I saw on one of your posts that you said that monasteries used to have live-in prostitutes? Do you have any stories about that? Or links to where I could read about it ’cause I’ve never heard about that.

simonalkenmayer:

*snorts*

It’s not as if they advertised, but the church was one of the biggest whoremongers in the world. Even in the heart of London, the working girls were given sanctuary in church yards, for a modest fee, for their “protection”, you see.

Nuns too. They were out having sex also.

Why? Because it was not a matter of faith. Religion was a role one played, and often the second or third children of nobles went into the clergy as a way that consolidated power within the family, but had nothing to do with succession. A lord almost always had a younger brother who was a bishop or a cardinal. Look at any family tree of any noble house. Many of these clergy had illegitimate children. They didn’t care about celibacy. They were cloistered, bored, powerful, rich, and did precisely the same thing as any other boy of 23 who has money and reputation.

So too was it true that the clergy was a sanctuary for those who believed they had “sinful desires” from people with fetishes, to people who grew up knowing they were gay and did not wish to marry in the traditional way. Male to male monastic couples were easy to find. Female to female, less so for the average human, but all you need to be able to do is hear through walls.

It was also true that there were periods of time in which the legislation of sexuality was not central to church doctrine.

I promise you, stories abound. Read any book about the history of the church that wasn’t written by the church, and you’ll read all about it.