Christianity, Social Tolerance & Homosexuality in Western Europe: History of Gay People from Christian Era to 14th Century | Academic Research, LGBTQ+ Studies & Medieval History Books

John Boswell's work still stands as one of the foundational works of social history in the last three decades. While subsequent scholarship has further illuminated the topic, I still feel the breadth and depth of this work makes it time well spent. As Boswell notes:"Tracing the course of intolerance reveals much about the landscape it traverses, and for this reason alone it deserves to be studied...On the other hand, the social topography of medieval Europe remains so unexplored that studies of any aspect of it are largely pioneering and hence provisional. Later generations will certainly recognize many wrong turns, false leads, and dead ends mistakenly pursued by those who had no trails to follow, whose only landmarks were those they themselves posted...To this ineluctable hazard of early research is added the difficulty in the case at issue that a great many people believe they already know where the trails ought to lead, and they will blame the investigator not only for the inevitable errors of first explorations but also for the extent to which his results, however tentative and well intentioned, do not accord wth their preconceptions of the subject."Given the commenters herein who have found fault with the book, Boswell's comment is prescient. The book is not perfect but a careful review of their reviews shows folks who are so focused on "where the trail ought to lead" they cannot see the wisdom in this work.My walk away from the book: If you tell a lie often enough [and maybe in the case of this book tracing the history of intolerance towards gays - long enough], people will believe you.