Sex, Dissidence and Damnation Minority Groups in the Middle Ages

For the authorities in medieval Europe, both secular and ecclesiastical, dissent struck at the roots of an ordered, settled world. To allow a single heretic to escape just punishment would, it was believed, result in the decay and dissolution of the whole struture of society. So dissent was to be extirpated - initially by reason and argument, then with increasing savagery: by torture and imprisonment, fire and the sword. In examining the wretched lives of heretics, witches, Jews, lepers and homosexuals, Jeffrey Richards has uncovered a common motive for their persecution: supposed sexual aberrance. 'Scrupulously researched and academically invaluable, this book is also fascinating for anyone who cares about the way society treats its minorities.' Wales on SundayRichards, Jeffrey is the author of 'Sex, Dissidence and Damnation Minority Groups in the Middle Ages', published 1994 under ISBN 9780415071475 and ISBN 041507147X.