Citation

Soyer F. J. Homosex. 2014; 61(11): 1529-1557.

Affiliation

ARC Centre of Excellence in the History of Emotions, School of History & Politics , University of Adelaide , Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00918369.2014.944044

PMID

25022623

Abstract

This article analyses the inquisitorial trial of Maria Duran, a Catalan novice in the Dominican convent of Nossa Senhora do Paraíso in Portugal. Arrested by the Inquisition in 1741 and, after a lengthy trial, condemned in 1744 to a public lashing and exile, Maria Duran was accused of having made a pact with the Devil through which she had obtained a "secret penis" that she had allegedly used in her amorous relations with fellow nuns and novices. Her voluminous trial dossier offers a rare and fascinating documentary insight into the often extreme reactions that female homosexuality provoked from both men and women in early modern Portugal. Using the evidence offered by the eighteenth-century trial of Maria Duran, this article highlights female bewilderment when faced with female-on-female sexual violence and the difficulty men (in this case churchmen) had coming to terms with the existence of female homosexuality. It also discusses the case in light of the acts/identity debate amongst historians of the history of sexuality.

Language: en