Sodom and Gomorrah: On the Everyday Reality and Persecution of Homosexuals in the Middle Ages

Sodom and Gomorrah provides a meticulously researched account of the lives, suffering, and everyday reality of homosexual men in Europe, Between AD 500 and AD 1500. The author begins by tracing the development of relevant criminal law from the Romans to the beginnings of modern Europe, and goes on to explore the differences and similarities in approaches towards homosexuality in present and past cultures. Pertinent legal cases in Germany and Italy are reviewed, and the first English language translation of 15th century documents relating to same-sex trials in Cologne provide valuable insight into prevailing attitudes. Following a discussion of the anti-sodomite discourse of theology of the period, there is further exploration, not just of the negative, persecutory aspects of same-sex existence in those times, but also of the many positive elements of it in everyday life.