ABSTRACT

Historical sources include chronicles, documents and letters. These have not been used in any systematic way for the study of sexuality probably because information on sexuality within them is scarce and scattered. Most of the historical sources mention sexual incidents as scandals or anecdotes within a larger narrative. Some (like Gerald of Wales or William of Malmesbury) pass on rumors without any attempt to determine their accuracy, and this casual attitude toward truth has also no doubt made historians reluctant to depend upon their accounts to develop a history of sexuality. Nevertheless, the way scandals were reported and the selection of anecdotes (real or not) reveals at least the chroniclers’ attitudes toward sexuality. The infrequency with which historians of sexuality have used these materials means I did not have many citations from which to draw as I was compiling this section. Thus my list of historical sources is the least comprehensive of all these chapters of primary sources. It must only serve as a beginning.