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People with a History: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans* History Sourcebook
Homosexuality and Catholicism Bibliography:
Section III: Lesbian and Gay Religious History
© Paul Halsall
A: Ancient and Medieval
Alford, John A., "The Grammatical Metaphor: A Survey of its
Use in the Mideel Ages", Speculum 57 (1982), 728-60
Bailey, Derrick S., Sexual Relations in Christian Thought,
(New York: Harper & Brothers, 1954)
Bailey, Derrick S., "Homosexuality and Homosexualism", A Dictionary of Christian Ethics, (London: SCM Press, 1967)
Bailey, Derrick S., Homosexuality and the Western Christian
Tradition, (London: Longmans, Green, 1955;repr. Hamden, Ct.:
Archon/Shoestring Press, 1975)
Absolutely standard work by Anglican priest. No bibliography but
text gives best overview of Church and secular legislation, and
cites in full the relevant scriptural, canonical and patristic
texts.
Baldwin, John W., The Language of Sex: Five Voices from Northern
France around 1200, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1994)
Barber, Malcom, The Trial of the Templars, (Cambridge Cambridge
University Press, 1978)
Says sodomy Charges of 1308 are unproven. Use of "sodomy
charges in late medieval politics examined.
Beck, Hans-Georg, Byzantinisches Erotikon: Orthodoxie-Literatur-
Gesellschaft, (Munich: 1983)
Becker, Raymond de, The Other Face of Love, trans. Margaret
Crosland and Alan Daventry, (New York: Grove Press, 1969; &
London: Sphere Books),
Survey from Ancient times to now, with concentration on Christian
world from early middle ages.
Bennassar, Bartolome, "Le modele sexuel: l'Inquisition d'Aragon
et la repression des peches abominables", in B Bennassar,
ed., L'Inquisition espagnole XV-XIX siecle, (1979), 339-369
St. Bernadino of Siena, Le prediche volgari, ed. Piero
Bargellini, (Milan: Rizzoli, 1936)
Included two visicious vernacular anti-homosexual sermons by this
15th century saint, #35 (795-97), and #39 (893-919). Other references
in his Latin works, sermons 11 and 15 in Opera Omnia, (Florence:
1950)
Bieler, Ludwig, ed., The Irish Penitentials, (Dublin: Institute
for Advanced Studies, 1963)
See Payer. This edition does not translate the "dirty bits"!
Bleibtrau-Ehrenbergm Gisela, Tabu Homosexualitaet: die Geschicte
enies Vorurteils, (Frankfort am Main: S. Fischer, 1978)
Stresses German history of anti-homosexuality from earliest times.
Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg, Gisela, Der Weibmann : kultischer Geschlechtswechsel
im Schamanismus : eine Studie zur Transvestition und Transsexualitat
bei Naturvolkern, (Frankfurt am Main : Fischer Taschenbuch
Verlag, 1984)
.
Bloch, Iwan, "Die Homosexualitaet in Koeln am Ender des 15,
Jahrhunderts", JFZ 1 (1908), 528-35
Sodomite sub-culture n 15th century Cologne.
Bond, Gerald, "`locus Amoris': The Poetry of Baudri of Bougueil
and the Formation of the Ovidian Subculture", Traditio 42 (1986)m 143-93
Sees the subculture as not-homosexual and criticizes Boswell
Boswell, John, "The Church and the Homosexual: An Historical
Perspective" (Keynote address at Dignity's 4th Biennial Convention,
Sept. 1979), repr. in Kathleen Leopold and Thomas Orians, eds., Theological Pastoral Resources: A Collection of Articles on
Homosexuality from a Pastoral Perspective, 6th ed., (Washington
DC : Dignity. 1981, repr. 1985), 16-20
Boswell, John, Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality,
(Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1980)
The single most important work in lesbian and gay Catholic history
by a serious scholar. Proposes that homosexuals were accepted
before the 13th century, and then intolerance set in. Criticised
by gay radicals for letting the Church off the hook. Boswell rejects
idea that homosexual subcultures are a recent development.
For the list of reviews (formerly here) see the Guide to John Boswell's Works
Boswell, John, Rediscovering Gay History : Archetypes of Gay
Love in Christian History, (London : Gay Christian Movement,
1982)
Early presentation of the themes later developed in Same Sex
Unions.
Boswell, John, "Revolutions, Universals, Categories", Salmagundi 58-59 (Fall1982-Winter 1983), 89-113 [reprinted,
and more easily accessible in, Martin Bauml Duberman, Martha Vincus
and Ceorge Chauncey, eds. Hidden From History, New York:
NAL, 1989, 17-36)
Boswell's extended discussion of the method and theory behind
his researches and interpretations.
Boswell, John, interview by Lawrence Mass, "Sexual Categories,
Sexual Universals: An Interview with John Boswell", Christopher
Street 151 (1990), 23-40
Boswell discusses with Mass the implications and controversies
over his work.
Boswell, John., "Battle-worn.", The New Republic v. 208 (May 10 '93) p. 15+
ABSTRACT: In ancient times, homosexuality had a hallowed relationship
to democracy and military valor, even though modern military officials
tend to find this improbable or even unbelievable. Many persons
who might now be considered "gay" played prominent roles
in the military, and some observers of the times argued that gay
men would make ideal soldiers because they would wish to behave
admirably while those they loved were present. In 378 B. C., the
Theban leader Gorgidas created a company of 300 men, known as
the "sacred band" of Thebes, composed of pairs of lovers;
according to Plutarch. The troop played a crucial role in many
military engagements and was never beaten until the battle of
Chaeronea in 338
Boswell, John, Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe, (New
York: Villard, 1994)
A groundbreaking study of the "Adelphopoiia" liturgy,
which Boswell argues, was for centuries used as a public liturgy
to celebrate erotic relationships between people of the same sex.
For the list of reviews (formerly here) see the Guide to John Boswell's Works
Boswell, John, "Dante and the Sodomites." Dante Studies 112 (1994?), 33-51
Brown, Peter R. L., Augustine of Hippo : a biography, (London:
Faber; Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967)
Brown, Peter, The Body and Society: Men Women, and Sexual Renunciation
in Early Christianity, (New York: Columbia UP, 1988)
Important book by the foremost scholar of late antiquity on the
emergence of Christian sexual ethics and thought about the body.
Vital.
Brundage, James, "Let Me Count the Ways: Canonists and Theologians
Contemplate Coital Positions", Journal of Medieval History 10:2 (1984), pp. 81-93
Brundage, James, Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval
Europe, (Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press,
1987)
Now be the standard work on the subject.
Bullough, Vern L., "Byzantium and Eastern Orthodox Christianity",
in Sexual Variance in Society and History, (Chicago: Univ.
of Chicago Press, 1976. pp, 317-346
Bullough, Vern, "Transvestites in the Middle Ages", American Journal of Sociology, 79 (1974), 1381-94
Stresses female saints. reprinted in his Sexual Practices.
Bullough, Vern L. & James Brundage, Sexual Practices and
the Medieval Church, (New Concepts in Human Sexuality Series)
(Prometheus Books, 1982)
Brundage is a major canon lawyer. Uses quantative methods that
are hair-raising at times
Castelli, Elizabeth, "`I Will Make Mary Male': Pieties of
the Body and Gender: Transformation of Christian Women in Late
Antiquity", in Julia Epstein and Kristina Straub, eds. , Body Guards: The Cultural politics of Gender Ambiguity,
(New York: Routledge, 1991), 29-39
Cleugh, James, Love Locked Out: A Survey of Love, License,
and Restriction in the Middle Ages, (London: Anthony Blond,
1963)
Compton, Louis, "Sodomy and Civil Doom: The History of an
Unchristian Tradition", Vector Nov 1975, 23-27, 57-58
Brief survey.
Crompton, Louis, "Gay Genocide: From Leviticus to Hitler",
in Louis Crew, ed., The Gay Academic, (Palm Springs, CA:
Etc Publications, 1978), 67-91
Curtius, Ernst R., European Literature and the Latin Middle
Ages, (Preinceton NJ: Princeton UP, 1953)
See esp pp. 113-27. A discussion of the 11-12th century clerical
culture, discussed at greater length by Boswell, which was tolerant
of homosexual erotic literature.
Daichman, G.S., Wayward Nuns in Medieval Literature, (Syracuse
NY: 1986)
Daniel, Marc, 'Was St. Thomas [a Becket] a Homosexual?", Homophile Studies: ONE Institute Quarterly, 19 (1963),
68-71
Discusses play by Jean Anouilh which portaryed Becket and Henry
II as gay. Concludes that there is not sufficient evidence.
Deerma van Voss, Matthieu, Drie Egyptische Geboden, In Symbolae
Biblicae et Mesopotamicae; by M Beek, et al, 1973 p185-187
Dynes, Wayne, "Christianity and the Politics of Sex",
in Warren Johansson et al., Homosexuality, Intolerance and
Christianity, A Critical Examination, (New York: Scholarship
Committee, Gay Academic Union, 1981)
Less obessively anti-Christian than his colleagues in this collection
of attacks on Boswell.. Clearly defines, apparently for all gay
people, Christianity as "our enemy".
Eekhoud, Georges, "Saint Sebastien dans la peinture", Akdemos 1 (Feb 15 1909), 171-75
Eilberg-Schwartz, Howard, "People of the Body: The Problem
of the Body for the People of the Book", Journal of the
History of Sexuality 2:1 (1991), 1-24
Fiske, Adele M. Friends and Friendship in the Monastic Tradition,
(Cuernavaca, Mexico: Centro Internacional de Documentacion, 1970)
On same-sex friendships in the middle ages.
Forsyth, Ilene, "The Ganymede Capital at Vezelay", Gesta:
International Center of Medieval Art 15:1-2 (1976), pp. 241-246
Galatariotou, Catia, "Holy Women and Witches: Aspects of
Byzantine Conceptions of Gender", Byzantine and Modern
Greek Studies 9 (1984/85), 55-94
Galatariotou, Catia, "Byzantine Ktetorika Typika: A Comparative
Study", Revue des études byzantins 45 (1987),
77- 138
Despite its odd title, this contains one of the best discussions
of Byzantine homosexuality - based on an examination of monastic
foundation documents - the "typika" of the title.
Gauthier, Albert, "La sodomie dans le droit canonique medieval"
in L'Erotisme au Moyen Age: Etudes presentees au IIe Colloque
de l'Institut d'Etudes Medievales, 3-4 Avril 1976, ed. Roy,
Bruno (Montreal: Ed. Aurore, 1977), pp. 109-122
Gilmour-Bryson, Anne, The Trial of the Templars in the Papal
States and the Abruzzi, (Vatican: Biblioteco Apostolica Vaticana,
1982)
Goodich, Michael, "Sodomy in Ecclesiastical Law and Theory", Journal of Homosexuality 1:3 (1976), pp. 427-434
Looks at penitentials, patristics, canons, episcopal instructions
to the clergy.
Gold, Penny Shine, "The Language of cross-sex friendship
in The Life of Christine of Marykate", unpublished
paper presented to the Midwest Medieval Conference 12 Oct
1984
Green, Richard Hamilton, "Alan of Lille's De planctu Naturae", Speculum 31 (1956), 649-74
Greenberg, D.E. & M.H. Bystrin, "Christian Intolerance
of Homosexuality", American Journal of Sociology 88
(1982), pp. 515-548
Herter, Hans, "Effeminatus" in Reallexikon fuer Antike
und Christentum: Sachworterbuch zur Auxeinandersetzung des
Christentums mit der antiken welt, ed. Theodor Klauser., (Stuttgart
: Hiersemann, 1950- ) Issued in parts.
Looks at history of Christian condemnation of homosexuality.
Horn, Walter, and Ernest Born, The Plan of St. Gall, (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1979), 3 vols.
Discusses Benedictin efforts to prevent sexual contacts with young
monks.
Ide, Arthur Frederick, Sex, Women and Religion, (Dallas:
Monument Press. 1984)
Discusses lesbianism in Byzantine convents (p 121).
Ide, Arthur Frederick, Lesbianism in the Eearly Religious Order
of the Christian Church, (Dallas: Monument Press. 19??)
This and the following were reported as "forthcoming"
in the 1985 bibliography by Nancy Manahan in Lesbian Nuns:
Breaking the Silence. Nothing by Ide is cited by other scholars,
and I have not read anything that impresses.
Ide, Arthur Frederick, Lesbianism in the Medieval Nunnery,
(Dallas: Monument Press. 19??)
Johansson, Warren, "Ex parte Themis: The Historic Guilt of
the Christian Church", in Warren Johansson et al., Homosexuality,
Intolerance and Christianity, A Critical Examination, (New
York: Scholarship Committee, Gay Academic Union, 1981)
Part of the Gay Academic Union attack on Boswell's book. Members
of GAU identified Christianity as the cause of homophobia and
opposed what they saw as Boswell's attempt to exonerate the Church.
The booklet here also contains an interesting list of reviews
of Boswell's book. Johansson has a good command of sources and
language, but still comes across as cranky.
Johansson, Warren, "London's Medieval Sodomites", Cabiron 10 (1984), 6-7, 34
Based ona text of Richard of Devizes
Johnson, Penelope D. , Equal in Monastic Profession: Religious
Women in Medieval France, (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1991)
pp 112-130, a discussion of the vow of chastity, including a rare
discussion of lesbianism among medieval nuns. There are rare indications
of such activity, but very "rare" indeed.
Karras, Ruth M. "Friendship and Love in the lives of two
twelfth- century English saints", Journal of Medieval
History 14:4 (1988), 305-320
Aelred of Rievaulx and Christina of Markyate
Koukales, P, The Private Life of the Byzantines [Byzantinon
bios kai politismos] 8 vols., (Athens: Institut Francais, 1947-57)(in
modern Greek)
Vol IV, 505-39 on homosexuality: NB sometimes referred to as Vie
et Civilisation byzantines - check for French translation.
Laeuchli, Samuel, Power and Sexuality: The Emergence of Canon
Law at the Synod of Elvira, (Philadelphia: 1972)
Lauritsen, John, "Culpa Ecclesiae: Boswell's Dilemma",in Homosexuality, Intolerance and Christianity: A Critical Examination,
(New York: Scholarship Committe, Gay Academic Union, 1981)
Attack on Boswell's theory that the Church did not create hatred
of gays, by a leading proponent of the theory that the Church was responsible. Quiet virulent about Boswell - who is
said to lack "integrity". Lauritsen is now a leading
figure in the attempt to deny that HIV causes AIDS.
Lea, H.C., A History of the Middle Ages, 3 vols., (New
York: Harper, 1887)
See Vol 1: 32-34, 85, 101; vol 2, 150, 335, 408; vol 3, 639
Lea, H.C., "Unnatural Crime", in A History of the
Inquisition in Spain 4 vols., (New York: Macmillan, 1922),
Vol 4, pp. 361-377 (Chapter 16)
1497-1123, finds 20 persons burned at the stake and 48 "relaxed'.
Leclerq, Jean, Monks and Love in 12th Century France: Psychohistorical
Essays, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979)
{Reviewed: AHR (1982), p.377}
Legman, Gershon, The Guilt of the Templars, (New York:
Basic, 1966)
Argues that the Templars were a homosexual warrior order and were
resistant to medieval Christianity. Poppycock.
Le Targat, Francois, Saint-Sebastien dans l'histoire de l'art
depuis le XVe siecle, (Paris: Paul Vermont, 1977)
Le Targat, Francois, Saint-Sebastien: Adonis et martyr,
(Paris: Editions Persona, 1983)
Levin, Eve, Sex and Society in the World of the Orthodox Slaves,
900-1700, (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1989)
Discusses homosexuality - emphasises that anal sex was the major
problem. Also discusses "same-sex unions" [149-150],
but seems serioudly misinformed in seeing a Slavic blood brotherhood
origin and thinking that manuscriots go back to "at least
the 14th century". Boswell has shown much earlier origins.
Shows the general confusion over this issue.
Little, Lester K., "Pride Goes Before Avarice: Social Change
and Vices in Latin Christendom", American Historical Review 76 (1971), pp. 16-49
Discussion of the changes in the relative seriousness of sins
and why this happens.
McGuire, B., "Love, Friendship and Sex in the 11th Century:
The Experience of Anselm", Studia Theologia 28 (1974),
pp. 111-155
[Looks at spiritual/erotic affections. Finds Anselm unobsessed
with male sexuality.]
McGuire, Brian P., "Monastic Friendship and Toleration in
Twelfth Century Cistercian Life", in W. J. Shiels., ed., Monks, Hermits and the Ascetic Tradition, Studies in Church
History 22, (London: 1985), 147-160
McGuire, Brian Patrick, "A changed face of Aelred: a new
attribution of sermons to the abbot of Rievaulx;" introd
by A Stacpoole, The Downside Review 103 p147-150 April
1985
McGuire, Brian, "Looking Back on Friendship: Medieval Experience
and Modern Context", Cistercian Studies 21:2 (1986),
pp. 123-142
McGuire, Brian P, Brother and Lover: Aelred of Rievaulx,
(New York: Crossroad, 1994)
Finally McGuire comes out at says that, from a modern perspective,
it is appropraite to say Aelred was "gay" (p.142). Interesting
biography and context of Aelred's life, plus recent historigraphy
are all discussed. There is an interesting chapter on the modern
appeal and cult of Aelred.
McNeill, John Thomas, and Helena Gamer, eds., Medieval Handbooks
of Penance, (New York: Colimbia UP, 1938)
Extensive selection in English. See Payer for analysis.
Matter, E. Ann, 'My Sister, My Spouse: Women Identified Women
in Medieval Christianity", Jourbal of Feminist Studies
in Religion 2 (Fall 1986), 81-93
Miles, Margaret, Carnal Knowing: Female Nakedness and Religious
Meaning in the Christian West, (Boston: Beacon Press, 1989;
pb New York: Vintage, 1991), 53-77
Monter, E. William, "Sodomy and Heresy in Early Modern Switzerland", Journal of Homosexuality 6:1/2 (1980), pp. 41-55, trans.
and revision of "La sodomie a l'epoque moderne en Suisse
Romande", Annales ESC 29 (1974), pp. 1023-1033
Naecke, Paul, "On Homosexuality in Albania", International
Journal of Greek Love 1:1 (1965), 39-47, translated by Warren
Johansson from Jahrbuch fuer sexuelle Zwischenstufen 9
(1908), 325-327
Noonan, John T., Contraception: A History of its Treatment
by Catholic Theologians and Canonists, (Cambridge, Mass.:
Belknap Press, 1966)
Looks at all forms of "non-procreative" sexuality and
Church attitudes to it.
Meeks, Wayne A., The Origins of Christian Morality: The First
Two Centuries, (New Haven CT: Yale UP, 1993)
Meeks does not really address homosexuality, but he does discuss
the origins of the overall sexual ethic with some verve and interest.
Olsen, Glenn, "St. Anselm and Homosexuality", Anselm
Studies (1988)
Article by a conservative Roman Catholic scholar.
Pagels, Elaine, Adam, Eve and the Serpent, (New York: Random
House, 1988; pb New York: Vintage, 1989)
A discussion of the various reinterpretations of the Adam and
Eve myth and its repercussions on Western views of sex. Pagels
thinks Augustine is largely responsible for the idea that original
sin is carried in semen. The book has been criticised by many.
Payer, Pierre J., Sex and the Penitentials: Formation of a
Sexual Code 550-1150, (Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press, 1984)
Much more negative than Boswell, but then part of Boswell's argument
is the concentration on laws and official documents has substantially
misrepresented the history of homosexuality in the middle ages.
Partner, Peter, The Murdered Magicians: The Templars and Their
Myth,(London: Oxford UP, 1982)
Suggests the Templats were homosexual.
Peter Damian, Liber Gomorrhanius in MPL 145, cols.
159190, and as Book of Gomorrah: An Eleventh Century
Treatise Against Clerical Homosexual Practice, trans. Pierre
J. Payer, (Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 1982)
One of the strongest attacks in the middle ages on homosexuality.
The only surviving one it seems.
Ranke-Heinemann, Ute, Eunuchs for the Kingdom of God: Women,
Sexuality, and the Catholic Church, trans Peter Heinegg, (New
York: Doubleday, 1990, German ed. 1988)
Although Ranke-Heinemann is somewaht selective in her views, she
marshals much evidence about the history of Roman Catholic attitudes
towards sex, boty those that have changed and those that have
not. She is much more pessimistic than Boswell. Chapter 27 address
homosexuality directly, but it is her other chapters that ar most
interesting.
Reviews
Berry, Jason, "One Angry Catholic", New York Times
Book Review Dec 30, 1990; p. 7, 8:1
Cahill, Susan, "Books: Critics' Choices for Christmas ", Commonweal Dec 7, 1990; 117:21 p. 730-731
Chadwick, Henry, "Celibacy Slated", Times Literary
Supplement Jun 22, 1990; :4551 p. 663
Chittister, Joan, "If Bashing Is Backed by the Facts, Beware", National Catholic Reporter Feb 8, 1991; 27:15 p. 19-20
Genovesi, Vincent J, Theological Studies Dec 1991; 52:4
p. 770-773
Gleason, Elisabeth G, Catholic Historical Review Oct 1991;
77:4 p. 659-660
Hardy, Linda, "Cardinal Bashes Book, Makes It a Best-Seller
-- Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven: Women, Sexuality, and the
Catholic Church by Uta Ranke-Heinemann and translated by Peter
Heinegg Photograph ", National Catholic Reporter Feb
8, 1991; 27:15 p. 19-20
Maitland, Sara, "Blind Mouths", New Statesman &
Society Apr 20, 1990; 3:97 p. 37
Porter, Jean, America Mar 30, 1991; 164:12 p. 350
Read, Piers Paul, "When Sex Is Not a Sin", Spectator May 12, 1990; 39-40
Stuttaford, Genevieve, "Nonfiction: Eunuchs for the Kingdom
of Heaven ", Publishers Weekly Oct 19, 1990; 237:42
p. 45
Watts, Richard S, "Religion: Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven", Library Journal Dec 1990; 115:21 p. 130
Weeks, Jeffrey, History Today Nov 1992; 42 p. 57
Wright, A D, History Feb 1993; 78:252 p. 65-66
Ringrose, Kathryn, "Living in the Shadows: Eunuchs and Gender
in Byzantium", in Gilbert Herdt, ed., Third Sex, Third
Gender, (New York: Zone, 1994), 85-110
Roby, Douglass, "Early Medieval Attitudes to Homosexuality", Gai Saber 1 (1977), 67-79
Russell, Kenneth C., "Aelred, the Gay Abbot of Rievaulx", Studia Mystica 5:4 (Winter 1982), 51-64
ABSTRACT: Was St Aelred of Rievaulx, the 12th century abbot of
a Cistercian monastery in the north of England and the renowned
author of Spiritual friendship, The mirror of love and several
other spiritual classics, a homosexual? in Christianity, social
tolerance, and homosexuality, John Boswell says bluntly that "there
can be little question that Aelred was gay and that his erotic
attraction to men was a dominant force in his life". Boswell
analyses Aelred's writings to establish that he did exhibit a
preference for love relationships with members of his own sex.
Once this is demonstrated he is eager to move on to the next figure
in his historical survey. Boswell's conclusions seem sound, but
is it enough to know that Aelred was a homosexual? Surely, once
it is established that Aelred was gay we want to know how this
factor influenced his life....Aelred felt that his teaching on
love was applicable to everyone, but the fact is that his refined
understanding of the value of human love and of the laws by which
it must be governed came out of his own gay experience....He became
a saint and a spiritual master not by repressing his sensitivity
but by trying to respond to its appeal. [excerpts].
Salisbury, Joyce E., "The Latin Doctors of the Church on
Sexuality", Journal of Medical History 12:4 (1986),
pp. 279-290
Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome - After Augustine a change in view
and celibacy seen as essential.
Saslow, James M, "The Tenderest Lover: Saint Sebastian in
Renaissance Painting: A proposed Iconology for North Italian Art,
1450-1550", Gai Saber 1:1 (Spring 1977), 58-66, and
response by Wayne Dynes, Gai Saber 1:2 (Summer 1977), 150-51
Sheehan, M.M., "Christianity and Homosexuality", Journal
of Ecclesiastical History 33 (1982), pp. 438-446
Reviews Boswell, Social Tolerance, Goodich, Unmentionable
Vice, and Coleman, Christian Attitudes
Shiels, W.J., ed., Persecution and Tolerance. Studies in
Church History 21, (1984)
Collected articles.
Squire. A., Aelred of Rievaulx: A Study, Cistercian Studies
Series 50, (Kalamazoo, MI: 1981)
Tannahill. Reay, Sex in History, (Briarcliff Manor NY:
Stein and Day, 1980; pb New York: Scarborough Books, 1982)
Extended journalistic account of sex in history. Nevertheless
useful and the easiest place to find information such as how castration
was performed. Discusses the effects of Christianity, and the
Sodom story, p. 153ff, p.285ff and p.375ff.
Tentler, Thomas T., Sex and Confession on the Eve of the Reformation,
(New York: 1979)
Watkins, Renee Neu, "Mythology as Code: Lapo da Castiglionchio's
View of Homosexuality and Materialism at the Curia", Journal
of the History of Ideas Jan 1992; 53:1 p. 138-144
[Abstract from electronic database]:In 1438, Lapo da Castiglionchio
wrote a lengthy Latin dialogue defending the service of the Pope
and the tone of life at the Curia. He also made three references
to homosexuality. His views toward homosexuals are discussed.
Wetherbee, Winthrop, "The Function of Poetry in `De Planctu
Naturae" of Alain de Liile", Traditio 25 (1969),
pp. 86-125
Unsympathetic to homosexuality. See pp. 102-105
Wright, David, "Homosexuality" in Encyclopedia of
Early Christianity. ed. Everett Ferguson et al., (New York
: Garland Pub., 1990)
Contains this gem "The conclusion must be that for all the
interest and stimulus Boswell's book provides in the end of the
day NOT ONE PIECE OF EVIDENCE that the teaching mind of the early
Church countenanced homosexual activity." See entry under
Biblical studies on an earlier Wright article.
Ziolkowski, Jan, Alan of Lille's Grammar of Sex: The Meaning
of Gramma to a Twelfth Century Intellectual, Speculum Anniversary
Monographs 10, (Cambridge, Mass.: Medieval Academy of America,
1985)
review, Speculum 63 (1988), p. 1015. Alan discussed homosexuality
using a metaphor of bad grammar.
Zymaris, Nicholas, "The Rite of `Spiritual Brotherhood',
Homosexuality, and the Orthodox Church", Axios (May
1984), 6-8
Zymaris, who is a long term student of Albania, speaks Albanian
and has visisted as recently as 1993 churches in Albania which
perform liturgical same-sex unions.
B: Modern (Since 1500)
Anabarbite Rivas, Hector and Ricardo Lorenzo Sanz, Homosexualidad:
el asunto esta caliente, (Madrid: Queimada, 1979)
Looks at data from the Inquisition and then modern Spanish gay
movement.
Briggs, Kenneth, Holy Siege: The Year That Shook Catholic America,
(1992)
Review
Watts, Richard S, Library Journal Oct 15, 1992; 117:17
p. 71
Bristow, Edward J, Vice and Vigilence: Purity Movements in
Britain since 1700, (Totowa NJ: Rowman and Littlefield, 1977)
Brown, Judith C., "Lesbian Sexuality in Renaissance Italy:
The Case of Sister Benedetta Carlini", Signs: Journal
of Women in Culture and Society 9:4 (Summer 1984), pp. 751-758;
repr. in The Lesbian Issue: Essays from Signs, ed. Estelle
B. Freedman et al (Chicago & London: Univ. of Chicago Press,
1985), pp. 271-278
Brown, Judith C., Immodest Acts - The Life of a Lesbian Nun
in Renaissance Italy, (New York: Oxford UP, 1986)
Discusses life and trials of Sister Benedetta Carlini in the 17th
century. A rather late idead of "Renaissance". Expansion
of an earlier article in Signs 9:4 (1984), 751-58
Reviews
Bell, R.M., "Renaissance Sexuality and the Florentine Archives;
the "lesbian nun" of Judith Brown", Renaissance
Quarterly 40 (1987), 485-511 -Review article and discussion.
Boswell, John, "Old Habits, New Habits", New Republic Jan 6, 1986; 194:1 p. 36-39
Randall, Frederika, "Divine Visions, Diabolical Obsessions", New York Times Book Review Jan 19, 1986; p. 27
Jnl Mod Hist 60(1988), 172-174
Cath Hist Rev 73(1987), 619-620
Histoire 108(1988), p.66
American Journal of Sociology 93(1987), 324-336;
Bunch, Charlotte, Passionate Politics, (New York: St. Martin's
Press, 1987)
Pp. 168-173 on a 17th century Spanish Lesbian nun.
Chauncy Jr., George, "Christian Brotherhood of Sexual Perversion?
Homosexual Identities and the Construction of Sexual Boundaries
in the World War I Era", Journal of Social History 19 (1985), 189-212, repr. in Martin Bauml Duberman, Martha Vincus
and Ceorge Chauncey, eds. Hidden From History, (New York:
NAL, 1989), 294-317
Cooney, John, The American Pope: The Life and Times of Francis
Cardinal Spellman, (New York: Times Books, 1984)
Diocesan pressure reportedly reduced the discussion of "Franny's"
homosexuality in this book. Cooney cautiously mentions it on p.
91 and p.109 - and gives sources for his information. As Gore
Vidal is quoted as saying "The serious crimes of Spellman
were not sexual."
Defensa de los religiones de Convento de la Merced conta el
proyecto de ley sobre supression de las communidades en el Peru,
(Lima: 1886)
Defense of a monastery accused of "unnatural practices.
Delon, Michel, "The Priest, the Philosopher, and Homosexuality
in Enlightenment France", Eighteenth Century Life 9 (1985), 122-131
Delumeau, Jean, Sin and Fear: The Emergence of Western Guilt
Culture in thr 13th-18th Centuries, trans. Eric Nicholson,
(New York: St. Martins Press, 1990; French original 1983)
A widely read discussion of the emergence of a "guilt culture"
in the Est. Pp 436-45 is a vital discussion of the obsession with
impurity, and indeed its equation with sin, in the Counter-Reformation
period. Despite modern Roman approval of marriage, Delumeau demonstrates
that long after marriage had been accepted as "sacrament"
(in the 13th century), Roman Catholic leaders and moralists remained
extremely suspicious of any sexuality. The chief point
of the book, though, is its discussion of the use of fear and
guilt (with phenomena like "sin lists) by religious leaders
to terrify and control the laity.
Dickerman, Edmund H. "Henry III's Devotions: A Study in Sex
and Religion", Journal of Psychohistory 5:3 (1978),
429-42
Tries to link Henry's religious activity to his "feminine
nature".
Dorn, Georgette M, "Latin", American -- Sexuality and
Marriage in Colonial Latin", America edited by Asuncion Lavrin", Catholic Historical Review Apr 1991; 77:2 p. 346-348
Dowling, Linda, Hellenism and Homosexuality in Victorian Oxford,
(Ithaca and London: Cornell, 1994)
Although her interests are more general, Dowling devotes a chapter
to examining the Tractarian, or Oxford movement in the Church
of England, which led to many converts to Roman Catholicism as
well as the modern Anglo-Catholic movement. She discusses the
homosexuality in the lives of figures such as Gerard Manly Hopkins,
Fr. William Faber and John Henry Newman, relying at time on Geoffrey
Faber's book cited here below,
Dubois-Desaulle, G., Les infames pretres et moines non-conformistes
en amour, (Paris: Editions de la raison, 1902)
An example of French anti-clerical literature of the late 19th/early
20th century. This one, claimiing to draw its sources from police
records, list and descibes a lrage number of homosexual French
clergymen. This mainly concerns records from the early and mid
18th century.
Duperray, Michel., De l'etat et de la capacité des ecclésiastiques
pour les ordres et bénéfices, (Paris: P. Emery
et M. Brunoet, 1703)
For clerical homsexuals see pp. 312-20 (III, 8)
Faber, Geoffrey, The Oxford Apostles, (London: 1933)
Discusses homosexuality in the Anglo-Catholic moevment, and of
such Roman converts as Newman, Richard Hurrell Froude, Fr. Frederick
Faber.
Gibson, William T., "Homosexuality, class and the Church
in nineteenth century England two case studies", Journal
of Homosexuality 21 no. 4:, 1991, 45-55
Harris, John, The Destruction of Sodom: A Sermon Preached at
the Public Fast, before the Honourable Assembly of the House of
Commons of Parliament, (London: C. Latham, 1628)
Example of 16th century sins of sodom litearture.
Hebblethwaite, Peter, Paul VI, (New York: 199?)
Extensive and well-received biography of Pope Paul VI. Gives a
good insight into the history of Catholicism in the early and
mid 20th century. Discusses, in somewhat subdued terms, Paul's
homosexuality.
Hillard, David, "UnEnglish and Unmanly: Anglo-Catholicism
and Homosexuality", Victorian Studies 25 (Winter 1982),
181-210
Very interesting account of homosexuality and the Anglo-Catholic
movement in the Anglican Church.
Horner, Tom, Eros in Greece: A Sexual Inquiry, (New York:
Aegean Books, 1978)
Looks at modern Greede. Pp. 54-74 on gays.
Hurteau, Pierre, "Catholic Moral Discourse on Male Sodomy
and Masturbation in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries", Journal of the History of Sexuality 4:1 (1993), 1-32
Humphreys, Laud, Out of the Closests: the Sociology of Homosexual
Liberation, (Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1972)
Very early discussion of the emerginig gay rights movement. Pp.
143-153 discusses the involvement of gay Christians in movement,
and the support provided by liberal ehurches from the very beginning.
Iaroslavskij, Eme;'ian Mikhailovich, Biblia dlia veruiuschchikh
i neveriuiushchikh. Chast' Il. Kniga Bytiia (The Bible for
Believers and Unbelievers, Part II. The Book of Genesis), (Moscow
and Leningrad: Gosudarstvennoe izdatel'stvo, 1925), 34-39
Tries to link "sodomy" to vices practiced in Christian
monasteries. Ofetn reprinted in the former Soveit Union as anti-religious
propaganda.
Jarrige, Pierre, Les jesuites mis sur l'eschaufard, (Leiden:
J. Nicolas, 164)
By a Jesuit who converted to Calvinism. See Chapter 5 on homosexuality.
Jurrieu, Pierre, Prèjugés legitimes contre le
papisme, (Amsterdam: H. Desbordes, 1685)
Attacks sodomy amongst the Catholic clergy.
Maynard, John, Victorian Discourses on Sexuality and Religion,
(Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 199?)
Mott, Luiz, and Aroldo Assuncao, "Love's Labors Lost: Five
Letters from a Seventeenth Century Portuguese Sodomite" in
Kent Gerard and Gert Hekma, eds., The Pursuit of Sodomy: Male
Homosexuality in Renaissance and Englightenment Europe, (New
York: Harrington Park Press, 1989) [also issued as Journal
of Homosexuality 16:1/2 (1988)), 91-104
The oldest homoerotic love letters in a European vernacular -
sent by the sacristan of Silves Cathedral in 1664. Preserved courtesy
of the inquisition.
Rousseau, George Sebastian, "The pursuit of homosexuality
in the 18th century: utterly confused category" and-or rich
repository?", Eighteenth Century Life ns 9:3 (May
1985), 132-168
Perry, Mary Elizabeth, Crime and Society in Early Modern Seville,
(Hanover NH: University Presses of New England, 1980)
The spectacle of over 300 sodomites nurned to death, and an account
by Pedro de Leon, who attended them before hand.
Perry, Mary Elizabeth, "The `Neferious Sin" in Early
Modern Seville" in Kent Gerard and Gert Hekma, eds., The
Pursuit of Sodomy: Male Homosexuality in Renaissance and Englightenment
Europe, (New York: Harrington Park Press, 1989) [also issued
as Journal of Homosexuality 16:1/2 (1988)), 67-90
Unlike Italy, where secular governments ran the sodomy prosecutions,
in Spain the Inquisition was in charge. This is a statistical
account from 17th century Seville.
Posner, Donald, "Caravaggio's Early Homo-erotic Works", Art Quarterly 24 (1971), 301-26
Discusses Caravaggio's milieu, that around the homosexual Cardinal
del Monte.
Reade, Brian, ed., Sexual Heretics: Male Homosexuality in English
Literature from 1850-1900, (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul,
1970)
The introduction contains a discussion of homosexuality and Anglo-Catholicism,
as well as homosexuality and Roman Catholicism. Discusses Newman,
Froude and Faber. Mostly consists of extracts from prose works
and poems. Includes works by Catholic authors Oscar Wilde, Gerard
Manley Hopkins, Marc Andre Raffalovichs, A.C. Benson, and Fredrick
William Rolfe.
Rougement, Denis de, Love in the Western World, trans Montomery
Belgion, rev. ed. (New York: Pantheon, 1956; pb New York: Harper,
1956)
See pp. 159-64 for an intersting discussion of passion and eroticism
in the mysticism of St. Theresa and St. John of the Cross.
Russell, George W.E., Saint Alban the Martyr, Holborn: A History
of Fifty Years, (London: George Allen and Co., 1913)
Account of a famous Anglo-Catholic ritualist church in London
which even in 1913 was, as the book says, "a young man's
church". The Church in over 150 years never seems to have
had anything other than homosexual clergy.
Sears, James T., Growing up gay in the South : race, gender,
and journeys of the spirit, (New York : Haworth Press, 1991)
Seed, Patricia, "Reviews of Books: De la Santidad a la Perversion
", American Historical Review Apr 1989; 94:2 p. 557-558
[Abstract from electronic database]:Patricia Seed reviews "De
la Santidad a la Perversion: O de porque no se cumplia la ley
de Dios en la sociedad novohispana," edited by Sergio Ortega.
Sherr, Richard, "A canon, a choirboy, and homosexuality in
late sixteenth-century Italy:a case study", Journal of
Homosexuality 21 (1991) 3: 1-22
Trevisan, Joao S., Perverts in Paradise, trans. Martin
Foreman, (London: GMP, 1986)
A historical account of gays in Brazil. Trevisan, who is a pioneer
in the rich field of Brazilian gay history, recounts the activities
of the Inquisition on Brazil against "sodmites".
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