]
A splendid synoptic and detailed account of current research.
- Jo Ann Hoeppner Moran (Cruz), The Roman De La Rose and the Thirteenth Century Prohibitions of Homosexuality ,
(a paper prepared for the Georgetown University Cultural Studies
Conference, "Cultural Frictions", October 27-28, 1995)
[Was At Georgetown, now Internet Archive]
- Glenn Burger, Queer Performativity and the Natural in Chaucer's Physician's and Pardoner's Tales [Was At Georgetown, now Internet Archive]
- Robert L. A. Clark (Kansas State U.) & Claire Sponsler
(U. Iowa): "Queer Play: The Cultural Work of Crossdressing in Medieval Drama",
Cultural Frictions Conference, Georgetown U., 1995 [Was At Georgetown, now Internet Archive]
- Martin Irvine, The Pen(is), Castration, and Identity: Abelard's Negotiations of Gender [Was At Georgetown, now Internet Archive]
- Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, et al: Medieval Masculinities: Heroism, Sanctity, and Gender[Was At Georgetown, now Internet Archive]
- Discussion: Paul Halsall et al.: Braveheart: The "Inning" of Piers Gaveston [At this Site]
On Pierre Chaplais' book, which claimed that Edward II and Gaveston
were "adoptive brothers".
- Thomas L. Long: Julian of Norwich's "Christ as Mother" and Medieval Constructions of Gender,
March 18, 1995 [Was At Long's Homepage, now Internet Archive]
- Anna Wilson: Petrarch’s Queer History Speculum 2020 [At U Chicago Press] [Internet Archive back up here]
- Michael Rocke: Forbidden Friendships: Homosexuality and Male Culture in Renaissance Florence (London: Oxford University Press, 1996) [At Internet Archive borrow facilty]
- Michael Rocke: Forbidden Friendships - summary [Was At OUP, now Internet Archive]
Short summary of Rocke's important book on sexuality in Renaissance
Florence.
- Roland Betancourt: Transgender Lives in the Middle Ages through Art, Literature, and Medicine PDF [At Getty] [Internet Archive version here]
- Lillian Faderman: Surpassing the love of men: romantic friendship and love between women from the Renaissance to the present (1981) [At Internet Archive borrow facility]
Reviews:
-
Keith Busby: John Baldwin, The Language of Sex [Review at The Medieval Review] John W. Baldwin. The Language
of Sex: Five Voices from Northern France around 1200. Chicago:
Chicago Univ. Press, 1994. [At TMR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
Elaine E. Whitaker: Gender Rhetorics [Review at The Medieval Review] Gender Rhetorics: Postures
of Dominance and Submission in History. Ed. Richard C. Trexler.
Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies 113. Binghamton, NY:
CEMERS, 1994. [At TMR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
Jeffrey Jerome Cohen: Feminist Approaches to the Body [Review at The Medieval Review] Feminist Approaches to
the Body in Medieval Literature, edited by Linda Lomperis
and Sarah Stanbury. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press,
1993. [At TMR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
Alison Taufer: Louise Mirrer: Women, Jews, and Muslims ... Reconquest Castile [Review
at The Medieval Review] Louise Mirrer, Women, Jews, and
Muslims in the Texts of Reconquest Castile. Series: Studies
in Medieval and Early Modern Civilization. Ann Arbor: University
of Michigan Press, 1996 [At TMR] [Internet Archive version here]
-
Paul Pascal: Gaisser: Catullus and His Renaissance Readers [Review at The Medieval Review] Julia Haig Gaisser. Catullus
and His Renaissance Readers. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1993 [At TMR] [Internet Archive version here]
On the reconstruction of Catullus' text after its medieval mauling.
-
Penelope Rainey: Walsh, ed.: Love Lyrics from the Carmina Burana [Review at The Medieval Review] P.G. Walsh (ed.), Love
Lyrics from the Carmina Burana. Chapel Hill: The University
of North Carolina Press, l993. [At TMR] [Internet Archive version here]
- Paul Halsall: Tom Linkinen, Same-sex Sexuality in Later Medieval English Culture [Review at The Medieval Review] Tom Linkinen, Same-sex Sexuality in Later Medieval English Culture, Crossing Boundaries: Turku Medieval and Early Modern Studies.(Amsterdam: Amsterdam, 2015) [At TMR] [Internet Archive version here]
Texts: Religious
-
St. Benedict (late 5th C.): Rule, Chapter 22 [Was At OSB, now Internet Archive]
Sleeping arrangements for monks: part of the rationale was to
prevent sexual activity.
- Bede: Life of St. Cuthbert (7th Cent) Chapter 28 on St. Cuthbert's soul mate. The Full text is available [At this Site]
- Rudolf of Fulda: Life of St. Leoba (8th Cent) Chapters on the 28 on passionate friendship between St. Leoba
and Queen Hiltigard, one of Charlemagne's wives. [At this Site]
- Regino of Prüm (early 10th century): Ordo for a Bishop's Visitation of his Diocese (Reginonis Prumiensis Libri Duo de Synodalibus Causis et Disicplinis Ecclesiasticis). [At After Empire] [Internet Archive version here]
There's a high level of interest in sins related to sex, marriage, divorce and homosexuality.
- Burchard of Worms (c.1012): Penitential, [Migne PL
140], Bk. 19.5
- St. Peter Damian (late 11th C.): 'The Different Types of Those Who Sin Against Nature',
from Liber Gomorrhianus [.c.1048-54][At this Site]
- Alain de Lille: The Plaint of Nature (selections) [At this Site]
- Alain de Lille: The Plaint of Nature (full text [At this Site]
- St. Thomas Aquinas: On Unnatural Sex,
Summa Theologiae II-II, 154, 10-11 [At this Site]
- St. Thomas Aquinas: On Lust, Sodomy, etc,
Summa Theologiae Question II-II, 154: On Lust [Was At EAWC, now Internet Archive]
- Jacobus de Voragine: The Golden Legend: The Nativity of Our Lord 1275 [At this Site]
All the "sodomites" die on the night of Christ's birth.
- The Questioning of Eleanor Rykener (also known as John), a Cross-Dressing Prostitute, 1395 [At this Site]
This is the one a a minute number of texts from legal processes on same-sex and/or transgender issues in late medieval England. The document contains a facsimile of the Roll membrane, a Latin transcription, and a translation.
- A Legend of the Austrian Tyrol: St. Kümmernis [At this Site]
A female saint who grows a beard (a variant of the St Liberata, St. Uncumber, St Wilgefortis legends.)
- WEB My Dear Boy: Gay Love Letters through the Centuries [At Rictor Norton's website] [Internet Archive version here]
With many late ancient and medieval examples.
Texts: Historical
Texts: Literary
Websites:
Back to Contents
Chapter 8: Islam
Islam was the last of the great world cultures to emerge. With
regard to homosexuality there are polar contrasts. On the one
hand The Qur'an seems to condemn homosexuality unequivocally,
on the other Muslim societies have shown a great deal of tolerance.
From the sexually explicit poems of Al-Andulus [Muslim Spain],
to the sexual comedy of The Arabian Nights, to the ecstatic
loving of Sufi mystics, to modern Morocco and Tunisia - the Islamic
world looked benevolently on men who love [usually younger] men.
In India, according to Richard Burton, it was among Muslims, not
Hindus, that homosexual eros was most accepted.
The first thing to note is that in some respects Islam has been
the most sex-positive of the great world religions: the Christ
and the Buddha were both sexually abstinent, but Muhammad was
sexually active with a number of wives, and had children. Sex
itself was not a bad thing, nor was abstinence desirable.
This sex-positivity of Islam is a starting point for further consideration.
So far, until very recently at least, research does not seem to
have gone beyond the basics, nor to have escaped the colonialist
gaze. The situation is likely to change.
Discussions:
Texts
Websites:
Back to Contents
Chapter 9: Ancient and Medieval Jews
Discussions:
Texts
- Medieval Spanish Jewish Homoerotic Poetry: Selection [At this Site]
Websites:
Back to Contents
NOTES
People with a History: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans* History Sourcebook is part of the Internet History Sourcebooks Project. Date of inception was 1997. People with a History is a www site presenting
history relevant to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered people, through primary
sources, secondary discussions, and images. Links to files at other site are indicated by [At some indication of the site name or location]. WEB indicates a link to one of small number of high quality web sites which provide either more texts or an especially valuable overview.
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the History Department of Fordham University, New York. The Internet
Medieval Sourcebook, and other medieval components of the project, are located at
the Fordham University Center
for Medieval Studies.The IHSP recognizes the contribution of Fordham University, the
Fordham University History Department, and the Fordham Center for Medieval Studies in
providing web space and server support for the project. The IHSP is a project independent of Fordham University. Although the IHSP seeks to follow all applicable copyright law, Fordham University is not
the institutional owner, and is not liable as the result of any legal action.
© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 4 October 2024 [CV]
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