History 261 Sex After Shakespeare Keywords

excommunication

Most serious punishment by the church, excluded from church and no one can buy/sell from you

Puritans

Sought to “purify” Church of England; Oliver Cromwell in 1650, changed a bunch of laws

The Adultery Act

1650 act that if with a married woman or incest, both parties would receive the death penalty

4 exceptions: raped; didn’t know she was married; husband basically dead; married man (considered fornication and 3 months imprisonment)

The Buggery Act

1533 act death penalty for anal penetration of man, woman, or animal (abt dozen prosecutions from 1533-1660)

tribade

woman who has sex with other women (large clitoris…)

sodomite

anyone who commits sodomy; anachronism for homosexuality

Problemata of Aristotle

written before the 6th century AD and rediscovered ~1300 (not by Aristotle) asked questions including “why do some men enjoy sex with other men?” and answered “vessels with semen blocked and go to butt,” aka it’s due to anatomy and natural

John Atherton

Bishop of Waterford in the Church of Ireland. He and John Childe (his steward) were both executed for buggery in 1640

Pamphlets

in place of books…

Frances Howard

2 husbands, with the second one he had a favorite who died in prison after saying he was going to reveal all of their gay secrets, then they were charged with his murder

John Stubbe

released a pamphlet…right hand was cut off