Scandal-averse policies have enabled the widespread sexual abuse of boys and male adolescents within the Church.
Medieval
The Reputation of Edward II
Edward’s medieval and early modern afterlife was significantly shaped by the influence of literary texts and techniques.
‘Behaviour Which Merits a Horrible and Wretched Death’: Sex, Sin and the Black Death in Medieval England
Medieval people feared that the Black Death was a punishment for sin, and hoped that abstaining from sex could save them.
Gay penguins, medieval heretics, and the place of animals in the history of sexuality
Medieval theologians, like modern activists, used animals to make arguments about human sexuality.
Virgin Whore
A surprisingly prevalent theme in late English medieval literature and culture: the celebration of the Virgin Mary’s sexuality.
Obscene Pedagogies: Transgressive Talk and Sexual Education in Late Medieval Britain
Obscenity is useful as a tool for teaching about sex and consent in the Middle Ages, and today.
Anticipating Sin in Medieval Society
Anticipating Sin in Medieval Society explores early medieval understandings of sin, looking in particular at childhood, sexuality and violence.
Recent Posts
Of Polymaths and Pederasts: Reflections on Rachel Hope Cleves’s <i>Unspeakable</i>
Raúl Luis Suarez’s Smile and The Ruthless Archive
The Shapes of Fancy: Reading for Queer Desire in Early Modern Literature
Queer as Cop: Gay Patrol Units and the White Fantasy of Safety
Campaigning for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Ireland, 1981-1993