Welcome to my latest queer history blog post! This article continues my new Queer Words In History series, in which I examine the queer language of the past. If you enjoy this post, then you’ll love my Historical Fiction novels! Find out more about my projects here, and sign up for my newsletter here to stay in touch!
Despite centuries of official repression, early modern Europe was rife with queer communities and subcultures. Some of these thrived due to their access to power and privilege, as was the case with the gay nobility of 17th and 18th century Versailles (which I’ve previously discussed here). But their presence, and prevalence, was visible in multiple countries and across religious, political and socio-economic divides. The “queerness” of this era was so self-evident that a curious phrase arose tying queer men to one country in particular: Italy.
What was the “Italian Vice”, how did this phrase become affiliated specifically with homosexual men, and what does its etymology tell us about queer history?
Scandal and Stereotypes
At the court of Louis XIV of France, the Marquis de la Valliere once summarized the prevalence of homosexual love affairs throughout the continent: “[i]n Spain, the monks; in France, the nobility; in Italy, everyone.”[1] His comments point to the origin of the phrase in question. But how is it that Italy, the center of the Roman Catholic faith for (by then) over a thousand years, gained such a queer reputation at the glittering courts of Europe?
How did staunchly Catholic Italy become notorious for gay love?
The phrase “the Italian Vice” and similar euphemisms reached arguably the height of their popularity around the late 17th century and were certainly in colloquial use during the late Baroque period. However, their origins come from an earlier point in European history – namely, the Italian medieval period and especially the Renaissance of the 14th – 16th centuries. By the 17th century, Italy had gained a notorious reputation as a hotbed (literal and figurative) of queer romance. As historian Chad Denton argues, “Italy, especially the city of Florence, was associated with male same-sex love since the Middle Ages.”[2]
Was this a scandalous stereotype, or was there real evidence to support Italy’s characterization during these centuries? Perhaps surprisingly, the mythology was grounded in very real history – the lives, the witness stories and the testimonies of the men who helped to foster this queer notoriety surviving vividly in the historical record.
“That Prevail Among the Florentines…”
Evidence of queer communities and even social structures in Italy dates from the Roman Empire. The more modern origin of “the Italian Vice” is perhaps best traced to Florence at the height of the Renaissance age where, indeed, love among men was a common, accepted and normal facet of Florentine life. R.B. Parker writes, “[i]n Renaissance Florence, young unmarried men often had sexual relations with other men, usually structured by age, with as many as two-thirds of all men being at one time accused of being ‘sodomites’.”[3]
Florence was arguably the foremost city of the Italian Renaissance
But historian Louis Crompton cautions that Florence was hardly a queer paradise: indeed, throughout Italy during this period there existed multiple violent prohibitions against “sodomite” behavior prescribing punishments ranging from hefty fines to torture and execution.[4] Florence was no exception – but throughout the 1400s and 1500s, these punishments varied in scope and application if they were even applied at all. One imagines that the widespread nature of the queer sexual environment in Florence made comprehensive persecution all but impossible.
As early as 1376, Pope Gregory XI lamented the prevalence of homosexual affairs “that prevail among the Florentines…so abominable that I dare not mention it.”[5] The historical record of attempted persecution of men in Florence attests that some 12,000 men were, at one point or another, formally accused of homosexual activity between the 1432 and 1502.[6] Little wonder, then, that the contemporary German phrase, “florenzer” was another euphemism for “sodomite” and formed the base of a related verb referring to the physical acts themselves.[7]
To paraphrase the Marquis de la Valliere above, everyone was doing it – in Florence, at least. Men accused (even if not persecuted) during these centuries included individuals from the lowest commoners and foreigners to the scions of Italy’s nobility and highest officials.[8] In any given year, hundreds of men might be imprisoned and even dozens murdered for their supposed “crimes”, but these attempts at stamping out homosexual behavior were often met with skepticism, indifference and even outright opposition throughout the bustling city where they occured.
Artistic Affairs
But “the Italian Vice” was not limited to one region of the peninsula; queer subcultures were evident throughout this period all over Italy and among the most illustrious figures of the age.
Intriguingly, many of the artistic hegemons of the Renaissance era were suspected (openly or by rumor) of harboring what would today be considered queer desires – both romantic and sexual. Indeed, their own works passed down through the centuries speak for themselves: Crompton writes, “[f]ew artifacts of the past reveal a homoerotic element at once so subtly pervasive and so accessible,” as the art of the Renaissance heavyweights.[9]
The Renaissance was perhaps one of the most “queer” moments in history
I’ve written previously about the iconic Michelangelo, who enjoyed an intense relationship with a young Roman nobleman, Tommaso dei Cavalieri, exemplified by suggestive poetry and drawings intended for the artist’s presumed paramour. Though Michelangelo himself denied homosexual inclinations (going so far as to say that his accusers projected their desires onto him), his contemporaries were unconvinced. One account suggests that a gentleman tried to convince the artist to take his son as an apprentice with the promise that the youth could serve him in multiple manners – which the artist soundly rejected.[10]
Among his colleagues, however, Michelangelo was far from alone in his supposed inclinations. The great Botticelli, of Primavera fame, was alleged to have a young boyfriend among his apprentices, and another of his apprentices was formally charged as a sodomite in 1473.[11] Leonardo da Vinci, the man who practically defined the age in which he lived, was first officially accused of homosexual acts in a quartet of similarly defamed artists whilst in his early 20s.[12] Da Vinci would surround himself with handsome young men, some of whom served as his artistic models, throughout his life who were suspected of being either platonic or physical lovers to the artist. One contemporary commentator Gian Lomazzo, who was likely familiar with some of Da Vinci’s associates, appeared to confirm these affairs in a now infamous treatise featuring an imagined “interview” with him.[13]
Michelangelo was hardly the only “Renaissance man” accused of gay love affairs
Roman Weddings
But as the situation in Florence demonstrates, queer subcultures were not confined to Italian elites (though they seem to have been prevalent in the upper classes). Indeed, there is a growing body of evidence surrounding queer communities of men among the lower classes and particularly foreigners in Italy. One famous Roman incident in 1578 showcases their importance even amid violent persecution.
The church of San Giovanni of Porta Latina hosted a particularly unusual wedding in July 1578. The episode was documented first by contemporary French essayist Michel de Montaigne, who heard of it through his contacts and travels in Rome in the years following the incident itself and the subsequent persecution of the men involved. The morning of the purported union, a fellow named Gasparo and a friar named Gioseffe attempted to “marry” each other on a Sunday afternoon among their gathered friends (more on these witnesses follows below). Gary Ferguson has argued that “[t]he exact nature and purpose of the intended ceremony remain uncertain…What we know for sure is that the afternoon was to culminate, like most weddings at the time, in a celebratory feast and the consummation of the union – that is, in the couple (and, in this instance, perhaps others) having sex.”[14]
Rome was apparently host to a purported “gay wedding” in 1578
The group was certainly a diverse one, including multiple Spaniards, one Portuguese, and one Slavic individual. In this particular instance, the men involved were ultimately caught, detained, and tortured by officials to determine the full extent of their supposed crimes. Ultimately, several were executed for their involvement with this “brotherhood” and the physical acts it was assumed each took part in at one time or another. One contemporary source viciously describes the incident thusly: “here they performed some ceremonies and with horrible wickedness disfigured the holy name of marriage and married one another before going to bed together, as husband and wife.”[15]
Italy’s manifold queer communities could and did include men from various parts of Europe
This somber story highlights a key element of understanding “the Italian Vice”: it wasn’t all that “Italian” necessarily. Italy’s manifold queer communities could and did include men from various parts of Europe. These men, brought together by quirk of circumstances and perhaps secretive communication across borders, congregated and celebrated their lives and loves as would any large, sparsely connected family of that period. Giuseppe Marcocci suggests that the church of San Giovanni was already a well-established center for queer men in Rome by the time of this marriage incident, thanks to the efforts of the Portuguese Marcos Pinto who may have been an official in the church itself.[16]
Likewise, this attempted “marriage” was not an isolated incident as confessions within the trial records indicate that similar gatherings of homosexual men had been going on at San Giovanni for twelve years. Even more intriguingly, the “brothers” themselves suggested (both in their official accounts and the records of their own travel histories) that such fraternities were operating all over Italy and indeed all of southern Europe – with Rome as simply one of many loci for queer male communities. While the Italian Vice was certainly in evidence in Italy, prolifically so, it was hardly isolated there. Then as now, queer men were adept at finding each other – and building their brotherhood accordingly.
Of Vice and Men
Despite the legacy of the Italian Vice, queer rights remain a fraught matter in the peninsula hundreds of years after the “marriage” of 1578. Queer Italians today face a confusing and patchwork system of rights in comparison to those of other European countries. Gay marriage remains illegal outright in Italy (although a form of same-sex civil unions was legalized in 2016). Efforts by conservative Italian politicians (such as a proposed ban on surrogacy for any Italian couples in 2023) in recent years have seemingly targeted the queer Italian community.[17] A similar initiative to remove non-biological lesbian mothers from their children’s birth certificates in some Italian cities has likewise drawn international focus to the disparate, fragile rights of LGBTQIA+ Italians.[18]
The fight for equal rights for queer Italians, despite forward momentum, still ongoing
As conservative Italian politicians spearhead these and other policies, it would be tempting to ponder if the adage is true – the more things change, the more they stay the same – and if Italy’s complex history with queer identity has been forgotten entirely by those who most need to understand its legacy. Indeed, this brief survey into the history of an early modern stereotype barely scrapes the surface of the peninsula’s prolific queer history – and the centuries of stories yet to be told.
[1] Christopher Hibbert and the Editors of the Newsweek Book Division, Versailles, pg. 10 (Newsweek, New York), 1972, pg. 61.
[2] Chad Denton, The Brotherhood: Male Same-Sex Love Among the Early Modern Court Nobility, Paris, Cour de France.fr, 2014, Article inédit mis en ligne le 1er juin 2014, https://cour-de-france.fr/article3332.html.
[3] R.B. Parkinson, “The ‘Divine’ Prisoner,” A Little Gay History: Desire and Diversity Across the World, Columbia University Press, New York, 2013, pgs. 64 – 65.
[4] Louis Crompton, Homosexuality and Civilization (Belknap Press), 2006, pg. 245 – 251.
[5] Michael Rocke, “Introduction: Florence and Sodomy”, Forbidden Friendships: Homosexuality and Male Culture in Renaissance Florence (New York, NY, 1996; online edn, Oxford Academic, 31 Oct. 2023), https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195069754.003.0001, accessed 12 May 2024.
