Most of these authors were churchmen who, in addition to writing on standard religious themes, also wrote works boldly celebrating love between men. Although a significant amount of literature resulted from this homosexual subculture, very little visual art was produced. Saslow has suggested that this was due to differences in patronage and audience for visual material, for whereas poems were private (easier to hide), inexpensive, and more accessible to the average sympathetic reader, paintings and sculptures were costly and required collective workshops that functioned in public view (Saslow, p.63). Moreover, the majority of artists were patronised by the church and any visual expression of homosexual feelings would have been frowned upon. An exception to this, however, is found in Romanesque architectural sculpture of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The best known carving of this period containing homosexual content comes from the pilgrimage church of La Madeleine at Vézelay, built between 1096 and 1137. A capital from one of the church’s nave pillars shows the rape of Ganymede story (Saslow, p.64).
In addition to the designs on the church of Saint Madeleine at Vézelay, other architectural sculptures of the eleventh and twelfth centuries in both France and Spain provide additional graphic illustrations of homosexuality.
In Romanesque Spain and at Sémalay in south-western France, for example, there exist architectural details showing male couples performing sodomy. At La Chaize-le-Vicomte, a column capital shows a pair of copulating monkeys to symbolise the bestiality associated with sodomy. At Châteaumeillant, another sculptured capital depicts two bearded men embracing and kissing, one with his erect penis exposed. Carved above this latter couple is the Latin phrase bac rusticani mixti (loosely translated as “Look at these crazy peasants”). At Cahors, sodomy is among the sins depicted in the blocks carved over the door ways. All of these works are unique compared to other medieval sculptures and have long intrigued and puzzled scholars (Saslow, p.65). Because these images were all depicted in pilgrimage churches leads many to believe that they most likely functioned as moralising sculptures intended to warn pilgrims against such sins.
45. David and Jonathan, 13th century.
Illuminated manuscript. The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York.
Despite church invectives against it, sodomy had become so visible by the late 1100s that church and state authorities felt compelled to root it out entirely. A series of heavy-handed reforms followed. In 1123, the Roman Catholic Church formally demanded celibacy of all the clergy who had, by that time, gained a notorious reputation for engaging in sodomy. The Third Lateran Council of 1179 specifically condemned sodomy and decreed excommunication for any member of the clergy or laity found guilty of this “crime against nature”. Heterosexual marriage was also strictly regulated and divorce was forbidden. In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council required every believer to make regular confession to a priest. The Papal Inquisition was made permanent in 1233 to target all heretical acts and beliefs. By 1300, a slew of new civil laws decreed the death penalty for sodomy. Also, homoerotic poetry almost entirely disappeared. Art during these trying times was used primarily as propaganda in reinforcing the anti-sodomy message.
There were several forces besides religious and moral ones that contributed to the crackdown on sodomy during this period. For example, there was a growing fear of low birth rates and diminishing population. Hence an intolerance of non-procreative sex resulted. Another force was religious pietism spearheaded by monks of the Franciscan and Dominican orders. Lastly, feudalism began to break down and harsh political rivalries developed. An accusation of sodomy was one sure and effective way of eliminating one’s political enemy.
The single greatest religious force during this period was Saint Thomas Aquinas, whose thirteenth-century Summa Theologica (1267–73) reigned for centuries as the standard authority on Catholic moral theology. This text reinforced Saint Paul’s strictures against homosexual behaviour as it had been noted in Romans 1:27. His strict moral sanctions were based not only on the Bible, but on a distortion of Aristotle’s ideas regarding pederasty in antiquity and on his own understanding and acceptance of biblical tradition (Johansson & Percy, p.175). In the Summa, Aquinas put forth arguments directed specifically against sodomy, ranking it as a crime second only to murder (Saslow, pp.67–8). Aquinas was a member of the Dominican order which orchestrated the Inquisition and took an aggressive stance against heresy and sin. The Dominicans had expressed vehement opposition against same-sex marriages and, in fact, destroyed many pages that described such ceremonies.
46. Jesus and Saint John the Beloved, c. 1300.
Painted and gilded wood sculpture.
Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin.
47. Group of Christ and of Saint John of Sigmaringen, 1330.
Polychrome and gilded walnut. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin.
Despite disdain for same-sex unions by Aquinas and the Dominicans, the story of David and Jonathan appeared regularly during this period in a popular spiritual manual called the Somme le roi and was illustrated numerous times throughout the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. In it, vices were listed and paired with their virtuous opposites. The Somme le roi was originally assembled for the French king Philip III and served as a layman’s guide to moral issues (Saslow, p.73). The story of David and Jonathan served as an example of chaste same-sex friendship.
The special relationship between David and Jonathan was narrated in the biblical First Book of Samuel and tells the story of Jonathan, the son of King Saul, who formed an intimate friendship with David, a handsome shepherd who played the harp and who later became a soldier and slew Goliath. In 1 Samuel 18:1, the narrator proclaims that “the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David,” and that “Jonathan loved him (David) as his own soul”. Jonathan’s father, Saul, disapproved of the special bond between his son and David and forced the latter to flee the court. The two friends embraced and then parted sorrowfully. The biblical narration describes how “they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded” (1 Samuel 20:41). Jonathan then went into battle alongside his father and was killed by the Philistines. David was then crowned king. Upon hearing the news of Jonathan’s demise, David lamented: “The beauty of Israel is slain upon the high places; how are the mighty fallen!… I am very distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love was wonderful, passing the love of women.” (2 Samuel 1: 19–26). David’s elegy for Jonathan has been put to use as a religiously sanctioned means of expressing male same-sex desire. The sad moment of their parting has been iconographically related to Saint John the Evangelist’s (also known as “the beloved disciple”) tenderly laying his head on Jesus’ bosom – a scene that has allowed for the representation of physical and emotional intimacy between men in religious art. The pairing of Jesus and Saint John had been frequently represented in manuscript illuminations one century before that of David and Jonathan. As a couple, they became very popular in German sculpture after 1300.
Despite the proliferation of images of spiritual love between same-sex couples, there also arose at this time in France, Italy, and England, stories of homosexual love in vernacular writing that began to supplement biblical writings. At the time, works of both ancient mythology and biblical scripture were translated and adapted with commentaries and illustrations intended to reinforce orthodox interpretations (Saslow, p.69). Titles like the Ovide moralisé (moralised Ovid) and the Bible moralisée (moralised Bible) attempted to “purify” or “moralise” ancient sources by condemning their previous sexual ethic and employing allegory (Saslow, p.69). The Bible moralisée, a compendium of texts and images compiled by thirteenth-century French royal theologians, and revised and copied throughout the fourteenth century, was amply illustrated. Twin illustrations were typically paired in circular frames to highlight a particular moral. In one edition, now located in Oxford, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is linked