Book of Gomorrah: An Eleventh-Century Treatise against Clerical Homosexual Practices

Censures of Homosexuality Prior to 1048

6 Book of Gomorrah Latin. It is for this reason that an English translation of the Book of Gomorrah is offered here—to my knowledge, the first translation into any language. Needless to say, Damian's work, like any document from a different time and place, requires more than casual attention on the part of the modern reader. The actual problematic, the rhetorical style, and the patterns of thought evidenced in the treatise are characteristic of a different age than our own. To this extent the work demands some concentration. On the other hand, the message and thrust of the arguments come through clearly and straightforwardly. There is no mistaking what Peter Damian has to say about what he saw as a serious problem and about how it was to be handled. This brief introduction will simply place Damian's work in the context of the early medieval treatment of homosexuality and attempt to resolve a few questionsof interpretation. Wherever possible, reference will be made to relevant English works. The text of the introduction is meant to beintelligible on its own, with many of the notes serving a supplementary role for those who might wish to pursue the matter further. Censures of Homosexuality Prior to 1048 The condemnation of homosexual practices is not an uncommon feature of the regulative literature of the early medieval church. The penitentials, which originated in Ireland in the latter half of the sixth century, frequently mention homosexual offences and provide for a wide range of penances. Most of the penitentials from the sixth century to the tenth century have at least one canon on homosexuality, but more often than not they have several canons censuringthevarious forms of homosexual behaviour which are outlined by Damian in his first chapter.6 Two of the most important early collections ofecclesias6 For an English introduction to the penitentials see J. McNeill and H. Gamer, Medieval Handbooks of Penance: A Translation of the Principal libri poenitentiales and Selectionsfrom RelatedDocuments (Recordsof Civilization, Sources and Studies 29; New York, 1938); Bailey, Homosexuality, 100-10, discusses homosexuality in the penitentials. In addition to the materials translated in McNeill and Gamer the Irish penitentials are edited and translated in L. Bieler, The Irish Penitentials, with an appendix by D. A. Binchy (Scriptores Latini Hiberniae, Vol. 5;Dublin, 1963). The most recent introduction is that of C. Vogel, Les "Libri Paenitenttales" (Typologie des sources du moyen age occidental 27; Turnhout, Introduction 7 tical canons, one at the beginning of the tenth century, the other a century later, incorporate a number of penitential canons on homosexuality .7 One of these collectors, the eleventh-century bishop Burchard of Worms, in addition to material borrowed from previous works, also provides an original penitential which includes some startlingly vivid descriptions of various homosexual practices.8 On the other hand, prior to 1048 censures of such practices by ecclesiastical councils are rare. Aside from an early reference to pederasty in the Spanish Council of Elvira (ca. A.D. 306)9 and canons 16 and 17of the Council of Ancyra (ca. A.D. 314)10 which became the standard source for medieval ecclesiastical legislation against homosexuality , there are only three conciliar references to this offence: Council of Toledo (A.D. 693), canon 3;11 Council of Paris (A.D. 829), canon 34, canon 69;12 Council of Trosly (A.D. 909), canon 15.13 However, there are several references to homosexuality in various documents of the Carolingian period:14 1978). For English translations of early penitential canons on homosexuality see Bieler, Irish Penitentials, 69 (Synod of the Grove of Victory), 75 (Penitential of Vinnian), 115 and 129 (Penitential of Cummean). See the Index in McNeill and Gamer, Medieval Handbooks, under "Homosexuality" and "Sodomy." 7 See Regino of Pru'm (A.D. 906) in H. Wasserschleben, Regtnonis abbatis Prumiensis: libri duo de synodalibus causis et disriplinis ecdesiastids (Leipzig, 1840), Book 2, chs. 249, 250, 251, 255, 370. Burchard of Worms (ca. A.D. 1008), Decretum 17.27, 28, 29, 34, 39 (PL 140, 924C-25Q. 8 See the edition of Burchard, Decretum 19.5 in H. J. Schmitz, Die Bussbiicher und das kanonische Bussverfahren nach handschriftlichen Quellen dargestellt (Diisseldorf, 1898), nos. 120, 121, 122 (pp. 435-36), nos. 154, 155, 156 (p. 433, lesbian relations). 9 Canon 71 (PL 84, 309B). 10 PL 84, 107D. Bailey, Homosexuality, 86-89, discusses these canons; see also Boswell, Homosexual'ity, 178, n. 33. 11 PL 84, 538A-D. This canon is partially translated by Bailey...