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The standard history of antihomosexual legislation states that lesbian acts were not punished by medieval or later laws. This essay challenges this view by documenting capital laws since 1270 in Europe and America. A major influence was Paul's condemnation in Romans I, 26. By 1400, the lex foedissimam, and edict of the Emperors Diocletian and Maximianus, issued in 287, was interpreted to justify the death penalty. Execution took place in Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, and Spain. A brief survey of presently known male deaths in Europe and the Americas, which number about 400, also is included. This study draws on canon law and the commentaries of such jurists as Cino da Pistoia, Saliceto, Lopez, Gomez, Farinacio, Cotton, Carpzow, Sinistrari, de Vouglans, and Jousse. It also discusses the records of a German trail of 1721, published elsewhere in this issue that also led to the execution of women. Dr. Crompton is in the Department of English, University of Nebraska, and Lincoln, Nebraska 68588. He wishes to express his gratitude to Dr. Stanley Vandersall for valuable help in translating several of the Latin sources.
Louis Crompton (Thu,) studied this question.