Description
For the authorities in medieval Europe, dissent struck at the roots of an ordered, settled world. It was to be crushed - initially by reason and argument, eventually by torture. Jeffrey Richards examines the wretched lives of heretics, witches, Jews, lepers and homosexuals and uncovers a common motive for their persecution: sexual aberrance.
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Richards portrays medieval Europe as lacking in tolerance for any form of dissent or deviant behavior. In an era that awaited the imminent arrival of the Second Coming, the Church held populations to rigid standards of conduct, and explained every threat to its authority in terms of sexual perversion. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
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