Marbod of Rennes

(c. 1035 - 1123)

A French cleric who became bishop of Rennes in 1096, Marbod wrote many homoerotic poems but rejected physical contact; one verse mentions “the remarkable boy whose beauty sets me on fire” but is called “An Argument Against Sexual Love.” His writings against women embraced a long tradition of Christian misogyny dating back to the apostle Paul, who, according to anthropologist David D. Gilmore, can be considered “the first historical Christian misogynist.”

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