bbot's blog

Wikipedia: Sodomy

Sodomy is a term used particularly in law, and with wider local currency, to describe an act of sexual intercourse except copulation. The term comes from the Ecclesiastical Latin: pecatum Sodomiticum, or "sin of Sodom". The expression has biblical origin and was used to characterize sexual acts that were attributed to citizens of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah.

The term includes all sexual acts other than coital sex between a male and female. Although not gender specific by definition, in common use sodomy generally refers to homosexual intercourse between males.

Huh.

Justinian's interpretation of the story of Sodom would be forgotten today (as it had been along with his law novellizations regarding homosexual behavior immediately after his death) had it not been made use of in fake Charlemagnian capitularies, fabricated by a Frankish monk using the pseudonym Benedictus Levita ("Benedict the Levite") around 850 AD, as part of the Pseudo-Isidore.

Huh?

The Pseudo-Isidorean (False) Decretals are the most extensive and influential set of forgeries found in medieval Canon law. The works, produced during the mid-ninth century in north-eastern France, have been universally recognized as a set of forgeries by both Roman Catholic and Protestant scholars for well over a century.

Huh.

Pseudo-Isidore invests in the papacy powers that would later turn the author's intent on its head, essentially subjecting all religious authorities to the final (and absolute) authority of the pope. At the time of their composition, the papacy was sliding towards its utter nadir, which culminated in The Pornocracy five decades later; it was in no condition to exercise any of the authority Pseudo-Isidore ascribes to it.

Huh?

The Pornocracy (from Greek porne, a prostitute, and kratein, to rule) or Rule of the Harlots was a period in the history of the Papacy during the first half of the tenth century, beginning with the installation of Pope Sergius III in 904 and lasting for sixty years until the death of Pope John XII in 963. Some sources describe it as ending after 30 years, with the reign of Pope John XI in 935.

During this period, the Popes were influenced strongly by a powerful aristocratic family, the Theophylacti, and their relatives. They were in particular under the influence of powerful women (though not prostitutes), especially Theodora and her daughter Marozia. It is widely believed that Marozia was the concubine of Pope Sergius III and the mother of Pope John XI. She was also accused of arranging the murder of Pope John X (who had originally been nominated for office by Theodora) in order to secure the elevation of her current favourite as Pope Leo VI.

The Catholic Church, arbiter of morality for two thousand years!