'A woman like any other' : female sodomy, hermaphroditism and witchcraft in seventeenth-century Bruges
- Author
- Jonas Roelens (UGent)
- Organization
- Abstract
- This article discusses the official and popular responses to a particular sodomy trial held at Bruges in 1618 during which two women, Mayken and Magdaleene, were accused of several sexual and moral transgressions. The interrogation records of the accused female sodomites illustrate the remarkable self-consciousness of early modern women with same-sex desires. Their attitudes collided, however, with popular mentalities towards female sodomy, which local testimonies explained away as a physical abnormality or an act of diabolical witchcraft. This article offers an in-depth analysis of these discourses in order to gain a fuller understanding of the perception of female sodomy in early modern urban society.
- Keywords
- female sodomy, witchcraft, hermaphroditism, southern low countries, MEDIEVAL, TRIAL
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8500676
- MLA
- Roelens, Jonas. “’A Woman like Any Other’ : Female Sodomy, Hermaphroditism and Witchcraft in Seventeenth-Century Bruges.” JOURNAL OF WOMENS HISTORY, vol. 29, no. 4, 2017, pp. 11–34.
- APA
- Roelens, J. (2017). ’A woman like any other’ : female sodomy, hermaphroditism and witchcraft in seventeenth-century Bruges. JOURNAL OF WOMENS HISTORY, 29(4), 11–34.
- Chicago author-date
- Roelens, Jonas. 2017. “’A Woman like Any Other’ : Female Sodomy, Hermaphroditism and Witchcraft in Seventeenth-Century Bruges.” JOURNAL OF WOMENS HISTORY 29 (4): 11–34.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Roelens, Jonas. 2017. “’A Woman like Any Other’ : Female Sodomy, Hermaphroditism and Witchcraft in Seventeenth-Century Bruges.” JOURNAL OF WOMENS HISTORY 29 (4): 11–34.
- Vancouver
- 1.Roelens J. ’A woman like any other’ : female sodomy, hermaphroditism and witchcraft in seventeenth-century Bruges. JOURNAL OF WOMENS HISTORY. 2017;29(4):11–34.
- IEEE
- [1]J. Roelens, “’A woman like any other’ : female sodomy, hermaphroditism and witchcraft in seventeenth-century Bruges,” JOURNAL OF WOMENS HISTORY, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 11–34, 2017.
@article{8500676, abstract = {{This article discusses the official and popular responses to a particular sodomy trial held at Bruges in 1618 during which two women, Mayken and Magdaleene, were accused of several sexual and moral transgressions. The interrogation records of the accused female sodomites illustrate the remarkable self-consciousness of early modern women with same-sex desires. Their attitudes collided, however, with popular mentalities towards female sodomy, which local testimonies explained away as a physical abnormality or an act of diabolical witchcraft. This article offers an in-depth analysis of these discourses in order to gain a fuller understanding of the perception of female sodomy in early modern urban society.}}, author = {{Roelens, Jonas}}, issn = {{1042-7961}}, journal = {{JOURNAL OF WOMENS HISTORY}}, keywords = {{female sodomy,witchcraft,hermaphroditism,southern low countries,MEDIEVAL,TRIAL}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{4}}, pages = {{11--34}}, title = {{'A woman like any other' : female sodomy, hermaphroditism and witchcraft in seventeenth-century Bruges}}, volume = {{29}}, year = {{2017}}, }