2014-07-06

Bending Over In Renaissance Florence

I guess it's gay Sunday.

"By Rocke's reckoning homosexuality really was pervasive in Florence. In the small city of just 40,000 people, he estimates that 17,000 men were incriminated on charges of "sodomy" during the 70 year existence of the Office of the Night. That amounts, he points out, to nearly half the male population of the city during two generations. Whether Rocke's population estimates are accurate or not, such a prevalence for allegations of sodomy is remarkable and would appear to implicate a substantial minority of the male population over two generations. And that estimate no doubt misses others who did not come to judicial notice.

To explain the high number of sodomy reports, Rocke points to the city's unusually late average age of marriage for men, roughly 30 to 31, and the large number of men who remained lifelong bachelors-approximately 12 percent of the male population.

These facts produced a large population of young, unrooted, sexually vigorous males in a city where many women were sheltered by their families or otherwise inaccessible. This led many men to engage in sex with other males. Unsurprisingly, most of those accused of sodomy, or who voluntarily confessed, were younger than 35 or unmarried older men."


So gay.

Absence of women drove men to homosexual activity.

I reckon this is an example of males volunteering to do so as opposed to being born as such.



By Rocke's reckoning homosexuality really was pervasive in Florence. In the small city of just 40,000 people, he estimates that 17,000 men were incriminated on charges of "sodomy" during the 70 year existence of the Office of the Night. That amounts, he points out, to nearly half the male population of the city during two generations. Whether Rocke's population estimates are accurate or not, such a prevalence for allegations of sodomy is remarkable and would appear to implicate a substantial minority of the male population over two generations. And that estimate no doubt misses others who did not come to judicial notice.
To explain the high number of sodomy reports, Rocke points to the city's unusually late average age of marriage for men, roughly 30 to 31, and the large number of men who remained lifelong bachelors-approximately 12 percent of the male population.
These facts produced a large population of young, unrooted, sexually vigorous males in a city where many women were sheltered by their families or otherwise inaccessible. This led many men to engage in sex with other males. Unsurprisingly, most of those accused of sodomy, or who voluntarily confessed, were younger than 35 or unmarried older men.
- See more at: http://igfculturewatch.com/1998/05/28/homosexuality-in-renaissance-florence/#sthash.ZuK49lA4.dpuf
By Rocke's reckoning homosexuality really was pervasive in Florence. In the small city of just 40,000 people, he estimates that 17,000 men were incriminated on charges of "sodomy" during the 70 year existence of the Office of the Night. That amounts, he points out, to nearly half the male population of the city during two generations. Whether Rocke's population estimates are accurate or not, such a prevalence for allegations of sodomy is remarkable and would appear to implicate a substantial minority of the male population over two generations. And that estimate no doubt misses others who did not come to judicial notice.
To explain the high number of sodomy reports, Rocke points to the city's unusually late average age of marriage for men, roughly 30 to 31, and the large number of men who remained lifelong bachelors-approximately 12 percent of the male population.
These facts produced a large population of young, unrooted, sexually vigorous males in a city where many women were sheltered by their families or otherwise inaccessible. This led many men to engage in sex with other males. Unsurprisingly, most of those accused of sodomy, or who voluntarily confessed, were younger than 35 or unmarried older men.
- See more at: http://igfculturewatch.com/1998/05/28/homosexuality-in-renaissance-florence/#sthash.ZuK49lA4.dpuf

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous7/08/2014

    To explain the high number of sodomy reports, Rocke points to the city's unusually late average age of marriage for men, roughly 30 to 31, and the large number of men who remained lifelong bachelors-approximately 12 percent of the male population.

    These facts produced a large population of young, unrooted, sexually vigorous males in a city where many women were sheltered by their families or otherwise inaccessible. This led many men to engage in sex with other males. Unsurprisingly, most of those accused of sodomy, or who voluntarily confessed, were younger than 35 or unmarried older men."

    It may be a factor, and number crunching is always useful. But, allow me, I don’t think this picture to be exact, historically & culturally (eg diacronia & sincronia) since it lacks a wider (holistic) view that Italians tend to have, and that comes from the ancient world.

    I mean - I preached it in my blog for 7 years lol - the Renaissance was not a partial return to paganism, it was in some way already pagan from the start and at times it was more pagan than the pagans (ALL Renaissance paintings – Bronzino WOW, statues, the works of L’Aretino and so forth, the followers of Decameron in literature etc … the list could be long 10 pages).

    And in pagan times homosexuality was not such a big deal, we may like it or not.

    It is more evident here in Italy and especially in Rome where in every museum of Greco-roman statues - there are paintings too btw - you see numerous statues or just heads whose gender is uncertain: a man, a woman, both?

    [leaving alone for once books like Virgil (Rome’s Dante preferred boys to girls and was Dante's model of thought and writing - , Plato etc. which in any case are important and inspired Christianity: Sant’Agostino, a father of the Church, liked Virgil - who doesn't like Him - and especially Plato immensely, Agostino is Neo-Platonic himself and didn’t mind about Plato’s – and Socrate’s, Plato’s mentor – homosexuality even if he didn’t like homosexuality, as a reaction to ALL that was pagan]
    __________________

    I am here though for another reason.

    There is a debate going on over at my blog about the future of Europe. It is a series (my last 2 posts):

    “Where is Europe going? Wide ranging dialogues at the Man of Roma’s cafe. 1″
    “Where is Europe going? Piero Boitani’s letter to David Cameron (debate at the Man of Roma’s cafe). 2″

    Professor Piero Boitani allowed me to publish his letter to the British PM David Cameron he just sent to the London’s daily The Independent.

    It is creating some strife, because Boitani’s voice is loud and clear and is a many-generations Roman like me (only, *immensely* more successful: he is Fellow of the British Academy and Honorary Member of the Dante Society of America - together with Umberto Eco - among a list of successes, cariche ecc that is mind-boggling, you can search the wiki, entry Piero Boitani. Andreas Kluth now Berlin Bureau chief of the Economist (he’s half German so they sent him there), Richard (our London’s lawyer), Sledpress (the redhead witch from Virginia), Cheri Milady, Andy (the Englishman living in Milan, decent, discreet), Christopher & Paul, your fellow Canadians etc. they are ALL there, debating (and strifing, which is good, giornalisticamente parlando: pls tell Douglas btw, we badly need more Americans.)

    In short – I am never short – WE NEED YOU, Alessandro. We really do. Vedi quello che puoi fa cumpà.

    PS
    Dirai che sono gesuitico. Exactly, I am.

    Like this Pope from Piedmont (ogni piemontese è diplomatico, vedi Cavour, che ha fatto l’Italia contro tutti: contro la Francia, contro il papa etc.), who not by chance was at the head the Jesuits and now is guiding our Church with a very intelligent (and a true, francescano) pure heart.

    Ad maiora

    Man of Roma

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous7/08/2014

    Brazil ... :-(

    ReplyDelete

Mysterious and anonymous comments as well as those laced with cyanide and ad hominen attacks will be deleted. Thank you for your attention, chumps.