John Boswell Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century The University of Chicago Press Chicago and LondonPublication of this volume has been assisted by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, ‘The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 ‘The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 1080 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 1980 Paperback edition 1981 Printed in the United States of America 08 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 12131415 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Boswell, John. Christianity, social tolerance, and homosexuality. Bibliography: p. Includes indexes. 1. Homosexuality—Europe—History. 2, Homdsexuality and Christianity—History. I. Title. HQ76.3,E8B67 301.41'57'094 79-1117 ISBN o-226-06711-4 (paper) This book is printed on acid-free paper.To my parents for their love and example, and to Ralph for his helpLoveis not a crime; ifit were a crime to love, God would not have bound even the divine with love. Carmina Burana Because of the diverse conditions of humans, it happens that some acts are virtuous to some people, as appropriate and suitable to them, while the same acts are immoral for others, as inappropriate to them. Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae We can easily reduce our detractors to absurdity and show them their hostility is groundless. But what does this prove? That their hatred is real. When every slander has been rebutted, every misconception cleared up, every false opinion about us overcome, intolerance itself will remain finally irrefutable. Moritz, Goldstein, “Deutsch-II Ill IV Contents Points of Departure The Christian Tradition Shifting Fortunes The Rise of Intolerance Illustrations xi Abbreviations xiii Preface xv 1. Introduction 3 2. Definitions 41 3. Rome: The Foundation 61 4. The Scriptures g1 5. Christians and Social Change 119 6. Theological Traditions 137 . The Early Middle Ages 169 . The Urban Revival 207 g. The Triumph of Ganymede: Gay Literature of the High Middle Ages 243 oy 10. Social Change: Making Enemies 269 11, Intellectual Change: Men, Beasts, and “Nature” 303 12, Conclusions 333 Appendix 1. Lexicography and Saint Paul 335 Appendix 2. Texts and Translations 955 Frequently Gited Works 403 Index of Greek Terms 411 General Index 413Illustrations Follow page 202 Paired statues of Harmodius and Aristogiton Hadrian Antinous Ganymede End of Apocalypse and Beginning of the Epistle of Barnabas Ganymede with eagle Ganymede capital Bearded acrobats Hyenas embracing Hyena devouring a corpse Weasels mating Hyenas embracing Christ and Saint John xiAL AP BM BN CSEL EI B KJV Pe PL Poetae Pw Settimane ss SS.RR.MM. ZEDA [Jor Pscudo- Abbreviations Anthologia Latina Anthologia Palatina (or Greek Anthology) British Museum Bibliothéque nationale Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum Latinorum Encyclopedia of Islam Jerusalem Bible King James or Authorized Version Loeb Classical Library Greek-English Lexicon, ed. H. G. Liddell and Robert Scott, gth ed., rev. H. Stuart Jones Septuagint J.D. Mansi, Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio Monumenta Germaniae historica New English Bible New Testament Oxford Book of Medieval Latin Verse, ed. F. J. Raby Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2d ed. Oxford English Dictionary Old Testament Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Graeca Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Latina Poetae Latini medii aevi (in G1) Paulys Real-Encyclopidie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft Settimane di studi del Centro italiano di studi sull’ alto medioevo (Spoleto) Scriptores (in ment) Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum (in MoH) Zeitschrift fur deutsches Altertum Indicates spurious attribution xiiiPreface Itis not possible to write history in a vacuum, No matter how much historians and their readers may wish to avoid contaminating their understanding of the past with the values of the present, they cannot ignore the fact that both writer and reader are inevitably affected by the assumptions and beliefs of the age(s) in which they write and read. Because very many of the issues addressed in this book as historical problems are viewed today chiefly as moral questions, and because their social importance is generally supposed to result from the moral traditions regarding them, it would be impossible to present a persuasive argument for the essentially social significance of such phenomena without examining, at some length, the moral texts and opin- ions thought to have been determinative in establishing Western attitudes toward them. Very widespread preconceptions regarding historical causa- tions must be addressed in detail; they cannot be refined or altered by judicious silence or a simple assertion to the contrary. If religious texts are ‘widely supposed to have been the origin of a medieval prejudice, their role in determining the attitude in question must be carefully examined; if it is assumed that scholastic opinions on a subject were an inevitable response to the force of the preceding Christian tradition, a historian who wishes to present an alternative explanation must examine the force of the previous tradition in minute detail, Only if he can demonstrate that it is insufficient explanation for the opinions in question can he expect his alternative explanation to carry much weight. Itis, on the other hand, the province of the historian not to praise or blame but merely to record and explain. This book is not intended as support or criticism of any particular contemporary points of view—scientific or moral— regarding homosexuality. Where extended discussion of arguments against homosexual behavior has been presented, the aim has been twofold: to demonstrate that what may scem to have been the origin of popular antipathy in the past often was not, and to clarify crucial differences between ostensibly analogous ancient and modern objections to homosexuality. The analysis of xvxvi Preface ideas about the “unnaturalness” and “nonreproductivity” of homosexuality presented in Chapter 1, for instance, is aimed not at defending it from such criticism but at providing a clearer perspective on the most common specific objections employed against it by ancient and medieval writers (as, e.g., in a text on medieval alchemical ideas one might employ current scientific data to demonstrate the feasibility of alchemical theories or procedures). What will strike some readers as a partisan point of view is chiefly the absence of the negative attitudes on this subject ubiquitous in the modern West; after a long, loud noise, a sudden silence may seem deafening. * * # Because the material considered in this volume comprises both a very broad geographical and temporal expanse and many very detailed and technical issues, it has been somewhat difficult to provide a scholarly apparatus of use to all who might desire it and still make the book accessible to the general reader. Specialists may be surprised at explanations of facts or material which seem perfectly obvious, and nonspecialists may find it difficult to wade through dense, recondite notes. Few who are interested in the niceties of biblical lexicography will be familiar with the nuances of Hispano-Arab poetry, and many people quite interested in the general areas of intolerance or homo- sexuality may have very limited acquaintance with medieval history of any sort. Every effort has been made to keep the text readable, self-explanatory, and focused on central issues. As far as possible, all purely technical and linguistic considerations have been placed in footnotes or appendices. Brief introductions to relevant aspects of some of the periods and cultures involved have been provided, in the hope that whatever ennui or amusement they provide historians will be offset by the help they offer readers from other disciplines, Citations have been particularly troublesome in this regard, since in- consistencies which might bother specialists may enable those less familiar with the same literature to locate passages with greater ease.1 Most works are cited for this reason in their most familiar or recognizable form, even where this has required erratic use of foreign or English titles for the same author (e.g., Plutarch), and many convenient editions (e.g., the Patrologia) have been preferred to better or more modern versions of the same texts. 1. For example, it is impossible to be entirely consistent in transliterating Persian and Arabic in a work of this nature, because many names and some titles are cited from works in other languages which employ differing systems of transliteration, and because many names have become familiar in forms which do not correspond to a specific system. Where Thave transliterated and was not limited by a tradition or published version, I have used a slightly modified version of the system employed by the editors of the et, which will, I think, provide no difficulty to readers of Arabic and Persian.xvii Preface Only where the text itself bears on the historical issues have efforts been made to address textual problems. For reasons outlined below, it has seemed essential to consult all sources in their original, even when modern translations exist. All translations provided in the text, except where specifically noted, are my own, and every effort has been made to effect them as accurately and candidly as possible, even to the point of employing obscene language. Perhaps the medieval dictum that “to cite heresy is not to be a heretic” may be modified in this context to urge that to cite obscenity is not to be obscene. It would at any rate be arrogant to assume that readers could not judge such material for themselves without the intervention of censorship by historians. Renderings of literary material, including poetry, have been effected with clarity and literal accuracy the paramount considerations; no effort has been made to reflect literary nuances unless these provide insight into the questions at hand. eo * # ‘A word of explanation may be appropriate regarding the relative absence of materials relating to women. Most of the sources for this (as for nearly all) history were written by men about men, and where they deal with women, they do so peripherally. Wherever possible, examples involving women have been cited, and an effort has been made to consider the feminine correlates of scientific, philosophical, religious, and social aspects of male homo- sexuality, but no one could offset the overwhelming disproportion of data regarding male and female sexuality without deliberate distortion. * 8 # The research for this book was begun nearly a decade ago, and it would be impossible now to recall all those who contributed in some way to its prep- aration. An incalculable debt is owed Ralph Hexter, who rendered practical assistance at every stage of the endeavor, read the entire manuscript several times and offered valuable critical advice, and provided information on many matters; in the realm of literature, for example, he brought to my attention the existence of the poems “Ganymede and Hebe” and “Married Clergy,” published here for the first time. No words of thanks could suffice to express my gratitude for his assistance or to apprise readers of the extent of his contributions. Several colleagues, notably James Weinrich of Harvard, Douglas Roby of Brooklyn College, and John Winkler and James Rodman of Yale, have con- tributed generously of their time and knowledge, and I am grateful to them. I am equally indebted to my students at Yale, both graduate and under- graduate, especially to Ruth Mazo for her sensitive and erudite study of ‘Aclred of Rievaulx, Richard Styche for his work on Icelandic law, andxviii Preface Frances Terpak and Vasanti Kupfer for their advice and assistance in locating materials relating to medieval art. I also wish to thank David Frusti and Libby Berkeley for more practical but no less important help; the Council on the Humanities of Yale University for a grant through the A. Whitney Griswold Faculty Research Fund; and the librarians and archivists of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek of Munich, Karl Marx Universitat in Leipzig, Gonville and Caius College of Cambridge University, the Bodleian library of Oxford University, and the Archive of the Crown of Aragon in Barcelona.I Points of Departure1 Introduction “All those whose lives are spent searching for truth are well aware that the glimpses they catch of it are necessarily fleeting, glittering for an instant only to make way for new and still more dazzling insights. The scholar’s work, in marked contrast to that of the artist, is inevitably provisional. He knows this and rejoices in it, for the rapid obsolescence of his books is the very proof of the progress of scholarship.” Between the beginning of the Christian Era and the end of the Middle Ages, European attitudes toward a number of minorities underwent profound transformations. Many groups of people passed from constituting undistin- guished parts of the mainstream of society to comprising segregated, despised, and sometimes severely oppressed fringe groups. Indeed the Middle Ages are often imagined to have been a time of almost universal intolerance of non- conformity, and the adjective “medieval” is not infrequently used as a synonym for “narrow-minded,” “oppressive,” or “intolerant” in the con- text of behavior or attitudes. It is not, however, accurate or useful to picture medieval Europe and its institutions as singularly and characteristically in- tolerant. Many other periods have been equally if not more prone to social intolerance :* most European minorities fared worse during the “Renaissance” 1. “Tous ceux dont la vie se passe & chercher la vérité savent bien que les images qu'il cn saisissent sont nécessairement fugitives. Elles brillent un instant pour faire place & des clartés nouvelles et toujours plus ¢blouissantes. Bien différente de celle de l’artiste, Poeuvre du savant est fatalement provisoire. Il le sait et s’en réjouit, puisque la rapide vieillesse de ses livres est la preuve méme du progres de la science”: Henri Pirenne, cited in Georges Gérardy, Henri Pirenne, 1862-1935, Ministére de P’éducation nationale et de la culture, Administration des services educatifs (Brussels, 1962), p. 4. 2. “Social” tolerance or intolerance is used in this study to refer to public acceptance of personal variation or idiosyncrasy in matters of appearance, life-style, personality, or belief. “Social” is implicit even when, to avoid repetition, it is not used to modify “tolerance” or “intolerance.” “Social tolerance” is thus distinguished from “approval.” A society may well “tolerate” diversity of life-style or belief even when a majority of its members do not personally approve of the variant beliefs or behavior; this is indeed the essence of “social tol- ‘erance,” since no “tolerance” is involved in accepting approved behavior or belief. Non- acceptance of disapproved behavior or traits does not of course necessarily constitute 34 Chapter One than during the “Dark Ages,” and no other century has witnessed anti- Semitism of such destructive virulence as that of the twentieth. Moreover, treating these two subjects— intolerance and medieval Europe—as ifeach were in some sense a historical explanation of the other almost wholly precludes understanding of either one, The social history of medieval Europe and, per- haps even more, the historical origins and operations of intolerance as a social phenomenon require far subtler analysis. This study is offered as a contribution to better understanding of both the social history of Europe in the Middle Ages and intolerance as a histori- cal force, in the form of an investigation of their interaction in a single case It would obviously be foolhardy to attempt any broader approach to the first; it may be slightly less obvious why there is no general treatment of the second in the study which follows. In the first place, it would be extremely difficult to define the boundaries of such a general study. Although intolerance has weighed heavily on intolerance: it could be a defensive response to persons whose variation from the norm threatens social well-being, or a response to religious imperatives which explicitly transcend the value of “tolerance.” Both of these issues are taken up below in relation to gay people in the Middle Ages. 3. Ina previous study (The Royal Treasure: Muslim Communities under the Crown of Aragon in the Fourteenth Century [New Haven, 1977]) I have addressed this issue from the perspective of Muslim communities in Christian Spain in the later Middle Ages. So little scholarly ‘work on the subject of gay people in history is presently extant that it would be premature to attempt anything in the way of a bibliographical essay. With few exceptions, no modern studies have been useful for the present investigation. Almost all modern historical research on gay people in the Christian West has been dependent on the pioneering study of Derrick Sherwin Bailey, Homosexuality and the Western Christian Tradition (London, 1955). This work suffers from an emphasis on negative sanctions which gives a wholly misleading picture of medieval practice, ignores almost all positive evidence on the subject, is limited primarily to data regarding France and Britain, and has been superseded even in its major focus, biblical analysis. Nonetheless, it remains the best single work on the subject in print, and it, is for this reason that I have been at pains throughout the following chapters to expand on or disagree with those portions of it related to this study. No other studies of homosexuality in general can be recommended without severe reservation. The first well-known overview of the subject was a sketch by Richard Burton, appended as the “Terminal Essay: D. Pederasty” in his 1885 translation of the Arabian Nights (reprinted in Sexual Heretics: Male Homosexuality in English Literature, 1850-1900, ed. Brian Reade [New York, 1970], pp. 158- 93). Raymond de Becker’s L'érotisme d’en face (Paris, 1964; trans. M. Crosland and A. Daventry as The Other Face of Love [New York, 1969]) is pleasant and readable and contains many entertaining illustrations (some of dubious relation to the text). Although the scientific speculation which composes pt. 1 is now completely outdated and pt. 2 (on the Middle Ages) should be ignored, pt. 3—on modern Europe—is still useful. Thorkil Vanggaard’s Phallos: A Symbol and Its History in the Male World (London, 1972) has been probably deservedly largely ignored by scholars, as have Arno Karlen’s Sexuality and Homosexuality (New York, 1971) and Vern Bullough’s Sexual Variance in Society and History (New York, 1976), which superseded it with substantial but not sufficient improvement. For the sake of completeness alone I mention A. L. Rowse’s Homosexuals in History (New York, 1977).