Corrupter of Boys: Sodomy, Scandal, and the Medieval Clergy

Clerics in the fourth century distinguished themselves from the laity by claiming to be more holy. This distinction was largely due to clerical celibacy, which led to religious authorities developing sophisticated tactics for concealing or dispelling embarrassing lapses. Dyan Elliott's book explores how scandal-averse policies at every level of the ecclesiastical hierarchy have enabled the widespread sexual abuse of boys and male adolescents within the Church. She examines more than a millennium of doctrine and practice to uncover the origins of a culture of secrecy and concealment of sin and concludes that the same clerical prerogatives and privileges that were formulated in late antiquity and the medieval era remain in place.

Format: Hardback
Length: 448 pages
Publication date: 27 November 2020
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

In the fourth century, clerics began to distinguish themselves from members of the laity by virtue of their augmented claims to holiness. This distinction was largely due to the practice of clerical celibacy, which was considered essential for maintaining a higher level of spiritual purity and devotion. As a result, religious authorities of all stripes, including patristic authors, popes, theologians, canonists, monastic founders, and commentators, became increasingly sensitive to sexual scandals that involved the clergy. They developed sophisticated tactics for concealing or dispelling embarrassing lapses, often at the expense of the victims.

According to Dyan Elliott, the fear of scandal dictated certain lines of action and inaction, and the consequences of these decisions are painfully apparent today. In her book, The Corrupter of Boys, Elliott demonstrates how, in conjunction with the requirement of clerical celibacy, scandal-averse policies at every conceivable level of the ecclesiastical hierarchy have enabled the widespread sexual abuse of boys and male adolescents within the Church.

Elliott examines more than a millennium's worth of doctrine and practice to uncover the origins of a culture of secrecy and concealment of sin. She charts the continuities and changes, from late antiquity into the high Middle Ages, in the use of boys as sexual objects before focusing on four specific milieus in which boys and adolescents would have been especially at risk in the high and later Middle Ages: the monastery, the choir, the schools, and the episcopal court.

The Corrupter of Boys is a work of stunning breadth and discomforting resonance, as Elliott concludes that the same clerical prerogatives and privileges that were formulated in late antiquity and the medieval era—and the same strategies to cover up the abuses they enable—remain very much in place. This book is a powerful reminder of the need for transparency and accountability in the Church, and for the protection of vulnerable members of society from the predations of those in positions of power.

Weight: 800g
Dimension: 166 x 241 x 35 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780812252521