350 homilies
indulgence and the benefits of pilgrimage to a site of
devotion.
Further reading:Herbert Thurston, The Holy Year of
Jubilee(1900; reprint, New York: AMS Press, 1980); Her-
bert Kessler and Johanna Zacharias, Rome 1300: On the
Path of the Pilgrim(New Haven, Conn.: Yale University
Press, 2000).
homilies SeeSERMONS AND HOMILIES.
homosexuality The medieval taboo against sexual
relations between people of the same gender was based on
interpretations of biblical verses: Leviticus 20:13: “If any-
one lie with a man as with a woman, both have committed
an abomination, let them be put to death; their blood be
upon them,” and Leviticus 18:22: “Thou shall not lie with
man as with woman: it is an abomination.” Such acts
became acts against nature. Saint Paul described those
who perform these “acts against nature” as idolaters who
will not enter the kingdom of HEAVEN. The wrath of GOD
was to be invoked against such sinners, and linked
destruction of the biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
It was feared that FAMINE, earthquakes, and pestilence at
the very least would result from such sin. Any such activ-
ity could be a capital offense in the Middle Ages.
The word employed to describe this activity against
nature was sodomy.It referred to any sexual activity of
men with men or with women that did not lead to pro-
creation. The enforcement of laws against such activities
was irregular. The authorities seemed not even to con-
sider the possibility of lesbianism. However, an absolute
prohibition remained in effect throughout the Middle
Ages. Heretical sects, Muslims, and enemies of all kinds
were often charged with sodomy.
See also CONTRACEPTION AND ABORTION; SEXUALITY
AND SEXUAL ATTITUDES.
Further reading:Thomas Stehling, trans., Medieval
Latin Poems of Male Love and Friendship(New York: Gar-
land, 1984); John Boswell, Christianity, Social Tolerance,
and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the
Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980); Michael J.
Rocke, Forbidden Friendship: Homosexuality and Male Cul-
ture in Renaissance Florence(New York: Oxford University
Press, 1996); Michael Goodich, The Unmentionable Vice:
Homesexuality in the Later Medieval Period(Santa Barbara,
Calif.: ABC-Clio, 1979); Francesca Canadé Sautman and
Pamela Sheingorn, eds., Same Sex Love and Desire among
Women in the Middle Ages(New York: Palgrave, 2001).
hope Hope became defined as one of the three theolog-
ical virtues during the Middle Ages. In the 12th century,
William of Champeaux (d. 1121) expressed an idea of
hope that was later cited by BONAVENTUREand Thomas
AQUINAS. One should hope for pardon, GRACE, and salva-
tion. Peter ABÉLARDasserted that hope was the expecta-
tion of some spiritual and ethical gain from a total and
unwavering confidence in God’s fidelity, mercy, and jus-
tice. As part of a theology of the VIRTUES, hope became
one of the three to be cultivated and practiced. It was
contrary to despair and linked a presumption of salvation.
Further reading:Charles Livingstone Allen, Faith,
Hope, and Love(Old Tappan, N.J.: F. H. Revell, 1982);
Jacques-Guy Bougerol, “Hope.” EMA1.689–90; Antonel-
lus Engemann, The New Song: Faith, Hope, and Charity in
Franciscan Spirituality(Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press,
1964); Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, The Theological
Virtues,trans. Thomas a Kempis Reilly (St. Louis: Herder,
1965); Josef Pieper, Faith, Hope, Love(San Francisco:
Ignatius Press, 1997).horses The horse was among the chief nonhuman
sources of power in WARFAREand in agricultural LABORin
the Middle Ages. Horses were associated with warfare and
the NOBILITY. Germanic tribes used them for mobile mili-
tary expeditions at the end of the antique world. This
changed the art of war. However, until the eighth century,
Germanic armies, and even those in the nomadic tradi-
tion of the HUNS, used them primarily for transportation,
dismounting in order to engage in actual combat. In the
eighth century, CHARLESMARTELhad traditionally been
credited with the use of the horse for mounted combat.
Technological improvement, including stirrups, permit-
ted riders to stay mounted and able to attack and fight
from horseback.MILITARY USES
Because of their importance for military purposes, horses
began to be bred and raised with special care. Their
relative value increased in comparison to that of other
domestic animals, such as cows, and especially oxen,
which up until then were mostly used for work and
transportation. By the end of the eighth century, Frankish
mounted warriors had to be supported by the incomes
from 12 pieces of land, as compared to the support for
the infantry, who were granted only four. High officials at
the Carolingian court were employed to run stables for
warhorses. From the 11th century, horses had become the
essential symbols and attributes of KNIGHTHOOD, and
their qualities were favorite subjects of EPICliterature.LABOR
By the 12th century on, horses were widely used for
plowing and for drawing vehicles, replacing slow oxen.
Prices of such work animals decreased, and horses were
then affordable for mundane transport, haulage, and
general agricultural work. Two kinds of horses were now
systematically bred: for warfare and for work.
See alsoTOURNAMENTS.