" The result is that "the natural anvils," that is to say the
neglected maidens, "bewail the absence of their hammers and are seen sadly
to demand them." Alain de Lille makes himself the voice of this
demand.[69]
A few years later, at the beginning of the fourteenth century, sodomy was
still regarded as very prevalent. At that time it was especially
associated with the Templars who, it has been supposed, brought it from
the East. Such a supposition, however, is not required to account for the
existence of homosexuality in France. Nor is it necessary, at a somewhat
later period, to invoke, as is frequently done, the Italian origin of
Catherine de Medici, in order to explain the prevalence of homosexual
practices at her court.
Notwithstanding its prevalence, sodomy was still severely punished from
time to time. Thus in 1586, Dadon, who had formerly been Rector of the
University of Paris, was hanged and then burned for injuring a child
through sodomy.[70] In the seventeenth century, homosexuality continued,
however, to flourish, and it is said that nearly all the numerous
omissions made in the published editions of Tallement des Reaux's
_Historiettes_ refer to sodomy.
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