Sodomy, Masculinity and Law in Medieval Literature: France and England, 10501230 (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature, Series Number 51)

William Burgwinkle surveys poetry and letters, histories and literary fiction - including Grail romances - to offer a historical survey of attitudes towards same-sex love during the centuries that gave us the Plantagenet court of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, courtly love, and Arthurian lore. Burgwinkle illustrates how 'sodomy' becomes a problematic feature of narratives of romance and knighthood. Most texts of the period denounce sodomy and use accusations of sodomitical practice as a way of maintaining a sacrificial climate in which masculine identity is set in opposition to the stigmatised other, for example the foreign, the feminine, and the heretical. What emerges from these readings, however, is that even the most homophobic, masculinist and normative texts of the period demonstrate an inability or unwillingness to separate the sodomitical from the orthodox. These blurred boundaries allow readers to glimpse alternative, even homoerotic, readings. Title......Page 5 Contents......Page 9 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Prologue......Page 13 Introduction......Page 15 DISCIPLINE AND PUNISH......Page 18 KNIGHT OUT......Page 21 1 Locating sodomy......Page 33 PRE-MEDIEVAL TRADITIONS......Page 37 THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL RESPONSES......Page 42 MONASTIC TRADITIONS......Page 47 PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY......Page 54 2 Imagining sodomy......Page 60 PETER DAMIAN......Page 67 JOHN OF SALISBURY......Page 79 THE CURIOUS CASE OF RICHARD THE LIONHEART......Page 87 3 Making Perceval: double-binding and sièges périlleux......Page 103 PERCEVAL: MAKING MEN......Page 104 WOMEN UNDER CHIVALRY......Page 114 VICTIMIZATION......Page 127 CHRISTIAN KNIGHTHOOD AND SODOMY......Page 135 4 Queering the Celtic: Marie de France and the men who don’t marry......Page 152 NARCISSUS AND GUIGEMAR......Page 156 TROUBLED DESIRES......Page 174 5 Writing the self: Alain de Lille’s De planctu naturae......Page 184 CLOTHING AND ART......Page 189 GRAMMAR AND RHETORIC......Page 194 GENDER AND REPRODUCTION......Page 197 Conclusion......Page 214 INTRODUCTION......Page 217 1 LOCATING SODOMY......Page 221 2 IMAGINING SODOMY......Page 235 3 MAKING PERCEVAL: DOUBLE-BINDING AND SIÈGES PÉRILLEUX......Page 247 4 QUEERING THE CELTIC: MARIE DE FRANCE AND THE MEN WHO DON’T MARRY......Page 255 5 WRITING THE SELF: ALAIN DE LILLE’S DE PLANCTU NATURAE......Page 267 CONCLUSION......Page 281 Bibliography......Page 282 Index......Page 306 Title 5 Contents 9 Acknowledgments 10 Prologue 13 Introduction 15 DISCIPLINE AND PUNISH 18 KNIGHT OUT 21 1 Locating sodomy 33 PRE-MEDIEVAL TRADITIONS 37 THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL RESPONSES 42 MONASTIC TRADITIONS 47 PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY 54 2 Imagining sodomy 60 PETER DAMIAN 67 JOHN OF SALISBURY 79 THE CURIOUS CASE OF RICHARD THE LIONHEART 87 3 Making Perceval: double-binding and sièges périlleux 103 PERCEVAL: MAKING MEN 104 WOMEN UNDER CHIVALRY 114 VICTIMIZATION 127 CHRISTIAN KNIGHTHOOD AND SODOMY 135 4 Queering the Celtic: Marie de France and the men who don’t marry 152 NARCISSUS AND GUIGEMAR 156 TROUBLED DESIRES 174 5 Writing the self: Alain de Lille’s De planctu naturae 184 CLOTHING AND ART 189 GRAMMAR AND RHETORIC 194 GENDER AND REPRODUCTION 197 Conclusion 214 Notes 217 INTRODUCTION 217 1 LOCATING SODOMY 221 2 IMAGINING SODOMY 235 3 MAKING PERCEVAL: DOUBLE-BINDING AND SIÈGES PÉRILLEUX 247 4 QUEERING THE CELTIC: MARIE DE FRANCE AND THE MEN WHO DON’T MARRY 255 5 WRITING THE SELF: ALAIN DE LILLE’S DE PLANCTU NATURAE 267 CONCLUSION 281 Bibliography 282 Index 306 William Burgwinkle surveys poetry and letters, histories and literary fiction - including Grail romances - to offer a historical survey of attitudes towards same-sex love during the centuries that gave us the Plantagenet court of Henry II and Eleanore of Aquitaine, courtly love, and Arthurian lore. Burgwinkle illustrates how "sodomy" becomes a problematic feature of narratives of romance and knighthood. Most texts of the period denounce sodomy and use accusations of sodomitical practice as a way of maintaining a sacrificial climate in which masculine identity is set in opposition to the stigmatized Other, for example in the foreign, the feminine, and the heretical. What emerges from these readings, however, is that even the most homophobic, masculinist, and normative texts of the period demonstrate an inability or unwillingness to separate the sodomitical from the orthodox. These blurred boundaries allow readers to glimpse alternative, even homoerotic, readings. Shedding new light on the representations of masculinity and same-sex desire in medieval literature, William Burgwinkle offers a historical survey of attitudes towards same-sex love during the Middle Ages. His studies of a wide range of texts reveal that medieval attitudes towards sexual preferences were much broader than usually conceded. Although most texts of the period denounced sodomy, Burgwinkle reveals how some also endorsed it, however inadvertently. What emerges from these readings, however, is that even the most homophobic, masculinist, and normative texts of the period demonstrate an inability or unwillingness to separate the sodomitical from the orthodox. These blurred boundaries allow readers to glimpse alternative, even homoerotic, readings."--Jacket This book offers a historical survey of attitudes towards same-sex love during the centuries that gave us the Plantagenet court of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, courtly love, and Arthurian lore. Though mosts texts of the period denounce sodomy, this book shows how some also endorse it.

This book offers a historical survey of attitudes towards same-sex love during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.