Sodomy In Seventeenth-Century England

As a sociologist, Kai T. Erikson looks at history as a reflection of changes in societal norms and expectations. Erikson re-visits his look at historical happenings of the Puritans in his novel “Wayward Puritans: A Study in the Sociology of Deviance”. By examining several “crime waves” throughout history, Erikson points out several aspects of how we see deviance. After researching Puritan lifestyle and the corresponding influences of deviance, Erikson explores the Antinomian Controversy, the Quaker Invasion, and the Witches of Salem Village.

Puritans and reformers of seventeenth century England have been given a bad name for their part in history. This is primarily because they were working against the grain and trying to create change in world that saw change as a threat. The time period was turbulent and there was bound to be resistance in a world that was dominated by Catholics and those that had reformed to abide by their King’s law. The puritans of the time were considered extreme and rubbed people the wrong way because they wanted a world that abided by their morals and ethical codes. For this, they took the blame for the misery that many suffered during this age, but as we see in Fire from Heaven, this is not a fair assessment. The Puritans of this time wanted to improve the lives of the people and society as a whole through morality and purity.

During the 1630’s, there was a group known as, the Puritans. The Puritans immigrated from England to America, for the sole purpose of religious freedom and their belief that the church of England needed reform. Puritan author’s, Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards, conveyed their messages and beliefs in their writing . For these two authors, they were working around the same foundation, Puritanism, for the intended messages. Admittedly, there is a disconnection in belief between the two. Edward’s writings take Puritanism to the extreme whilst Bradstreet’s works show a more traditional view in the religion while staying true to it.

The setting took place at the time when the English immigrated to North America with the belief that the English church was not strict enough. Because the immigrants were extremely religious, they had formed a new church known as Puritan Christianity. In addition, the Puritans believed that there was no separation between the church and the justice system. One must follow the Ten Commandments strictly, or else they will be punished to the fullest extent of the law. The reverends or the judges, those who were responsible for resolving any legal matters, were said to be the ones pulling through God’s will. Ultimately, the punishments brought upon the accused were extreme, as they were either publicly whipped, had their ears removed, or were ordered to be hanged.

“Punishment for such serious sexual crimes could be severe. Thomas Granger of Plymouth, a boy of seventeen or so, was indicted in 1642 for buggery "with a mare, a cow, two goats, five sheep, two calves and a turkey." Granger was hanged; the animals, for their part in the affair, were executed according to the law, Leviticus 20.15, and "cast into a great and large pit that was digged for the purpose for them, and no use was made of any part of them” (Cox 1). Present day and Puritan communities use physical consequences as a result of unlawful actions. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore use similes and atmosphere to show that physical consequences result from unlawful actions.

The pressure and consequences of puritan lifestyle is shown in “their creed forbade anything resembling a theater , vain enjoyment, They did not celebrate christmas, or holidays from work meant only that they must concentrate even more upon prayer”. This quote shows how the puritans society suppresses individuality. To the extent that most human desires were evil , even salem foulk believed that the virgin forest was the devils last preserve. What makes this puritan lifestyle such a burden was the predilection . ”Minding others people's business was time honored among the people of salom”. This created the suspicions that would lead to the trials .

how the Stamford trials contrast with the infamous Salem witch trials that took place the same year. The charge of witchcraft preyed on the fears of the community and had the potential to turn townspeople against one another. Witchcraft could also be a difficult crime to prove as most of the evidence was circumstantial; putting the burden of weighing evidence and overseeing due process on the courts of the time. This paper will argue that the alleged victim, Kate Branch, feigned illness to secure her place within the Westcot household by accusing their rivals of witchcraft as well as examine the effect of these accusations on Stamford and how the courts navigated the evidence presented in the case.

In the trial of Anne Hutchinson, we meet a well intentioned yet lost people described and labelled as the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Company. These self governing Puritans, once a people who sought God to set them on their way, settled only to be found as a people who simply lost their way. This journey to lost began when first motivated by a desire for religious reform and separation from the liturgy, ceremonies and practices of the Church of England. Once they banned together, they set on their way and traveled in groups to the New World. With the Word of God as their ultimate authority and the desire for a personal relationship with God, these people landed in Boston in 1630 united to self govern the newly founded Massachussets Bay Colony. Unfortunatly, this self rule resulted in a government of intolerance, fear and a liturgy not much different from what was once found in the Church of England. A system designed to set apart outward morality, or sanctification, to strengthen the authority of the Church only worked to neglect the place of true piety purposed to strengthen the spiritual lives of the people it served.

The ideals of the Arbella sermon do not seem to influence the judgments of the Suffolk County Court or the testimony against Bridget Bishop. Michael Johnson, author of Reading the American Past, notes that, "the court records of Suffolk County between 1671 and 1673...illustrate the New Englanders deviated from the highest aspirations of the Puritan founders and that courts did what they could to curb those deviations" (52-53). The theme of love in Winthrop's sermon must have gone unaffected judging by the type of cases in Suffolk County. For example, a wife was sentenced to be whipped ten times or pay a twenty Shilling fine to the County for striking her husband. For being drunk and abusing his wife, John Veering was punished by being whipped thirty times and humiliated by standing in the open marketplace with a sign across his chest declaring his guilt. It is obvious that the ideals of the Arbella sermon were not present in the case against Bridget Bishop. She was accused of witchcraft and eight days after her trial she was the first accused witch to be hung in Salem. Once again, love is not evident in either of the two works.

The author’s purpose was “to point out the puritans, those bogeymen of the modern intellectual, are not responsible for [the squeamishness of the facts of life].” (p 17) The author was very successful in his objective. The author’s use of actual court documentations furthers the author’s effectiveness. Anyone can just say that people have it all wrong about the puritans but the historical proof is what really changed my perception.

“These scholars note that Victorians often bowed to conformity, concealing their true natures and tastes and pretending to adhere to social norms. Some Victorians passed themselves off as more pious or moral than they really were. But in reality, pornographic literature and prostitution were common phenomena during the late nineteenth century, showing that some Victorians only pretended to lead chaste lives.”(Joyce Moss)

There are many ways to decide what makes a man guilty. In an ethical sense, there is more to guilt than just committing the crime. In Charles Brockden Browns’ Wieland, the reader is presented with a moral dilemma: is Theodore Wieland guilty of murdering his wife and children, even though he claims that the command came from God, or is Carwin guilty because of his history of using persuasive voices, even though his role in the Wieland family’s murder is questionable? To answer these questions, one must consider what determines guilt, such as responsibility, motives, consequences, and the act itself. No matter which view is taken on what determines a man’s guilt, it can be concluded that

Throughout history, there are lesser-known occurrences in which Historians can make assertions about the society in that time period as a whole. The conviction, execution and alleged resurrection of William Cragh is one such occurrence. In The Hanged Man, Robert Bartlett writes of a man who was executed, but allegedly rose from the dead in the Middle Ages. The story of William Cragh is not only a riveting anecdote, but also, an insightful look at the legal system of the Middle Ages. The Hanged Man helps to explain the relationship between England and Wales, the legal process that led to hanging, as well as societal perceptions of criminals and outlaws in the Medieval Period. Robert Bartlett is able to present a complicated historical event through the language of an everyday person. The Hanged Man is a great example of accessible historical nonfiction, bringing an understanding of the Middle Ages to a broad audience.

England has a reasonable repute for cruelty. A mutual awareness of the Middle Ages is that society was abused by continuous violence and social indifference against fatalities by the insistent dignity of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse continuously pushing back and forth across Europe.

One key player in the fight against homosexuality was the all-powerful England. The first English civil law against sodomy was passed by Parliament in 1533. "In Act - 25 Henry 8, Chapter 6 which begins "Forasmuch as there is not yet sufficient and condign punishment appointed and limited by the due course of the Laws of this Realm, for the