Homosexuality
in the Middle Ages: A website review
This is summary of a paper written by Paul Halsall in 1988. After extensive research on the topic of homosexuality in medieval times, I discovered that Halsall’s paper contained within most all the information the other websites had to offer. The ideas expressed are his own with the links being my contribution to further explain concepts , people, and places. All links are from Wikipedia.org so there can be no claims to “smutty” links in the paper. Please use your own discretion when following links (some of which contain graphic content and/or images). If you prefer not to read and/or see graphic material, do not follow the links on sexual behavior.
There is considerable evidence on the existence of homosexual relationships, acts, and marriages during the Middle Ages. Homosexuals during this time were not confined to one group, be it social, economic, or geographical. Even though the term “homosexual” was not coined until 1896 by Karl-Maria Kertbeny, it is not exceeding difficult to find other means of identifying the topic. Paul Halsall’s work goes in-dept on this issue and looks at many facets on homosexuality during the Middle Ages.
With the introduction and dominance of Christianity, sexuality during the middle ages was quickly squelched. Before this time, sex was not taboo and was associated with a sort of bodily transcendence instead of the sin of the flesh the Christian doctrine preached. Saints Jerome and Ambrose taught that sex linked the spirit to carnality. Saint Augustine argued that sex was permissible as long as it was only for procreation, was in the missionary position and was not pleasurable. Since for procreation to occur there must be ejaculation which is paired with male orgasms (pleasure), this idea only punished women. A woman does not have to orgasm to become pregnant (although it does increase the chances slightly) so only her pleasure was forbidden. It was also considered sinful to have the woman on top or from behind.
The fact all other forms for intercourse were banned by the Christians gives evidence to the existence of other methods. The same logic applies to homosexual partnerships. One of the leaders of Christianity, Bishop Grosseteste of Lincoln, wrote a handbook for confessions for such sexual sins as homosexuality and contained within evidence that heterosexual couples also engaged in anal intercourse. For heterosexual couples, this was used as a type of birth control; both could have sexual gratification with out worry of pregnancy.
The thirteenth century when was the condemnation of homosexuals began in Christianity. Homosexuals were not singled out, but grouped with Jews, lepers, and heretics in their treatment by the church. The churches views were not, however, shaped by religion but instead reflected social changes in the society. In other societies throughout time, homosexuality was present and accepted.
Geographically speaking, the only place where homosexuality thrived was in urban areas because the large areas grew many subcultures within it. In Italian towns, marriage was delayed and thus left many sexually mature people available to experiment with each other. It must be noted that experimentation does not mean one is homosexual, but males who were homosexual had extended time to figure out their sexual orientation. Many of those chose to enter the monastery to avoid a marriage that would violate their orientation.
It seems that the largest issue with men having sexual relations with other men was the concept of dominance. The missionary position created a sexual hierarchy; one person had to “dominate” (be on top), while the other was “passive” (be on the bottom). Since this was the only position accepted by the church, it put women in a permeate passive, subservient, receiving position. This bled over into the criticisms of homosexuals because a man was not in anyway supposed to be passive, subservient, or taking a “woman’s role”.
Literature of the time is a great resource to use when determining the prevalence of homosexuality. Hebrew and Spanish poetry frequently refers to the love and romance of young boys and is very similar to ancient Greek forms. Yishaq ben Mar-Saul in the eleventh century was the first poet to write homo erotic poetry. An example of this Jewish poetry is as follows:
Like Joseph in his form,
like Adoniah his hair.
Lovely of eyes like David,
he has slain me like Uriah
During the twelfth century in France, poetry can be found from bishops like Baudri of Bourgueil. They were not as blunt in their descriptions as the Jews, and concentrated on pederasty. Ivo of Chartres was more specific, including references to sodomy and fellatio. Monks were also popular sources of homosexual literature. Anselm (who had an affair with monk Osbern) and Aelred of Rievaulx are great examples. They wrote to other monks about love and friendship between males in the twelfth century, which is the first evidences of writings on the topic. Saint Peter Damian believed that homosexual activity was present in his clerics in Italy.
Homosexual tendencies were also found in other organizations which had mainly male memberships. The aristocratic elites of Northern France spent large amounts of time with other men, most importantly was in knight training. Again here, marriage was put off for a time which encouraged more homosexual behavior. Richard I of England, a noted night, was know for his homosexual relationship with his brother-in-law. Alcuin, in the court of Charlemagne, had a circle that wrote erotic letter to each other. The Norman court of William Rufus were admonished by Saint Anselm for wearing long hair and having naked boys run around the court.
Universities at this time were male only, and thus it is to be expected to see homosexual behavior. 1219 found homosexuals in the Paris University, and in Paris proper by 1230.
Paul Halsall did an excellent job in bringing knowledge of Medieval homosexuality into a neat package. When he published the material to a website, he noted that he was a graduate student at the time. He also noted: “I would change some, perhaps many of the conclusions, and certainly the theoretical approach. In particular I would emphasis the position of large aggregates of human beings [i.e. cities and monasteries] as a necessary but not sufficient pre-condition for homosexual sub-cultures.”
As seen in this review, most only males are discussed because they were the dominate sex during the time. This is not to say that medieval lesbians did not exist, they did, but their stories were kept mostly to themselves and very little from this period survives of them. Whether you accept, reject, or feel ambivalent towards homosexuality, it exists now, existed in the past, and will continue to exist in the future.
