Pederasty in the Renaissance

Pederasty in the Renaissance

The Renaissance was a period that saw a rediscovery or renewed interest in the philosophy and art of the Classical period. It also saw a lot of oppression of homosexual and pederastic expressions of attraction by the Roman Catholic Church especially through the machinery of the Inquisition, most infamously the Spanish Inquisition. However the Church could not repress all expressions of pederastic desire. One of the most famous examples is a tongue-in-cheek philosophic defense of the practice was provided by Antonio Rocco, in his infamous "L'Alcibiade, fanciullo a scola (Alcibiades the Schoolboy" in English) which tells about a schoolmaster gradually seducing and overcoming his handsome pupil's objections to carnal relations. However given the tongue-in-cheek nature of the writing, it can look unclear if it is meant to be a satire or genuine under the pretense of a joke. This may be why it was possible for it to be written during the oppression of the Catholic Church.

The Church

At the same time, the Roman Catholic Church, working through the Inquisition courts as well as through the civil judiciary, used every means at its disposal to fight what it considered to be the "corruption of sodomy". Men were fined or jailed; boys were flogged. The harshest punishments, such as burning at the stake, were usually reserved for crimes committed against the very young, or by violence. Not infrequently this was an internecine struggle, as those pursued were often enough men of the cloth.Fact|date=September 2007 At the time of the Fifth Council of the Lateran the "monkish canonist" Bermondus Choveronius attacked pederasty,Fact|date=September 2007 claiming that because of the diversion of seed from procreation a pederast "destroys the whole human race."

Florentine pederasty

Florence developed a reputation for pederasty.Fact|date=September 2007 This reputation was so much that in 1432 the city established "Gli Ufficiali di Notte" (The Officers of the Night) to root out the practice of sodomy. From that year until 1502, the number of men charged with sodomy numbered greater than 17,000, of which 3,000 were convicted. However this number also includes homosexual sodomy.

This also gave rise to a number of proverbs illuminating the views of the common people towards the practice. Among them are "If you crave joys, tumble some boys." [Florentine proverb, ca. 1480. After Sabadino degli Arienti in "Le Porretane."Michael Rocke, "Forbidden friendships: Homosexuality and Male Culture in Renaissance Florence," Oxford, 1996; p.87]

This reputation is also reflected in the fact that the Germans adopted the word "Florenzer", when they were talking about a pederast. [Rocke, Michael, (1996), "Forbidden Friendships: Homosexuality and male Culture in Renaissance Florence", ISBN 978-0195122923] [Ruggiero, Guido, (1985), "The Boundaries of Eros", ISBN 978-0195056969] The Neapolitans on the other hand when speaking of pederasty, called it "Il vizio inglese," "the English vice". [R. F. Burton, "Terminal Essay"]

See also

*Historical pederastic couples
*Platonic love

Notes

External links

* [http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk/social19.htm Intergenerational and Egalitarian Models]
* [http://www.androphile.org/ The World History of Male Love]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Pederasty — Not to be confused with Pedophilia. Pederasty or paederasty (  /ˈpɛ …   Wikipedia

  • The Vampire Armand — infobox Book | name = The Vampire Armand title orig = translator = image caption = author = Anne Rice illustrator = cover artist = country = language = English series = The Vampire Chronicles genre = Horror fiction publisher = Alfred A Knopf pub… …   Wikipedia

  • Alexander the Great's personal relationships — Alexander the Great s lifelong companion was Hephaestion, the son of a Macedonian noble. Hephaistion was Alexander s closest friend, and held the position of second in command of Alexander s forces until his death, which devastated Alexander.… …   Wikipedia

  • Philosophy of Greek pederasty — The topic of pederasty, one that took pride of place over the love of women in the erotic lives of Greek aristocrats in general and 5th century BC Athenians in particular [ Plato considers love between people solely as a homosexual phenomenon,… …   Wikipedia

  • Colonies in antiquity — The Mediterranean in ca. the 6th century BC. Phoenician cities are labelled in yellow, Greek cities in red, and other cities in grey. Colonies in antiquity were city states founded from a mother city its metropolis [1] , not from a territory at… …   Wikipedia

  • Ancient Greek medicine — The Hippocratic Corpus, is a collection of around seventy early medical works from ancient Greece strongly associated with the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates and his teachings. The first known Greek medical school opened in Cnidus in 700 BC …   Wikipedia

  • LGBT history — Gay Liberation monument in New York City LGBT history refers to the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) peoples and cultures around the world, dating back to the first recorded instances of same sex love and sexuality of… …   Wikipedia

  • Greek mythology — Bust of Zeus, Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio Clementino, Vatican) Topics in Greek mythology Gods …   Wikipedia

  • Homosexuality — Sexual orientation Orientations Asexual · Bisexual · Heterosexual · Homosexual …   Wikipedia

  • Same-sex relationship — Relationships Types …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”