Gossip, defamation and sodomy in the early modern Southern Netherlands

Abstract

AbstractThe article discusses the role played by rumour and gossip in denouncing the act of sodomy and in trying to prosecute sodomites in the early modern Southern Low Countries. Although sodomy was considered an ‘unmentionable vice' in the early modern period, this article argues that sodomy was a popular subject among urban slanderers in the region. Consequently, denunciation was a common way of identifying sodomites, and early modern authorities were often forced to take action because of local gossip. Using trial records and bailiff accounts dating from 1400 to 1700, this article analyses the different ways in which rumours about sodomy were disseminated in early modern urban society. In doing so, this essay aims to nuance the idea that the political elites were the main engine behind the persecution of sodomites and reveals the important role urban gossip and sexual slander played in early modern sodomy trials.