The Sodomy Consultant of Paris

Bibliographic Data

ID8940644
AuthorsBenjamin Bernard (0000-0002-0333-5493, Canarie, corresponding author), Benjamin S Bernard
Year2025
Volume48
Issue3
Pages385-416
Publication date2025-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrench Historical Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0016-1071 • E-ISSN: 1527-5493
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1215/00161071-11781717
OpenAlexW4414600362
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited40

Through the 1720s in Paris, the morals bureau of the Lieutenancy General of Police tracked so-called sodomites through the gardens and alleyways of the city, arresting and imprisoning several hundred people. How did the morals police learn enough about this “sodomitical subculture” to police it effectively? This article demonstrates the central role played by Nicolas Théru, a grammar regent at the Collège Mazarin from 1688 until his retirement in 1732. By day this abbot taught teenage boys Latin, but by night he managed information collected firsthand and secondhand to help police arrest queer men. While such activities may seem surprising for a teacher, they fit the collège's imperial mission for the ethical instruction of elite provincial youth following absolutist conquest. The case illustrates how modern policing of sodomy emerged from the moral aims of higher-education institutions under absolutism

Elite · Grammar school · Queer · Regent · Sodomy · Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes

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