View source for Edward Coke: "Buggery, or Sodomy," 1644

=="it deserveth death" ==

Coke, a prominent English judge, state prosecutor, and early systematizer of statute, discussed "Buggery, or Sodomy" in a section on "High Treason" in the third part of his famous commentary on the Laws of England, first published there in 1644.<ref>{{GLA}}, pp. 88-89, citing Edward Coke, ''The Third Part of The Institutes of the Laws of England . . .'' (London: Printed by M. Flesher for W. Lee and D. Pakeman, 1644), ch. 10, pp. 58-59. The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' says that ''The Third Part'' of Coke's Institutes was finished in 1628 and first published in 1644. On Coke also see Robert Oaks, "Perceptions of Homosexuality by Justices of the Peace in Colonial Virginia, " S''exualaw Reporter'', vol. 4, no. 2 (Apr./June 1978), p. 35; Alex K. Gigeroff, ''Sexual Deviations in the Criminal Law'' (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1968), pp. 7-12. On the Lombard money lenders see {{GLA}}, Part I, Intro., n. 21. Katz thanks Jaime Vidal for identifying the "crying sins." In Catholic tradition the four crying sins are (1) voluntary homicide, Gen. 4:10; (2) the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, Gen. 18:20-21; (3) oppression of widows and orphans, Exodus 22:22-24; (4) defrauding the laborer of pay. See Letter of James 5:4: "But look, here is the pay of the reaper you hired and whom you cheated, and it is crying out against you! And the cries of the other la~orers you swindled are heard by the Lord of Hosts himself." The next verse adds: "Yes, you have had a magnificent time on this earth; you have fattened yourselves up-for the day of slaughter!" On the crying sins also see Michael Goodich, ''Unmentionable Vice'', p. 61. </ref>
Because this work greatly influenced the colonists' interpretation of statute, Coke's work is quoted here in some detail. 


Coke's opening lines on "Buggery, or Sodomy" stated: 

<blockquote>If any person shall commit buggery with mankind, or beast: by authority of Parliament this offense is adjudged felony without benefit of Clergy....</blockquote>

"Buggery," Coke continued,

<blockquote>is a detestable, and abominable sin, amongst Christians not to be named, committed by carnal knowledge against the ordinance of the Creator, and order of nature, by mankind with mankind, or with brute beast, or by womankind with brute beast.</blockquote>


'''Buggery vs. Boy Love'''

Coke distinguished between "Bugeria" (which he claimed was "an Italian
word" for sodomy) and "Paederastes or Paiderastes" (which he called "a Greek
word" meaning "Amator puerum," lover of pubescent boys). Boy love, he said
was "but a Species of Buggery," and added: it was complained of in the English
Parliament "that the Lumbards [Italians from Lombardy] had brought into the
Realm the shameful sin of Sodomy, that is not to be named."


Contrary to Coke's suggestion (says historian Robert Oaks) the term buggery
did not derive from an Italian word "Bugeria." That Italians from Lobardy
introduced sodomy into England was folklore reflecting an economic conflict;
Coke cited as his source a Parliamentary debate in which representatives of
English traders attributed sodomy to a rival group of Lombard moneylenders.


'''Punishments'''

The suggested punishments for buggery or sodomy were Coke's next subject:

<blockquote>Our ancient Authors do conclude that it deserveth death ... , though they
differ in the manner of punishment.</blockquote>


One author said those guilty of sodomy should be burnt, "and so," added Coke,
"were the Sodomites by Almighty God." Other authors said that "Those who
commit unchaste acts with animals and sodomites are to be buried alive." In "ancient times," said Coke, males convicted of buggery were hanged, females
were drowned (the reference here was apparently to female bestiality). In England
of his own day, said Coke, as felons, those convicted of buggery were
hanged by the neck.


'''Traditional Phrases'''

Coke next considered the language used in English references to buggery. "Detestable and Abominable," he said, were "just attributes" of the crime. The phrase "amongst Christians not to be named" was used in the "usual Indictment
of this offence." The phrase "carnall knowledge" appeared in the indictment
passage referring (in Latin) to "sexual relations," specifically, "penetration," or
"the thing in the thing, either with mankind, or with beast." The "least penetration
maketh it carnall knowledge," said Coke. A mere "ejaculation of seed," he
said, did not constitute buggery; analogy was made to rape, in which ejaculation
without penetration did not constitute the crime.


'''Both Parties are Criminals'''

In buggery, Coke stated, both the "agent" and "consentient" (consenting
party) were felons. That accorded with God's law as expressed in Leviticus, which
said that, if a man lay with a man as with a woman, both had committed abomination,
both must die. This also accorded with "the ancient rule of law" which said
(in Latin) that "those who do it and those who consent to it were punished with
like penalty." "The Sodomites came to this abomination by four means," said
Coke,

<blockquote>by pride, excess of diet [gluttony], idleness, and contempt of the poor.</blockquote>


Coke added:

<blockquote>If the party buggered be within the age of discretion [under fourteen], it is
no felony in him, but in the agent only.</blockquote>


In buggery, as in other felonies, said Coke, all accessories to the crime were
also considered parties to the act.


'''Women'''

Discussing the application of the buggery law to women, Coke claimed
(falsely) 'that the English statute prohibited any "person" (male or female) from
committing the crime with "mankind or beast." (The English law simply prohibited
"Buggery . . . with mankind or beast," without specifying the sex of the
parties.) The reference to females in the English buggery law was explained, said
Coke, by the fact that

<blockquote>somewhat before the making of this Act a great Lady committed buggery
with a Baboon, and conceived by it.... </blockquote>


Thus did a curious bit of English folklore enter an influential commentary on the
capital buggery law. 


'''Crying Sins'''

Coke concluded that "buggery" was one of four "crying sins" mentioned
in the Bible-sins crying out for punishment. The "crying sin" of the "Sodomites"
referred to Genesis 18:20-21. There God said that because "the outcry
against Sodom & Gomorrah" was great he would visit those cities to see if the
outcry was true. The last "crying sin" cited by Coke was "the voice of the op~
pressed and the unpaid wages of labor," a reference to several biblical passages
condemning the economic oppression of workers by employers (passages now
not often cited). The sins of the Sodomites, Coke thought, included not only
sodomy, but the exploitation of labor.


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== References ==

<references/>


{{Curated Exhibit|exhibit name and link=[[Colonial America: The Age of Sodomitical Sin|Colonial America: The Age of Sodomitical Sin]]|firstname=Jonathan Ned|lastname=Katz}}

[[Category:The Age of Sodomitical Sin]]
[[Category:American Colonial Era (1607-1776)]]
[[Category:1640-1649]]
[[Category:17th century]]
[[Category:Sodomy]]
[[Category:Buggery]]
[[Category:Coke, Edward (1552-1634)]]
[[Category:Books]]
[[Category:Law]]
[[Category:England]]