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Michael Goodich's comment is (as usual) intelligent and considered. About the Perugian flagellants of 1260: There is something about sodomy, if I remember correctly (all my notes are at home), in the "Lezenda de Fra Rainero Faxano" which emphasizes sin in a context of eschatological anxiety. But the historical Fra Rainero had a wife and family, so, unless he was bi-sexual (for which, of course, there is not a scrap of evidence)... I would also like to stress that the flagellants struck themselves on the upper shoulder-blades, where Christ carried the cross. In this devotional practice there is, absolutely and positively, no hint of sexual stimulation, contrary to what certain popular accounts imply. As for the flagellant confraternities, I'll look up the rules I have to see if there is any 'exclusion of sodomites' clause. (And can't we abandon that ill-chosen and hateful term, 'queers', which carries with it too many negativities to be neutral in a proper academic context?) Gary Dickson University of Edinburgh %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%