Sodomy and Heresy In Early Modern Switzerland

The author compares records, form the early modern era, of sodomy trials in two parts of French Switzerland (Geneva, and Protestant city, and Fribourg, and Catholic pastoral area) and presents evidence that: (1) men charged with "sodomy" were prosecuted more often for homosexuality in cities and for bestiality in rural areas, (2) male homosexual subcultures were associated with the growth of large urban centers, (3) sodomy was punished with greater severity than any other crime than infanticide, (4) in both Geneva and Fribourg repression of sodomy increased during periods of religious zeal. With the advent of the Enlightenment, the number of sodomy trails fell as prosecutions for crimes of personal violence declined and prosecutions for crimes against property increased. This is the first English translation of Monter's article, originally written in French.