Sex, Dissidence and Damnation

Jeffrey Richards examines dissent and the persecution of heretics, witches, Jews, lepers and homosexuals in the Middle Ages, and argues that the common motive for their punishment was sexual aberrance.

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For the authorities in medieval Europe, dissent struck at the roots of an ordered, settled world. It was to be crushed - initially by reason and argument, eventually by torture. Jeffrey Richards examines the wretched lives of heretics, witches, Jews, lepers and homosexuals and uncovers a common motive for their persecution: sexual aberrance.