This volume investigates the state of same-sex relations in later medieval England, drawing on a remarkably rich array of primary sources from the period that include legal documents, artworks, theological treatises, and poetry. Tom Linkinen uses those sources to build a framework of medieval condemnations of same-sex intimacy and desire and then shows how same-sex sexuality reflected - and was inflected by - gender hierarchies, approaches to crime, and the conspicuous silence on the matter in the legal systems of the period.
Tom Linkinen is at the Turku Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies.
Introduction, I. Framing condemnations: Sodomy, sin against nature, and crime II. Silencing the unmentionable vice III. Stigmatising with same-sex sexuality IV. Sharing disgust and fear V. Sharing laughter VI. Framing possibilities: Silences, friendships, and deepest love, Conclusions, Bibliography