Before the Closet
Same-Sex Love from Beowulf to Angels in America
by Allen J. Frantzen
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Since the publication of John Boswell's Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, historians have accepted the view that the early Middle Ages tolerated and even fostered same-sex relations and that intolerance of homosexuality developed only late in the medieval period. In this extraordinary study, Allen J.
Frantzen challenges this long-held belief, showing that the early medieval Church did not tolerate same-sex acts, and, furthermore, that men and women during this time who preferred homosexual relations pursued their desires in spite of official sanctions. The early medieval period was, Frantzen argues, an age before people recognized the existence - or the possibility - of the "closet."
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Subjects
Anglo-Saxons in literature, Beowulf, English literature, Gay men in literature, History, History and criticism, Homosexuality and literature, Lesbians in literature, Love in literature, English literature, history and criticism, old english, ca. 450-1100, LGBTQ historyPeople
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England| Edition | Availability |
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Before the Closet: Same-Sex Love from "Beowulf" to "Angels in America"
May 1, 2000, University Of Chicago Press
Paperback
in English
0226260925 9780226260921
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WorldCat
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2
Before the Closet: Same-Sex Love from Beowulf to Angels in America
1998, University of Chicago Press
in English
0226260917 9780226260914
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aaaa
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
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Book Details
Table of Contents
Edition Notes
Includes bibliographical references (p. [309]-358) and index.
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First Sentence
"In this book I explore same-sex love in English culture of the early Middle Ages, approximately AD 600 to 1200."
Work Description
Allen J. Frantzen challenges the long accepted view that the early Middle Ages tolerated and even fostered same-sex relations and that intolerance of homosexuality developed only late in the medieval period. Frantzen shows that in early medieval Europe, the Church did not tolerate same-sex acts, in fact it was an age before people recognized the existence—or the possibility—of the "closet."
With its ambitious scope and elegant style, Before the Closet sets same-sex relations in Anglo-Saxon sources in relation to the sexual themes of contemporary opera, dance, and theatre. Frantzen offers a comprehensive analysis of sources from the seventh to the twelfth century and traces Anglo-Saxon same-sex behavior through the age of Chaucer and into the Renaissance.
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| July 6, 2021 | Edited by Jenner | Add subject, description |
| August 27, 2020 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
| December 4, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Added subjects from MARC records. |
| April 28, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Linked existing covers to the work. |
| December 9, 2009 | Created by WorkBot | add works page |