Boy-love in European history - Revision history

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	In the tone of this text we hear the Christian moralist! Under Christian domination boy-love, nevertheless, did not become a special problem. The phenomenon was seen as part of the general crime of "sodomy," a word originally employed to indicate every same-sex-oriented activity, especially anal intercourse, but later extended to any sexual activity condemned by Christian ethics.<br>		In the tone of this text we hear the Christian moralist! Under Christian domination boy-love, nevertheless, did not become a special problem. The phenomenon was seen as part of the general crime of "sodomy," a word originally employed to indicate every same-sex-oriented activity, especially anal intercourse, but later extended to any sexual activity condemned by Christian ethics.<br>
	<br>		<br>
	Sexual contacts of men with boys were considered ''sodomy'' because the partners were of the same gender. As such, it was said to deserve capital punishment. For - so said theologians and lawyers unanimously - if the authorities tolerate such abomination on their territory, God's wrath will fall upon the whole country and all its inhabitants. This was already proclaimed in 538 and 541 by the Roman Emperor Justinian, and it was articulated again in 1635 by the German lawyer ~~Benediktvon~~ Carpzow: "Christians should take strong action against sodomites, for God orders this expressly. He condemns this crime so strongly that he visits the sons unbelief with famine, pestilence, war, earthquakes, floods, and other general disasters." Later commentators didn't think this severe enough and added still to God's ingenuity "the invasion by the Saracenes and a pest of fat, greedy mice."<br>		Sexual contacts of men with boys were considered ''sodomy'' because the partners were of the same gender. As such, it was said to deserve capital punishment. For - so said theologians and lawyers unanimously - if the authorities tolerate such abomination on their territory, God's wrath will fall upon the whole country and all its inhabitants. This was already proclaimed in 538 and 541 by the Roman Emperor Justinian, and it was articulated again in 1635 by the German lawyer Benedikt von Carpzow: "Christians should take strong action against sodomites, for God orders this expressly. He condemns this crime so strongly that he visits the sons unbelief with famine, pestilence, war, earthquakes, floods, and other general disasters." Later commentators didn't think this severe enough and added still to God's ingenuity "the invasion by the Saracenes and a pest of fat, greedy mice."<br>
	<br>		<br>
	Why this fury? The Emperor Justinian quoted the Bible story of Sodom and Gomorrah. A critical reading would have shown that this tale doesn't discredit homosexuality at all. But if you can discover in the Bible a pretext to hurt your neighbor, then why spoil such a pleasant situation by reading critically?		Why this fury? The Emperor Justinian quoted the Bible story of Sodom and Gomorrah. A critical reading would have shown that this tale doesn't discredit homosexuality at all. But if you can discover in the Bible a pretext to hurt your neighbor, then why spoil such a pleasant situation by reading critically?
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	[[Category:~~Benediktvon Carpzow~~]]		[[Category:Benedikt Carpzov]]
	[[Category:Jews]]		[[Category:Jews]]
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	Before Christendom conquered Europe, the continent was populated by tribes of warriors. In such peoples sexual relations between men and boys are always common.<br>		Before Christendom conquered Europe, the continent was populated by tribes of warriors. In such peoples sexual relations between men and boys are always common.<br>
	<br>		<br>
	It is one of the paradoxes of human nature that boys usually become stronger and pluckier when brought up with care and tenderness than when subjected to a rough pedagogy. Fighting and hunting peoples need strong warriors ans ~~skilful~~ hunters, and therefore their men concern themselves with the growth of boys, paying much attention to their training and seeking their companionship on expeditions. Constantly being together apart from women leads inevitably and spontaneously to sexual contacts. And as often happens when men sleep with women as well as with boys, in the end they come to prefer the boys.<br>		It is one of the paradoxes of human nature that boys usually become stronger and pluckier when brought up with care and tenderness than when subjected to a rough pedagogy. Fighting and hunting peoples need strong warriors ans skillful hunters, and therefore their men concern themselves with the growth of boys, paying much attention to their training and seeking their companionship on expeditions. Constantly being together apart from women leads inevitably and spontaneously to sexual contacts. And as often happens when men sleep with women as well as with boys, in the end they come to prefer the boys.<br>
	<br>		<br>
	In Germanic tribes official marriages were celebrated between men and boys. Athenaios, the Greek who in the Third Century collected curious passages from the works of many authors, tells that Celtic women were very beautiful, but that, nonetheless, the men were more attracted to boys. So much more, indeed, that some men wanted to share their bed of animal skins with two boys at the same time. Gallic men, Athenaios reported, used their women only for procreation, sleeping on other occasions with youthful male companions. They liked slender bodies, and boys were punished for getting too fat. Norman men wanted to train their boys to be valiant warriors and favored them in bed. The Taifals, a tribe dwelling in the Fourth Century in the region we now call Romania, were depicted by the historian Ammianus as being so dissipated that their boys at the arrival of puberty engage with the adult men in an "alliance of an unspeakable kind." When such a boy grows up and is able to catch and kill a boar or bear with his own hands, he is "released from this depravity."		In Germanic tribes official marriages were celebrated between men and boys. Athenaios, the Greek who in the Third Century collected curious passages from the works of many authors, tells that Celtic women were very beautiful, but that, nonetheless, the men were more attracted to boys. So much more, indeed, that some men wanted to share their bed of animal skins with two boys at the same time. Gallic men, Athenaios reported, used their women only for procreation, sleeping on other occasions with youthful male companions. They liked slender bodies, and boys were punished for getting too fat. Norman men wanted to train their boys to be valiant warriors and favored them in bed. The Taifals, a tribe dwelling in the Fourth Century in the region we now call Romania, were depicted by the historian Ammianus as being so dissipated that their boys at the arrival of puberty engage with the adult men in an "alliance of an unspeakable kind." When such a boy grows up and is able to catch and kill a boar or bear with his own hands, he is "released from this depravity."
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 '''By: [[Edward Brongersma|Dr. Edward Brongersma]]'''
 From the beginning Christian moralists battled against boy-love as a species of sodomy. But even in their own ranks they didn't succeed in checking completely the forbidden relationships. John Chrysostom (340-407), for example, complained bitterly about people coming to visit the church only to gaze at handsome choirboys.<br>
 <br>
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 Men from every period of history and all regions of the world have known this particular tenderness, affection and veneration of youth's budding masculinity. And a good thing it is! Wasn't the Jesuit Father van Kilsdonk quite right when he declared, referring to boy-love, "that out culture, not to say creation, would be the warmer and the richer if there were more men with this talent."<br>
 <br>
-<i>source: Article 'Boy-love in European history' by Dr. Edward Brongersma; Nambla Bulletin, Vol. 12, No. 4; May 1991</i>
+<i>source: Article 'Boy-love in European history' by Dr. Edward Brongersma; Nambla Bulletin, Vol. 12, No. 3; April 1991 & Part 2: Vol. 12, No. 4; May 1991</i>
 [[Category:Edward Brongersma]]

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	[[Category:~~Baron~~ von Gloeden]]		[[Category:Wilhelm von Gloeden]]
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	All of this is just a handful, without the least pretense to being complete. Besides so many well-known boy-lovers, there are thousands were or are more hidden. If they decide to proclaim their love openly, they are certainly in good company. That is all I wanted to show.<br>		All of this is just a handful, without the least pretense to being complete. Besides so many well-known boy-lovers, there are thousands were or are more hidden. If they decide to proclaim their love openly, they are certainly in good company. That is all I wanted to show.<br>
	<br>		<br>
	Men from every period of history and all regions of the world have known this particular tenderness, affection and veneration of youth's budding masculinity. And a good thing it is! Wasn't the Jesuit Father van Kilsdonk quite right when he declared, referring to boy-love, "that out culture, not to say creation, would be the warmer and the richer if there were more men with this talent."		Men from every period of history and all regions of the world have known this particular tenderness, affection and veneration of youth's budding masculinity. And a good thing it is! Wasn't the Jesuit Father van Kilsdonk quite right when he declared, referring to boy-love, "that out culture, not to say creation, would be the warmer and the richer if there were more men with this talent."<br>
	<br>		<br>
	<i>source: Article 'Boy-love in European history' by Dr. Edward Brongersma; Nambla Bulletin, Vol. 12, No. 4; May 1991</i>		<i>source: Article 'Boy-love in European history' by Dr. Edward Brongersma; Nambla Bulletin, Vol. 12, No. 4; May 1991</i>

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	[[Category:Willem de Mérode‏‎]]		[[Category:Willem de Mérode‏‎]]
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	'''By: [[Edward Brongersma\|Dr. Edward Brongersma]]'''		'''By: [[Edward Brongersma\|Dr. Edward Brongersma]]'''
			__NOTOC__
	<b>part 1</b><br>		<b>part 1</b><br>
	<br>		<br>
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	It is one of the paradoxes of human nature that boys usually become stronger and pluckier when brought up with care and tenderness than when subjected to a rough pedagogy. Fighting and hunting peoples need strong warriors ans skilful hunters, and therefore their men concern themselves with the growth of boys, paying much attention to their training and seeking their companionship on expeditions. Constantly being together apart from women leads inevitably and spontaneously to sexual contacts. And as often happens when men sleep with women as well as with boys, in the end they come to prefer the boys.<br>		It is one of the paradoxes of human nature that boys usually become stronger and pluckier when brought up with care and tenderness than when subjected to a rough pedagogy. Fighting and hunting peoples need strong warriors ans skilful hunters, and therefore their men concern themselves with the growth of boys, paying much attention to their training and seeking their companionship on expeditions. Constantly being together apart from women leads inevitably and spontaneously to sexual contacts. And as often happens when men sleep with women as well as with boys, in the end they come to prefer the boys.<br>
	<br>		<br>
	In Germanic tribes official marriages were celebrated between men and boys. Athenaios, the Greek who in the Third Century collected curious passages from the works of many authors, tells that Celtic women were very beautiful, but that, nonetheless, the men were more attracted to boys. So much more, indeed, that some men wanted to share their bed of animal skins with two boys at the same time. Gallic men, Athenaios reported, used their women only for procreation, sleeping on other occasions with youthful male companions. They liked slender bodies, and boys were punished for getting too fat. Norman men wanted to train their boys to be valiant warriors and favored them in bed. The Taifals, a tribe dwelling in the Fourth Century in the region we now call Romania, were depicted by the historian Ammianus as being so dissipated that their boys at the arrival of puberty engage with the adult men in an ''alliance of an unspeakable kind.'' When such a boy grows up and is able to catch and kill a boar or bear with his own hands, he is ''released from this depravity.''		In Germanic tribes official marriages were celebrated between men and boys. Athenaios, the Greek who in the Third Century collected curious passages from the works of many authors, tells that Celtic women were very beautiful, but that, nonetheless, the men were more attracted to boys. So much more, indeed, that some men wanted to share their bed of animal skins with two boys at the same time. Gallic men, Athenaios reported, used their women only for procreation, sleeping on other occasions with youthful male companions. They liked slender bodies, and boys were punished for getting too fat. Norman men wanted to train their boys to be valiant warriors and favored them in bed. The Taifals, a tribe dwelling in the Fourth Century in the region we now call Romania, were depicted by the historian Ammianus as being so dissipated that their boys at the arrival of puberty engage with the adult men in an "alliance of an unspeakable kind." When such a boy grows up and is able to catch and kill a boar or bear with his own hands, he is "released from this depravity."

	<h2>Saracenes and greedy mice</h2>		<h2>Saracenes and greedy mice</h2>

	In the tone of this text we hear the Christian moralist! Under Christian domination boy-love, nevertheless, did not become a special problem. The phenomenon was seen as part of the general crime of ''sodomy,'' a word originally employed to indicate every same-sex-oriented activity, especially anal intercourse, but later extended to any sexual activity condemned by Christian ethics.<br>		In the tone of this text we hear the Christian moralist! Under Christian domination boy-love, nevertheless, did not become a special problem. The phenomenon was seen as part of the general crime of "sodomy," a word originally employed to indicate every same-sex-oriented activity, especially anal intercourse, but later extended to any sexual activity condemned by Christian ethics.<br>
	<br>		<br>
	Sexual contacts of men with boys were considered ''sodomy'' because the partners were of the same gender. As such, it was said to deserve capital punishment. For - so said theologians and lawyers unanimously - if the authorities tolerate such abomination on their territory, God's wrath will fall upon the whole country and all its inhabitants. This was already proclaimed in 538 and 541 by the Roman Emperor Justinian, and it was articulated again in 1635 by the German lawyer Benediktvon Carpzow: ''Christians should take strong action against sodomites, for God orders this expressly. He condemns this crime so strongly that he visits the sons unbelief with famine, pestilence, war, earthquakes, floods, and other general disasters.'' Later commentators didn't think this severe enough and added still to God's ingenuity ''the invasion by the Saracenes and a pest of fat, greedy mice.''<br>		Sexual contacts of men with boys were considered ''sodomy'' because the partners were of the same gender. As such, it was said to deserve capital punishment. For - so said theologians and lawyers unanimously - if the authorities tolerate such abomination on their territory, God's wrath will fall upon the whole country and all its inhabitants. This was already proclaimed in 538 and 541 by the Roman Emperor Justinian, and it was articulated again in 1635 by the German lawyer Benediktvon Carpzow: "Christians should take strong action against sodomites, for God orders this expressly. He condemns this crime so strongly that he visits the sons unbelief with famine, pestilence, war, earthquakes, floods, and other general disasters." Later commentators didn't think this severe enough and added still to God's ingenuity "the invasion by the Saracenes and a pest of fat, greedy mice."<br>
	<br>		<br>
	Why this fury? The Emperor Justinian quoted the Bible story of Sodom and Gomorrah. A critical reading would have shown that this tale doesn't discredit homosexuality at all. But if you can discover in the Bible a pretext to hurt your neighbor, then why spoil such a pleasant situation by reading critically?		Why this fury? The Emperor Justinian quoted the Bible story of Sodom and Gomorrah. A critical reading would have shown that this tale doesn't discredit homosexuality at all. But if you can discover in the Bible a pretext to hurt your neighbor, then why spoil such a pleasant situation by reading critically?
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	<h2>Hermeneutics to the rescue</h2>		<h2>Hermeneutics to the rescue</h2>

	Let's look at the facts. Lot took up his residence in Sodom, in spite of the local people having a very bad repute. Two angels, in the shape of handsome young men, begged the hospitality of his home, and then all male inhabitants of the city, young and old, assembled in front of Lot's house and wanted to rape the attractive strangers. Of course this whole population cannot entirely have consisted of ''gay'' males in the modern sense of the term. Lot, ''a God-fearing and pious man'' resisted this encroachment on the protection he owed to his guests and proposed to the rioting crowd to let them rather abuse his two virgin daughters: ''Do with them as you want!'' (In the Old Testament the personhood of girls was evidently not so much taken into account, even by holy and pious men!) His proposal proves that Lot also didn't see the crowd as purely ''gay'' oriented; it was simply a dissolute gang, bent on having sex in one way or the other, as was usual in a period where the gender of the sexual partner was of less importance than its youth and beauty.<br>		Let's look at the facts. Lot took up his residence in Sodom, in spite of the local people having a very bad repute. Two angels, in the shape of handsome young men, begged the hospitality of his home, and then all male inhabitants of the city, young and old, assembled in front of Lot's house and wanted to rape the attractive strangers. Of course this whole population cannot entirely have consisted of "gay" males in the modern sense of the term. Lot, "a God-fearing and pious man" resisted this encroachment on the protection he owed to his guests and proposed to the rioting crowd to let them rather abuse his two virgin daughters: "Do with them as you want!" (In the Old Testament the personhood of girls was evidently not so much taken into account, even by holy and pious men!) His proposal proves that Lot also didn't see the crowd as purely "gay" oriented; it was simply a dissolute gang, bent on having sex in one way or the other, as was usual in a period where the gender of the sexual partner was of less importance than its youth and beauty.<br>
	<br>		<br>
	Even better than this story, biblical scholars could apparently invoke texts from the book of Leviticus that forbid men to sleep with men as they do with women. But here something else is wrong. In the region of Canaan, where Leviticus is set, the inhabitants traditionally venerated the temple prostitutes - boys and girls - like saints. Boy prostitutes, in particular, were considered superior to all other servants in the temple and equal in rank to priests. When the Jews conquered this country, they wanted to do away with every reminiscence of this old religion and culture. Any individual celebrating the ancient rituals was beaten to death. The kedeschot, the ''saints'' of the Canaanites, were now reviled as ''dogs.'' The striking violence of these laws makes it evident that the old traditions were not easily abolished. To venerate a deity by sexual abandonment is so in keeping with human nature that it even became popular with the Jews themselves. During three centuries, until the Babylonian exile, the Jews also had their ''kadesh'' (male temple prostitutes), in spite of the violent attacks on this cult from the prophets.		Even better than this story, biblical scholars could apparently invoke texts from the book of Leviticus that forbid men to sleep with men as they do with women. But here something else is wrong. In the region of Canaan, where Leviticus is set, the inhabitants traditionally venerated the temple prostitutes - boys and girls - like saints. Boy prostitutes, in particular, were considered superior to all other servants in the temple and equal in rank to priests. When the Jews conquered this country, they wanted to do away with every reminiscence of this old religion and culture. Any individual celebrating the ancient rituals was beaten to death. The kedeschot, the "saints" of the Canaanites, were now reviled as "dogs." The striking violence of these laws makes it evident that the old traditions were not easily abolished. To venerate a deity by sexual abandonment is so in keeping with human nature that it even became popular with the Jews themselves. During three centuries, until the Babylonian exile, the Jews also had their "kadesh" (male temple prostitutes), in spite of the violent attacks on this cult from the prophets.

	<h2>Piety and mercy</h2>		<h2>Piety and mercy</h2>
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	<h2>Beware, empire builders</h2>		<h2>Beware, empire builders</h2>

	Looking at the history of the Occident, we see periods of cultural ebb-tide. In between come golden times. Then the arts flower, and there are many great poets, authors, and thinkers. These ''golden centuries'' are always characterized by sexual exuberance, for enterprising and creative people are full of vital impulses, and sex is an expression of this vitality. The brightest, the most energetic, vigorous and lively boys, on the average, become sexually active long in advance of their stupid, dull, timid, and inert comrades. In the same way. in those eras wherein the intellect and the artistic sense thrive, people are not so easily curbed by the irrational taboos of so-called morality. They listen with an open mind to the demands of body and spirit.<br>		Looking at the history of the Occident, we see periods of cultural ebb-tide. In between come golden times. Then the arts flower, and there are many great poets, authors, and thinkers. These "golden centuries" are always characterized by sexual exuberance, for enterprising and creative people are full of vital impulses, and sex is an expression of this vitality. The brightest, the most energetic, vigorous and lively boys, on the average, become sexually active long in advance of their stupid, dull, timid, and inert comrades. In the same way. in those eras wherein the intellect and the artistic sense thrive, people are not so easily curbed by the irrational taboos of so-called morality. They listen with an open mind to the demands of body and spirit.<br>
	<br>		<br>
	The brilliant historian Arnold Toynbee perceived a connection between the decline of a civilization and sexophobia. If American students clamorously declare that they won't spoil their precious time with sex because they can employ their forces in a more rewarding way, and people join in numbers the ''Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous'' to get rid of their ''addiction'' to sex and love, exactly like one wants to fight his addiction to alcohol and drugs, this could be seen as a bad omen for the future of the American world power.<br>		The brilliant historian Arnold Toynbee perceived a connection between the decline of a civilization and sexophobia. If American students clamorously declare that they won't spoil their precious time with sex because they can employ their forces in a more rewarding way, and people join in numbers the "Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous" to get rid of their "addiction" to sex and love, exactly like one wants to fight his addiction to alcohol and drugs, this could be seen as a bad omen for the future of the American world power.<br>

	<hr>		<hr>