Medieval writings on sex between men : : Peter Damian's the book of Gomorrah and Alain de Lille's the plaint of nature / / introduced and translated from the Latin by David Rollo.

• Superior document: Explorations in medieval culture ; Volume 19
• TeilnehmendeR: Rollo, David,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, [2022]; ©2022
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Series: Explorations in medieval culture ; Volume 19.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (194 pages)
• Notes: David Rollo translates, for the first time together, Peter Damian’s Book of Gomorrah and Alain de Lille’s The Plaint of Nature, the most famous medieval writings on male same-sex relations. He also provides critical commentaries to situate both in historical and cultural context.

What happens if a cleric breaks his vows of sexual abstinence? What happens if the cleric in question does so repeatedly with other men of his vocation? Eleventh-century theologian Peter Damian provides a response. What happens if an author uses metaphor as a metaphor signifying and excoriating male same-sex relations, yet does so in a text showing an exuberant and unabashed orientation towards metaphorical language? Is the author in question rhetorically perpetrating precisely the so-called affront to nature he grammatically denounces? Twelfth-century poet Alain de Lille enacts an ambiguously enigmatic response.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements -- General Introduction -- 1 Peter Damian, The Book of Gomorrah -- 2 Alain de Lille, The Plaint of Nature -- 3 Importance to Medieval Studies -- 4 Existing Translations -- 5 Approach to Translation, Notes, and Sources -- 6 Terminology -- Part 1: Peter Damian, The Book of Gomorrah (Liber Gomorrhianus) -- Peter Damian: Life -- Critical Commentary -- Text -- Part 2: Alain de Lille, The Plaint of Nature (De planctu Naturae) -- Alain de Lille: Life -- Critical Commentary -- Text -- Bibliography -- Index.