ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores Christianity and the regulation of sexual attitudes and activities from roughly 1500 to 1750, both in Europe and in areas of the world being colonized by European powers. It draws history of sexuality, the history of colonialism and its theoretical branch, post-colonial theory, in which questions of identity, agency, and the cultural construction of difference have also been central areas of inquiry. The book surveys learned and popular notions of sexuality, both Christian, and, in areas beyond Europe, non-Christian. It discusses the development and operation of Christian institutions, such as law codes, courts, prisons, and marital regulations, as well as actual changes in such areas as marriage, divorce, illegitimacy, sanctioned and unsanctioned sexual relations, witchcraft, relations between Christians and non-Christians and between different denominations of Christians, and moral crimes.
