The Demons' Reaction to Sodomy

This study draws on theological and demonological works that discuss demons' reaction to sodomy, and concentrates on Gianfrancesco Pico's 1523 dialogue Strix. While the medieval theological view stressed the demons' abhorrence of sodomy and refrainment from engaging in sodomitical relations, fifteenth-century demonologists already found it difficult to reconcile such a view with the newly developed theory of diabolic witchcraft. During the sixteenth century, the notion of the demons' disgust at sodomy was radically transformed. This transformation was gradual, but in Strix the shift away from the traditional view was already decisive. The article examines Pico's original configuration of the relations between sodomy and witchcraft, and suggests a few possible reasons for his decision to challenge the medieval notion.These include the influence of Girolamo Savonarola's antisodomy campaign, the growing emphasis on demonic sex in sixteenth-century demonology, and the predominance of men among the alleged witches in the Mirandolese witchcraft trials, in which Pico was personally involved

Art · Homosexuality · Sociology · Sodomy · Gender Studies · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Philosophy · Renaissance and Early Modern Studies

• Debating the Devil’s Clergy. Demonology and the Media in Dialogue with Trials (14th to 17th Century)

  Open Access•Rita Voltmer•Religions•2019

  Incluir item

• Traditions and Trajectories in the Historiography of European Witch Hunting

  Open Access•Thomas A Fudge•History Compass•2006

  Incluir item

• Dominicans and Demons

  Laura Ackerman Smoller•Speculum•2018

  Incluir item